While the new album marks Simon Posford’s debut as a “solo artist,” he’s been mystifying listeners for decades under a variety of pseudonyms—from his dance music persona Hallucinogen to his iconic collaborative psybient project, Shpongle.

On this new project, rather than framing the new compositions in structured arrangements from a computer, Posford created loops and mixed them in real-time to capture an organic, in-the-moment snapshot of his headspace in quarantine. Using the loops he created as paint colors on his palette, Posford made daily attempts at producing, sculpting each song until he landed on a take that he felt best expressed his personal experience in lockdown.

With this back-to-basics, spontaneous production technique, Simon Posford crafted an enthralling suite that simultaneously ruminates on the realities of isolation and reaches out from the void to grab hold of listeners’ full attentions—examining and, ultimately, celebrating the unprecedented nuances of this moment in history.

“When lockdown hit, I was sort of overcome by … inertia or a sort of inability to do anything really, especially anything creative,” Posford remarks to Live For Live Music via phone. “But I’ve had this idea that I wanted to try with a piano and this plug-in that I got recently, and I was sort of curious to try something as a method to make a sound and after a few weeks of sort of not going near the studio, suddenly it all came out very quickly. It didn’t feel like an album to me when I made it. It was sort of more of a meditation here to pass time, if anything.”

While the global quarantine left a lot of events unexperienced, individuals have had more time to focus on exploring and improving their own minds and reacquainting themselves with what it means to simply “be.” As Posford explains, “Each song title conveys a definite meaning relayed to feelings of quarantine. It sort of summed up my lockdown experience, I guess, the sort of the bewilderment and the everyday feeling the same, but slightly different. It’s meant to be listened all the way through from start to finish. It’s sort of a whole thing. It wasn’t made as separate pieces. It was sort of made all as one thing, but mixed in sections. Really, it’s one big track.”

The album begins with a dark swell of sounds on “Lockdown”, which resonates through eight minutes of eerie sonic spaces and hypnotic circus carousel melodies. Posford is a master of incorporating unique sounds and audio elements into his projects, and this album showcases his unmatched abilities in that department. Madness is among the prevailing themes of isolation, and Posford conveys that cognitive dissonance with samples of short wave radio stations, leaving the listener to explore static inputs of numbers and code over the unnerving soundscapes.

“These stations have been broadcast on shortwave radio for many years, in some cases, since World War II,” explains Posford. “And I think there were quite a few of them during the Cold War and no one really knows what they are. There’s a lot of speculation. Some people think they are communication spies, for operatives out in the field. I just had a load of recordings of shortwave radio, of these numbers stations. And there’s something about the sort of the repetitiveness of them, combined with the human element of words and numbers, but without sort of imparting meaning necessarily. If you had someone saying phrases or whatever with meanings, it would change it entirely. And so it just seemed like a good sort of symbol of the continuing of the madness of the world outside, but without being too intrusive somehow on one’s thoughts.”

The album continues to inspect the loneliness of isolation as the album progresses into “On A Rainy Day” and “Cyclical Ruminations”. A more meditative mood settles in on “Germination” as Posford adds nature’s melodies into the mix. The final tracks of the album hear Posford express the introspective feelings experienced in lockdown through the wistful tones of his piano, while “The Ripening” combines all themes explored on the album to tie a bow on the set.

“The room where my piano is has got these big doors that open out into the garden, and I’d sit there and you can hear the birds quite clearly,” Posford reflects. “It’s one of the great things about lockdown… the birds are loud and the planes in the sky are not. And so I just sit there playing and sort of notice sometimes a bird would be in tune with the piano, sort of almost jamming with the birds. And when we recorded the piano, in fact, there was bird sound on the recording, but not enough to be useful. So we then added some more.”

While he was one of the many musicians affected by the pandemic in terms of touring, Posford revealed that his time spent in lockdown has caused him to think differently about his career as a musician. “You get these statements from Live Nation and stuff that don’t look too promising about slashing fees. It seems hard to imagine gigs with social distancing and that going on,” he muses. “But I did find myself for the first time in my life thinking seriously about another career, about what other things could I do. The top job I think would be racing driver and then the next job would be best-selling author, best-selling writer would be great. But I say best-selling because to be an unsuccessful writer would be quite miserable. It would be like being a musician. If I could find something that I could do to pay the bills, then I would seriously look at it because certainly the music industry has a very uncertain future at the moment.”

