Spatial Awareness: “I’m very much an imperfectionist”
Spatial Awareness, a multifaceted electronic artist who blends acid, disco, techno, and house, has carved a distinct path in the electronic music scene. His distinctive sound has resonated with audiences everywhere, from Spain’s Benicàssim Festival to underground warehouse parties in LA.
Photo credit: Spatial Awareness – Facebook
His releases on prestigious labels like DJ Pierre’s Jack Trax and Anja Schneider’s Sous Music, along with notable remixes for artists including Boy George and Marc Almond, showcase his rising influence in electronic music.
As co-owner of Interzone Music Club imprint and with an upcoming album on Blow Up Records, Spatial Awareness brings an eclectic approach that draws from post-punk to film soundtracks, creating music that transcends genre boundaries.
EG had the chance to talk with Spatial Awareness about his recent release ‘Nocturne’ and upcoming projects.
EG: Hi, Spatial Awareness! Hello, Tony! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. How have you been? Where are you right now?
Spatial Awareness: Hi EG, many thanks for having me. I’ve just been really busy… which is always good. In the last couple of weeks, my remixes of Ladytron and amillionsons have come out and seem to be going down rather well; right now I’m in the studio finishing up my new album, out next year on Blow Up Records.
EG: So, first of all, congratulations on the recent release of your latest EP, ‘Nocturne’! You must be psyched to have this one out to share with everyone. What are some of your initial feelings now that the EP is out and about?
Spatial Awareness: I’m very pleased to have finally gotten this one over the line, it’s actually taken a little while to get out… several years, in fact! I made it a long time ago and it was supposed to be signed to a label (I can’t actually remember who) and it never happened in the end – such is the way of things… It languished on a hard drive in a cupboard until earlier this year when I rediscovered it, and the general consensus was that it actually sounds really current again, and John from Punx Soundcheck jumped on it for his Arcade Pony label. Maybe it was just ahead of its time…
EG: Now, what can your fans expect to find on ‘Nocturne’ as a whole? Is there a concept or emotional trigger driving this EP?
Spatial Awareness: To be honest, I can’t remember what inspired the original. I think I made it in that post-electroclash time period, so there was probably quite a big influence from that; certainly a lot of interesting memories from that time… I did feel compelled to make a dub version of the track this time around; unfortunately, all the files for the track had long since gone by the wayside and there were no stems, so I had to use parts of the original (and recreate a few bits) to make the chuggy dub which is on the release.
EG: And what was the creative process for this one like? Do you have some “go-to” resources/techniques by now? Being a live performer, does that “inform” some of the decisions that you make in the studio?
Spatial Awareness: Again, I can’t really remember for ‘Nocturne’ specifically, but I’ve always had a very idiosyncratic method of production. I have a tendency to work in what are probably very odd ways compared to most artists, but that’s just how my brain operates. My creative process usually involves a constant experimental mutation of whatever I’m doing until it seems like it’s finished. I’m not a noodler as such; I think I’m quite practical in terms of getting things done and dusted. I hate that thing of just tinkering with music for an age and it never ending – I know a lot of producers kind of get stuck in that state. I think part of how I work probably derives from having a long history of playing live; a punk core runs through everything I do creatively! I’m very much an imperfectionist. I also love the process of making (mostly) electronic music the way that I do, and then figuring out how on Earth I’m going to play it live and how the live aspect is going to change the music.
“My creative process usually involves a constant experimental mutation of whatever I’m doing until it seems like it’s finished”
EG: Since we’re on the release front… is there anything else you can anticipate for the coming months?
Spatial Awareness: I’ve had a really productive year, so there’s a fair bit coming out in the near future – I’m very excited about my remix of ‘A Pact’ by The Woodentops coming out on vinyl this month, alongside remixes by heavyweights Bushwacka and Skyscraper HiFi (Jon Dasilva and Jonas Nilsson’s new project), and that’s on my own Hottwerk Records label. I’ve also got a remix of Princess Superstar/Punx Soundcheck/Ascii.Disko out on vinyl before the end of the year.
