The records that shape us don’t disappear. They become part of how we hear the world.

Music has never arrived in chapters for me. Every record I’ve loved has left something behind, whether I realised it at the time or not.

Long before electronic music became my language, I was drawn to artists who understood atmosphere before perfection. David Bowie constantly reinvented himself without ever losing his identity. Lou Reed found beauty in honesty rather than polish. The raw emotion of late-eighties alternative and grunge taught me that a song didn’t need to be perfect to be unforgettable—it just needed to make you feel something.

I didn’t begin my journey behind a pair of CDJs. I started as a drummer, eventually stepping forward as a singer-songwriter. Writing lyrics and performing vocals became my first way of understanding music, and that foundation has never left me. Even today, every record begins with emotion before production.

Electronic music didn’t replace those influences—it gave them another home.

When I write, I still think like a vocalist. Melody comes before arrangement. Lyrics often arrive before the beat. Every synthesiser, texture and rhythm exists to support the feeling the song is trying to communicate.

The technology has changed. The intention hasn’t.

For me, electronic music isn’t about escaping humanity. It’s about finding new ways to express it.

~ S