1. First things first, how did you get into music?
VT: When I turned 1, I picked up the (toy) trumpet. Having no clue how to play one, I can only hope I was trying to challenge the definition of music. Or annoy conservatives.
FP: My real parents were faux Russian spies. They used a musical saw for professional reasons, but also they had an obscure musical saw duet. I loved the blood and guts of saw music and that aetherial organic sapiosexual vibes.
2. What's your earliest music related memory?
VT: Needing a cassette tape playing in order to fall asleep at night. Early kindergarden age. It was Elvis back then, John Cage's 4'33" just wasn't working for me.
FP: The birds concertos on our window sill. It was simply the best, better than all the rest, better than anyone, anyone I ever met. Except Bach.
3. Do you remember the first song you ever made?
VT: Define song. I do, either way. Not important, though, the latest ones are usually much better.
FP: A better question would be if we remember the last song we will ever make. But to answer your question, the first song I ever made was a remix or a famous Romanian pioneers song on my ZX Spectrum computer. Bleeps and blops, really. The beauty of 1bit doorbell like synthesis.
4. Name 3 massive influences of your sound and why, how they helped shape you.
VT: The first one was the electronic music: I understood there are no limits to sound design. Then it was IDM: there were no precise recipes, no "template" to start from. Third, I rediscovered the beauty and complexity of acoustic sounds, and how that can mingle with the electronic sound, to build what I'd love to hear most.
FP: First and most important was the world of Radiophonic Theatre: it convinced me that anything could be music and all sounds could come together: screams, manic laughters, horse neighs and orchestral strings could be mixed together in a fantastic and memorable aural dream. Second - the music in the Polish films of 60s and 70s: Preisner, Komeda, Kilar etc... Third - my discovery of granular synthesis and my personal experiments into this area. It made me understand that I could shape sound on atomic level. And that made me happy.
5. What does a usual day in your life look like?
VT: As a musician, I'm a hobbyist, so my "usual day" is probably beyond the topic of this interview. But thanks for asking. :)
FP: Waking up, coffee, Radio France Culture, yoga, working for THE MAN, 10 km stroll, documentary or film, sound experiments, 7-8 nighty nacht.
6. What was your most challenging moment as an artist?
VT: No idea. Maybe going on stage for the first time, being relatively shy and having absolutely no clue how to perform live a 100% computer sequenced music. But I got over that quickly.
FP: The moment when you experience 1st hand that nobody really gives a rat's ass about your creation. But I don’t blame ‘em. It is not easy to catch a rat, it is nothing intellectual about it.
