@topherhorn
Topher Horn is Detroit based musician, he makes a lot of different music. Recently we released his track Mo(u)rning as a part of Coincidence compilation and he will be back soon with more ambient music. This week his record “Universe of beings” will be released on Dado records run by John Beltran, who recently made a lot of noise with the excellent track Faux which was also remixed by Four Tet.
As he told us, this mix shows the sound of his community. With unpretentious mixing and keeping music strictly on point we are all lined for an hour of fresh and the best electronic music from Detroit.
TOPHER HORN
1. Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a composer and DJ living and working in Detroit, Michigan. I make a variety of house, ambient, and orchestral music, along with commissions for film/tv/advertisements.
2. What is your connection with the music?
I started playing drums when I was very young, and my parents insisted I study piano. I’ve been drawn to recording sound since I was very young, and went on many basement adventures learning how to use and manipulate cassette machines, four track cassettes, and later computers and reel-to-reel machines.
My earliest influences were loud rock bands–Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and the like, and later Yann Tiersen, Nils Frahm, Radiohead, Nico Muhly, and especially those from Detroit; Carl Craig, Todd Modes, Blair French. I keep working on music because I’m never satisfied with the sounds I’ve made. Perhaps its the pursuit for what I want to hear, but I think I really enjoy the journey, the exploration, the trial and error.
3. Tell us more about this Soundhitectures mix.
I wanted this mix to be a sort of group portrait of myself and the musicians I have been working with. The mix is almost entirely my friends’ music, my collaborations with them, or my music. There are a few tracks outside of my community, the Switch Track and one form Women on Wax, that have been important for me as well.
Technique-wise, there wasn’t a lot of dance floor mixing going on, I just wanted the tracks to flow freely from one to the next and play as close to their proper tempo as possible so the artists intention could breathe and not be bound by matching tempo.
4. What are you working on right now?
I’ve got an ambient cassette that I’m making prototypes of, it’s been a cool weird project. I’ve had a few advertising and mixing commissions, and I’ve been pushing myself to revisit work on some orchestral music I haven’t picked up in a while. This week I acquired a piano and I’ve been learning to refurbish and tune it–that should lead to something cool too.
5. Plans for the future?
I’ve got a release in mind with you guys at Soundhitectures, some tracks done with Blair French that we’re looking to get out, my debut LP on Dado records is due out soon. Other plans are to work on some collaborative live performances with other musicians and perhaps dancers–dreaming of a no-computer live electronics show for myself and a few others.