Spotlight: Sina
Following on from his debut release on UE favourite Silent Dust‘s none60 imprint, we thought it apt to put the spotlight on Dublin-based producer Sina: an artist whose richly-textured sound marries strong emotional drive with a penchant for broken arrangements and ethereal vocals.. A perfect match we’d say!
Greetings Sina! Your debut on None60 is a beauty, can you shed a little light onto how the connection with Silent Dust came about?
Thank you! The EP was originally slated to come out on another label run by a friend of the Silent Dust guys who had asked them to contribute a remix to the project. When the release ran into problems Andy from Silent dust offered to put it out on their none60 imprint which I was more than happy to do.
Title track ‘All Alone’ is a true testament to the woven textures and finetuned intricacy that characterises your sound. If there’s one track or album that has most influenced your approach to music, what would it be and why?
I’d have to go way, way back and pick Sly and The Family Stone’s ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’ from 1971 as an album that continues to influence me; at least in its musical approach if not directly in style. It’s just a work of genius: the composition, the musicality, the grooves. Every little piece of instrumentation, vocal or rhythm perfectly compliments and is perfectly syncopated with the others. I could bang on about how much I love it all day but if I can manage to achieve even a fraction of what Sly did with this album in my own music I’ll die a happy man.
From what I gather your preference is to DJ live as opposed to DJing in the traditional sense of the word. Why is that? What would your typical Sina setup consist of?
A lot of electronic producers come from a DJing background whereas others, like myself, drifted into it via playing in bands. My setup consists of a laptop, various midi controllers, effects and a keyboard. It just seems more natural to me to have my hands on some kind of instrument when I’m on a stage (which is just as well as I’m a pretty awful DJ).
What’s next for Sina, both release and gig-wise? Any more forthcoming material on None60?
I’ve got a handful of tracks almost finished that will be my next EP, really happy with how it’s sounding. Gigwise, I’ll be in Slovakia in May for a couple of shows, and a few others on the cards that will hopefully materialise. I’d love to release on none60 again. I’ve got a collab with Silent Dust in the works that should be out on the label later this year.
And finally, what’s the one Urban Essential you couldn’t live without?
I’m not sure if it counts but I don’t think I could live without a strong coffee to help me deal with mornings!
Sina’s All Alone EP is out now on none60. Grab your copy via the label’s official Bancamp store.