WINDOWSHOPPING - Interview

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Tell us about Windowshopping.

WINDOWSHOPPING

Windowshopping is me fucking around on Ableton in my bedroom hoping to cultivate a large and expansive enough discography to warrant people writing dozen paragraph-long essays in RateYourMusic comment sections.

I haven't really known and still don't really know what I'm doing; this is just a way to get all of the ideas (music related or not) out of my brain and onto paper in a coherent enough manner. I think it's pretty neat that people enjoy my sounds.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Talk to us about your 2022 release titled, 'Andromeda.'

WINDOWSHOPPING

Andromeda was meant to be the album I had wanted to make since starting making music. Looking back now, I'm not sure if I achieved that. I kinda put myself in a time crunch while working on that album, which leads to some of it feeling amateurish and rushed. I wanted to have it out before the end of the Winter season, and I only started formally working on it in September 2021, giving me like 3-4 months to finish everything up. I was also still in the process of learning Ableton Live, coming off of 2-3 years of being an FL Studio guy. If I had spent maybe 3 more months working on that album, I think it would have turned out a lot better than it did. A lot of the masters on those tracks are completely fucked n I definitely needed more time than what I gave myself. I made it coming off of a super long creative block though, so I was just happy to be making shit again.

Other than all of that, I still think it's a pretty cool album. I was going for a chill kinda not chill Dreamcast game soundscape inspired by nostalgia for the shit I played when I was younger. Every project I make is a learning experience, so I've taken what I learned from working on Andromeda and am applying it to new shit for the better.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Does 'Andromeda' have any relation to Greek mythology or the Andromeda galaxy?

WINDOWSHOPPING

Nah.

I just thought the name Andromeda sounded cool.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Outside of music, what are your biggest creative influences?

WINDOWSHOPPING

Everything in my life inspires my music and creative output.

I couldn't pinpoint my exact influences, but I take a lot from my friends. Having a good community of other musicians and creatives surrounding you is probably the best thing you can do to grow as an artist. I also try to consume as much media as humanly possible so I always have a lot of shit floating around in my brain. I watch a lot of movies and play a lot of video games which I think helps get my creative juices flowing. I've always been a big fighting game guy, shit like Street Fighter, Guilty Gear and Marvel vs. Capcom.

I like trying to replicate the feeling of playing those games within my music and visuals: relentless action coupled with a precise yet graceful technicality that I can only really get from games like that.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Talk to us about the track, 'Amethyst Sex Magick' how did it come to be?

WINDOWSHOPPING

The sample on that track is BT - Embracing The Future (Embracing The Sunshine mix). I finish most of my tracks save for some minor tweaks in mixing and composition in a 6-8 hour long sitting, and this was one of those sessions.

I don't really know how to verbalize what I do when making shit, I kinda just do it.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Can you elaborate on your Bandcamp bio, which states the following,

"Window store Accursed Specimen 4000 BPM Malignant Sampler Andromeda Operator 35 Inhabited by an Inhuman Force Alienating Him from the Rest of Modern Society."

WINDOWSHOPPING

Just weird stream-of-consciousness type shit.

Most of my track titles are that way too.

If it doesn't have something to do with an aspect of the track like a vocal sample or time signature then it's meaningless at surface level. There's probably something subconsciously that made me name a track "5-Hour Energy stains on an otherwise clean carpet / Spilled Pepto Bismol in my brand new Subaru Outback", but it doesn't really mean anything to me.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

How would you describe your sound?

WINDOWSHOPPING

My sound is an ever changing amalgamation of the shit I like.

Like I said earlier, I take a lot from video games and movies. I grew up with an OG Xbox, Xbox 360, and parents who didn't want to spend $60 on a new game (I don't blame them) which lead to me playing a lot of older games from the late 90s to early 00s. I played a bunch of Third Strike, Jet Set Radio Future, classic Sonic and tons of other assorted Sega/Capcom games which definitely influenced my taste in electronic music a TON. I didn't really listen to much Rave-y EDM stuff when I started making electronic music, I always thought of the stuff I was making as Video Game music; it wasn't until I started putting out music and people told me what it was that I started using tags like Footwork, Jungle or """Breakcore""" to categorize it.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Do you have any new projects in the works?

WINDOWSHOPPING

I'm always working on stuff but I don't really have anything planned at the moment.

I think I'm done releasing music this year because I've put out like 2 hours of music in 2022 alone. I want to get at least one EP out next year and another full length LP by 2024, but that's it. I like dumping shit on Soundcloud though so if you're itching for new stuff, check that out. Also check out govlink, Eelbath, Gianni Earthangel, rainsdeaf, cade parker if U like my shit... all severely underrated people everyone should listen to.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

What's next for windowshopping?

WINDOWSHOPPING

I have no idea.

I'll probably be on a few comps with friends in the coming months. I'll probably dump some shit onto Bandcamp within the next year. Maybe play some shows. Who knows? Future me does.

I'll let everyone know what he says when I meet him.

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ARTIST LINKS: BANDCAMP - INSTAGRAM