- Culture
- 24 May 21
The debut project by Maurice Anthony Moran is conceptually ambitious, aiming to highlight and tackle genre conventions in electro – notably including the use of vintage drum machines such as the Roland TR-808.
Berlin-based, multi-talented Irish producer Maurice Anthony Moran has dropped his first major project today on Bandcamp, a 7-track LP titled Life after Roland.
Having taken a keen interest in the technical side of music production, and how we utilise modern technologies, Moran began his journey as a DJ, before transitioning towards live performance.
While he had a long standing interest in music from a young age, Maurice confesses that it was never consciously aware that it is something he would want to do. However, Maurice emerged from what he describes as a dark period of his life through discovering the depth of his musical ambition.
Currently studying for a bachelors degree at Catalyst Berlin, Maurice Anthony Moran places a strong emphasis on technology and how it can be used to further develop electronic music.
Of the creation of his new album, Life after Roland, Maurice says: "I wanted to explore a wide variety of different styles within the drums and composition of the music, while creating overall continuity."
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To highlight the deep exploration, he chose to explore less orthodox ways of making drum sounds.
"The most consistently used method," he explains, "is the design of a basic set of drum sounds within Max/MSP, while physical modelling synthesis also features among others."
To accompany the release, Moran created what he calls two public 'displays': a live set of the album and an interview with an established artist within the scene, Icelandic producer Volruptus.
"The interview," he explains, "aims to open up to viewers on the workflow of Volruptus, while also gauging his opinion on topics I'm aiming to address, from a technical and a conceptual standpoint."
The live set emphasises how each track ties together, while also using technologies such as OSC to make audio reactive gestures within the music from Maurice’s phone sensors.
"The emphasis of the performance is within drums," he adds, "and all elements within the stream are reactive to the drums."
Life after Roland by Maurice Anthony Moran drops today on Bandcamp for just €10. Grab your copy here.
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Photo credit: Ruán McGuinness.