Con's Universe is a progressive melodic electronic producer hailing from London, UK. Having grown up playing live performances as a drummer in punk, hardcore and indie bands , he now combines and infuses these roots with his love for electronic music. Inspired by an eclectic mix of producers, bands, and the ever-evolving DAWless community on social media, his tracks are shaped emotively to the core of the track title.
Con's Universe latest beauty called Mitochondrial Eve is out now as part of the UV Noir Spring Sampler and we grasp the opportunity to get to know his a little bit deeper, talk with him about the making of this track and his future plans. Enjoy his answers!
1-Dimitris: 2023 just started but it will be cool to let us know how was 2022 for your career. Let us know about achievements or goals achieved that you are proud of.
Con's Universe: 2022 was a fantastic year for me. It was the year I signed my first track to a record label, Concrete Kin. This helped me kick-start my networking across multiple platforms, gave me exposure to a wider audience, and also allowed me to gain valuable feedback on how to improve and evolve my sound.
2-Dimitris: Do you have already some concrete plans for 2023 and if you are allowed to announce them to our readers please tell us what you are preparing for us in the coming months regarding releases and performances in gigs/festivals.
Con's Universe: 2022 I spent building my base-knowledge of production, the industry, and my network. I'm very pleased to announce that my first track 'Mitochondrial Eve' is already out to the world on the incredible label, UV Noir. I also have a new melodic techno track titled 'The Navigator' which is due to be release on the 14th April with Concrete Kin.
In terms of any concrete pans? Nothing is set in stone. I prefer to leave things fluid as it allows me to work and create more freely when the time feels right. (at least for now, that is!)
3-Dimitris: It would be fantastic to talk about your track Mitochondrial Eve released as part of the UV Noir Spring Sessions . Please tell us how this track came about and what was the idea behind it.
Con's Universe: Mitochondrial Eve is the female ancestor of all living human beings. I created this track with the emotion of beauty and creativity in mind. It's a light, flowing track that should bring the listener both relaxation, peace, but also an air of freshness, 'beginning', and excitement.
I was very fortunate to find a Dalai Lama sample quote, depicting the state of humanity as it is today. We need to look to reset ourselves and focus on the core essence of life, and live it by supporting one another, rather than the few ruling over the many. This is how I believe the state of play would be during Mitochondrial Eve's time.
4-Dimitris: How long it took you to produce it and can u describe the production process in simple steps?
Con's Universe: This was a 'relatively' short process for me when it came to actually jotting down my ideas into Ableton. I typically come up with my melodies when I am out and about doing everyday things. I pull out my phone, record myself humming or whistling (badly, may I add), and then when I get home I upload this recording into Ableton and go from there.
I typically start with the melody, then build out the length and segments of the track and put holding percussion down, then build from there!
5-Dimitris: Did you had any particular difficulties accomplishing that particular track or any specific production challenges.
Con's Universe: It's a new style to me, so keeping the track chilled out was quite difficult. I tend to make tracks with a big crescendo. Whilst this has a build and drop, I tried to downplay the chords to keep the track in line with the start/mid.
6- Dimitris: Which music composition software or hardware you prefer and why? What is your opinion of the latest movement to produce music with more analogue equipment and with less or without any digital software?
Con's Universe: It's a good question. I actually started my journey into production through hardware synths. There is an incredible community online showcasing various tip, techniques and of course, hardware. Originally my tracks have through some means come from a DAWless jam, and stem from my minilogue.
I love the idea things are moving more analog. It teaches people the fundamentals of synthesis, and comes naturally to me given my background playing live instruments. However, I'm currently going the other way. This track was 90% created on DIVA. I'm in the process of setting up a home studio so working off just my laptop and headphones at the moment. That will change in a few months, and I have plenty of new analog synths I want to use!
7-Dimitris: Do you prefer instrumental dance tracks or you adore vocals?
Con's Universe: When I listen to tracks with lyrics, I tend to focus more of my attention on the music and the emotion it creates, rather than the lyrics themselves. My wife always laughs at me because I can never sing along to anything outside of a chorus. I think for me there are some incredible tracks with and without lyrics. I tend to lean to the longer/extended versions, and those without lyrics.
8-Dimitris: If you really like to produce vocal tracks which vocalist/singer or lyricist on electronic dance music you aspire to work with?
Con's Universe: It has to be Monolink or Run Rivers. I love the tones they have in their voices, and I'm in awe of the producers they work with. For me, they both have the full package. I'd learn a hell of a lot if I was ever lucky enough to work with them!
9-Dimitris: Do you believe that artwork on your latest track is good and do you believe that artwork can attract listeners or record buyers? Can you mention the best artwork of a track ever released?
Con's Universe: Yes for sure. We live in the digital age now where people are able to effortlessly scroll through tracks. Anything that helps make your music stand out is a plus from my side. I don't have a particular single/album artwork to call out, but I'm a huge fan of This Never Happened labels artwork. It's clean, concise, relevant (typically inspired by nature)
10-Dimitris: In which label your latest release will be? Tell us your opinion about that particular label and your connection with them.
