Smiling Dog: A RIP Swirl Video Premiere

December 16, 2021

Berlin based multidisciplinary artist, Luka Seifert, aka RIP Swirl, has released the music video to his single “Smiling Dog,” today. His analog techniques are reflected in his metallic sound. Dreamy electronica and psychedelic shoegaze are some descriptors that come to mind. “Smiling Dog” has a deep and low guitar track running through it, acting as a bass line, and artist Clayjay’s sweet vocals dripping across it. Between the two ends of the spectrum, there is a waterfall of strumming and fingerpicking.

Seifert is an experienced producer, mixer, and musician, whose debut album, Blurry, is being released in February 2022. The Hamburg born-and-raised artist went into the making of this album with no preconceptions or specific goals, meaning whatever shape it came to take happened purely because he was more focused on the process than the outcome.

Although he has made a great deal of electronic music that could be played in clubs or DJ sets, being someone who lives in Berlin and is involved in the club and dance scene there, he values live instruments and tangible musical artifacts, like tapes and 4-tracks. The sound of the tape rewinding and fast forwarding can be heard in some of the songs on the project.

Interview by Willa Rudolph
Press photogrpahy by Steffen Grapp
Album cover by Iga Drobisz

“Smiling Dog”’s video, featuring RIP Swirl playing his guitar in a corner bar in his neighborhood in Berlin and a “grandpa” lip syncing Clayjay’s part, is a perfect representation of Seifert’s playfulness and sense of humor. He recorded half of the drums on the project with his iPhone on a childhood drum set (which is really more like half of a drum set). “Smiling Dog” and single, “Blurry”, released last month, are a great peek into the ambient universe he creates. You can imagine walking through a cold city by yourself, these songs blasting in your headphones, the rhythm falling under every step.

Blurry doesn’t have a particular theme, but instead captures textural sounds that flow from the artist’s head. The accidental nature of many of the songs’ idiosyncrasies create unpretentious and unforced sounds that swell, ooze, and pop around your brain. Among other things, Seifert drew inspiration from movies and their soundtracks such as Lost in Translation, Trainspotting, Dazed and Confused, and Harmony Korine’s movies. Recorded in Kreuzberg, Berlin, the cassette project shows Seifert’s dedication and conviction when it comes to his art; you can hear it in the attention to detail, the many layered textures, and the commitment to making something authentic to him.

Until the album comes out in February 2022, please enjoy our conversation with RIP Swirl and the “Smiling Dog” video below!

Where are you from?

I’m originally from Hamburg, so not that far away from Berlin. I lived there, went to school and studied there, and after university I moved to Berlin as soon as I was done.

How did your music taste develop? How was it influenced by where you’re from and then your move to Berlin?

I guess music taste wise, one thing that had an impact when it comes to Hamburg is that people are not necessarily the most open, I would say. People are quite reserved. So, I feel like in school everyone kind of had a more broad music taste. It wasn’t a typical high school music experience like you would imagine where you have all those different groups of people listening to different stuff. I had to find something myself that I identified with, and at that time it was harder rock and metal. That was something I felt quite strongly about and got into quite early. I guess that was also the reason I went to pick up a guitar. Especially with the internet, I could find a community to be a part of. After, I realized there were a couple people at school that were listening to the same music and made friends that way.

When was it that you started making music?

I think I played piano since I was, like, 6. I was pushed by my parents because they realized I have a good ear and musical ability. I was not really enjoying it too much because it was quite a hassle learning and practicing. My teachers were really unhappy with me. It didn’t really fit the music I was listening to. I think I was, like 12 or 13 when I picked up the guitar. The first instrument I chose myself. I got straight into making music. Got my first guitar, didn’t know how to play but figured something out. I had a friend and we decided I’m going to start guitar, he’s going to start drums, so we can cover some songs and stuff. He didn’t have a drum kit yet so we just took stuff from around the house to bang on. Recorded on this ancient Nokia phone.

