[Read in full on NHAM]

Interview with Socool

Dressed ever so splendiferously here at NHAM HQ we took some time out to sit back, relax, unwind and listen to ‘To the Nines’, the latest release from Vancouver-based music producer and DJ Socool. Whilst doing so we penned some questions and fired them over to Canada where she was waiting to respond…

NHAM: Hey Socool, how are you today and, as we’re conducting this interview virtually, across continents, can you tell us if you have also dressed to the nines especially for this chat?

Socool: Hello! I’m delighted to have this space to talk about music with you, thank you very much. By the way, you’re looking spiffy in that outfit, super liking those biodegradable sequins, wow! So yeah, thanks for asking, I’m having a great day so far, just hanging out on Cloud 9 in my favourite comfy spacesuit.

NHAM: Great stuff! Speaking of which, your new album To the Nines is another beautiful blend of gorgeous tones and chilled beats and breaks that we’ve become accustomed to hearing from you. It’s your first full album in nearly three years. In between time you’ve released various EPs and singles (two of which earned high praise on BBC 6 Music). Yet all the while the nine tracks from this new album had been floating around in the background. Can you tell us why now was the right time to pull these nine tracks down and release the album?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]Ah thank you! Those years passed by with so much growth in both how I make and present my music, and more importantly in my understanding of why I do this and what I need to do to be able to keep doing it. In between all the many collabs and remixes, these tracks were quietly taking form. I’d start a track, get it to a place where I was happy with it, then put it away for a while, visiting it periodically with fresh perspective to refine the ideas and bring it closer to where I wanted it to be. One day I took a step back and looked at all these tracks that were piling up and realized the time had come to let others enjoy them. After that, many more things needed to happen, but I had made enough space in my life to have the energy to make the decisions and do the work and now here we are! I’m one of those people that mostly listens to full albums so presenting my music in this way is exciting to me.

NHAM: Tell us a but more about your background… Have you always been based in Vancouver? When did you start making music? We hear you were both a radio DJ and a live DJ in the early days?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]I was born here on the coast in Vancouver but was raised in the Okanagan, in a small town that’s nestled between two lakes in the interior of British Columbia. Growing up, I had a chance to learn several musical instruments starting with piano, then clarinet, saxophone and guitar before I took up DJing when I returned to Vancouver after graduating from high school. I was one of the hosts of a radio show called Shadow Jugglers that aired every Saturday night from 7-9pm on CiTR 101.9fm. We’d mix records live on air, invite our friends to play guest slots, give away tickets to whatever show we were going to that night, and just generally have silly amounts of fun. I was loving those DJ days, playing all vinyl sets at various lounges, club nights, afterhours and summer music festivals in BC, until I got a copy of Ableton Live and that was it for me: from then on making music became my focus.

NHAM: That sounds like so much fun! So, where did the name Socool come from?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]Around the time I started DJing, I had a really fun group of coworkers at the library I worked at and we all had nicknames for each other and they started calling me Socool because my last name is Sobool. So when I needed a DJ handle, I picked DJ Socool and it ended up being kind of perfect because I tend to play very chill music (and funny too, because I am a deeply awkward person so it’s a bit of an oxymoron).

NHAM: Brilliant! We’re interested to hear about your creative process:
– Where does the inspiration come from?
– How is it fleshed out/do you have a typical process?
– What’s easy, what’s hard?
– What do you enjoy, what do you dread?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]Inspiration comes from many things. A chord progression that needs to be explored, a BPM that captures my imagination, an improvised melody that sticks. Also, it’s probably not ideal but going through stressful situations and experiencing difficult emotions tends to bring out some of my best music unfortunately!

NHAM: Makes sense – Great art often comes from a place of difficulty.

[strong]Socool: [/strong]Sometimes certain music I listen to just grabs me and all I want to do is listen to it on repeat. I’ve been known to try to remake a song from scratch just to have an excuse to listen to it over and over, and in the process of deconstructing it there will often be a spark and something new will emerge.

My process of making music is pretty straightforward I think, I just kind of keep going until I can listen to a track without feeling the need to add or change anything. It can take me a long time to get to that place, but I usually do eventually – I’m not really one to give up on songs I’ve started: if something’s not working for present me, it might just be a little gift for a future me to come back to. And while I find it easy to start new songs, finishing them is more difficult for me because while I’m working on them they feel alive, and drawing that line and saying something’s done feels like a kind of abandonment.

