New Jersey multi-instrumentalist TEEEL is a perfectionist, whether it’s working on his own material, or crafting remixes for others, his attention to detail is second to none. With his debut record AMULET receiving critical acclaim across the blogosphere, and new material on the horizon, his unique brand of dream inspired electro-pop is sure to create even more of a stir in 2012. Having just released a new track, the 80’s disco influenced The Lucania, CitR caught up with TEEEL to get a few questions answered. Check out the interview and a couple of tracks below.
CitR: What do you see as the main inspirations behind TEEEL, both musically and otherwise?
Lately, I’ve been drawing inspiration from the weather changing over to winter. My recent tracks have been a bit darker than I normally write under the TEEEL name. I generally draw inspiration from movies, other musicians and artists, my friends and what mood I’m in. And sometimes, I’ll find a new synth sound and go from there. It really comes from everywhere, I guess.
There appears to be quite an 80’s disco vibe to some of your stuff, especially new track The Lucania, would you agree with that assumption?
Yeah, I have a collection of songs I’m finishing up now, some are dark and emotional dreamwave and some are light, fun and dancy. I usually bucket my song ideas in sub-styles on my computer and then eventually narrow down the songs I want to finish. “The Lucania” is actually a nod to my friend Chris Lucania. He was a big inspiration to me getting into metal and darker electronic music in the late 90s. I thought it was appropriate to give it away on Halloween. We are actually doing a show together to feature his paintings and I’m going to do a live performance.
The Lucania by Teeel
How much do you think the environment and area that you grew up in have impacted on the music that you create?
It actually has made a major impact in my life. Living in NJ and being so close to both NY and Philly has spoiled me with talent as long as I can remember. There were loads of hard rock, punk and metal bands in my town. I played in a coupe bands and then eventually fell in love with drum and bass and electronic music. At the time, Philly had a massive scene and I was only 30 minutes away to seeing a headlining UK artist. It’s something that will always be a part of me.
What’s your standard songwriting process, and what equipment/programs do you tend to use?
I don’t really have an exact process. I’ll comp ideas and work on them for an hour or two. If I go back the next day and hear what I like, I’ll set up my hardware synths, record some guitars and lay in temporary vocals. From there, I finesse the song until I feel it’s finished. Some songs can come together in a night, some take a solid week to finish and about 75% of my ideas don’t see the light of day.
What are your plans and future aspirations for TEEEL?
I really would love to visit some other countries and rock out with my fans.
I’m hoping in the spring I’ll have a booking agent and can move forward. Other than playing more shows, I plan on continuing to push out new material.
Falcon Lake – Moving On (TEEEL Remix) by Teeel
If you had to describe your own music in three words, what would you say?
Synths, Space and Dreams.
And finally! On a less serious note…. if you could be any animal, what would you be, and why?
Either a shark, because they are badass or a monkey because they are always having fun.