Interview with Aleksi Perälä [Special Mutek Festival]

Before his Mutek Montreal live, we asked some questions of bleep-techno aficionado, Aleksi Perälä. Read the interview below to find out some rare info about the relatively anonymous but prolific producer.

INTERVIEW

It’s difficult to find much in the way of your bio info online. So maybe you could start by giving us a little background on yourself. Where do you come from? Are you still based in Wiltshire?
I was born and raised in Finland. I’ve lived in the UK for the past 8 years and moved back to Fin-land 2 weeks ago. Now I feel like a tourist in my home country!

You’ve been making and release music for at least two decades, it seems. Have you always been a musician? Have you had any other careers or become immersed in other activities that have taken up a lot of your time over the years?
I’ve always been into hearing more than vision. At first I loved sounds and acoustics; later on I got into music and started making my own stuff in the summer of 1988. I’ve had numerous inter-ests and activities over the years other than music, but music has always been my main hobby. The sense of hearing is 9 times greater than vision.

Can you briefly run us through your Ovuca alias? Was that the first name with which you started releasing music professionally? Do you still perform or make music as Ovuca?
I was Ovuca from 1998 to 2002. The main idea was that I wanted to come up with a new name to guarantee that if I did a google search all the results would relate to it. Also, Ovuca never used a computer to make music; when I got my first laptop I gave up using that name. I don’t use it an-ymore.

We’re very interested in your musical endeavours, but you don’t need to only focus on music here. What have you been up to this year? What do you have planned for the foreseeable future?
This year has been very interesting; like a rollercoaster. I haven’t had much time for music; that should change towards the end of the year. I’ve got tons of projects lined up, everything related to colundi; sound healing, acoustics and installations.

Could you run us through your musical evolution? How has your musical output changed over the years (in terms of genre and performance style)?
I don’t think it has changed that much since 1988, apart from being introduced to colundi about 5 years ago. colundi changed everything in terms of my music production; now I’m not in charge anymore but merely a vessel for colundi.

Could you describe what your live set looks like now? What sort of gear do you use?
For live I use Logic. I have an Apogee sound card and a usb controller. Audio output is 192k 24bit.

Mutek is known for being about a lot more than just music. Mutek PRO is the branch of the festival that will feature non-performative elements, like workshops, discussions, presentations, etc. Can you see yourself being interested or involved with this side of the festival?
Oh yes for sure, I’d love to do something else too! I’m not into presenting anything or having dis-cussions, I don’t have the words to discuss colundi. I would love to do installations and stuff.

Will you be doing anything else in North American while you’re over here?
That was the plan, but unfortunately didn’t have enough time to sort a US visa. I would love to do a proper North American tour. It will happen.

Again, thanks a lot for talking to us and all the best for your Mutek experience!
Thank you. colundi everyone!

👀 Aleksi Perälä, live – Métropolis 1, August 24, 2018. Grab your tix here

Interview by Jacob