microCastle’s first offering of 2023 welcomes Presia to the label for his debut EP. The Burgeoning French talent has carved out a unique sonic identity in the world of electronic music and indie dance, resulting in a string of uniquely crafted records that present a resonant worldly sound.
Photo Credit: Presia – Facebook
Hailing from the Alpine town of Annecy, Presia’s musical palate takes reference from a legion of genres across the industry’s vast spectrum; creating an authentic voice that is discernibly his own.
To celebrate the release of his ‘First Time’ EP, Presia invited EG into the studio for 5 creative tips to make the most out of each session.
1. The room
I took an acoustics course during the pandemic’s lockdown. In this training, they explain that working in an uncorrected room is like watching a movie with sunglasses on, you can’t see what’s really coming out of the screen. From there, I completely emptied my studio and restarted from scratch. I took the time to analyze my room and correct some issues. Since then, I am more confident with what comes out of my speakers, and even if everything could still be better in my studio in terms of perfection, it allows me to work much more serenely.
2. The setup / The process
The conception and the reflection around the setup are primordial to me. I think it’s important to identify the instruments and machines that you have the most fun with, the ones that encourage your creativity, and organize your studio accordingly. For me, I wanted to be able to capture my ideas almost instantly to capture the spontaneity and emotion of the moment. I also wanted to be able to improvise and experiment live with all my instruments, much like a band in rehearsal. I proceeded by elimination, I asked myself which instruments I liked to play, and with which I had the most fun. And I built my studio around this idea: I wanted to be able to play all my instruments at the same time and to be able to trigger the recording instantly. I set up a system to loop each of my instruments so that I could switch from one to the other until I had a result that suited me and start recording.
3. Play instruments: Get out of the loop
I started out playing drums and have always continued to play. Playing music, playing an instrument, to keep in touch with the fun, with the game. It seems to me that it’s super important. Going to the studio to create needs to be a fun time for me, where you allow yourself everything. It seems to me easier and more natural to play an instrument to give relief to an idea and get out of the loop.
4. Ableton session mode
When I discovered Ableton, I chose the session mode to compose for some reasons. The advantage of this mode is that you can very quickly use the bass of a verse with the drums of a chorus for example. This allows you to experiment with different mixes with the ingredients of the song. And also, it allows trying different sequences in the structure of the song before recording a first arrangement of the track. Recording the arrangement manually allows having a more natural and human structure. Then, you just have to edit your song in the arrangement mode to finalize it.
5. Live feedback
I realized that when you are in the presence of a friend and you make him listen to a new track, something very instructive happens inside yourself. The remarks that you will make yourself when you play your track in the presence of someone else are often very relevant feedback. If, for example, you feel the need to comment to your friend that the track lacks kick or that the vocals lack intelligibility, it means that you have just identified the areas of improvement of the track. In any case, it allows me to realize or accept the flaws of my track and to identify some issues in the track. Having another person in the room while listening highlights the areas that need improvement.
Presia’s ‘First Time’ is out now via microCastle. Purchase your copy here.
Follow Presia: Facebook | SoundCloud | Instagram | Spotify
