Coffee Break with SPHR
SPHR (pronounced ‘sphere’) is the intercontinental live duo project of Berlin-based DJ & producer Ornery, and Eora/Sydney-based live performer Burnside.
First of all, when was your first introduction to dance music and when did you decide to become dance music producers? (each of you separately)
Ornery: it all originated from DJing (and clubs!) for me. Discovering music and who was behind it, putting it together, creating that unique, unrepeatable moment, is something that fascinated me immensely, almost a “love-at-first-sight” kind of thing. From there, I want to say I almost naturally evolved into a producer. I think that my interest in technology, and today’s tools in general, definitely helped with that as I am completely self-taught, having no musical background or training. I like to discover things, and learn by doing. I believe it all ties together, somehow.
Burnside: my journey as a musician has been kind of nomadic - I've moved around a lot, and in every city I seem to get involved in a different scene: starting as a guitarist in metal bands in my hometown Adelaide, then a synth player in indie electro acts in Sydney, to producing melodic house in the hills of Tuscany, and finally moving to Berlin, getting bitten by the techno bug and becoming a live modular synth performer. Alongside that I’ve always been producing a little, and I’ve gotten much deeper into it the last few years, but my approach to music has always been live performance first.
How did you guys meet, and how did this collaboration between the 2 of you begin?
Ornery: we met virtually at first, while we were both being mentored by legendary booking agent Alma Ernst (shout-out to Alma!). After that, we decided to meet in person at each other’s studios here in Berlin, just to hang out and jam a little bit: we were lucky to find a musical connection almost immediately! Personally, I was interested in exploring the live set concept (especially how to structure and perform a set) for quite some time, and since Burnside is really rooted in that world, I saw it as an amazing opportunity to grow and learn directly from someone, which is always a great thing.
Burnside: From my side, once we met I was really excited to learn about Ornery’s production workflow in the studio. So SPHR really started as us showing each other our tips and tricks for production and performance, and grew organically from there. A few months after we started collaborating I moved back to Sydney, and so we needed to find a way to keep the project going as both a live and studio entity across two hemispheres, which inspired the name ‘SPHR’.
What does your routine look like in the studio? (Who is usually in charge of what?)
Burnside: All of our studio tracks have their genesis in live improvisation: we’ve recorded a lot of jam sessions together, which has given us a long backlog of ideas. Whenever we start a new track we listen back to find something that inspires us: it could be a loop, or even just a riff or melody that plants the seed of a whole new track. As an example, the other week we found an old recording of us messing around with different synths at Superbooth last year, and we were amazed at the number of interesting ideas and loops we were able to take from it, honestly there's enough material in there for a whole EP!
Ornery: Regarding roles, we definitely played to our strengths here: as a “classic” DJ/Producer I’m always trying to take the lead as far as arranging, mixing and mastering, and more generally having a vision for what the piece of music we’re creating could sound like at the end. Burnside, instead, brings the musical performance and improvisation aspect to the session. But, I have to admit, the longer we've been working together, the longer these lines blurry sometimes, and we like to play each other’s role, at least in the studio.
Please tell us about the process to create your live sets.
Burnside: We've been through many versions of our setup, but once we knew we'd have to work internationally we wanted two versions: one 'simple' setup where everything can be performed by one person individually, then a more complex and interesting one when we play as a duo that's more open to collaboration and improvisation.
In the duo setup we thought a lot about how we divide things up, and again in this we played to our strengths: Ornery plays the role of arranger and producer, arranging loops of the stems from our produced tracks, and controlling the overall mix and effects. While I will be more of an improviser and musician, playing lead lines and improvised melodies on top of the tracks.
