INTERVIEW: PALMER

An interview with PALMER.

Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from / how did you get into music?

I grew up in Rio de Janeiro, but lived most of my life in Brasilia - Brazil’s capital. While there I learned how to play guitar and flute, because I liked a wide range of music, from progressive rock to Celtic and traditional folk and Brazilian music. I’ve always been the person responsible for curating a playlist for random occasions, so I guess DJing has always been there in one way or another. In my early twenties I moved to São Paulo and it was there that I discovered electronic music.

I feel like the underground scene will continue to persist. Do you think we can go back to "normal" events and festivals?

I think it’s already happening, slowly and surely not everywhere, definitely not in Brazil, for example, but eventually we’ll recover as well. It has to be a collective effort and it’s very difficult if your government doesn’t do its job right. We could probably already be back to normal by now if everyone worked together.

How is your sound evolving? What artists and genres do you enjoy mixing right now?

I feel that my sound has taken a path towards minimalism, I try to combine these elements with melodies that please me, without being constrained to a specific style or genre. It’s very hard for me to define the type of sound I make, but I’m very inspired by artists such as Ninze, Powel, and Stroka (that remixed one of the tracks from this EP), for example. Right now though, as I’m building Tropical Twista’s 6th anniversary V/A, with only Brazilian artists, I’m focused on more local projects such as Palma Dulce, Isadoser, Kurup, and Iru wav, to name a few.

How do you feel your music influences or impacts your listeners?

I think that my music brings something different to my listeners ears, because they’re not necessarily dance music, nor always tailored to be played at parties, but I feel they’re always interesting to listen to. I like to challenge people’s perceptions by balancing different elements to brew the sensation of the unexpected.

What projects are you working on right now? What is the concept of conjunction?

I’m currently working on a rebranding project for Tropical Twista, which includes a new design, developing professionally the organizational side, and several other internal aspects to make the label come together more harmoniously than ever. To symbolize this new phase, the label will release a 6th anniversary V/A very soon. 6 This compilation will include around 20 Brazilian artists, representing the experimental side and variety of our national electronic music. 100% of the Bandcamp’s profits for this V/A will be given back to the artists, as a way to help our local musicians. Conjunction is a project I started last year, it began with Saturnine, which is a mix of many different elements, from the crickets recorded in a river nearby, to the purring of my cats. A bit later I produced Selene, I remember it was a full moon when I was working on it, and I felt it had influenced the music in a way. So I worked with a concept to link those two different tracks together, and Conjunction represents the alignment of Saturn and the Moon, two opposite energies, logic and emotion, balanced together.

What piss you off?

I’m a very calm person, so it’s kind of hard to piss me off, but I really despise lack of organization. Messy spaces and cluttered files drives me crazy. I hate opening a folder with tracks written like “2020_unKNownaRtist_-_(track 2).mp3”. It gives me goosebumps.

What makes you happy?

It’s hard to pick one thing, but at the top of my list would be DJing, dancing, travelling and being around nature and my loved ones, not necessarily in this order.

Do you have any final words of wisdom?

Well first, thanks so much for having me! I’m very grateful for the opportunity to speak a bit about myself and my projects. I own thanks to Tha_guts as well, for inviting to release this EP at dsrptv, it was a lovely ride. Lastly, I’d like to wish everyone the best of luck during these difficult times, together we’ll make it through. I hope my sound can make you dance a bit.

BUY