With a discography that dates back to 2011, Irish musician Paul Bestovitch has been one of the most prolific experimental composers over the last decade and a half.
His latest release “Redshift Communications Established”. is an amazing work of art that takes you into uncharted territories and is nothing short of stellar.
I caught up with Paul to talk about his early musical experiences, how he started playing instruments and the making of “Redshift Communications Established”.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you as a kid and what artist or band did you enjoy the most?
Paul-The first bands that really made an impression on me were Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden and the whole New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands. Still love them to this day.
CMM-When did you start playing music and writing songs and what eventually led to you creating and recording as Bestovitch?
Paul-I first started playing guitar when I was 13 and that evolved over the years into playing with synthesisers and drum machines which eventually led me to get into making electronic music and recording as Bestovitch. The first ever thing close to a DAW is used was Music2000 on the PlayStation 1.
CMM-You recently released a new record called “Redshift Communications Established” . What was the creating and recording process like? What gear and instruments did you use during the sessions?
Paul-The recording process for Redshift Communications Established was very freeing as I purposely got out of the restriction of using DAWs to create the music and being limited to grid/time based sequencing.
The gear used for this recording is listed below and was recorded into Ableton Live as I find that to be the best workflow for me.
Waldorf Blofeld keyboard version synthesizer
Roland SP-404 MKII Sampler
Dave Smith Instruments Mono Evolver Keyboard
Behringer 2600 semi modular synth
Moog Sub Phatty
Roland D-50
Akai MPC 2500
A mixture of various reverb, BB delay pedals and modulation pedals
Fender Standard American Strat
CMM-If you could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?
Paul-It If I could make a score for any film director it would have to be Denis Villeneuve. It would definitely be a science fiction film dealing with exploration into deep space and the inner space of our own minds
CMM-What do you have coming up next? Any new recordings shows?
Paul-My next project is making the final part of my “Redshift” series. Redshift Communications Establised was the 2nd part in the series and the next one will be the final part.
Your review was quite surprising as you described exactly my own thinking in making the record.
The first part of this trilogy “Intercepted Redshift Radio Transmissions” was based on the theme of intercepting signals from unknown sources and the signal being weak and needing to be deciphered.
The music and cover for that one I made to sound lo-fi to reflect the feeling of distant signals
I am still sketching out ideas for the theme and sound of the final part of the series