So you played in bands growing up?

Exactly. Played in bands, but there was nothing ever really serious. Started with covering stuff and eventually wrote our own songs. There was one metal band I played in that we took a bit more seriously, but especially towards the end of highschool, it was kind of clear that everyone was more serious about going to university in other cities and that’s how it stopped. I realized I was the only one who was thinking about taking it seriously at some point.

How would you describe your sound, specifically in your debut album, Blurry?

Up to the album, I always had a concept for what I was doing. Whether it was moving to Berlin and trying to make something a bit more electronic and something I could play in DJ sets, I always had some kind of purpose. And with the album, for the first time, I was just trying to see what happens and not have any idea of what exactly I wanted to do. It’s still a mixture of electronic stuff, some grungy stuff, and to me it has quite a shoegaze influence when I listen to it. I don’t know if that’s obvious.

I think I got that, and a little ambient.

Definitely.

Can you describe the making of your debut album?

It was the beginning of the pandemic, maybe a little bit earlier. I was already starting to incorporate guitar stuff again like the last two EP’s, which were a bit more electronic. It would be cool if I could still play them in a club context. I also enjoy DJing but I know at some point I want to go back to just doing guitar stuff and what I come from. Then the pandemic happened, and it felt like the perfect moment to do it because there weren’t any DJ bookings anyway. Reflecting, I realize as much as I enjoy, even DJing some festival in front of however many people, would not be as enjoyable to me as doing something live in front of just a bunch of people. It will always be more exciting to me to do guitar stuff and live stuff. Not just playing songs. With the pandemic, I decided, no gigs anyways, might as well do it now. I started working on new music and wasn’t quite sure what I was going for, but realized with certain textures that made me think it would be album material. Not necessarily consciously, but listening back, there was always a certain texture or certain sound that made me finish that song or idea rather than a more classical songwriting sense, chords, rhythm, etc.

What do you mean by texture exactly? What does that mean to you in terms of music?

I guess it’s something about sound that I can’t fully grasp. Especially since I also mix, I feel like every other part of music is easier to describe than this textural, kind of, magic.

A little abstract?

Exactly. It kind of always happens when recording something on tape, fucking around with it, and sometimes something happens. It’s not something I can control.

How does Blurry differ from your previous projects?

It has more drums and stuff like that, which some I just did in my DAW and did electronically to make them sound like real drums, but I also played real drums which I didn’t do before. I spent during the pandemic some time at my parents place where I have my childhood room and a kids’ drum set. It’s not even a full drum set, it’s half a drum set for children. For example, “Smiling Dog,” those are the drums. Just recording crappy drums with my iPhone and editing them and playing around with them until they sound like big drums. It was very much more experimental in terms of making it because of the fact that I had no idea what I was going for. The main part is trying to incorporate more real instruments That definitely comes through in the sound. What’s your favorite song of the project, and why? I think “GUts.” I really like that one. It’s a good example for this thing that’s so difficult to describe or grasp, the reverse guitar in there. This guitar effect I have and it was my first guitar pedal, this delay pedal and has a reverse setting, but it’s super delayed, because it needs to be reversed first. So everything you play comes out really differently, timing wise. I made this song and played this reverse guitar melody over it, and it was really not in time. I wasn’t sure how it would even come out, but I just played through the entire song, and it somehow really fit it, although it was kind of an accident. I was expecting to cut little pieces up, but it somehow really worked well. It’s almost like a voice because of that.

So much of the making of Blurry was you experimenting and trying different things, and it’s really cool that it became something that speaks for itself and is complete on its own.

That’s nice to hear. This experimenting is the place where I can switch my head off and not think about anything. Often when I do other music stuff, whether its producing for other artists or doing some fashion stuff, I always have some idea of what it’s supposed to be. With my own stuff, I can come back and have a blank piece of paper, basically, and kind of meditate on it. I don’t have that many other hobbies.

