Faradays: "I wanted to translate the aesthetic of gamelan into something that can live within our pop culture"
After years of experimentation, Faradays has found her own musical language. With influences from Indonesian gamelan, electronic production, and intimate songwriting, her new work moves between tradition and contemporary pop. On July 24 she will present A Lab Cult new material for the first time with her three-piece band, ahead of the August 14 release of the first single from her new album. We spoke with Faradays about her new sound, the creative process, and why a try-out is an essential step in making new music.
After years of experimentation, you have found a unique sound where gamelan, electronics, and intimate songwriting converge. What originally drew you to gamelan, and how did that influence grow into the core of your new album?
"It actually started with a sense of nostalgia. That music was buried much deeper in my memories than I realized. I heard gamelan at home when I was younger, but then not at all for years. That’s exactly why I wanted to bring that feeling back.
What appeals to me so much is the tuning of the instruments. It differs from the Western scale. There is a kind of imperfection that makes the music feel very open. It feels as if space is created between the notes. It’s hard to explain, but those melodies and scales really strike a chord with me.
I wanted to translate that aesthetic into something that can live within our contemporary pop culture."
That proved to be a complicated musical puzzle.
"The gamelan and my synthesizers actually speak two different musical languages. As soon as you put them side by side, it sounds like one of them is out of tune. I tried to adjust the gamelan as little as possible, but sometimes it was necessary. As a result, you can sometimes hear two scales at once. It was a huge quest to bring those worlds together in a natural way."
You are presenting this new work during an exclusive try-out at A Lab Cult. What does it mean to you to share music with an audience at such an early stage?
"I’ve spent years in my own world. I loved working alone in my studio, without outside distractions. Because of that, it’s exciting to step back out into the world now.
Honestly, I could have kept tinkering for years. There is always something that could be better, something you still want to try. But at a certain point, you have to accept that a work is finished."
In this, Faradays often thinks back to a childhood memory.
"My father was a very talented artist. At one point, he had created a beautiful pattern and I thought: this is perfect. But he kept going. More and more details were added, and in the end, it actually became less beautiful.
That image has always stayed with me. Sometimes you can keep adding things for so long that you lose what makes a work strong in the first place. I thought about that often while making this record."
Your music moves between East and West, tradition and contemporary pop. How do you find a balance between honoring your sources of inspiration and developing your own sound?
"For me, it’s not about reproducing gamelan as it already exists. I want to explore how that musical world can merge with my own music. That also meant I needed a lot of time to figure out how those different systems could meet. Only when that started to click did my own sound emerge."
After a long period in the studio, this try-out feels like a fresh start. What are you looking forward to most?
"I’m especially curious to see what happens once the music is no longer just mine.
In the studio, a song exists in one way. On stage, it gets a second life. My band adds their own musicality, and because of that, the songs become a little bit theirs too. I think that’s really beautiful."
For Faradays, playing live is a shared experience.
"How a performance sounds isn't just determined by us as musicians, but also by the audience. Everyone hears the music in their own way. You really create that experience together. When you feel the attention of an entire room shift to the same place at the same time, that’s something very special."
The structure of the evening also plays an important role in that.
"I pay a lot of attention to the order of the songs. I hope people can really disappear into the music and aren't pulled out of that experience by a transition that doesn't fit. You try to create a narrative arc where everything is connected."
For anyone who hasn't seen you live before: what do you hope visitors take away after the evening at A Lab?
"I hope people can surrender themselves completely to the music for a while. That they step into another world and let themselves be carried away by the sounds and the atmosphere.
Ultimately, playing live is something you do together. With the band, but also with the audience. If everyone feels part of that one moment, then the evening is a success for me."