We are stoked to host this exquisite mix from Maude Vôs, founder of Delusional Records, a label amplifying underrepresented voices in electronica, with a whopping 95% of it showcasing FLINTA, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and API artists.
We catch up with them ahead of their highly anticipated third EP released on Delusional Records - 'Astral Intervals'.
First and foremost thank you so much for taking the time to put this fire mix together, can you tell us a little bit about the energy behind this mix, is there anything you would prescribe doing while listening?
I love your mix series so much and was beyond excited to make this mix for y’all. I wanted to bring a bouncy, lush cosmic energy that encapsulates the cerebral aspects of sound design I love and the body high of movement & groove that carries my favorite dancefloors. I’ve included some of my favorite FLINTA producers, forthcoming works, and tracks from the Delusional catalog, all spanning an array of genres, yet unified in their otherworldly nature.
I love movement whether it's a proper warehouse or just dancing at home, so I think this mix would be an incredible preclub listen.
Your Unearthed EP with Scuffed Records was percussively and texturely so lush, vibrant and diverse, but always hard-hitting - can you tell us a little bit about Astral Intervals, what themes are you exploring sonically and metaphorically in this forthcoming EP?
Unearthed was composed from a place of grounding, adventuring & finding solace in my mountain home of Topanga. I took Astral Intervals to the skies, by way of the stars, moon & heavens. While composing this record I was reading a few books that connected music, mathematics and the cosmic world.
Harmonies of Heaven and Earth: Mysticism in Music from Antiquity to the Avant-Garde
I implemented and captured these relationships sonically by utilizing orbital patterns, constellation locations, tonal zodiacs and gravitational pull to influence the scale, BPM and melodic & rhythmic ratios of each track.
Additionally, I've always been so inspired by vintage sci-fi synthesizer scores, especially from movies like Tron, Aliens, Bladerunner, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Liquid Sky. These movies were really my entry into exploring hardware machines and finding my love of cosmic sounds.
I challenged myself to produce and sound design a record that had elements of a celestial movie score, yet would captivate a dancefloor, so a “cosmic dancefloor score” if you will. I utilized formulas from the above books as my roadmap and pretty much used every piece of my studio, especially my vintage gear like the Roland JX3P, RE201 (vintage space echo), Baldwin Discoverer (1978) & newer clutch pieces like my eurorack, Moog Matriarch & The Hologram Microcosm.
In doing so I feel like I was able to bring planetary harmonic theory, my early synthesizer inspirations and my love of a late night dancefloorto a place of celestial sonic symbolism. There's also a bit of mysticism, astrology & late night star gazing sessions woven in the seams of this record.
With a background as a Sound Designer and Composer, what was the final push to make the jump to producing? Did it come easy or was it a difficult journey?
So actually, my path isn’t so linear, I was a producer before going to school for my degrees in Media Music & Recording Technology. Early on, I was noodling about in a “cracked” version of Ableton 8, making trap beats & dubstep, learning from youtube and a few pals. Ultimately, I hit a wall and knew university was the next step for me in bringing concrete tools and knowledge to my artistry. In school, I did 4 semesters of music theory and ear training. It was beyond brutal but really made the biggest difference in how I listen and make music. I studied things like composition for film and video games, advanced sound design and live engineering. During these years I really learned that I'm creative and technical, thus I made my way back to production, with my new found knowledge and inspiration.
When starting Delusional Records back in 2021, what was one of the most important directions you wanted to represent (sound wise or artist wise) and what was one of the biggest unforeseen challenges you found you faced?
Delusional Records was created from a place of necessity. There is a lack of representation not only in production and studio spaces, but also in the label sphere.
My own life experiences are a key factor of why I continue this work. Even today only 5% of music labels are owned and operated by the FLINTA community. Years ago, before Delusional, I was the token femme producer on various compilations or labels and I knew I needed to begin the journey of creating a space with the goal of an inclusive catalog. I slowly began putting together all of the pieces that were needed to launch a label and really learned as it continued. Sonically, to this day there is still no formula, I love so many genres that it feels impossible to pigeonhole myself like that. But, if I were to describe the sound of Delusional, it's always been lush and transcendent yet abstract and experimental, paying homage to the past and pushing towards an expansive future.
I think the challenge of running a label is managing the numerous moving parts of a release. Sometimes there will be multiple releases in the pipeline, at various stages which can feel chaotic. I feel like I have lowkey become a project manager and really do my best to stay organized and keep all of the releases moving forward. Shout out to the Delusional graphic artist Ash, label manager & writer Janus, my mastering engineer & my distribution rep! Creating a solid dependable team is huge.
“Delusional Records was created from a place of necessity. There is a lack of representation not only in production and studio spaces, but also in the label sphere. My own life experiences are a key factor of why I continue this work. Even today only 5% of music labels are owned and operated by the FLINTA community.”
What’s next for Maude Vôs?
Musically, I'm working with a wonderful FLINTA label on an extended EP that will be released in the spring. I have a few remixes coming out & a few more I'm working on. The next step for Delusional has been to move into the physical release world. I'm beyond excited to announce that there are releases in the pipeline. I'm slowly chipping away at my first full length record which is no small undertaking. I'm giving myself the time to really explore what a larger body of work is going to encompass and what pieces of myself I want to share in that sonic space. I have a few gigs where I will play my ambient live-set soon & a few club sets in new cities that I'm very excited about.
Personally, I'm about to wrap up our home garden for the season. It's been a special season of growing tomatoes, flowers, beets and squash. I'm hopeful to get a few more mountain treks in this year, finish the current book I'm reading, Pink Noise & to spend some cute time cooking and creating with my partner Sarah this winter.
Stay up to date with MaudeVôs here!