Following Vester Koza’s abstract Maslo series in 2013, the London based producer has announced his return with a new project named PRISN on Maslo. We caught up with Vester Koza to discover more about the record, artwork and how it references Apple and Google Android operating systems.
Congratulations on the getting Maslo 4 together! Can you tell us a bit about the background for the tracks?
Thanks! I wrote the EP at home in my London studio. It’s actually PRISN1 not Maslo4 cat no. I wanted to give it its own space.
It’s been over a year since you released Maslo 3. What have you been up to during this time?
I’ve been watching countdown and playing darts!
How does PRISN compare to your three previous EP’s?
It’s overall slower, not dancey. A bit more weird. Kind of dark, but also quite light. More complex I guess.
From what I’ve read, you setup Maslo as you struggled to find a suitable record label to release through. How’s this DIY approach treating you? Do you wish you’d waited for a label to appear, or are you confident that you made the right choice?
It’s ace having total control, not having to deal with anyone. Though sometimes I think it might be better to just send someone the tracks and let them think about getting it out there and deal with the crap that comes with it!
I worry though that a label might just go too heavy on the marketing. I hate all that.
Also, I don’t really like discussing music with people – comparing it and whatnot. I just like making it. I don’t like pressure. It’s nice to just be free of all that.
What’s the story behind the artwork for PRISN?
The art is by Sarah Hammond. It’s a still taken from some of her video work, which in part uses randomized algorithms that hack and distort the original image data. We’re both into computers and privacy and when I was saying about doing something with the code & mass surveillance she was like – I’ve got the best thing! There is a video for BIND_DREAM_SERVICE too, which is ace.
Can you also explain how it is compatible with the Apple and Google Android operating systems?
The track titles are taken from commands used by those OS’s. Most apps require “permissions” – which allow them to run certain commands on your device. Sometimes these are needed to run tasks and sometimes they are used to phone home and mine data.
The Facebook and Twitter apps extract all kinds of private information from a device, cross-pollinate it and sell it for their profit. Still, by using an open source wrapper or web browser instead you can still use the sites without your device getting (totally) scraped.
Is there a release party?
I’m just arranging a few shows at the moment and am going to play live, which is wicked because I’ve been DJ’ing all of last year. It’s nice to just focus on my own music at the mo.
PRISN is released on 27th April 2015 via Maslo.
TRACKLIST
A1 GET_INTENT
A2 DECIVEID
B1 OPT_iCAL_IN
B2 BIND_DREAM_SERVICE
Discover more about Vester Koza and Maslo on Inverted Audio.