I saw you’re a skateboarder as well, and I was wondering if that influenced your music taste at all?

It definitely did. As a teenager, for sure. That was my main source of music. There was MTV and stuff, but I wasn’t allowed to constantly watch MTV. With skate videos, the soundtracks and visuals together had quite a big impact on me. It was also a way to easily explore those different genres because I didn’t know about blogs and maybe at some point would order CD’s from England. There weren’t many places for me to find music besides skate videos. I’m actually not really a skateboarder anymore. I rarely properly skate anymore these days. But I used to skate a lot as a teenager. Broke my arm three times and got kind of sick of not being able to play guitar every time that happened.

What are some musical influences of yours?

I love Dinosaur Jr. That’s one of the first bands I discovered. Always absolutely love My Bloody Valentine. That band is the perfect example of this kind of “texture” thing. One chord for three minutes, but the textures are so mesmerizing. Definitely a huge influence. One of my favorite bands is definitely Black Sabbath. Still listen to them every other day. I really love Duster. If I had to name one band, that’s probably the band that influenced me the most, in recent years. I keep going back to them and feeling like that hits exactly the spot for me.

How has the reception of your first single been, “Blurry,” released Nov 17th? What was it like releasing the first taste?

It was really cool, actually. I was very excited to post it and to share it and show the new direction. I was really enjoying it. I was nervous, of course, also. With streaming services these days, it’s always good if you fit in some certain category. All the alt stuff, electronic playlists, you think about whether they’re gonna get that, maybe you’re stuff’s difficult to put into a genre. I also don’t care too much. I was really feeling good about it, though!

Tell me about your second single, “Smiling Dog” with Clayjay.

We released the song last week, and the video today. The video is pretty basic. I wanted some sort of performance in the video. Since Clayjay’s in the U.S. it was difficult to get together, and it didn’t sound too great. We were thinking what else we could do, and we found this really cool looking grandpa. I filmed it in my favorite corner pub here in Berlin, playing the song on guitar, and he’s singing Clayjay’s part.

If you weren’t making music what would you be doing?

I studied economics, which was horrible, but I wouldn't know what else to do, so I would probably do that. I’d feel pretty bad about it, I think.

What’s it like recording on cassette?

I have a 4-track tape deck. I can record 4 tracks at the same time if I want to, or one at a time. I just take a tape that usually has some other shit on it and just override it. Record some stuff on it. What’s so nice with tape, as soon as you drive tape a little hotter, put a little more signal into it, it starts to distort in a really nice way, that you can’t, in my opinion, recreate in your DAW or whatever. Tape decks have varied speed so you can pitch things down or up in a much more natural way than it sounds in the computer. It’s nice to have an actual tape afterwards so you feel like you actually achieved something.

Big fan of tangible objects over computer files.

It’s also nice to switch the laptop off.

Your press release states your evoking the ambience of “Lost in Translation.” I really love that movie, and I was wondering if that’s something someone else said, or if those are your words.

I think I was talking to Linda, who does PR, and I was telling her that it's one of my favorite movies. To her, it was fitting. It’s not only the movie, it’s the music as well. The soundtrack is one of my favorite soundtracks ever.

Yeah, I was gonna say, It’s an amazing soundtrack. And I do think your music does somehow evoke the ambience, and also just the sense of loneliness and observation from the outside of something.

That’s really nice, I’m really happy it comes across that way.

What does RIP Swirl mean?

I wanted some kind of moniker to kind of detach the music from myself in some way. Like to have it less connected to me as a person, making it easier for the listener to take the music and interpret it their own way, especially with a name that doesn’t really mean anything. I kind of like my music to not have too much background or story so you can just paste it onto your own life. I’d rather have it just be a feeling, you know? There’s this TV show called the Larry Sanders show, which I really love, and my favorite character Artie is played by Rip Torn. Which I thought is a really cool name, and I also kind of like how it sounds a bit dark. So, I just took his first name, and I’m not even sure where I got the swirl from, but in retrospect, I feel like maybe it’s just me swirling all the different genres together!

