Image by @lusandrea (Luz Sierra)

How did you get into music and what role does it play in your life?

As a kid I used to love hearing to music and singing, but my first formal approach was when I learned to play the flute at 11. From the years ’93 to ’96 my father got a job in England so me moved over there and I learned a lot about music. Coming back to Chile, it was hard for me to continue with the flute and because of many other reasons I moved away from music. I studied a completely different career and during the years I was working in full time jobs, I became really depressed, so I picked music back again and I haven’t stopped since then. Never went back to “normal” jobs and today my main focus is music. I’m 38 today and it’s been a long journey!

What is your musical background and influences?

My parents used to listen to a lot of South American rock artists like Charly García, Virus, Los Jaivas, some Folclor and also to some international known bands at that time (80’s) like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and many more. When we moved to England I was 10 and got a strong influence of British electronic, trip hop and pop, together with some classical music I learned with the flute.

You recently released three tracks on Tecnologías Elementales' first release, Mutualismo 001. How did that collaboration come about?

During the pandemic I created some tracks that were too different, very experimental and personal, so I thought to myself no one would like them. I wasn’t interested in releasing them, until Diamin told me that she and Fango were creating a new label called Tecnologías Elementales and they really wanted me to take part. They were interested in authentic music, so I sent them those hidden tracks and to my surprise they loved them!

You say that the three tracks are "the result of an exercise in self-knowledge through music production after a period of questioning and discomfort." I'm curious to explore that a bit more. I find it interesting that it's called an "exercise." Did you do this intentionally and with a plan? Did you come up with an exercise for yourself over a period of time?

Yes, it was some kind of exercise of exploring textures, sounds and my voice, with which I felt very authentic, trying not to get influenced from the external world although that’s impossible. Besides, non of the music I create I find it to be mine, I see it as a download of information.

After like 4-5 months of pandemic, I started to become more and more isolated, talking to almost no one, reading a lot of books, hearing a lot of podcasts and doing a strong introspective job. I also, started to have very symbolic dreams which were key to all my development afterwards. So those tracks, reflect that period.

Nothing was intentional, it was all a result of the things I experienced during the pandemic which changed the direction of my life quite a lot.

The work on this album is described as a “journey of finding truth and rewinding and resetting the mind to move forward”. From the description I gather that the mood is that of a time that has passed but leaves an echo of memory in the mind, and that is what you reflect in these tracks. You have given a sound, a mood to that time and era.

Yes, completely! On “RWD” I talk, in Spanish, my native language, about a real dream which is very symbolic; returning to a garden full of myrtles. On “T”, coming from Tree, I talk English, but in a very erratic way (is not my native language), describing the journey of finding truth, which is hard work! Both of those tracks have a kind of introspective mood. The third one “2FWD” is the most different one, with a more uplifting mood, like coming out of that period of isolation and entering into some kind of different dimension, seeing everything with new eyes.

Image by @fabianagustin_ (Fabian Agustin)

This fits with @inigo.diaz's beautiful article "La presencia del ambient en la música chilena actual," which he introduces with the sentence, „Compositores, product ores y artists están investigando una music que se sustenta más en el snide que en la música. Es insondable e informe y, como su nombre lo dice, construye ambientes.“

Is this the correct translation: "Composers, producers and artists explore a music that is based more on sound than music. It is inexplicable and formless and, as its name suggests, builds ambience."?

Sound is what our brain stores from the second we can hear, before we are even born. I was hoping you could tell us about your work according to these impressions, and if it's possible to describe the idea behind ambient sound, or if it's more about listening and assimilating?

Yes, that’s the right translation. And yep, for me ambient is like downloading all this beautiful dream world into sound, where there exist less structure and one feels more free to experiment with sound. When this happens, I think creativity can expand even more.

What deeper understanding have you had about music lately that really amazed you that you found this "truth"?

The importance of knowing one self so that what comes out is more impactful. The importance of opening up and expressing what one truly feels inside, more than just doing a techno track, or pop, or whatever. The importance of a narrative in a track; it has to express and show something that comes from the inside that can give something valuable to whoever is listening. This can be very subjective, but every artist has to find its own way. I could go on and write pages regarding the question, but I want to be concise here.

You told me that you are very busy at the moment. What are you working on and where will you take us musically?

I’m working more seriously on my live performance so that in some time I could leave djing a little bit aside; I feel the urge to communicate more my voice & creation rather than others. I love djing and I will always dj, but my main importance now is live performance. I’m working on a LP that I want to finish in some time this year. I’m also working together with René Roco in a new duo called “El Nombre Llegará”. We will be releasing our first album this month and we will start playing live at the end of the month and also have some dates in May & June. Then we are planning a trip to Canada, from July to August or September. In the mix, you’ll find some new music so you can get an idea!

Image by @fabianagustin_ (Fabian Agustin)

ABOUT THE MIX (on n10.as)

It only contains Chilean music which for me has been impressive the last couple of years, and I added many unreleased tracks of myself and of “El Nombre Llegará”. As most of my dj sets, I don’t use specific genres, but try to be very open to a lot of sounds. This mix was prepared in a computer, using bitwig daw.

TRACKLIST

1. Gatonauta – San Pedro
2. Anguila – Transducción Simple
3. Fantasna – Fantasía
4. Chicarica – Diamantes (Lorelei Remix)
5. Reina Sofía – Superluna (Kamila Govorčin Remix)
6. 3.16 – La Señora Ena
7. Delphie – Nuestra Propuesta
8. Kamila Govorčin – Morphing
9. Futuro Fosil – Medanoso
10. Kamila Govorčin – No Name yet/Unreleased
11. Banana Peel – Xpira
12. Bvha – Like Fear
13. Dilunar – Voyeur en Vacaciones
14. Kamila Govorčin – No Name yet/Unreleased
15. El Nombre Llegará – Apnea
16. El Nombre Llegará – Opuestos Complementarios
17. El Nombre Llegará – Azúl Profundo
18. Kamila Govorčin – RWD