Vox Mod is a Seattle producer. He has worked with cats like Erik Blood and has put out more than a handful of albums in the last half-dozen years, including his most recent LP release, SYN-ÆSTHETIC. His music is often energetic and always full of thought. The movements and undercurrents of his production have roots that go deep, creating a tenuous balance of sounds that he somehow keeps going track after track. The Monarch had a chance to catch up with Vox Mod and ask him one super-important question. 

Jake Uitti: The pinnacle of a great electronica show is so full of energy: there is a large crowd moving and dancing, there’s you on your equipment playing killin’ beats – can you explain the mental processes you undertake from going to sleep the night before to waking up to putting on a great show?

Vox Mod: Anticipation is a tricky but exciting business. The night before a show, I’m usually making sure my set is tight and ready to go. I think about the venue, who might be there, who I’m performing with, and what the lighting might be like. Given those factors, I’ll go through my set beforehand making sure it’s the right kind of energy I want to display, a seemingly ‘correct’ balance of rising and falling action. Almost always though, I know right away what really matters for what I want in a set: kinetic energy and an assurance of being taken to the trance-like state where I forget all the things I was preparing for, thinking about, or even where or who I am.

I’ll write out the set list, pack my two briefcases, and be on my way. If it’s a ‘bigger’ show, I like to take the day off and start it right. Spend some time with my lovely partner, get some tea in the morning, try to relax and take my time getting ready. But depending on how long I’ve known about the show, the energy has just been building the entire time. I’ll have that wonderful nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach all day. After that, it’s all downhill. ‘Hurry up and wait’ will always apply to my life as long as I’m playing shows and loading in hours before. Vox Mod shows are different though because before the show begins, I’m typically by myself, which I’ve found to be rather nice. I can sit and think, let my mind go, I’ll usually draw in my pocketbook next to my set to keep my brain active, to keep on conceptualizing ideas that may come in handy later on.

But then, the rush happens. Friends and family arrive along with the other artists and concert-goers. I’m beaming, I’m just so happy to have the opportunity to be in the situation. By the time the doors open, I’m amped, I want to play RIGHT NOW. Before my set, I’ll find a secluded (or sometimes not so secluded) place to smoke. My mind starts gearing toward that place where I let go of it all. As soon as I know it, I’m on stage, and I’m ready to press play. Hopefully everything is all set on the production side, but I know I can’t worry about anything else now. There’s no turning back. This is that moment where I get to be one with my machines, regardless of what’s happening around me. My surroundings are nearly completely tuned out aside from the monitors blasting the music back at me. This is that very special place for me.

As the set progresses, I feel my eyes close, I travel further and further into that realm. If anything is sacred anymore, this definitely is. Hopefully the lights on stage match the sound, if so, it’s so much easier to wave about and go deeper. When my body sways and arms twitch to the beat, it feels involuntary. I can’t help it, I’m there, and I hold on to that sensation, that pure freedom, as long as possible, even when the set nears its end, the venue has cleared out, and I’m still riding on that energy. Depending on the show, that energy will be physically present for a couple days, and then is applied/cataloged to my consciousness, making me me. It’s one of the purest sensations I’ve ever known, I feel like I’ve broken through the physical world to another place. I often think about this as traveling without moving. Or the idea that I may be standing in one place on stage, but we’re all traveling in this arm of the galaxy at thousands of miles per hour. An incredible revelation.

As a side note: my machines have graphics from the Hubble telescope printed on them. For me, there’s nothing more symbolic with what I try to do with music than reaching into the cosmos and pulling sounds out of it.

Vox Mod plays next with Neon Indian for Decibel Festival at Neumos on Sept. 26^th. Followig that, he’ll be on Art Zone with Nancy Guppy on Sept. 17^th.