Flow State - Belle Chen (Interview)
Flow State recommends instrumental music every weekday, highlighting an artist who inspires music appreciation in this age of algorithms. If you enjoy Flow State, consider becoming a paid member – that unlocks our weekly Tuesday mixes and private Spotify playlists. Good morning. We’re doing all piano music this week. Today we’re listening to Belle Chen, an Australian-Taiwanese pianist and producer. We first recommended her almost four years ago. She was born in Kaohsiung, raised in Brisbane, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London.¹ Her latest record, Ravel in the Forest, was inspired by a return trip to Australia in 2021. While visiting her family, she “stumbled into an ancient rainforest” whose sights and sounds of life inspired the compositions that would come to make up this record.² It’s a gentle, dynamic, awe-inspiring, and thoroughly original record, with Chen’s dextrous piano performance accompanied by beguiling strings and dramatic synths. We’re also re-upping her 2016 LP Mediterranean Sounds, which combines classical piano with field recordings of glamorous locations. Recommending it in March 2020, we found the record “especially useful in this time of isolation.” An interview with Chen follows the streaming links. Ravel in the Forest - Belle Chen (50m, no vocals) Mediterranean Sounds - Belle Chen (50m, ambient vocals) What were the Ravel pieces that you listened to the most / inspired the compositions on this album? Ravel is one of my favourite composers. I love how he was able to draw a multitude of colours and timbres from the orchestra, and also how he was able to make the piano sound orchestral too. It’s hard to pinpoint my favourites from Ravel, I learn so much from his works across multiple instrumentations and scope - both in his compositions and arrangements. There are tributes to Ravel that can be found throughout Ravel in the Forest like hidden easter eggs, include motifs from Miroirs, Jeux D’eau, the second movement of the Piano Concerto in G, and the second movement of his String Quartet in F. Other influences are less direct. For example, “Closer” and “Moonrise” take inspiration from Ravel’s orchestration techniques. What other music were you listening to while composing Ravel In The Forest? My other main influence beyond Ravel is Ryuichi Sakamoto, especially his earlier works like Thousand Knives, and his time with Yellow Magic Orchestra. While producing this album, there were several key artistic decisions made after listening to Jean-Michel Jarre’s Amazonia (2021), Connan Mockasin’s Caramel (2013), and Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells (1973). The album and its track titles conjure a forest ecosystem, with foliage and weather, populated by wolves, dragonfly, chameleon, and deer. Tell us about some of the connections between your compositional techniques and these images. One of my favourite parts of making this album was the process of conceptualising and finding ways to externalise the characteristics and personalities found within the forest in a way that is colourful and vivid, yet leaves enough space for the listeners to imagine. Some compositional and production techniques that listeners may pick up include:
In “My Deers,” the sweet nature of the deers shine through in the piano melodic line, while their movement and behaviour is evoked through rhythm. The scene also includes bird calls (created using electric piano with chorus & wah) and a thunderous synth bass. "Dragonfly" is probably the track we’ve returned to the most. It has this striking staccato style – how did you achieve that effect? For “The Dragonfly,” there was a lot of time spent on the design, capture and on the sound during production by both myself in initial stages (EQ and finding the right type of attack), and also with my mixing engineer Dougal Lott (to accentuate the impact and finding the “tail” with a touch of delay). This track is comprised of multiple layers of processed keyboard playing, each with specific spatial treatment and reverb to create layers of distance and closeness. Sometimes in this track, what sounds like a singular line is actually comprised of 3-4 layers, fitting in together like a jigsaw puzzle. In general, what are your favorite records to work to? Like when you're dealing with email, etc. Depends on the mood, time of day, and where I am actually! Generally when I’m doing non-creative work (like admin etc), I tend to listen to something with beats. On a normal day or if I’m travelling, it’ll likely be artists like Mndsgn, Robert Glasper, Anderson .Paak. If I’m feeling really tired and am needing to push through with a task, I’ll listen to Afro-Cuban music (Afro-Cuban All Stars, Buena Vista Social Club, Ruben Gonzalez, Irakere, etc). If it is early evening, I’ll most likely be listening to jazz (Chick Corea, Avishai Cohen, Tigran Hamasyan, Hiromi etc.). If I’m catching up on emails very late at night, then anything goes! It depends on what the vibe is. Some artists I’ve been listening to recently late at night: Jeff Buckley, Yosi Horikawa, Cigarettes After Sex, Piero Piccioni, Jamiroquai… Generally I avoid listening to classical music or art/experimental genres when I need to focus, as I tend to revert to analysing the music rather than simply experiencing or enjoying it. Name an underrated musician from the past 50 years. Yosi Horikawa What are you working on next? I’m currently preparing for the album launch show for Ravel in the Forest in London in March, which will be an immersive audio performance with my 8 piece modern chamber ensemble. I’m very excited about this! After this, there will be a series of live shows to support the album. I’m also simultaneously working on my next set of works, which I’m keeping close to my chest for the time being. |