Posford has been holed up at his London home, and it seems as though that won’t change for the time being, as his U.S. visa has now expired and renewals are on an indefinite pause. An upside of the absence of a global touring schedule? More time to focus on new music, which Simon said is already in the works.

“It’s unlikely [Shpongle live band] will come back. You know, Raja Ram is 80 years old this year and he’s in quite a lot of pain with his legs. But I’ve got Raja coming to the studio in a couple of weeks, and Benji [Vaughan] coming over as well to work on some Younger Brother. And I’ll certainly be doing more stuff on my own as well. I might even do some more Hallucinogen.”

As Simon Posford sees it, the “new normal” is a blessing, a chance for a regenerative pause, a moment to reflect on and evaluate the systems we’ve built in both our society and our own minds. In short, a time for change is upon us if we use this opportunity wisely.

“I hope that we can create our own new normal. If we’re not careful, we’ll miss a very good opportunity we’ve been given here to make some really big changes perhaps to society, to the environment, to business and how capitalism works,” Posford notes. “It’s been interesting to have everything locked down, literally the planes not even flying in the sky. It’s had a beneficial effect on the environment. And people working from home, I think a lot more companies will realize that many more people can work at home and it will be better for the environment and for society in general. Everyone has been affected by this. It shows we’re all in it together, and yet it shows even more the importance in your local community.”

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Q: Bill, you’ve been in the psychedelic trance scene for over a decade, how did you bump into psychedelic trance?

A: In the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s I was working as a guitarist in different bands and though I was playing gigs two or three, sometimes four times a week I wasn’t exposed to dance music culture (or Raves as they was called at the time) at all. I had become aware of Rave culture through the reactionary headlines of the Tabloid newspapers and I had earmarked it as something to check out at a later date. Something which caused that much moral outrage was bound to be fun …

I got my chance sometime in 1991 when a friend of mine suggested that I come to a club in London’s Victoria that he had been going to lately called SE 1.

I had many insights that night and my musical world has never been quite the same since. One thing in particular that I remember discovering and seeing clearly was that to date my approach to writing and creating music had been very conservative and hopelessly out of date and here was a completely new and powerful form of music that used new technology – at the time Atari computers, early digital synths (like the Korg M1) and samplers to open up totally soundscapes previously unheard. That was just listening to the House and early Techno music they played in that club that night, Psy Trance ( Goa Trance ) did not yet exist.

That was my introduction to dance music in general. From then on I switched to making dance music in my own studio – the next morning in fact and finished by evening because I was so inspired.

My introduction to Goa Trance came a little later later when my brother played me an early Dragonfly Records compilation Jouneys Into Trance by Paul Oakenfold which contained some tracks which the early precursor to Goa Trance. Soon after a mutual (House) DJ friend introduced Jez Van Kampen and I to each other because he said we were both interested in making the same weird music.

Jez, it later turned out had a small collection of early Dragonfly vinyls – which must have been about half of everything that Dragonly had released at that time, Jez also had a small collection of 2nd or 3rd generation, tape to tape hissy cassette mixtapes of Goa Trance, one of which was by a new Japanese DJ called Tsuyoshi. All in all his collection amounted to a goldmine of this new, fascinating underground music that was so deep underground that it was almost impossible to find.

Q: 5 full albums, and over 30 tracks releases on compilations, what next? Do you consider staying in, or stopping for a while and maybe do something different?

A: I believe the figure is tracks on over 90 different compilations from the last count, not including the tracks I have released as Mumbo Jumbo. Also it would be six artist albums including the one with Mitch as Mumbo Jumbo, which will total seven albums once I release the new Cosmosis album in a couple of months time. So yes, looking back I suppose I have released quite a bit of music over the last or eleven years.

I don’t consider doing anything else other than making music as it is my art and profession. It’s also an important part of who I am as a being. I have a need to create. I wrote and recorded with Hip Hop, acid Jazz, Blues Rock and Funk Pop projects way before I got into making purely electronic music. I still enjoy all aspects, particularly composition too much to think about doing something else. Though at times I have been involved in making other styles of music for some (minor) DVD releases and done some paid studio work mixing in 5.1 surround, but still things that are obviously music related. I find creating music satisfying like no other occupation that I have tried.. I take this to be an indicator of my path in life.

