Tokyo freeform bass duo HERBALISTEK have executed a nearly flawless year of evolution, first radiating their creative prominence with the release of ‘Laced,’ which was followed closely in-tow with superb experimental renditions of HEKLER & Gladez ‘404’ and the ATLiens ‘Exile,’ which truly set their trajectory in motion.
Imparting a subtle deviation in cadence in the recently unleashed ‘Ominous,’ the duo assured that the future chapter for HERBALISTEK would present both components of familiarity as well as aspects that are indicative of their ever-evolving style. Following suit on that mentality, ‘Consciousness’ depicts a self-captained journey deep within the human mind, in which the duo utilizes a distorted vocal dialogue as a primary catalyst for thought and a rigid foundation to an otherwise spatial and experimental soundscape.
It was an immense pleasure to catch up with HERBALISTEK in anticipation of their latest release, in which we were able to gain a more in-depth understanding of the new direction of the duo, the creative process of selecting and preparing vocals, and a brief taste of why ‘Consciousness’ is one of their proudest releases to date.
Be sure to check out the full interview and latest track from HERBALISTEK below, and don’t forget to grab your free download of ‘Consciousness’ here!
‘Consciousness’ does an outstanding job of providing certain aspects of similarity to previous releases, while the overall flow and cadence are completely genuine and authentic. In what ways is this track positioned to pay respect to your past works, and in what ways is this indicative of your future direction as a duo?
As always we like to keep the listener’s attention throughout the track and pull them into our world. This track means a lot to us because it’s one where we felt we were really able to create a unique world that draws in the listener’s attention through a narrative, one that speaks to us. In this way, we tried to keep our usual groove and flow but wanted to add more elements to give the track its own uniqueness and distinct atmosphere.
As we stated in our previous release, our releases from here on out will focus more on danceability and movement while also emphasizing sound design and atmosphere. This track means a lot to us because it embodies both of those elements!
What did the process look like for selecting the right sample to fit within your vision for the track, as well as the post-processing to ensure the style was cohesively aligned with the other supporting elements?
I actually started making this track because I was inspired by the original sample. The speech itself speaks about the mind and how consciousness works. The content and meaning of the speech itself inspired me to get right to work after I heard it. By trying out different parts of the sample and moving around different synths and drums according to the sample we were able to create a track that completely revolves around the sample itself. We feel the sounds in the song represent the message of the dialogue itself as well, something that we wanted to keep in mind when making the track.
For what reason would you two consider this to be one of your proudest releases thus far?
This is one of our favorite tracks we made because we had fun with it. Creating a track around a certain story, or narrative was challenging but this is why we tried to make each sequence make sense. Basically this track marks step forward for our music-making process, while also keeping our original style intact.