Ornery: our main vision, right from the start, was to create a set that revolved around standalone instruments, whether they’d be sequencers, synths, or a combination of both; and don’t have laptops involved. Nothing against laptops on stage though! :)
What we wanted was to build something that was as “performative” as we could, within the limits of the machines. Our choices were Native Instruments Maschine+ and Ableton Push 3, which we were already using in different forms, plus some hardware synths like the Roland S1, the Moog Minitaur, and recently the Novation Peak. We've had several evolutions of the setup, but eventually landed on the gear that's best for our roles: Push and Xone:K2 controllers are controlled by myself for arranging, mixing and effects; Maschine+ and synthesizers are controlled by Burnside for performance and improvisation.
How would you describe your sound in 3 words?
Ornery: Epic, groovy, refined.
Burnside: Or to simplify, Bicep meets Âme :)
We just premiered an upcoming track of yours on Melodic Diggers, called "Dome And Light". What is the story behind this release?
Ornery: ‘Dome & Light’ started out as a live jam, and while it was interesting we were never really able to shape the initial idea into a whole track, so we forgot about it for a while. Last year we saw Bicep together at Sonar, which was incredible as they’re a big inspiration for how we approach our live set. Soon afterwards we rediscovered the original demo, and on another listen it gave us strong Bicep vibes, which inspired us to find a way to finish it.
Burnside: But it needed a different approach, so Ornery took just the chord progression from the demo and reshaped the whole thing into this incredible arrangement, which inspired a whole new direction. We improvised some new melodies over the top, and very quickly everything clicked into place as a finished track.
Ornery: We’re always writing down abstract track titles, and after seeing Bicep last year we wrote down the words ‘Dome & Light’, inspired by the visual component of their live show. Since that experience helped us rediscover this track and inspired the final version, the name just seemed to fit.
What gear or digital tools did you use to create the track?
Ornery: the original sketch was all done in Maschine+ standalone, I believe, stock sounds and instruments. As mentioned before, I absolutely fell in love with the main chord progression, and tried to give it a true shape and arrangement. After that, we started adding a few layers of sounds coming from our favorite software synths like u-he Diva and Slate & Ash Cycles, a (not so secret) weapon for weird and interesting textures.
Burnside: After adding the new layers, to add a bit more life to the track we re-recorded the original sketch using a lot of hardware synths: the main chords were the Roland S1 (the best synth ever to come in such a tiny box!), the bass was a Pro-800 and most of the other melodic elements came from my modular synth.
Are you working on exciting projects for the rest of 2024?
Ornery: As SPHR we've got a lot coming up! Dome & Light is off our 3rd EP released this year, and we already have another in the pipeline coming soon, with more material from our live set. Once that is out, we'll also be releasing a full recording of our live set. After spending the summer in Berlin, Burnside will be going back to Australia for a while, so right now we're focused on finishing more work-in-progress tracks, as well as recording some new jam sessions to feed our next releases.
Burnside: As a solo artist, I've just released a solo EP on Ornery’s label Daydreaming, and launched it at a performance in Berlin. Once I'm back in Sydney I'll be looking at playing some more shows there, as well as starting a live techno jam night to try and get more people into live performance: while Sydney has a growing techno scene, live performance is pretty non-existent.
Ornery: As a solo artist myself, I have a few remixes scheduled to release, both on mine and several other labels, a couple of interesting collaborations that are waiting to be signed, plus I’m working on my own solo live set (a simplified version of the SPHR one!), composed of new and old material. Besides that, I’ll be continuing to develop the label, possibly putting together a showcase, and obviously always working on a lot of new music.
What are the clubs or festivals where you would love to play your live set?
Burnside: Watergate is where I really fell in love with melodic house / techno, and so for me playing there would be the ideal club for this project
Ornery: In Berlin, Watergate definitely. Always great vibes! Outside, I would say Space Miami. Festival: Awakenings.
Last but not least: how do you like your coffee? // OR // Coffee or tea?
Burnside: I'm a total caffeine addict - I'll have a flat white 4-5 times a day!
Ornery: I definitely like a nice cup of tea as a change, but overall I’m a coffee guy as well. I’ll throw in an espresso shot here and there, but regular filter black is the way to go for me! Also, cold brew for the summer time is a must.
“Dome & Light” was released on September 6, 2024.
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