Q: You are definitely one of the pioneers in psychedelic trance, but it’s clear to everyone that the quality of current releases has changed (some call it evolution), do you feel today you are still producing the music that you like, or that you MUST produce.

A: I guess from today’s standpoint some see Cosmosis as a pioneer of Psy-Trance. From the point of view of Jez and I back in the days when we were making the first album Cosmology and the previous early releases, we were just trying to re-capture a similar vibe and feeling as some of this exciting new, alien sounding, otherworldly music that we had just discovered and that we were completely into.

For sure I still produce the music that I like, because I find it impossible to make music that I don’t like. In the past, on occasion, I have tried to make music to fit into a category for the sake of money. I was never able to make it work. I do think that it would be nice to break out of the Trance paradigm with its narrow tempo range and restricted rhythmic structure and to create a whole journeyesque album exploring some non-rhythmic electronic soundscapes, which would offer a whole lot more creative freedom. But I always seem to need some nice new pumping tunes for my live sets, so to date, the idea of making an album of non-trance keeps getting put on the backburner. Maybe I will get around to that particular project after the next album is released.

Also, having to produce music is not necessarily a bad thing. Given that I am pretty relaxed by nature and am my own boss, I regard anything that I can use as a spur to get off my arse and force myself to create and hone my art is valid. Whether it is a release deadline, a big upcoming gig that I want to get a track finished for, or a need to strike up some cash to pay the rent, it’s all grist for my creative mill.

Q: An artist needs a certain inspiration, what inspires you Bill? Artists, other genres of music, or maybe just a mood?

A: For me, I draw inspiration from the fact that by making and playing my music, I make a big contribution to people. When I present my Cosmosis material in my live sets, my intention is to give people the opportunity to really let it all go on the dancefloor and completely trancend themselves, to let loose and really enjoy. I strive to help them create profound peak experiences for themselves even if just for a moment. Memories that they may look back on one day and say “I don’t have words to describe how utterly fantastic certain parts of that night were.” At it’s best the whole trance-dance experience can be transcendental. That is to say that one can trancend one’s ego personality and connect with the oneness.

You touched on moods. For me making trance music is very much about using the sounds to capture a certain vibe and feeling. Not easy to describe in words, but I know it when I hear it. What I aim to do is combine that special vibe with an irresistible groove that has the power to possess your body and compels you to dance like a total lunatic – because that is the best damn music that you have ever heard in your life up to that point and it must be expressed physically.

Q: Some people consider your first two albums “Cosmology” and “Synergy” to be your best releases, even though you have released 3 other albums, do you agree on that?

A: I don’t think it would be too much of an exaggeration to say the first two Cosmosis albums contributed to defining the genres of both Goa Trance and Psy-Trance. I think probably mainly by default as there were not that many artists producing artist albums in the early days.

When Cosmology was released there were only around five other artist albums available. For sure there were compilations aplenty but artist albums, no. In fact, I only remember four other artists that had released an album at that time that Cosmology was released: The Infinity Project, Total Eclipse, Astral Projection and of course Hallucinogen’s Twisted.

That first album Cosmology which I co-wrote with Jez Van Kampen during 1995, I would say helped to define the sound of Goa Trance, in fact many people cite it as an example of a classic Goa trance album.

A little later Jez and I decided to focus on our individual projects; Jez as Laughing Buddha and me as Cosmosis. At that time, I had been on the road touring for a while. I had been playing at (and going ) to a lot of pretty crazy outdoor psychedelic parties in forests, on beaches all over the world. As a consequence, I began to explore and focus more on harder-edged and more trippy, psychedelic sounds. By the time I had got my studio set up at my new location I was bursting with ideas and itching to get some stuff down. I wrote Synergy during 1997. Judging by what I read about it on the net, many regard it as one of the first classic Psy-Trance albums, and again many use it as a reference point for when Goa trance first morphed into PsyTrance.

Do I think that these were the best two Cosmosis albums? I think that they were both excellent albums and still are nice to listen to musically. Perhaps more importantly for me, they both captured the spirit of the time very nicely, like a snapshot of that age. However, times and production values have changed such that the grooves can sound a little polite when played side by side with today’s production standard which tends to feature the kik drum much further up in the overall mix.