Music

office x Apple Music: SAUSHA

December 17, 2024

Our second mix with Apple music is brought to you by the one and only Sausha de la Ossa. Born in Colombia and raised in Miami before making her way to the Big Apple, Sausha has made an indelible mark on New York’s underground nightlife scene.

From taking office along her recovery from surgery for issue 14 to chatting with fellow DJ Memphy for issue 21, Sausha has a special place in our hearts — and so does her cheekily-titled set “Freak Hoe Seminar.”

Bringing you nearly two hours of Sausha’s signature gritty techno and sexy Latin club influences, “Freak Hoe Seminar” is guaranteed to teach you a thing or two about a thing or two. Stream the mix below, exclusively on Apple Music.

Image courtesy of Sausha de la Ossa
Graphic Design/Art Direction by W-E Studio, Claudine Eriksson and Piera Wolf
Graphic Design by W-E Studio, Hannah Nathans
Digital Production by Brook Aster Studios

Music

Real as Can Be with Cooper B. Handy

December 16, 2024

Since 2009, Cooper B. Handy has been releasing music as LUCY, a project that feels more like an experiment than a static identity. Along the way, he’s formed and collaborated on a multitude of other ventures, deviating wildly from any one genre: Club Casualties, The Taxidermists, and Safe Mind. The most incredible work flows out of him at an amazing rate, and not without a throughline: his ability to instill his spirit into melodies that stick with you, lingering in the quiet moments, like a tune you hum absentmindedly but can’t quite shake.

I caught up with the long-standing DIY enigma and Cape Cod native over the phone the day before his latest record’s release to talk Vol. 9, his many collaborations, discovering melodies in unexpected places, and naturally, digging holes.

Interview Sofia Castillo
Photography Guy Kozak

A lot of words come to mind when I think of his music—boundless, relentless, choppy, alluring, profound—all of them reminiscent of the ocean. It’s an apt comparison for Vol. 9, his latest record, which opens with Strange As Can Be. On it, he sings about a tale as old as time: conflicting desires. He begins with a reference to Adam and Eve, and follows it with the lines: “Try to be wholesome/We all have different ideas/We have different ideas/Of what it means to be wholesome.” That’s the magic of Lucy. He’s totally out there, and as real as can be. He paves his way charming together aphorisms, cautionary tales, and flashes of wry wisdom, all delivered with a disarming ease. They’re the kind of tracks that have me zoomed in on Bandcamp lyrics, or rapping over a Titanic sample he’s tweaked out. It’s liberating, you should try it. There’s a lot of laughter here, but not the ironic kind. It’s the kind born of genuine awe, of being hit over the head with something at once familiar and wholly unexpected. I recommend getting battered.

So, it's been almost a decade since Vol. 1 came out.

Yeah, pretty much.

Very exciting. Congrats on Vol. 9.

The first single you released is called 2nd Wind. Does that have anything to do with the decade mark?

Thank you. I don't know. I hadn't really thought about that. (Laughs) Yeah, I think that can be thought of like that for sure.

You're from Massachusetts, right?

Yeah, I grew up on Cape Cod, so I’m definitely around the ocean a lot.

Can you sail?

I actually could not sail. I went out sailing one time. I had some friends in high school who were instructors for a kid's sailing camp, so we had access to the boats and took one out. But aside from that, I wasn't really in a sailing family.

Do you like the ocean?

Yeah, yeah. Totally.

How do you think your Vol. albums delineate from the other projects you’ve released?

I think it's almost just a way of naming them without putting too much emphasis on one idea or something. I feel like most of the projects that I've put out solo are these volumes. I've made a bunch of other records with other people that are called different things and I've put out a few projects that are called other things, but most of my releases have been these nine volume albums. And I feel like it's mostly just an easy way for people to know what order they're in.