Older messages
Flow State Episode 215
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Listen now (118 mins) | Good morning. We're doing all piano music this week. Today's mix collects piano recordings that came out over the past year or so. There are classical pieces by Bach,
Philip Glass
Monday, February 19, 2024
Good morning. We're doing all piano music this week. Today we're listening to Philip Glass, an American composer from Baltimore. We've recommended Glass twice before. Glass turned 87 a few
Pyur
Monday, February 19, 2024
Good morning. Today we're listening to Pyur, a German electronic music producer based in Berlin. Thanks to Stephan Kunze at Zen Sounds for surfacing her work. Born in Munich, her mother played
Fabiano do Nascimento
Monday, February 19, 2024
Good morning. Today we're listening to Fabiano do Nascimento, a Brazilian guitarist from Rio de Janeiro. He picked up piano at a very young age but fell in love with the guitar at 10. He moved to
Daisuke Tanabe
Monday, February 19, 2024
Good morning. It's Friday so we're listening to something more upbeat. Today we're listening to Daisuke Tanabe, a Japanese electronic music producer. Born in Hyōgo Prefecture and mostly
You Might Also Like
'The Brutalist’ Nails Limited Expansion As A24 Turns Brady Corbet’s Epic Into Event Cinema – Specialty Box Office
Sunday, January 12, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe January 12, 2025 'The Brutalist' Nails Limited Expansion As A24 Turns Brady Corbet's Epic Into Event Cinema - Specialty Box Office By Jill Goldsmith This
Trump Plans Deportation Propaganda Blitz to Scare Immigrants
Sunday, January 12, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe January 12, 2025 Trump Plans a Cruel Deportation Propaganda Blitz to Scare Away Immigrants The president-elect and his allies plan to take their racist Springfield
AUNJANUE ELLIS-TAYLOR Details Her Deep Connection to RAMELL ROSS’ Poetic NICKEL BOYS | FYC in All Categories including Best Picture + Best Supporting Actress
Sunday, January 12, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe This email was sent to newsletterest1@gmail.com by Deadline. Please add email@email.deadline.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the
How the Democrats Blew It
Saturday, January 11, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe January 11, 2025 How the Democrats Blew It Insiders open up about how the Harris campaign lost touch with voters — and how Trump came out on top By Tessa Stuart,
'Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera' Delivering Lionsgate First No. 1 Win Since 2023's 'Hunger Games: Songbirds and Snakes' - Friday Box Office Update
Friday, January 10, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe January 10, 2025 'Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera' Delivering Lionsgate First No. 1 Win Since 2023's 'Hunger Games: Songbirds & Snakes' - Friday Box
As ‘Hard Truths’, ‘The Last Showgirl’ Open Amid LA Wildfires, Distributor Calls Debut “The Definition Of Mixed Emotions” -- Specialty Preview
Friday, January 10, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe January 10, 2025 As 'Hard Truths', 'The Last Showgirl' Open Amid LA Wildfires, Distributor Calls Debut "The Definition Of Mixed Emotions" --
DGA Nominee James Mangold’s A COMPLETE UNKNOWN starring Timothee Chalamet is a “triumph” | Nominated for 4 SAG Awards & 3 Critics Choice Awards | FYC in all categories
Friday, January 10, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe This email was sent to newsletterest1@gmail.com by Deadline. Please add email@email.deadline.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the
NICKEL BOYS is “One of the MOST VISUALLY INVENTIVE American Films of the Decade” | FYC in All Categories including Best Picture
Friday, January 10, 2025
View on web New reader? Subscribe This email was sent to newsletterest1@gmail.com by Deadline. Please add email@email.deadline.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the
Spotify Newsletter #239
Friday, January 10, 2025
Your Weekly Dose of Spotify News ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Ringo Starr "Look Up" Out Now 🤠
Friday, January 10, 2025
This email was sent to newsletterest1@gmail.com by Rolling Stone. Please add to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the Preferences Center to update your profile and customize