From Classical Roots to Electronic Beats: The Musical J….
Welcome to our exclusive interview with Canguru, the talented artist whose musical journey has taken him from the classical music environment of his upbringing to the vibrant Electronic music scene. With a background in playing clarinet and guitar, Canguru’s transition to Electronic music was inspired by his time in Manchester’s music scene, where he honed his craft and developed his unique sound. In this interview, Canguru shares insights into his musical influences, experiences, and the creative process behind his music. Join us as we delve into Canguru’s musical world and learn more about his background and the stories behind his captivating sound.
Hi Canguru! first off, can you tell us about your musical journey and how you got started in the industry?
My musical journey started at a young age. Music had always been around me when I grew up as my mother was a piano teacher and she taught piano from home. I must have been about 8 years old when I first started studying the clarinet classically. I was playing in youth orchestras and big bands throughout my early teens, but always saw myself as the singer in a band.
In my early teens I started listening to thrash Metal and played in various bands as a rhythm guitarist and singer. I also started writing my first songs on the guitar.
In the late nineties, I moved to Manchester to study Sound Engineering at Salford University and gradually got involved with many bands as a performer, sound engineer, and blossoming music Producer. During my time at Uni, a friend of mine worked for the Swedish company Reason and he gave me a copy of the DAW’s first version to play around with. From the get go, I was instantly hooked and straight away, I started writing my first Electronic music ideas. My love for Electronic music was nurtured in the rich and eclectic Manchester party music scene. Witnessing live bands such as The Chemical Brothers &The Prodigy played a big role in shaping my own sound. All this great music encouraged me to experiment with samples and write my first Electronic songs. Throughout my development, I drew on many influences ranging from Electro, Alternative Dance, Techno, Electronica, Alt Hip-Hop and Trip-Hop. My Canguru production influences also stem from bands such as Gorillaz, Hot Chip and many others.
How has your upbringing in a classical music environment influenced your sound and style?
Classical music was around me from an early age. My parents listened to a lot of Classical music and a bit of Jazz on vinyls. My mother would often take me to her choir rehearsals and also quite often to watch live classical concerts. All this musical language got ingrained in me from an early age, I guess. I feel lucky about it today. I think all this really helped me to become who I am as an artist today. It has definitely influenced me in the way I write music. I guess indirectly speaking, those early influences can be heard in my productions.
What inspired you to transition from playing clarinet and guitar to pursuing Electronic music?
Before I moved to Manchester, I was already listening to Industrial bands such as Nine Inch Nails and Ministry and I got more and more interested in experimenting with Electronic music. When I moved to Manchester, I discovered Alternative Dance and Big
Beat bands such as The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and Fat Boy Slim. I loved the raw energy of these acts and it was kind of a natural progression for me to transit from listening to Metal into this high energy type of Electronic music. All this inspired me a lot to create my own Electronic sounds. Playing the guitar, the sax or the clarinet will always be part of my DNA though and I also try to incorporate these instruments in my Electronic music Productions if it fits in context.
Could you share a memorable experience or achievement from your time with the metal band Cypher?
Sure. Playing the guitar in Cypher was a lot of fun. I got to produce the band’s first 6 track EP. This was my first production attempt and it was awarded “Best Demo of the Month” in both critically acclaimed Metal Hammer and Kerrang Magazines! That was a nice surprise for me and it really inspired me to get stuck into the music production world.
How has your time in Manchester’s music scene shaped your approach to creating music?
Living and studying in Manchester had a great influence on me as I discovered a whole new world of British music that I hadn’t heard before. I felt like a kid in a sweet shop really! Manchester has always been an innovative city when it comes to music and still is today. During my time in Manchester, I got involved in many projects either as a band leader, guitarist or session musician on the saxophone and clarinet: I have also been constantly developing my production and writing skills in the studio.
What do you hope listeners take away from your music, especially your latest album”YOUR LOVING”?
I hope listeners will be surprised or maybe intrigued to hear something a bit different than the “norm”. I find my inspiration in many styles and genres of music that I attempt to blend together in my own way I guess. I often describe my music as “Alt-Electro-Hop”. I blend genres between Alt-Dance, Electronica, Techno, Electro-Pop, Alt-Hip-Hop and Trip-Hop!
The idea for my latest album”Your Loving” was to transport the listeners in an out of space journey of Electronica, Dance and Synth-pop music with overarching lyrical themes exploring love and loss and drawing listeners into a world of introspection and emotional resonance.
Can you discuss some of the themes or messages you aim to convey through your lyrics and music?
What I aim to convey through my music can vary from one song to another but I guess the unifying themes behind my lyrics are about resilience to failure and pain. It is about the ups and downs of winning one day and losing it all the next, but never to give up on your dreams and ambitions. Always getting back up after you fall over. I tend to write about the constant emotional changes we have to deal with as human beings in our personal lives… Writing my own lyrics is a great way for me to channel personal emotions and feelings and I hope that by doing this it will resonate with other people and maybe inspire them to feel that they are not alone in this world. We all have to go through moments of pain and we need to find copying mechanisms, tactics to deal with those moments of self-doubt and depression in better ways. For me doing sports, cycling, spending time in nature as well as being with my friends and family helps me with recharging my batteries.
How do you approach collaborations with other artists, such as Hayla and Sarah de Warren?
Each collaborations can be very different. Some of them start with an idea for a song that is already pre-written and that I add my own personality to, or I might ask someone else to add their own magical touch to an idea of my own. The whole process is done via the internet by sending each other files and ideas or working together in the studio. In the cases of collaborating with Hayla and Sarah de Warren, I had pre-written ideas for songs that I wanted specific type of voices to feature on.
We worked together in the studio recording various different takes until I felt happy with the results.
Both Hayla and Sarah also had some cool ideas for extra takes that we experimented with.
For me as a Producer, it is a pleasure to be working with singers who are keen to experiment with new ideas and like to suggest ideas of their own as well. Sometimes they might hear or think of something I would have never thought of, and often this can add that extra bit of magic that will make that track special.
What challenges have you faced in your career, and how have they influenced your artistic development?
Throughout my development as a blossoming Music Producer and Artist, I guess that my main challenge has always been to find my own voice and a sense of direction when it comes to creating the original “Canguru sound” that I can identify with. I guess it is easy to fall in the trap of comparing ourselves to others, but essentially, my ultimate goal as an artist is to try and be as unique as possible. A big part of the beauty of being an artist is for me the process of constantly learning and trying to stand out from the crowd by producing something somewhat different and original to some extend.
Another major challenge for me has been to work often alone in my studio for long hours. I realise that one can’t do it all alone though. We all need friends around us to support each other through the constant rollercoaster of ups and downs. And making music with friends is so much more fun than alone anyway! Collaborating with other artists and Producers is an important part of my development and it helps me getting better at conveying a powerful message through my art form within a creative community.
Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations for your music career?
Producing more new music, more collaborations, booking concert and tours, as well as, finding a publishing deal.
I have an Alt-Hip-Hop album that I have written over the lockdown period that I plan to release at some point soon as well. I am also currently collaborating with a good friend of mine in Belgium on Producing new songs and look forward to more collaborations with other Artists/Music Producers as well.
We thank Canguru for his time sharing an insider’s look into his background and career so far, as he promises more powerful productions and projects on the way, it is clear that this Producer has no plans to slow down, so make sure to follow him across social media to remain updated on his latest news.
Canguru Online