Do you like to go back and listen to them? You have a massive body of work out.

Yeah, I feel like I do. Every now and then there'll be certain projects I kind of forget about for a while. It's hard for me to listen back to music I made a really long time ago, like from when I was in high school. It sort of cringes me out. But with the Lucy project, I still like how it sounds. I don't feel cringed out listening to stuff from 10 years ago, which is good. I'm glad that I feel like that because I think that means I'm doing something right.

Can you pinpoint the cringe?

When I listen back to stuff that isn't even out, stuff from when I was, I dunno, 14, 15, 16… Obviously no one knows really what they're talking about at that point.(laughs) I definitely listened back to music I was making in high school and I'm like, ‘why was I talking about this stuff?’ Also, I think I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to sound like and it's hard to listen to that process.

Would you say you're a nostalgic person?

Yeah, for sure. But not in a way where I want to relive the past or something.

[Laughs] Right. Do you have any particular artists you’re listening to or are there any other mediums that inspire you at this moment?

I don't know. Not really. I sort of feel like there was a bunch of music I listened to when I was, I don't know, in between 10 and 16 that sort of still feels influential. I'm always influenced by new things, but I don't really listen to as much music as I should. I'm working on music all the time, so I'm listening to all these different things I'm making. I used to listen to music with headphones, but I’ve overdone it a little bit [laughs]. I need to listen to less music or something.

I recently lost my headphones and just let that be a catalyst for me listening to not nearly as much music as usual. I miss it, but it’s nice to actively listen to your surroundings sometimes. And if you're not really taking a ton of outside influences in, it’s easier to deeply connect to yourself as a source. The Lucy projects and a lot of your other collaborations feel very immediately recognizable to me as you.

Yeah, it's true. I feel like also things are- at least for me- things I hear when I'm out and about definitely play a big role in ideas of stuff I make and things I want to make. Even if I’m at the grocery store, a lot of times I get inspiration to either sample something that I hear in a store or by the self-checkout sounds and stuff. There's so many funny little melodic things around.

You love the store.

Yeah, there's definitely a lot to learn at the store.

Your sound is persistent, and self-assured. I love it just as much as when I first encountered the earlier volumes a few years ago. I’d like to know more about your approach to songwriting and if it’s morphed over time?

Thank you. Yeah, a lot of the time I'll have a melody or some ten second vocal melody. Sometimes it doesn’t have words, but most of the time it’s a phrase I’m singing to myself. I'll just make a voice memo and then go to the piano and see how I can make it work. Most of the stuff that's not sample based music that I make is pretty much all written on the piano. And then on this new record, there's definitely a handful of songs that have samples in them. Usually with those, I'll be making the beat before I have an idea for what the vocals will do. Making beats with samples has been a lot more fun for me in the past few years and it's good. But I sort of hope to move along from that after this record and have it be more of my own compositions, not just beats with clips of old songs or whatever.

So this is probably not the most evolved version of your sound so far?

Yeah, I wouldn't say that. I feel like I've been sitting on some of these songs. Some of the ones on this album are almost three years old, and then some that are four months old as well. So there's a bunch of new stuff and there's a bunch of stuff that feels really old to me. I think there's 17 songs on it, and usually I put six or seven songs on a project. It feels sort of mixed tape-ish to me. I'm just so used to it and I've been sitting on it for so long that it's hard for me to think of it as evolved or something. Friends who I showed it to seem to think it's more cohesive than I thought it was, so that's good.

I almost didn’t notice that there were 17 songs on it. I really like that it’s a 30 minute listen. And I agree with your friends, I wouldn't have guessed that you made them across different timelines. It’s a cohesive purge.

Yeah, totally. I feel like it'll be good to get it out and kind of move along.

You use a lot of aphorisms and story-book style language in your lyrics. It’s all very sincere. I really love it, and I think that might be why I've had such an affinity for it for so long too. At the end of the day, it's dealing with those things that never really go away, take as old as time.

