"Works" - An Interview with Russell Coe

Russell Carlsson Coe is a composer and sound designer based out of Seattle. His work primarily uses hardware synthesizers and effect pedals. He emphasizes creative sound design, dramatic melodies and rich ambient textures. Drawing inspiration from shoegaze, ambient, synth pop and romanticism.

I caught up with Russell to talk about his early musical experiences, how he started composing and the making of his latest release “Works”.

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?

Russell-I honestly can’t remember what the first was. But some albums that had a huge impact on me as a kid were tinderbox by siouxsie and the banshees , take off your pants and jacket by blink 182 , the life of pablo by kanye , and raw power by the stooges. My favorite artists as a kid were yung lean, blink 182, iggy pop and beach house.

CMM-How did you start writing songs and developing your own sound?

Russell-I took piano and drum lessons from when i was a little kid until i was 19. I always loved improvising on both instruments. I started composing my own songs my first year of college. most of my friends were music artists so I was able to pick up the basics of using a daw from them. discovering my sound took awhile. i would just try doing random shit and stuck with i thought sounded good. I sucked at first like everyone does so I focused really hard on the sound design aspect and got really into synthesizers.

CMM-You recently released a record called “Works”. What was the writing and recording process like and were there any particular pieces of gear you used to get the sound you were looking for?

Russell-“works “ is comprised of a couple throw away and a couple songs i released under my main project “aetheres”. i wrote and recorded everything september -november of 2025. I wrote all of the songs by basically just jamming on all my synthesizers and then going arranging it into a full song. The strymon nightsky reverb pedal was used heavily in those songs

CMM-If you could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?

Russell-I’d love to score a sci fi film. I think it would have to be a star wars film that is directed by Denis Villeneuve. It would be based in the old republic era, like a Darth Revan movie or something.