I most enjoy that feeling when a song is still new, still figuring itself out, and there is this rush of like a honeymoon phase when all I want to do when I’m not working on it is work on it some more.

I used to feel like everything needed to be perfect and I dreaded listening to a track of mine that I had finished and released in case I might hear that there was something wrong with it. So I would avoid listening to music I had released, especially the earlier stuff, because of that fear of finding imperfections. But a couple of years ago, I had the honour of spending some time with a brilliant and creative Indigenous storyteller who introduced me to the concept of the spirit bead. In the context of beadwork, the spirit bead is a cultural tradition where a single bead is deliberately made to be out of place, for example, a different colour, facing the wrong direction, or slightly off-pattern, and this bead is placed this way intentionally to represent a sense of humility, to acknowledge that no person is perfect, so no artwork made by a human should pretend to be perfect. When I heard about this, it was the exact right moment for me to take it in and after that, there was a major shift in how I feel about my music. And in the these times of generative AI taking the place of real art, humanness in art is more important than ever, so I’m less afraid now to share art that has imperfections, instead, I embrace it.

NHAM: So true, what a beautiful tale. Tell us about some of your greatest influences, musical or otherwise.

[strong]Socool: [/strong]Gladly! Some key albums in the early days include Breath from Another by Esthero, Mezzanine by Massive Attack, Homogenic by Bjork, and Portishead’s self titled album. More recently we have Forms by Rohne, Keep Your Soul Young by Amparo, Sisyphean Audio Therapy (all three volumes) by Ordos Mk.0 (@ordosmarkzero) and Bleach by cable.percussion.

NHAM: You’ve done a good number of collaborations including with other Fedi artists. It seems that remote collaboration is something you particularly enjoy. Can you give us an insight in to the process, right from the first approach to collaborate, through the process of creating the music to releasing the finished work?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]Yes, I really do love collaborating with other music producers and musicians! I’ve collaborated with quite a few different people now and I’ve found that the process is wildly different depending on who I’m working with. Truly I just love it when people send me audio to play with, it keeps things fresh for me and brings about new techniques and approaches that I think I would miss out on otherwise. Plus the feeling of hearing something amazing that another producer has done with the audio I sent them is incredible!

Working with Skysonix (@skysonix) for example was really special, as everything flowed really nicely right from the start and all through the release process. It started with meeting on Mastodon, having a mutual appreciation for each other’s music, then one of us floated the idea of collaborating, the other enthusiastically agreed, one sent an initial idea for a track and the other took took that and ran with it, and vice versa, and then with some back and forth suddenly, almost effortlessly, we found we had an EP finished. Track names, artwork, track order, release planning, all those decisions were shared which I found to be a great relief.

NHAM: Can you remember how you first become initiated in to the Fedi Music Scene?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]I was part of that big wave of people looking for alternatives when Twitter imploded. Someone I followed there mentioned they were trying out this place called Mastodon and I checked it out and found that people were really welcoming. I was around when Radio Free Fedi started up and at that point it really started to feel like a music community was forming.

NHAM: What is the pull of the Fediverse over traditional, dare I say ‘legacy’ social media for you?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]It feels like home. So many of the people I cross paths with here share similar values.

NHAM: Is there a particular song or artist within the Fedi that’s caught your attention recently?

[strong]Socool: ‘[/strong]Black Knoll’ by Bedlam Steps (@bedlamsteps) (from the Patterns and Shades EP) just gets me every time. I can’t seem to listen to it only once, I get stuck in it and end up having it on repeat for a while. It reaches me in the same way # 19 by Aphex Twin does.

NHAM: You have a wonderful back catalogue over on Bandcamp but more recently you’ve begun releasing on Bandwagon, Faircamp and Mirlo (@mirlo) too. What has been the appeal of these platforms for you?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]​​​​​​I have a lot of respect for people who look at the current situation around the music economy and actually do something to improve it, and I feel like Faircamp, Bandwagon and Mirlo are good examples of this so I’d like to support them as best I can. Faircamp lets artists self-host their music and present it to the world via an elegant static site generator, and I’m grateful to have some music out there via the negative void community Faircamp, so my music can potentially be discovered via the Faircamp Webring. And with Bandwagon, I can simply check a box and then my music will go into rotation on The Indie Beat Radio, which is great because I am trying to reach more people with my music so I want it to be in as many places as possible to do that. In the case of Mirlo, I like how I can offer some music there and if someone is kind enough to buy it, a percentage goes to them so they can continue to grow this music cooperative.