Yeah, thank you. That is what I'm always going for. I feel like there's never going to be a shortage of content about those kinds of topics.

Were you in love when you wrote a lot of these songs?

[Laughs] Yeah.

Yeah.

Probably, probably all of 'em in different ways. I don't know. I feel like I try to infuse the music with that. When I think of the songs on there, I feel like you can hear that energy in the happier songs. Then there's a bunch of sad songs, or songs that sound sad- to me. And I don't think I'm showing an in-love side on those, but I don't know. That's kind of a tricky question.

I hear that. It’s not that you’re specifically singing about love, but the melodies on a lot of your tracks kind of lift my heart in that certain type of way. It’s all clearly involved, and there’s humor in it. It puts me in this perfect mood, that comes with good communication. Even the sadder songs.

Alright- Easier question. What are you working on right now?

I guess things are feeling a little bit more chill right now than they’ve been, just because I think I have three projects finished. I have this solo record coming out, and then I have a record with the Taxidermist band that's done and going to come out in March. And this Safe Mind project record that’s also going to come out. So right now everything's lined up and I'm just sort of waiting.

And we wait.

Yeah, I'm excited to start on a new batch of music and try to…I don’t know. I feel like I need to be learning more than I'm learning right now. I want to take the next bunch of months to try to maybe learn something.

What do you want to learn?

I'm not quite sure. I want to learn some new skills. I should be reading more.

For some reason I assumed you read a lot.

I really don't. Honestly, I really enjoy it when I’m into it, but getting to that point isn’t always easy for me.

Right, makes sense. You’re working on a ton of music projects.

I mean, I'm definitely trying to continue to focus on music as much as I do now. I'm just in a position where everything's about to be a clean slate, it’s been a while since I’ve not had files that I keep going back to.

Do you like being outside?

I like being outside, yeah. I walk a ton.

Do you have a favorite walk you do?

There's this range in Western Mass called the Holyoke Range. There’s a bunch of different mountains, and I sort of bounce between a lot of them. I go hiking almost every day, and a lot of the hikes out there only take an hour or two. I feel like that's as consistent as music for me for my life in Massachusetts. I spend a lot of time outside.

Do you have a typical “day in the life” right now?

It's always different. I feel like I'm really bouncing around. I'm in New York now and I'm going to go back to Massachusetts, and then I have another show in New York on the 10th.

Oh really?

With another project, Club Casualties. It’s me and my friend Nick Atkinson. He's completely off grid. Never was on social media or smartphone or anything. And he's a producer, but he's on the mega outskirts of the scenes. We're opening for that group Kassie Krut. Then a couple days later, I’m coming back to New York to do another show with the Safe Mind project.

Lots of movement. Have you ever made a time capsule?

Yeah. When I was a kid, I did one.

What did you put in it?

I put my school picture and some little Legos or something. I just put a bunch of toys that I liked. At the time, it was in a peanut butter jar. I think it had one of those wallet size school pictures, and I don't know what else was in it. I feel like I put some little notes, but I dug a really deep hole because I was obsessed with that book Holes.

Legendary book.

Yeah. My dad was like, you can dig a hole in the yard if you want to. I really wanted to, and I wanted to make it the same depth as the ones in the book, which were, I think they were six by six foot holes. So I was out there with my neighbor digging for weeks, and then it was deeper than my head, and then I buried the capsule in there.

I'm obsessed with that. That's so cool.

Yeah. It was before the movie came out, but the trailer was out, and I think I was like, this looks really cool. But the book was a big inspo.

What would you put in a time capsule now?

Probably some, probably like a flash drive. I don't know. It's hard to know. I feel like lots of stuff is going to be obsolete, so it's sort of hard to know what would be good to leave in there.

Yeah, that's true.

[Laughs] But maybe a more contemporary school picture.

Sweet.