My second collaboration with the iconic ROY INC will be out soon as well (with a launch at Horse Meat Disco), with some stellar remixes out in the new year. My new album will also be released in the Spring next year. Plus there are a few other remixes and releases that I can’t say too much about just yet. Plus lots of other great music that’s not mine coming out on Hottwerk.
EG: By the way, there’s quite an eclectic feel to your sound palette that seems to go way beyond notions of genres, which at the same time, is not very common in this industry. Was that a premeditated thing? What’s your take on this?
Spatial Awareness: I’ve always had a very eclectic approach to music. I had a lot of different music from various directions growing up, and I’ve always had an extremely low boredom threshold; as an enjoyer of music, a DJ, and as a maker of music, I’ve never been able to function any other way. I’ve always been drawn to DJs like the late Andrew Weatherall, Erol Alkan, folks like that. I like DJs that take you to a completely different place than where you started out; I like the curveballs in a set, the unexpected, records that really shouldn’t go together just ending up working, subverted contexts… I can’t stand musical puritanism. If you look at the British house and rave culture at the tail end of the ’80s, most of the main protagonists had been punks years earlier and still carried that attitude into electronic music. In the US, the pioneers like Francis Grasso, David Mancuso, Larry Levan, etc., they were incorporating all manner of different types of music under what became the “disco” banner. My favorite cultural and musical happenings have always been at the nexus of different worlds colliding. Keeps things interesting.
EG: Speaking about the scene and its “concepts.” How do you feel about the current state of the scene? Have we drifted too far from our roots? Do you think the “founding figures” were thinking about VIP areas and bottle service?
Spatial Awareness: There are essentially two types of places that people go to where there are DJs: places where you make requests to the DJ, and places where you don’t. All the commercial clubs and velvet rope VIP bottle service side are really just the descendants of the high street Darren n’ Sharon discos from the ’80s and ’90s, just with vastly more money involved now. I definitely think there’s a place for that sort of thing; that side traditionally exists in the places where DJ requests are okay… The people going there are in that environment for a slightly different kind of experience than the ones going to the type of places where requests are not made. The problem is, in recent years there’s become a bit of confusion about the two, and one side has kind of crossed over into the other. I think a little more understanding and acknowledgment about the history of this music and its spaces as sanctuaries for marginalized communities would be welcome. I’m pretty sure Francis and Larry and Frankie and Ron and David and everyone else were not thinking about what they were doing at the time somehow becoming some homogeneous exclusive elitist money thing years later.
EG: Now, onto a hot topic… How do you feel about the rise of AI implementation in music? What’s your relationship with that like? Has any form of AI been used on any of your recent productions?
Spatial Awareness: For the last forty years or so, there have always been those people who deride electronic music, pushing the ridiculous notion that synthesizers and computers just have this button you can press and the machine makes all the music for you. And now bizarrely we find ourselves in a situation where this actually is sort of happening. I don’t use any AI in my production; my process is far too idiosyncratic for that. I’m not against the use of AI as a tool per se as part of the creation of art, as long as it is just that – used as a tool as part of the overarching humanistic process. However, just using generative AI to churn out art of any sort in order to generate revenue is just horrible. There have been various memes floating around recently along the lines of “I thought AI would take care of the chores and leave me more time to create art, not the other way around.” I think there’s a lot of truth there.
“My favorite cultural and musical happenings have always been at the nexus of different worlds colliding”
EG: Finally, what can we expect from Spatial Awareness in the next few months? Where can your fans catch you next?
Spatial Awareness: I’m one of the residents at a party in Southend-on-Sea in the UK where I live, called Left of Centre (which is always amazing!), that’s a monthly thing – as I’m concentrating on getting the album finished off, the rest of the year is fairly quiet gig-wise other than that – but my diary for 2025 is filling up nicely with DJ gigs and live dates across the UK, Europe, and beyond; I’m very much looking forward to them all!
EG: Thank you so much for your time! We wish you all the best for the future. Take care!
Spatial Awareness: Thanks EG! See you soon.
Spatial Awareness ‘Nocturne’ is now available on Arcade Pony. Stream and download here.
Follow Spatial Awareness: Spotify | Soundcloud | Instagram | Facebook