Personally, at the moment, I reckon that Trancendance is my strongest album overall since Synergy. But it’s difficult for me to say which is my best album because there seems to be little correlation between what I think is good and what people generally like. A classic example for me would be the track “Howling At The Moon.” Many, many people love that track and I get repeated requests to either play it in my sets, or re-release it on cd (it came out on vinyl) But I listen to it today and think to myself “God, what kind of angry mood was I in when I produced that ?”

Admittedly, I did set out to capture the spooky mood of primitive and ancient, ritual footstomping in the dead of night in a misty forest under a full moon (and perhaps with a subtext of bloodlust…) But personally, I find it just too much to listen to. For the main lines, I used aggressive, metallic sounding FM sounds and combined it with an arrangement is totally full-on and relentless. But still, many people love it so….

Q: You worked with artists like Jez Van Kampen, and then Dj Kuma on Mumbo Jumbo, do you enjoy working with other artists, or prefer a solo project?

A: I like both approaches because they offer different advantages. When working in the studio with someone else, apart from the obvious advantage of someone else bringing fresh musical ideas to the session, it can be a lot more fun, especially when slogging through long editing sessions. Working with another experienced producer (rather than a DJ) is particularly useful because you can take more breaks and swap the two major roles of: 1. driving the sequencer, editing, and focussing in on the minuscule details and 2. being responsible for maintaining the overview of the track/keeping the session vibe light and moving forward / tea making responsibilities.

On the other hand, when working alone there is not the same restriction on time, so I can indulge myself in trying many different ideas before choosing between them. There are also no artistic compromises that need to be made between ideas, so I can express my personal artistic vision more completely.

Your music was used in soundtracks and various animations, are you still working on such projects?

Not right now. I am focused on making a new Cosmosis album.

Q: So what do you do when you’re not busy touring and making music?

A: Sit in my garden in a place in the sunshine with a view over the mountains and play the blues on my acoustic guitar. When I am not doing that I read. I also meditate.

I wonder how you feel when you play in a party? is it like just a normal day of work for me? after all it works for you too.

Actually, performing onstage is never works for me, never has been. I still get a really big kick out of playing and watching people freaking out enjoying themselves (it can also a good laugh watching people from onstage sometimes : ) On the other hand, hanging around backstage in some dirty club for hours before the party starts, spending hours on crowded long haul flights, and stumbling through multiple airports with severe sleep deprivation can be less than pleasant. All things considered, though I consider myself very fortunate to be following my vocation and doing something I love, which is both to make music and be able to travel and share it with an appreciative audience and contribute in some small way to other people’s lives.

https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/37623-artist-cosmosis/

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Q: How and when did you start producing?

A: Jinno: In the mid 80s, just before the new Techno sound came to life, i was doing some massive underground experiments. it was the days of the New Wave and all those big reverbs. i wanted to go to something new and started to do some crazy tests with gear like connecting down pitch shifters and phasers to drum machines. after some time those deep punchy bass drums and bass lines just came together into something really energetic the first days of Techno.

Jiga: I was playing bass guitar in some punk and metal bands. i was alright in my left hand, but couldn’t get myself to master the slap base technique. i had all these ideas and bass riffs in my head and my fingers couldnt play these ideas. so i bought a cheap synthesizer with crappy sounds and suddenly i could program all the bass tunes i had in my head with no problems. then i wanted to program the drums and then it developed for a whole track. i connected to trance music immediately since the energies in metal punk are simliar to it – strong and purifying energy. trance was fitting me more because it had some other layers beneath it. not just – go and get fucked up in a metal headz club, but live life, dance in the nature, respect humanity. trance has the message of love.

Q: Do you project to release a new album? When would you release it ?

A: Our next album is psychedelic minimal techno trance. will be released in a few months. on this album, we will reveal the dark side of Analog Pussy. totally new sound.

Q: Which of your own tracks do you like the best? Any Unreleased ones?

A: ‘Shperma Pornomatic’ is one of our favs now. we didn’t have a name for it when we finished it, when our label manager heard it he came up with the name and we loved it.

Q: Your favorite psychedelic Groups & Albums?

A: Jinno: Hmmm … i’m not so much into following after specific acts or names … but in general i like and open my ears to all kinds of good electronic-dance music.

