Noxw interviewed by WTC
IDM juggernaut Noxw explains her long running, leftfield project alongside her vision.
First of all, how did you get started making music? You seem to be putting out releases at a steady rate since around 2018, which is quite a fair bit of time now!
Good question; I started all the way in 2012 with software I found on the internet which was Magix Music Maker, and weirdly enough in Audacity on the basis because it was very intuitive. I do have a bulk of it uploaded and archived (although some stuff from 2014 is missing) but it's beyond not worth showing as there's no cohesion in these tracks whatsoever. At the time brostep was still prevalent and I got wrong ideas on how to make music since I was into it. But yeah, 2018 was when "modern" Noxw would start to form. It has indeed been a long time, and I don't really think I will stop putting out music consistently anytime soon. All of it goes towards better results and more opportunities, because every session is a personal sound design training.
Considering your prolificness in terms of releases, do you find it easy to get ideas for your tracks?
There's honestly a fruitful that haven't been done yet by anyone, or are yet to be explored. A lot of my tracks already have gimmicks in them but when I compile everything together to a release the theming just comes in naturally, so intuition for me is the way to go no matter the circumstance. Most of the time i let people try to think what my music means to them.
That being said; the concomitance of experimental music means you get to put lego pieces in slots you wouldn't expect them to fit. You can create new genres and sounds that haven't entered the common earhole yet that way, and shape them how you see fit. That's the spirit.
I see you've used tracker software, especially more obscure ones in order to make your music - do you feel your approach to making music fits far better in that system or is there another reason? What do you think is the appeal for you?
Ah yes... trackers are just so beautifully simple yet powerful. I'd say it bringing up the foundation sequencing makes production very streamlined. Ever since I discovered I could exploit them to great effect in 2019 I didn't hesitate to go back. My main tracker is OpenMPT due to its versatility but I also use Renoise and have used FamiTracker, the S3XMODIT group and others in the past (to hell with Imago Orpheus). Also, I recently acquired the Polyend Tracker!
DAWs, I'd say, are still important and have their role. I use a hybrid approach where I sequence in trackers and process sequences in FL Studio, the main DAW I use alongside Reaper, but I don't mind producing in DAWs alone.
Alongside your music you appear to co-run the labels Flea Market and Endless Surf Void Club - how did you get involved with these and what sort of stuff do you normally release on these labels? Do you tend to drop albums that have a specific theme or is it simply music you enjoy or find intriguing?
These two labels very pretty much a spur of the moment thing. I am not going to talk about what happened before Flea Market but it was formed out of necessity to release all sorts of experimental music and rebirth it using obsolete and gimmicky physical media. Endless Void Surf Club is the parent organisation which is a spiritual imprint. Flea Market is under it, but EVSC does more than music. It does public events, art, numerous music and non-music merchandise and has its own set of directions and pronunciamentos. these labels are more like training grounds than anything, I do completely different things in there - not sure how I would explain it but it's oftentimes less serious and more rough around the edges.
Speaking of, i also run Factory New Numbers which releases lathé cut records that has breakbeats in them. Label work is hard but I find it fun.
You seem to release your music on many forms of physical media but especially with outdated or obscure systems such as floppy disks and data CDs - why do you use these? What is the reason for your interest in them?
It is a part of my aesthetic. That is why a lot of my cover art employs these physical medias. Floppy disks especially have an incredibly limiting aspect of them holding up to 1.44 MB so it's perfect for lobit media. CDs are the best kind of "all-rounder" because it can hold a huge amount of data in them without sacrificing quality and they have this "industrial" look to them. Vinyl records are spinny 'tings (hah). I don't use cassettes but they are also kind of cool I guess, may use them in the future. So there's always an endearing gimmick about them.
What are the differences between your various projects under Noxw and also your real name, alongside the variety of groups you seem to be listed in on Discogs? Are they just for different types of genres or experimentation?
Noxw is my main project. I do more conventional IDM/glitch/whatever electronica under this alias, although I am really getting into techstep again. My brother introduced me to this genre a long time ago, I stopped listening to it and I came back to it somewhat recently. Getting back to my techstep roots is great because I have always loved the in-your-face cyberpunk aesthetic it offers... drum and bass just does it the best. I believe it has a strong connection with what I do. I am a bit careful with aliases and what I put out in general. Let's dissect my other aliases:
My real name alias offers a lot of throwaway content that I would not release anywhere, and really I don't care about the quality of stuff under my real name.
Zn (pronounced zine or zinc) is for extreme computer muZik. The DSP stuff. Think Alva Noto or Florian Hecker.
Unseq is also a group I run, which is pretty much just my own version of Gescom and has its own vibe. It's related to the tesseract collective which is what I run with my friend Lila with its own implied lore.
And that's it really.
You previously mentioned you organise public events and art through EVSC - are these like live performances or 'happenings' perhaps? There seems to be a strong Fluxus/Dada influence especially with the packaging of the physical media.
Yes. EVSC really is about freeing your mind and filtering out your inner biases and expectations. What we do under EVSC is making sure people are involved in the process; anyone can be an artist no matter what. It's the raw and emotional connection with art that I find to be deeply untapped in the general populace... and there is a case to be made that the Fluxus movement undermines a cornerstone for our free-thinking philosophy of EVSC. There is art in not caring.
What is the context for your primagen character that you use so heavily in your album covers and artwork in general? I've been curious to ask this as I've not seen many experimental musicians embrace this sort of thing, so it makes for an interesting change.
This cybernetic raptor is a metaphysical "me" in a sense. My music can get introspective and dark, and there are themes related to transformation and alienation. as I am trans, have autism, suffer from anxiety and depression, this character can oftentimes extrapolate my feelings towards this world. It's a healthy way of venting it out when I can. And it's also perfect for the aforementioned cyberpunk aesthetic and the genres I do. So, expectedly, it has become an integral part of Noxw.
Speaking of; the name is derived from latin nox (night) and "w" is pretty much my initial first name "V" being intertwined with my metaphysical self if that makes sense. so you can pronounce it as nox double u.
Thanks for all your fantastic answers - do you have any future plans or announcements, or any final words you'd like to share?
Yeah! There is an upcoming album on this very label that is closer to industrial power noise and I cannot wait to share it with all of you. I will also be playing live alongside Goodiepal and Lucy Cynthia Moonlight in Heartland Festival 2025 in Copenhagen! So if you want to see me in person I'll catch you there in June. As of writing this I am recovering from gallbladder surgery so things are a bit slow, but I have other plans for this year so stay tuned...
See you on the flipside.