Ramona Depares speaks to Edwin Balzan, one of the brains behind Electronic Music Malta, to discuss two upcoming events aimed at bringing the electronic music community together.

It’s been over six months since the birth of Electronic Music Malta (EMM) with an event at St James Cavalier. What was the idea behind the initiative?

The idea was that of uniting Maltese electronic music artists, innovators, DJs, musicians and engineers by organising events which go beyond music performance. Through these, we want to help to increase awareness about issues that are related to electronic music but that are seldom discussed – to give one example, technical aspects related to sound.

Through EMM, we hope to take local music and sound innovation to a new level, bringing the achievements of these artists to the attention of the public and those who affect the artistic scene in Malta.

Who is EMM and what have you been up to in these past six months?

EMM is made up of a committee of artists – Neil Hales, Owen Jay, Frank Cachia, Keith Farrugia, Toni Gialanze, Bjan Jensen Darmanin and Andrew Magro. It is chaired by me. Our launch event took place in May, when we held discussions, an equipment exposition and two performances.

We also signed a three-year agreement with Spazju Kreattiv at St James Cavalier. Through this agreement, we will be organising an event every quarter during the upcoming year and beyond. We kicked off in September with a two-day discussion event during Science in the City, which saw the participation of various artists like Tribali’s Peter Paul, Alec Lapira and Imed Ben Moussa, Samuel Hayman and myself.

We have also started producing a weekly radio show on Radio Malta 2, hosted by Brian James, featuring interviews with local electronic music artists and DJs.

We also organised the first activity exclusive to EMM members, who were invited to meet with American chillout music producer DF Tram.

How have electronic music lovers reacted to EMM and what are your thoughts about the scene in Malta? How have you seen it evolve?

Tribali’s Peter Paul at Oscillations.

We have received words of encouragement from electronic music lovers of all ages and we seek to be as inclusive as possible.

As regards the scene in Malta, electronic music artists continue to release regularly on foreign record labels and receive appreciation from established artists all around the world. The scene is evolving more and more, whereby local artists (contrary to some other segments of Maltese culture) collaborate constantly together.

What do you see as the next step for the Maltese scene?

We are finally witnessing local electronic music record labels achieving recognition abroad and being sought after by international artists. The next step will see even more quality labels surfacing locally. On an international level we are seeing a resurgence of the vinyl medium; locally, we need to see more artists targeting this medium, which is considered the ultimate in terms of quality releases.

We are finally witnessing local electronic music record labels achieving recognition abroad and being sought after by international artists

Your first event for December is a screening of I Dream of Wires. What led you to opt for this particular documentary?

This documentary is about the phenomenal resurgence of the modular synthesizer; exploring the passions, obsessions and dreams of people who have dedicated part of their lives to this music machine.

This is indeed something currently very topical for electronic music artists all around the world and sums up EMM’s first six months, when modular synthesizers somehow featured in practically all our events.

The topic also takes us to a topic which we hope to discuss in the upcoming year – the technical aspect behind the actual building of these types of machines.

Later in the month, you will also be holding a concert for charity. What can you tell us about it? Which artists will be taking part and will it be a live showcase? Is it geared for synth-lovers only or would you like to attract a wider audience?

This is something that, as far as I’m aware, has never been attempted locally. The event will involve a live showcase featuring Acidulant, A-Mag, Duo Blank, Digital Nature, Jody Fiteni, Owen Jay, Stimulus Timbre, Brandon Portelli, and Antoine Vella.

Sets are expected to include music from Aphex Twin, Depeche Mode, Human League, Jan Hammer, Jean Michel Jarre, John Carpenter, Kraftwerk, Laurent Garnier, Orbital, Pink Floyd, Robert Palmer, Tangerine Dream, Throbbing Gristle, Wendy Carlos, Vangelis, Visage and Yazoo. These will be supported by a live-act from upcoming local electronic artist Jupiter Jax.

The event is especially intended for those who have synthesizer music at heart and all proceeds will go to the Malta Community Chest Fund.

I Dream of Wires shows on Saturday at 7pm at St James Cavalier, Valletta. Electronic Music Malta Concert for Charity takes place on December 27 at St James Cavalier, Valletta. Tickets to both events are available online.

www.kreattivita.org