RxDIO was brought into the AUL project at
the very last minute. After months of planning and running back-and-forth, AUL
was surrounded by great uncertainty as the disappointments persisted. After it
had emerged that we had to change our whole narrative to better accommodate the
new subjects of our story, RxDIO came in and contributed to what is probably
one of the most intricate stories I’ve ever worked on. He welcomed us into his
home and introduced us to his world. RxDIO released his Live A Little EP in
August 2013. In my view, Live A Little will be those ‘always-on-repeat’ type
albums. Songs like Toberman St, Slave To The Truth, Merrier, and a song which
had me reflecting a lot, Liars, are one of the many musical gems in a body of
work that is both personal and graceful. What blew me away about him was his
‘unfilter-able’ and ‘unedit-able’ personality. In my opinion, his Live A Little
EP embodies great substance.
His responses to my questions bring a new
dimension to the AUL story, revealing moments of reflection and wisdom. It’s
important for artists to understand the source of their inspiration, not to
only know it, but to understand it. Artistry occupies an intricate place in
those who shape it. The AUL story is about those intricacies. What I’ve observed
from RxDIO in the few months I’ve worked with him is that the source of our
strength is in our inspiration. The degree to which we remain anchored to who
we’re truly are depends on the significance we place in that which we draw our
strength from. This is exactly what we wanted to achieve through AUL.
phsicsmag (p): Based on your understanding, what would you say constitutes to the idea of “a universal language”?
RxDIO (R): The same way some would say
there is beauty in everything, or that God is in everything, I believe all of
those statements and others similar to those are true. I
think when looking for the beauty in something, or God, there is certain understanding to be attained and a way of perceiving
things around us to be utilized. I think the revelation of an idea and ideas
such as this and applied to our daily lives is when “a universal language” is
spoken.
p: Do you feel music is still the
“universal language” it once was, or are artists better off creating musical
niches for themselves?
R: Music will always be the “universal
language” it once was...to me, artists “creating musical niches for themselves” is what
helps music to be the “universal language” it is. We are all unique individuals
who have unique reactions to the unique moments of our unique lives so of
course sometimes things in our lives aren’t representative of how we may feel,
like music, but that would be a bias opinion of my own if I felt that way. I’m
not the only one this planet. So what I do is create music that speaks for how
I feel. The same as the person miles away from me with a totally different
life, lifestyle, way of thinking, and musical preference. How I see it, it’s
not what type of music we do, or what we say, or if we agree or have totally
different views or how we do it. It’s simply us doing it that allows someone to
“speak the language”. To feel attracted to something as much as it is attracted
to you.
article originally published in phsicsmag's A Universal Language issue available for download here