Con's Universe: My latest release is with UV Noir. They have an incredible roster of talent on the label and I'm immensely proud to be featured alongside other artists they have signed. It's a special one to me as the label is headed up by Paul Thomas. I've been a fan of his work for a while now, so it's great to get his stamp of approval on my work! The team at UV and FSOE have been fantastic in getting the release out to the world.
11-Dimitris:How much time do you spend promoting yourself in your social media and you see this as essential tool for self promotion and getting bookings too? Which social media is the one that seems to work better for you?
Con's Universe: At the moment I am focused on building a portfolio of tracks to be released so I haven't spent a lot of time promoting my social media channels. I am quite active on Discord, as I feel you can build long lasting connections through that site. Once I have a few more tracks created I will spend a few months pushing my channels prior to releases. I do, however, do a small amount of social media upkeep. I'm lucky that the labels I have worked with push this through their channels too.
For me, one of the key areas to promote music is by getting on playlists with artists similar to your style. This is my focus for now.
12-Dimitris: Please note for all the new talents that read this interview to get some inspiration from you any technical tips in relation to your DJing or music productions. Also any piece of personal or music business' advice that has helped you to progress even further and is worth telling to the new upcoming talents.
Con's Universe: This is less technical, but the most important thing I have found when creating music is to center yourself around learning new things. Focus on the 'now' rather than the end goal. If you remain curious, listen to new music, hear about new techniques to learn, then your creativity will naturally evolve.
I also try to keep my plugins to a minimum. It's very tempting to buy loads of cool plugins and hardware without truly learning the ones you have. We are all guilty of it, but my advice is to take it slow and take your time learning with the tools you have.
13-Dimitris: Is there a club classic that you would like to remix or rework in 2023? Do you attempt often to do your own bootlegs of classics?
Con's Universe: Operation Blade, Public Domain. What a tune!! I haven't attempted doing any of my own bootlegs of such classics yet as I feel I wouldn't do them any justice. It's definitely one to make in a few years though.
14-Dimitris: Vinyl sales are rising and there is strong demand for vinyl releases? What is the reason behind that trend and do you see it as a positive development?
Con's Universe: I like it. The world we live in is so focused on convenience that we have lost a whole segment of emotions when it comes to buying/doing things. I used to always visit the local record store when I was younger, go straight to the CD bargain bucket and pick out a random album to listen to over that weekend. The joy of going into the store and seeing all of these artists plastered over the walls is hard to come by these days. I say if we can bring that back, people will respect and enjoy the music they listen to much more!
15-Dimitris: Many artist right now attempt to come closer to their fan base and use the meta verse in order to offer exclusive content to their most dedicated followers. Do you have any plans to do the same and what is your opinion about this plan to grow on metaverse?
Con's Universe: It's definitely one to watch out for. I've joined the Emanate discord channel who are making headways in this world. I love the connection between the metaverse and music, and I can only see this benefiting artists and listeners in the future. I don't have any current plans to partake in this from an artist's perspective, but will be from a listeners!
16-Dimitris: Do you believe that music genres or styles are still relevant today? What is your opinion about hybrids and artists attempting to mix influences from various genres in their tracks?
Con's Universe: I think genres are still very relevant, especially when it comes to live music. What I love most is being able to listen to an artist I like, and then an algorithm picks up a new artist for me to listen to. Personally, I struggle sticking to a specific style when creating music. I tend to focus more on the emotion than the song structure/bpm/genre etc.
Hybrid and mixing influences is essential to the development of music, so I'm all for it! Jazz Emotronica anyone?
17-Dimitris: Finally tell us if you are able to make a leaving out of your music business (DJ/producer/label owner/teaching or mastering tracks) and if not what other jobs are you doing in order to make a decent leaving?
Con's Universe: I am far from making a living out of creating music. At the moment I am focusing purely on the learning aspect of production. I currently work in the corporate world for a large data and analytics company - this keeps the bills paid! Should I look to take the leap into monetizing my music capability, it most likely will be from various revenue streams (live, ghost writing, single/album releases, tutorials, potentially setting up a small label etc)
Dimitris: Your message & wishes for Flux Bpm Online readers.
Con's Universe: I just want to drop everyone a note to thank you for taking the time out to listen to me chat about my experience. Whilst I am pretty new to the scene, I have managed to make some amazing connections and I'm always open to making more. Please feel free to DM me on insta and I'll be sure to reply. I hope you all enjoy my new track. I had a huge amount of fun making it, and thanks to the team at UV for promoting and releasing it to the world!
Find UV Spring Sessions here https://uv.streamlink.to/springsessions2023
Thanks so much to Con's Universe for his answers.https://www.instagram.com/cons.universe