Tell us about your project. How did falatek get started?
My name is Gregory Falatek. I went with falatek as my artist name because that’s what everyone has always called me. I’ve been making music off and on since my senior year of high school. I left college after two years and started taking music seriously. I’d say falatek officially started after I dropped out of school.
Your recently released EPs, "V i d o r r a" and "s o i r e e" both greatly differ in sound from
"r a v i". The first is very intimate and features a couple acoustic tracks and the second is very sample-heavy. In what direction would you like to take Falatek in the future?
I love slow, relaxing music. But at the same time, I like making something that can get people out of their seats. With Soirée I wanted to create a small soundtrack for a night out in the city circa 1985. But with Vidorra I wanted to make something you could listen to in the morning/while you sleep. Vidorra was created during a two hour studio session. I have so many musical interests so I like to make each project for a new time of day or new set of situations. I don’t want people to be able to predict what I am going to give them when I release a project. I want my listeners to grow with me. I’m still conscious of people who have supported me for years and I keep certain elements of my music the same. I want you to know it’s me when my voice comes on a record but I definitely don’t want you to know what I’m gonna say. I really like how my sound is progressing. It’s still amazing to me because everything started from a very hip-hop oriented place.
You have some live dates set up for this winter. What's the tour going to be like? Have you played any other show before?
This mini-tour is going to be great. I’ve done shows in the past but only during college when I was making underground hip-hop type records. I’m excited to perform the wide variety of music that I’ve created over the past year. Now, I have a vocal processor and new microphone. I’m about to buy a vocoder and projector screen for the winter show dates. Some of the venues have projectors so I would like to have all of my videos playing in the background. I’ve been working with a visual effects artist from The Netherlands named, Hidden Behind Leaves (@RotterdamRonin). If you haven’t seen any of the videos, check them out when you can. I think they will add a great aesthetic to the shows.
The production on "r a v i" was really stunning, and made the album an immerse experience for me, especially the cosmastly beat. How did you choose the beats, and how did you go about writing songs for each one?
I appreciate the kind words. I’m actually releasing an EP in 2015 that will be produced entirely by Cosmastly. There wasn’t much of a selection process for the beats. I have a lot of beats on my computer and I was recording so many songs last month. I ended up grouping Ravi and Soirée as they are because I figured everything sounded best this way.
What music are you listening to these days? What else do you do that's not music related?
I listen to all types of music. I like searching through soundcloud to find new artists. I can’t stop watching The Killers live performances. I need to listen to Modest Mouse every day. Young Thug. Grimes is amazing. I really don’t do anything non-music related at the moment. But I’ve designed clothes throughout my life so I want to continue doing that in the future. I’d also like to get back into painting because I did a lot of drawing and painting during my childhood.
