Risks Interview on Brownswood
Brownswood fam had a yack with me about The Risks, the collab between Hrdvsion & I.
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Can you tell us a little bit about yourself please. Who are you, where are you from etc.?
The Risks are Nathan Jonson aka Hrdvsion & Chris Longshanks (myself) aka Monolithium.
Both of us are producers from Victoria, BC, Canada. Nathan grew up in Victoria but has been living in Berlin for the last couple of years. As long as I’ve lived in Victoria, Nathan was a bit of a hometown legend. He was making unbelievably mind bending music ages ago, but always went unappreciated due to our city’s annoyingly unadventurous musical taste. So now he lives in Berlin.
We’ve been pals for almost a decade, we get along swimmingly. Whenever we can, we DJ together & it typically results in smiles. Historically we’ve just really seen eye to eye on what is good & what is shit, with a very large mutual passion for music of all kinds, especially electronic music that is borderline a bit mental. We’ve always had the “let’s make a tune buddy” thing going & last year, we finally made some tunes.
How would you describe your music?
Well… I think our goal is to basically make something that sounds crazy. Something a little unhinged that is jussssst playable. The perfect balance between a banger & a ballad.
Where do you draw your inspiration?
Nathan is an emotional writer. Most of his music – despite being playable – is driven by a melodic sensibility that orbits around feelings of strangeness or discomfort. He has a brilliant knack for writing something that sounds evil & beautiful at the same time.
I tend to be more of a rhythmic & textural writer – I really find I’m driven by structure & audible angles more than anything. Although I’m constantly trying to navigate to a space where I can write more melodic, musically complex stuff along the lines of what Nathan comes up with. I guess our different approaches generate interesting sounds. I find that inspiring.
Whom do you count amongst your most significant influences when it comes to production?
Agh these lists are typically so boring… umm influences: Harold Faltermeyer, Dillinger Escape Plan, Beach Boys, Vangelis, Cluster, Squarepusher, Dilla, Model 500, Steve Reich
What releases / gigs are out there or coming soon?
With our continental divide, it’s unsure at the moment, although it is highly likely that Hrdvsion will make an appearance on the West Coast of Canada this December. Fingers crossed for some Risks DJ sets.
Hrdvsion just released basically the greatest song ever “Prettier Than That” via Wagon Repair. And the new Monolithium EP Bounce 4 Life is out on Error Broadcast late September.
Do you have a current DJ mix or any tracks that are available for free download right now that we could point folks to?
Nope. EP is almost finished tho 
Where can folks go online to check out you and your music?
You can like us on Facebook.
What are you going to do after this interview?
Crank the shit out of “Freak” by LFO.
