BOTAZ

Until recently, twenty-one year old Botaz had never had any real musical training (he is now taking music theory classes and learning piano!). Before that, he was alone in teaching himself how to produce. Since beginning at sixteen, he has gone from playing around with drum beats to releasing a number of tunes and mixtapes entitled Prelude, and Muse. Ambient, melancholic, ethereal, chilled, the music undeniably reflects the Seaside producer whose internet fan base is growing as he continues to create and share smooth sounds and thrilling mash-ups. Though incomparable, if you like the XX, Crystal Castles, XXYYXX, or even MTV's Top 20, you'll like this guy.

How would you sum up your sound? 

I don't really know how to answer this. All I can really say is that my music is usually inspired by a specific memory, a moment, an experience, sometimes just an emotion I'm feeling at the time. My music is pretty nostalgic. I consider my tracks to be time capsules. They each contain a moment in them... kind of like a sonic photograph I guess.

What are you working on right now?

Right now I'm working on my third album. Its going to be my most personal work to date. It just deals with everything that I've gone through in the past year, and how much I've learned and grown from it in the process. Sonically, I come out of my shell a bit more too. I'm trying to be less afraid of trying new things in my songs. I hate to just go by that whole "lather, rinse and repeat" system. It gets old. When things begin to feel mechanical to me, I lose interest really quick.

Where do you hope you will be in five years time? 

Hopefully touring. That would be amazing. I really just want to travel and play tunes for people. That would be ideal. If not I hope I'd already be done with school and have a decent job. I'd still be doing music though. I don't think I could ever stop making tunes.

When you were at your lowest, what inspired you to continue? 

This past year has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me. After a certain point I kinda just realized that I'm the only one stopping myself from doing what I want to do, from being happy. So I kinda just said "fuck everything, I'm doing me right now." Thats where I'm at. I try to make sure that reflects in my music. I keep on making music because its the only time when I'm truly happy. It makes me feel alive and at peace.

And finally, has the internet freed young people or trapped them?

That's tough question... I myself feel trapped at times. We live in an era where if you don't have a Facebook, you might as well be dead. I deleted mine a long time ago, so I basically don't exist. But sometimes you'll get all emotional and feel like no one understands and it's kinda stupid to be honest. I feel like everyone goes through this at some point, where they just feel down and they don't really know why. It's normal. Some people just deal with it in different ways. I vent on tumblr sometimes. I don't really know if anyone cares, and i don't expect them to. It's just an outlet for me. But then is see the stupid things people say on twitter and stuff and i just lose complete faith in humanity. It makes me want to kill myself sometimes. It's really bad. I feel like to some extent the internet is cool... like I've met some really rad people through social networks. But I also feel like these networks are hindering our communications skills. Things get lost through text. Its hard to convey certain emotions, create emphasis on certain words, things like that. Also some people can put on a front on the internet, which in real life may make them seem like inauthentic people. Its strange too how the internet sometimes causes people to just say things they normally would never say out loud, like just this excuse to be outrageous. I see it on twitter more than anywhere. Thinking in 140 characters or less seems to be really fucking with us. People just need to be wise about how the communicate on the internet, and how their internet persona can reflect upon their real self. 

In Your Arms by botaz