NHAM: You’re also a regular contributor to Bonkwave compilation albums. Tell us some more about that. Why do you particularly enjoy being part of the Bonkwave community?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]I love how chaotic bonk wave music can be, while at the same time the community is well-organized, friendly and inclusive. When I sit down to make bonk wave, often something kind of magical happens and the resulting music comes from a sincere and honest place that seems to be easier to access when I create music that has no rules and no genre constraints. And making music is a really important part of my life, so I put a lot of thought into how certain things that come with it make me feel, and in an effort to protect it, I try to be careful to only do the things that feel good. Well, one of the things that does make me happy is being part of the bonk wave community, and I feel a lot of gratitude to everyone involved. Also, we’ve established that I can take years to finish and release music when left to my own devices so having a set deadline to finish something for our compilations has been really good for me, haha. And how great is it to get to release music alongside some of my favourite producers? It’s inspiring and also a lot of fun.

NHAM: Something we don’t hear so much in your music is your own voice, but you were heard singing on the Happy Bonkday 2025 release. Might we hear your voice more in future releases?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]I think so! I’ve been collaborating with an amazing music producer who is also part of the Fedi music and bonk wave communities. Can I just say how happy it makes me like every single day that one of my favourite artists is sending me instrumentals to add vocals to? I’ve been enjoying the process a lot and I’m excited for you to hear our songs …when the time is right!

NHAM: Finally, is there a question you always fantasised someone would ask about you or your music?

[strong]Socool: [/strong]Heh, great question! I’d like to talk about how making and releasing music has brought so much more great music into my life. What I mean by that is every time my music is shared in DJ’s mixtape or a radio show, I’ll listen to the whole thing and more often than not, it will lead to me discovering music I would likely never had heard of. So many of my favourite songs, albums and artists have reached me this way. And that, along with the great sense of community I get from being part of the fedi music scene and the bonk wave community, is why I think I’ll continue to make and share music.

NHAM: Brilliant, it’s been so great to chat with you, Socool. With the breeze now blowing your cloud back toward your music studio (and hurrying the biodegradation of our sequins), this is the perfect time to sign off and tell every to go and listen to To the Nines – available now on Mirlo.

Find Socool on:
– Mastodon (@socool)
– Bandwagon
– Faircamp
– Mirlo
– Socool’s website
– Pixelfed

#Bandwagon #bonkwave #community #interview #Mirlo #music #RadioFreeFedi #TIBR

Ridgewood, New York, Summer 2025

People are fascinating.

If there’s one thing I enjoy the most, it’s pretending to be a wallflower and observing small, beautiful moments of life moving around me. People watching as it’s more commonly known.

And the people of Ridgewood are by far some of the most fascinating people in NY that I’ve had the pleasure of both getting know through social interactions and through observation behind the lens. The ecosystem of this neighbourhood functions so much like a small town with a quiet charm and tightly knit community. And all of this is because of the people who live in Ridgewood.

I admit, it is quite deep into New York City, but that distance from the city itself is why so many people live here. Away from the hustle and bustle, but not too far away. Just far enough to build an oasis that is unique and different from anywhere else in the city.

Ridgewood may not be for everyone. I know from experience. But for those of us who are here, we’re not complaining.

#NewYork #NewYorkCity #Ridgewood #Queens #Neighbourhood #Community #People #Bus #SliceOfLife #NightPhotography #StreetPhotography #Photography #City

🚀 Premiere: Der erste Hubzilla-Workshop!
📅 Mittwoch, 17.09.2025 · 🕢 19:30 Uhr
🌐 Online im Meetingraum:
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Moderiert von: @pepecyb · chris · @jupiter_rowland · @Doris
✨ Mit Aufzeichnung für alle, die Hubzilla entdecken, souverän nutzen und bisher verborgene Funktionen kennenlernen möchten.

Extra Hubzilla Workshop-Kanal:
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Ob 🐣 Einsteiger, 🛠️ Fortgeschrittene oder 💡 Entwickler – gemeinsam wollen wir dazu beitragen, dass Hubzilla bekannter, einfacher nutzbar und noch spannender wird.

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👉 Sei dabei und entdecke, was Hubzilla kann!

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