Q&A Scene: Mailer Daemon

November 7, 2016 Mary Boukouvalas

Tell us about your new single and upcoming album release ?

The single is called Automation, it’s a funky up beat jam with some ambient kinda elements to it. It really packs a punch and there is some pretty fun vocals on top of a phat bass-line. It’s from the album Ronin 3, the concluding chapter of an alt-hip hop cyberpunk record. The production is massive, and the vocals are really intense- think Mad Max, meets Terminator, meets Akira.

What’s your favourite work at this point in time? 

I really dig the tune ‘Love Emoji’ from Ronin 3, there’s BladeRunner or stadium New Romantic Synth Pads, straight Weezer garage drums, this 80s bass arp and Daft Punk retro-future vocoder with that Kanye vulnerable singing feel. It’s a straight up driving love ballad, it’s cool to open up like that but still be funny, and badass at the same time. The harmonies were inspired by Chance the Rapper’s interview with Zane Lowe, where he talks about doing these polyphonic vocoder harmonies.  

Tell us a quick, on the road or studio, anecdote.

I saw Elliot Wilson from Rap Radar across the straight on the lower east side of manhattan last year, i took a paparazzi snap and tagged Bdot and we had a little bit of back and forth on Instagram which is super surreal because i’m on that Rap Radar all the time. Bdot said he wants to come to Australia one day, it would be cool to show him around Sydney, ha ha.

What, or who, inspires you?

Right now i’m inspired by Vloggers, Casey Neistat, Qias Qrew TV, Shawn Lee. I’m inspired Adidas with Yeezys, NMDs, and EQTs. I’m inspired by American Apparel, AS Colour, and BAPE. I’m inspired by Lecrae, Chance the Rapper, Kanye, and Vince Staples. I’m inspired by Jaguar Ma, DMA’s, Deafheaven, Alison Wonderland, B Wise, and Baro. I’m inspired by success, Positive Mental Attitude, and avoiding and negative attitude. I’m inspired by friends, partner, and family. I’m inspired by my love for this craft and culture. I’m inspired by people responding to my music.

Which song do you wish you wrote?

I wish i wrote all the Beatles songs, all the Smashing Pumpkins songs, and all the Michael Jackson songs! But if i had to pick one, let’s go with ‘Yesterday’ by Lennon-McCartney. It’s just the sort of tune that melts space and time, rises and falls with such dynamism.

What’s next for you?

Management deal, label deal, world tour, no.1 singles, VICE show deal, Youtube records, start my own label, sign record breaking artists, love and respect for my art from the world at large, world peace, Star Wars cameo, Kanye collab. Bape collab. Adidas collab. Marvel universe cameo. Revolutionary double album.  And that’s only in the next 3 years!

What’s your scene?

My scene is art. My scene is every scene. I love everything. I could possibly be the biggest lover of music ever. I love Hip Hop, Alternative, Electronic, Bass, House, Techno, Rock, Punk, Metal, Post Punk, Post Metal, Classical, Funk, Soul, Rnb, Grime, Garage, Experimental, you name it!

Mailer Daemon Presents the final chapter of the Ronin Trilogy (a cyberpunk, post-trap, alternative hip hop saga) with the lead single appropriately titled: ‘Automation’, It’s a funky and fun upbeat bravado jam that showcases Mailer Daemon’s unique mix of 80s/90s Alternative music, matched with modern Hip Hop vocals.  The tune slangs a hook that speaks to ‘Grime’ and ‘Soundsystem’ culture, with a musical bed that evokes ‘Radiohead’ style glitch melodies equipped with a ‘New Order’ type groove. It evokes the Daemon concept of our digital culture and musical consciousness, referencing the past but clearly a visceral jack-in to the matrix with it’s immense future funk. Celebrating a decade of Alternative Hip Hop innovation, having remixed The Herd, The Panics, and Bag Raiders, collaborating with members of Thundamentals, Big Village, and Jackie Onassis, DJ’d in residency with the likes of Alison Wonderland, Hayden James, and venues such as Oxford Arts Factory, MD aims high- breaking down the walls of bass music, post punk, future, retro, and everything in-between- compelled by the hero’s 16-Bit quest for artistic enlightenment.
Four records in four years (Gravitas EP, Ronin 1, 2 & 3) demonstrates Mailer’s work ethic, sonic depth, and artistic range. Showcased with the DJ Khaleed style posse jams on Gravitas that featured Jeswon, The Tongue, and P Smurf, to the Japan Released Shoegaze-Rap music fusion of Ronin 1, and the post trap minimalism of Ronin 2, featuring acclaimed
Hip Hop author/artist Omar Musa. Mailer Daemon treads new ground in the third Ronin installment, as he finds a zen pose between the rock and rap worlds in this intimate project with protégé Sage.
Automation is the lead single taken from Mailer Daemon‘s Ronin 3 LP, out Nov 4th (MGM).

About Mary Boukouvalas 1480 Articles
Mary is a photographer and a writer, specialising in music. She runs Rocklust.com where she endeavours to capture the passion of music in her photos whether it's live music photography, promotional band photos or portraits. She has photographed The Rolling Stones, KISS, Iggy Pop, AC/DC, Patti Smith, Joe Strummer, PULP, The Cult, The Damned, The Cure, Ian Brown, Interpol, MUDHONEY, The MELVINS, The Living End, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against The Machine, The Stone Roses –just to name a few - in Australia, USA, Europe and the Middle East. Her work has been published in Beat magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, Triple J magazine, The Age Newspaper, The Herald Sun, The Australian, Neos Kosmos, blistering.com, theaureview.com, noise11.com, music-news.com. She has a permanent photographic exhibition at The Corner Hotel in Richmond, Victoria Australia.
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