Krijn Moons – aka Alchi – emerges as a new voice in instrumental electronic music with his debut ‘Full of It’, released with newly launched Dutch imprint, Mylja. Inspired by artists such as Nicolás Jaar, Boards of Canada, Sigur Rós and James Holden, Alchi produces and performs music that is rooted in experiment rather than a single genre, flowing between and weaving through alternative dance, instrumental electronic postrock and neoclassical influences. Playing with imperfections and disarray, Alchi’s work honours emotional ambiguity, cultivating a sound that can be equally euphoric as it can be melancholic, a feeling that words cannot – and do not have to – articulate. We caught up with the hotly-tipped Utrecht-based talent to find out more…
Hi Krijn, great to have you with us today at DMC World. How are you today?
I’m very well, thank you!
Please introduce yourself and your artist project ‘Alchi’ to our readers…
I am Krijn Moons, I am 25 years old. I create music as Alchi, which is my solo electronic project. I make genre-fluid electronic music with influences as a producer/composer and as a performer.
Where are you based at the moment and, dare we ask, how has the past year been for you?
I am based in Utrecht, right in the middle of the Netherlands. Of cource the past year has been all over the place, and quite difficult. But still I am happy that I managed to make music, even though there were restrictions. After all that has or hasn’t happened I still feel grateful for the situation I am in.
When did you start composing and producing music and what / who were your early influences?
The first song that got me into electronic music was also the inspiration to actually start producing. That was “The Sky was Pink” by Nathan Fake. I had been recording my own songs in Ableton on acoustic guitar for a long while, but never created anything electronic. That was around 6 years ago now. I started studying music afterwards, mainly as a guitarist at first. But gradually I started to make more electronic music, discovering all the possibilities along the way. At that point I was in love with the records like “Space Is Only Noise” by Nicolas Jaar, and “Rounds” by Four Tet. Their music sounded so real whilst my music was very stale and lifeless. Trying to capture that ‘realness’ in my music became a strong focus.
We’re absolutely loving your new album ‘Full Of It’. Can you talk to us about the concept behind the project?
What I wanted for this album was to not have a concept. I wanted the music to speak for itself, with a strong focus on my sound. I did not want a fixed story to be in the way of the emotional layers of the songs. But in itself that became the focus of the record. I started to look for something in music that you cannot really capture in words. I wanted each song to truly feel like something, like it existed in a specific place.
The album bridges the gap between neo-classical composition, avant garde electronica and modern production techniques. What, would you say, are some of the main artistic challenges in combining such different styles of music?
To me it felt kind of inevitable. I did not set myself any boundaries with instruments I could use. I did not want to make music in a track-structure, or a clear song structure. The challenges are mostly in making something cohesive, and not be tempted to latch onto a preconceived idea of what the music has to be. If you can let that go, everything becomes easier and ideas can start to flow.
The album is released both digitally and on vinyl with a brand new Dutch label, Mylja Records. How did this come about?
Yaron Cohen, the creator of the label, lives across the street from me and we started talking about music two years ago. Throughout the last year we met regularly to talk about songs and about the creation of a record label. As I was finishing up the album, Yaron started to take more steps towards starting a record label with Daniël Leseman. We were both starting up our ventures, so with my music Yaron was able to get a contract with Word and Sound for vinyl distribution, and that was when we decided to definitively go for it.
Tell us about your studio set up and where the record was made. Do you have any specific criteria when setting up a studio space? How does your environment influence the creative process?
Most of these songs were created in whatever space I had. The only hardware I had in the beginning was an old Dynacord Echocord tape delay, and an electric guitar with effects. The rest was all in the box, so it was mostly very compact. For a year now I have a small studio in an old World War II bunker here in Utrecht called the Onderbuik. It is definitely very interesting but I do not think it influences me much in my music. I guess that my environment does not really matter a whole lot, as long as I can be flexible enough to create freely.
Once things have settled down and live music events start to return, would you consider touring this album?
Yeah, I am really hoping on that. I recently had a closed concert with a 30 people audience, as a live band. That was really exhilarating. Playing these songs with a band is still challenging. It is hard to arrange the songs so it is ‘playable’ by 4 of 5 people. But I think it could work very well, and I have experimented with it a lot already. But aside from that I am working towards a full electronic set as well.
If so, what would that set up look like?
I like to use a combination of midi controllers with faders and buttons and hardware synths. I use the Vermona PerFOURmer and the Behringer K2 (ms20 copy) live on stage. I use modular plugins in Ableton to create drums, which I can control very intuitively with one hand. Every time I play get a different groove and a different energy. I want to make it a fluent and free live set, using the elements of the songs as buildings blocks, but leaving the structure up to the moment.
What sort of music do you like to listen to in your spare time? Any favourite artists you can share?
I listen to Blake Mills’s latest record a lot. It is very different from my work but I draw a lot of inspiration from it. Apart from that it is a little all over the place. Recently I fell in love with Ravel’s Daphne et Chloe. Yesterday I had a long car trip and I listened to Laurence Pike’s ‘Holy Spring’ and Leafcutter John’s ‘Come and Parade with us’. Both I can definitely recommend!
Finally, do you have anything in the pipeline for the remainder of the year that you can tell us about?
I am making a lot of new music, but I do not yet know in what context I want to present them. Currently I am editing and mixing the live show we had in December. I hope to share some songs from that on selected platforms.
Thank you for speaking with us today Krijn. We wish you all the best for the album release and for the rest of the year.
Thanks a lot for interviewing me!
Alchi – Full Of It is out now via Mylja Records
