IIITAIII

Multi -instrumentalist, songwriter and a modular-synth artist based in Upstate New York. He performs his music live on an analog Eurorack synth, and layers it with vocals.

Oxyjen: Modular Synth Love Song

Could you introduce yourself to our audiences?

I’m a modular synth artist from Upstate New York. I’ve been building and composing with my modular Eurorack setup since 2017 and taking an experimentation-inspired approach but song-oriented. I am a songwriter and singer, so I treat the modular synth as a live instrument rather than a production tool.

What do you love (or prefer) about modular?

Modular, for me, is a way to create a soundscape that is unique to me. I think that while music software and apps have democratized music production (in an excellent way), the side-effect is that everything starts sounding similar. It becomes really hard to create something unique. Modular synth enables me to remove myself from the screen, have an individual sound, and have endless experimentation and inspiration to create and make music. And probably most of all, I like that it can be played as an instrument, live.

What are your favorite modules for performing?

I enjoy the ‘anything can happen’ aspect of live modular performances. Someone once equated it to ‘riding a blind tiger’ because there is only so much I can control. It’s a balance between a structured approach and the unpredictable nature of modular. And for me, it all comes down to sequencers. I use several sequencers when playing live, and I like them for different reasons. For my structured foundation, I like using the XOR NerdSeq - a tracker-type sequencer that allows me to create parts and easily jump between them.

It also plays well with the MakeNoise Rene V2, which is much harder to control live but allows the machine to ‘breathe’. The sound sources are almost interchangeable, and I can keep experimenting with them as I evolve my rig.

Describe your ultimate venue ?

I imagine a dark - almost pitch black - underground basement with a powerful sound system, an immersive light installation that goes perfectly with the music, and no sense of space or time - all of which enables you to get lost in the frequencies. This is actually what I’ve been trying to build in my studio over the past year or so. I’ve been constructing giant DIY light boxes - the size of Marshall amp stacks - that are connected to my rig via CV gate signals. It allows me to create a digital stage where I’m left as a silhouette in a wall of sound and visuals.

Can you tell us about your new album and the event in Brooklyn, NY?

My upcoming album, Panic in Slow Motion, is an effort to combine live modular music with live punk rock instrumentation. I composed and recorded it over the past year with the help of producer Assaf Spector. The modular sounds, which everything else revolves around, were recorded live as a single performance and then overlaid with drums, guitars, and vocals. To me, the most incredible thing is that all of the tracks were influenced by the reaction of the modular community online. As I was working through the tracks, I would post snippets of them on Instagram and YouTube, which turned it into a dialog between music and audience, even if asynchronously. The album comes out on July 9th on all digital platforms, though it’s already available on vinyl through my Instagram page.

To celebrate the album release, I’ll be playing a live show on August 5th in Brooklyn at Gold Sounds Bar in Bushwick as part of a night organized by the New York Modular Society (NYMS). I’m going to try and bring my entire modular rig AND lighting setup, as well as play with a live drummer. What can go wrong, right?

More about IIITAIII : Instagram , Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp

IIITAIII's new album on Vinyl
Tickets for IIITAIII’s record release party on August 5th in Brooklyn, NY