This article is from the archives of MTHU as part of an on-going process of moving posts from there to here as the MTHU blog will be closing soon. Originally posted 06/30/2020
I’ve been following Afterdeath Television since late last year and when Pad asked me to make a list of 25 vaporwave tracks that were in my top, I had to add one of his. After I found out Afterdeath Television actually deleted that album, I had to interview him for more information — KITE0080
These days most people know you as Afterdeath Television but you’ve been releasing music for a while what other projects are out there?
Well, I have a huge ton of projects prior to Afterdeath Television, and some of them still exist today. My first project, MEGAジェネシス, was kind of a failure, so I started my first solid projects – RAINBOWビデオ (originally named ROYGBIVビデオ), thrifty identities, 新しいWINDOWSXP and destiny’s virtual dream.wav (three of those I deleted but got them back to life). I currently work on a group called Dreamcast™️ Station, which is like death’s dynamic shroud wanna-be. We even made a group on Discord for ourselves to share our tracks and ideas. Some recent projects like ウェーブＫＩＬＬＥＲॐ are mostly experimental and avant-garde, being a more uncanny-valley vibe, but still familiar. There was one time I gave up on vaporwave and started into oceangrunge as Prism Ocean, but it failed and now it’s a vaporwave project as well. Oh, almost forgot I have a sound collage/plunderphonics in-progress project called Purple Freak Circus, inspired by Negativland, Girl Talk and People Like Us.
Computer Wind was my first introduction to your music. You had a track called “In Your eyes” that feels so classic and pure to my ears. What was the inspiration behind it?
My inspiration at the time I made the track (along with the original album) was Infinity Frequencies. I wanted to do something like him, cause I like experimenting with new stuff. I kinda mixed Euphoria with the Computer trilogy. When I made “In Your Eyes”, I was fascinated with Nu.wav Hallucinations by Nmesh, so I decided to use the same sample from the track “Even Though I Tried (I Can’t Break Free)” but turned it into a lighter version of it, with a Luxury Elite touch (which I later applied in thrifty identities). And it worked.
You’ve started releasing remixes of some of the tracks but why did you delete the original album, Nostalgia?
I didn’t know that the project was getting some notice at the time and I thought the project wouldn’t go forward because it was a “copy” of Infinity Frequencies and something I just made for fun. It didn’t have the same passion as today, but I still acknowledge that it was kind of a new experience to me making that thing.
What was your first thought to see your track in Pad Chennington’s top 100 vaporwave tracks?
First I thought I wouldn’t appear on the list, because I’m kinda obscure and underground (lol). But then I started to watch it to see where it’d go, and I saw that a friend of mine, Matusa, was on the list. I was like, “Wait, how did he get there? He’s like a underground artist.” Then my friend Z.E.R.O pinged me and said, “Hey, you got featured there too! Congrats!” I was shocked, because I had never been on Pad’s video before. And on a list of the top 100 Vaporwave Tracks of ALL-TIME? I just couldn’t believe it. I thought I would appear as Afterdeath Television, cause it’s my main project nowadays. That’s good, because people can remember the classics but also check out new artists and support them.
Lately, you’ve been releasing music under Afterdeath Television, for people who are not familiar with you, what’s a track that everyone should listen to? (we’ll link it below your answer)
Well, if you want to get a dreampunk, chill vibe, I’d highly recommend “In The Night” from 蓮咲く夢の体, but if you want something darker but still ambient and calm, you can listen to “「永遠の夢」 Welcome to Channel Infinity” from チャンネル無限. These two are the first tracks of each album. You can check out the full albums, if you want to get the full experience.
Afterdeath Television’s album 蓮咲く夢の体 is one of my favorites! What was the inspiration behind this album?
I didn’t like my first album because it was a tryout on signalwave and it didn’t work, cause signalwave was claimed to be dead (and I wanted to make a part 2 of it, but failed). So I was advised to make it my own and add more ideas. I decided to change the whole thing to ambient. I got the inspiration for it from Telepath, 2814 and Remember, with the urban night vibes and dreampunk style. Then I added the concept of a “perpetual search for perfection and the city life at night”. And all made at home with an amateur laptop! After that, I just loved it and started doing more of that.
What’s your process of making music? What tools and how do you find samples?
I usually have a story/concept that it’s interesting to me or that I can bring it in a new way of seeing it, so I first (sometimes) write the idea down (usually on my phone), put names on tracks before I produce them and, while I’m producing, I try to achieve the storytelling and vibe through the samples so that people can understand the story/concept behind it and still get a nice experience. Recently I have been using Ableton, because it has features I like for my tracks, like warping, pitch-bending or speed-changing. Some samples I find on YouTube are music that I’m already familiar with, but I like picking obscure music, songs that express the things I want for the concepts or snippets from videos I think it’s cool to use in a different way (maybe YTPs). There are times that I even sample myself. Also I’m a Christian and Brazilian, so I like using Christian samples and things from my country.
What does 2020 look like for you?
I see 2020 as a game changer to me, cause it changed the way I saw the world, now that with the lockdown I have more time to reflect on life and think about things I never thought. Before that, I didn’t even care about the things that were happening around me. I hope that when this whole thing ends, I can learn new things from my experiences and even get a deeper connection with God. Also on vaporwave, I just hope that it goes on growing and that new people may get interested in the movement – despite the memes surrounding it – and maybe even become artists themselves, no matter if they’re young or old.
Anything else you want to let people know?
People should know that they can always try new things. Hear new artists, read new books, meet new people, watch new movies or series. Sometimes you just gotta get out of your comfort zone. Get into something that it’s considered weird, non-famous or not known to the mainstream. If you wanna do something, do the best of it. Make it the best thing of your life. There’s always somebody who’s gonna hate it, of course, but you must not feel down because of that. Not even Jesus pleased everyone. And finally: surely there will be times when you’ll fall – nobody’s perfect -, but you need to learn from your failures, get up from the ground and go on your way. As Kate Bush said, sampled in an Eccojam, “Don’t give up now, you know it’s never been easy.”