Jiga: When i scratch the table with my fingers it makes a real psychedelic sound. i listen to sounds around me and get inspired. could be the wind blowing or a car passing by. i learned to listen to everything and analyze it as a sound.

Q: How do you generally split the work between you all when building a Track ?

A: Jinno: We try to find new working methods every time. this is a must in order not get too repetitive. sometimes we sit together from start to end in the studio. one of us is in charge of the sequencer program (cakewalk), one of us is on a synthesizer making a new sound. on other times one of us will start a track completely alone, get out from the studio after a few days and the other one would continue the track alone, taking it in a new direction.

Q: Where does your inspiration come from ?

A: We try not to deal with inspiration too much. inspiration is a factor for lazy people. we just get up in the morning and start to work. sometimes a good track comes up, sometimes a bad one. during the years we learned the big secret of producing – after a while you just get to know yourself so good that you know the “keys” to the doors of the soul. inspiration is not a random key anymore, all the emotions and feelings are there inside. you just have to reach and take from there and put it in your trax. it’s that simple.

Q: What kind of equipment do you use to make your Tracks ?

A: Jiga: Analog synths like Moog, MS10, CS5, Poly 6, Matrix 6, Matrix 1000, semi analogs like Virus and Waldorf, soft synths like Rebirth and Reactor, Soundscape – which is an audio hardware machine, and is the heart of our studio. all is sequenced by cakewalk software.

Q: Future projects ?

A: Jinno: In the coming weeks a new 12″ single will be released on the German label Leviathan. the name is ‘extended Memory’ (Lev05). the sound is very German, clean and minimal.

Q: Is there any artist you’d like to work with ?

A: Jiga: i would like to work someday with a rap artist. i was thinking it could be an interesting combination. psychedelic rap music…

Jinno: At some point, I would like to work with dj’s. doesn’t matter who as long as he has a good ear and a positive personality. dj’s can bring a fresh perspective straight from the dance floor. this is an important motive because artists are usually homesitters, we spend most of our days in the studio when we are not performing. dj’s are social animals, they know what’s going on.

Q: Do you play DJ sets ? If so, what kind of stuff do you play as DJ in parties ?

A: When we make a dj set we play only our trax, since we are not professional dj’s. we prefer not to make dj sets as it is so…. boring! on a live show, we can really play live. Jiga plays a cello, a bass guitar, midi percussions and Jinno plays synths and is on the mixer. You cant compare playing live (and we actually play LIVE) to just putting records on the decks.

Q: When & where was your best party ? And your worst one ?

A: We played inside a huge ancient cave near Jerusalem. 1500 people were dancing inside, the whole thing was lighted with uv lights. but when the sun came through the holes on the cave’s ceiling, the sunlight broke to purple pieces and cut the whole cave with glitters and it was amazing. like a natural disco, a few policemen came in the perfect timing when we started our show. we looked at each other and we knew what we have to do – we played our track ‘Fight To Trance’. in the middle of the track there is a sample of Jiga saying “We fight the right to trance, we believe in total chaos”. the audience were screaming that line, it was so meaningful in that particular situation. the police went away btw, we don’t know if it was due to our track or not… the worst show we had? in Brazil in a very small town when the people didn’t know what Trance is. they came to the club to get drunk and get girls. there was no vibe in the party and it made us sad. however a day later we went to play in Rio De Jenero and Sao-Paulo ,and it was unbelievably amazing, the crowd there showed us what groove is all about!!

Q: Why do you release most of your Tracks as MP3 only and not through psy-labels ?

A: We do have quite a few releases in the real world. we had our first album ‘psycho bitch from hell’, a few singles and compilations. we are working now on the second album, on real release. due to our busy concerts schedule, it is much easier to put a track we just finished on mp3.com than to make an album. however, on the next album, we’ll put some fresh stuff, never heard before. keep an eye for it.

Q: What do you think about the evolution of psytrance in the last years ? Have things gotten better/worse according to you ?

A: Very important question. we are happy with the evolving of the scene. the more trance music becomes popular in the world, the more the psytrance becomes underground. it astonishes us how intelligent and fresh is the new psy music being released now. every year there is some “wise guy” who says the psytrance scene is dying and soon will disappear from the world. but as we see it this scene is alive and kicking.

Thanks a lot!

https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/37520-artist-analog-pussy/

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