Somnum. In conversation with Hælos.

MUSIC

May 16

We met Hælos, the electronic trip-hop trio, and talked about their latest and more experimental new EP, Somnun, whose ethereal and meditative sounds will take us to a magical space.

Photography JC Verona

Hælos from left to right: Dom, Lottie and Daniel. Shot at Greenwood Road by JC Verona. — Hælos from left to right: Dom, Lottie and Daniel.
Shot at Greenwood Road by JC Verona.

Hello guys, how has lockdown been for you? Besides music, did you pick up any new hobbies… knitting, bread baking…?

LOTTI – Lockdown has been a surreal but also magical time for me. I found out I was pregnant when the first lockdown hit so having the space to slow down and connect with this new chapter of my life in many ways felt like a blessing. Outside of music, movement has always been like medicine for me. We’ve spent a lot of time on the road over the last few years so not having any external commitments also finally gave me the time to focus in on my practice and prioritise my health, changing body and new family.

Going on tour and playing live is the heart & soul for so many artists. How did you cope without being able to do that? You must miss travelling around the world!

DOM – To be honest, as unpopular an opinion as this might seem, I'm not a fan of touring. I hate burning fuel to get around. We take steps to make the emissions as small as possible and we carbon offset but with the tech available, it's always going to be adding to the problem. There is also a 99% waiting around ratio. When I'm bored I get a wee bit self destructive. On the flip side, meeting people during our outreach documentary ARK was really eye opening. So I miss the education I suppose. However, time on the road is time away from the studio and that has always felt closer to a natural habitat. The last year has allowed me to fully focus on that so I can't complain.

You said that your music is kind of dark euphoria – the kind of music you would listen to between leaving the club and going to sleep. Your new album Somnum is more experimental and meditative. How has your sound evolved over time and how do you describe your sound now?

DANIEL – We’ve definitely embraced a more experimental and meditative sound for Somnum. It’s worth noting that Somnum was a unique record for us (being solely ambient). Saying that, we do hope to take some of those characteristics forward as we begin writing our third LP.

What’s the concept and idea behind your new album Somnum and what does the name stand for?

LOTTI – The word Somnum is latin for ‘asleep’. The concept came about after a succession of middle of the night whatsapp messages. We’d all been suffering from a crazy lack of sleep. Me with my newborn son, Dom who’s battled tinnitus for years and Dan who’d been working long nocturnal hours. We started sharing white noise to help ease us through the night and came up with the idea of using some of those sounds as a starting point for a concept ambient EP.

How did you approach writing songs for the album?

DOM – We just wanted to tear up our rule book a little bit. Be more free form than we allowed ourselves to be in the past, with no preconceptions of where we wanted to end up. Also, with a healthy dose of patch cables for the eurocrack (syyyyyyynths, salivate emoji) and a really nice piano.

When writing the new album, which composers or artists had a strong influence on you and inspired you?

DANIEL – Brian Eno, Nils Frahm, Jon Hopkins, Bill Evans, Ólafur Arnalds, and Astral Industries.

Your latest video can be seen via NFT (non-fungible tokens). Artists including Gorillaz, Grimes or Kings of Leon have all jumped on the bandwagon in search of an art-tech utopia – and a payout. Is the new crypto lifestyle taking over? Are we going to find more of HÆLOS on this platform?

DOM – NFT space is definitely a funny one. There are loads of instances where I reckon it's not adding much and is taking loads (energy consumption), which makes me highly conflicted about its footprint. However, having done the research and invested in projects that are offering solutions to make it more efficient, I'm quietly confident this is going to be a revolutionary tech for artists of any discipline. Unlike many artists who raced to get theirs minted as fast as possible (no judgements because prior to understanding the impact we would have done exactly that), we have not minted our NFT art as yet. We are still researching with partners to make sure that we can enter the space without a detrimental impact on the air we breathe.

#nomusiconadeadplanet

Fast round!

Describe Haelos in 3 words

LOTTI – Electronic, Therapeutic, Friendship

Are you superstitious?

DOM – In a massively inconsistent way.

Your perfect pet?

DANIEL – Dog

Which piece of gear do you pick if you were stuck on a deserted island?

LOTTI – A hammock and a cocktail shaker

Dream car or motorcycle?

DOM – Some form of electric conversion for a classic sports car. Bang bang.

What’s your motto?

DANIEL – Go big and go home.

Guilty pleasure?

LOTTI – You have to hide chocolate from me. I’m a complete fiend!

You never leave the house without___

DOM – An often overwhelming case of imposter syndrome

Next hairstyle?

DANIEL - Blue mohawk.

2020 was___

LOTTI – Transformative

2021 will be___

DOM – Absolutely no different.

Parting thoughts?

DANIEL –

Thank you guys, it’s been an absolute pleasure to hang out. Can’t wait to see Daniel’s Blue mohawk rocking around ;P

Find out more about Hælos on their website

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JC Verona

Somnum. In conversation with Hælos.

We met Hælos, the electronic trip-hop trio, and talked about their latest and more experimental new EP, Somnun, whose ethereal and meditative sounds will take us to a magical space.

Fast round!

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