Talik about her debut EP ‘Cold Silver’

Hey Charlotte, nice to finally speak to you, how are things in the UK?

Great to chat with you too! Things are still pretty locked down but I can definitely feel a lot more positivity now with the hope things might get back on track this summer. I’m having a couple of months out in the countryside before moving back to Hackney which is super nice – feels like a little retreat in the woods. Excited about the prospect of getting to some festivals too, even though it feels pretty mad thinking about it whilst in the current situation!

Your debut EP has just been released, how do you feel about people finally being able to listen to your music? 

Haha yeah it feels good. I was pretty nervous initially – unsure how it would be received and feels a little daunting putting your work out there. But feeling more relaxed now and it’s been nice to have some initial feedback from people I really look up to.

Even though you’ve released your debut, I think you’ve been able to really create your own sound. How did you work towards this sound, is it something you aimed for or did it develop over time?

Ah thanks, that’s nice to hear! I’m not sure, to be honest, I guess it has just developed naturally over time. I found it a little challenging at first trying to establish anything I liked without it just sounding a bit hectic, but I feel like it has started to come together now.

How would you describe the aesthetic of your ‘Cold Silver’ EP

For me, it feels like a bit of a journey through what I was going through whilst making it. I was living in Brighton and going on long walks every day at sunset where the sea was either dark and crazy or super calm and beautiful. I always used that time to try and organise the sounds I’d made into something more coherent, or to listen to tracks that I was inspired by.

I think I channeled various emotions into the EP. As with most people, things were pretty up and down during the intensity of lockdown in the peak of winter – the craving for getting out and seeing friends/hearing loud music – doing anything other than walking or working haha. I also lost my Grandad to covid in the middle of the process which was painful, he has been such a big part of my family’s lives. It was especially challenging during a time where we weren’t able to safely be with our families to support one another or reflect on memories together. I made “When The Air Runs Dry” the night he passed and didn’t really make many changes to it after that – so it was a product of a lot of emotion and love for him. Hopefully people are able to connect to that in some way through their own experiences.

Your music is based around deep basses, which are combined with short, rhythmic melodies and percussion. How were you able to create such a full sound? Can you dive deeper into the production process of the EP?

I guess I like making lots of layers of textures and sounds. I love abstract music but have also always been drawn to the piano and full pads/melodies so try and combine the two as much as possible to build a journey. I start by making as many sounds as possible and then I’ll organise it later, usually the next day on a run where I can listen clearly/more objectively and try and build it into a story. Apart from that, I don’t really have a set process in terms of what I start working on first. If I need inspiration or if I’m feeling more emotion that day I would start on the piano and work within a certain scale. Otherwise, I’d probably start with drums.

For “Cold Silver” I had an idea in mind about wanting to use lots of cold metal hits/percussion and a heavy kick, then it sort of developed from there. I started “Can You Feel It Spark” when we had a power cut – I was sat in the dark with no internet so just spent a few hours experimenting with what kind of sounds I could make with a snare loop – lots of stretching/slicing/reversing/transient shaping and it ended up pretty cool! “When The Air Runs Dry” was a later addition to the original three – I had already made some of the elements a few months before but didn’t know what to do with them – so I guess that came together really quickly in the end through a release of feelings.

 This brings me to my next question, your percussion often can’t be described as typical drums, where do you find the sounds you use, or do you create them all by yourself?

I made some sounds myself through field recordings – the sea, engines, birds, scraping my laptop, doing some strange mouth percussions, but also some of it is just stuff I found and reprocessed a number of times. I love manipulating percussion in various ways – stretching samples to their limits, warping, re-processing and recording a few times with different layers, then cutting bits out and merging them together. I also find ASMR samples really interesting to work with.

Knowing you, you’ve told me you lived in Berlin before moving back to England. Has this change in environment influenced your sound? If so, how exactly?

Yeah Berlin will always feel like home! I lived there for around 3 years and went back for a while over the summer. Would definitely say it had a big influence just from the parties we were going to and the artists I discovered there. Most of my friends were either working in music or producers/DJs so we were surrounded by it all the time. The majority of my friends there actually ended up being from the UK, everyone seems to come together, so it was still pretty UK-influenced but within the Berlin scene. I also took up piano lessons again whilst there & started experimenting with making music through that.

In your tracks, you tend to build up, break down, and build everything up again which creates kind of an abstract structure and sound, but also brings a lot of tension into the tracks and makes me curious about what’s coming next. What techniques do you use in order to do this? How do you strike a balance between the abstract and the direct side of your music?

I don’t know really, I think it just depends on what kind of energy I feel I want to come next. I find moments of silence really effective, or pads/synths that pull you in and then disappear and are replaced with darker drums. I’ve definitely had to work harder on finding the balance though through the arrangement as it often starts too abstract and not very accessible.

You’ve also made a mix, which we can listen to below, how do you approach selecting your tracks?

I’ve included artists and labels that have really inspired me and also music from mentors/friends I’ve been working with. I’m generally drawn to wonky and abstract music or tracks that I would describe as proper ‘heart melters’ haha. I also wanted to create a bit of a journey and not necessarily just build up energy over time.

Then finally, we are very eager to hear what’s in it for the future, do you have some upcoming projects or plans for performances?

It was nice to take a little break and now I’m working on getting some new music together. I’ve got a track coming out on a 3024 comp which I’m excited about – more on that soon! Then also a couple of other projects including a collab with another Intercept artist…