Sunday 2 October 2011

A.I.A. Interview


A.I.A or Ambient Intelligence Application is a new upcoming ambient, down-tempo group from Greece who are trying to explore some new atmospheric paths...this group consists mostly from two brothers (writing, producing ,djing,...) I spoke to Konstantinos one half of A.I.A. about the project.

1. Which artists inspired you most to work in the ambient genre?

We could say, that some of the artists inspired us are Robert Rich, Jean Michelle Jarre, Vangelis Pathanasiou, Brian Eno, Ian Boddy.The sound from these artists was the first feeling, which took us inside the world of ambient.It’s difficult to say and stop only on these artists, being an influence to us. Influence is all things and all situations around us. So we would say, influence is a whole mixture of situations, feelings, nature and music and not only some certain artists.

2. For readers visiting Athens which clubs or festivals would you recommend?

To be honest there are no clubs focused on chill-out, ambient music in Athens.
Only some production teams are organizing some events where well-known artists are invited to perform live or dj’ing. There are some teams like: Art Ubber Ales, Organic Dream which try to keep the chill-out spirit alive. Regarding festivals it is a big story. After the legendary festivals in Samothraki Island, many organization teams start making efforts for similar festivals. We would like also mention the Aurora team which tries to help the Greek scene. Another festival is Mafia island fest, organized by the same people who organized the legendary Samothraki dance festivals. Unfortunately this festival is in Africa miles away from Greece. We wish them good luck with this.

3. You released your debut album "Physical Moments" on Ajana records in 2009. Could you tell us more about the album?

Well the shared vision and the basic idea of forming came to us on Samothraki Island in the year 2005. Where we performed as chill-out dj's (and not with the name A.I.A). As a part of the dj sets we used live compositions. Our audience enjoyed it and that was the beginning for creating the album “Physical Moments”. Our common vision is to create new sounds that could be listened to at home as well as a festival. It’s a mixture of sounds created and recorded live in a dj set.

4. Which artists currently impress you?

It is impossible to name the entire artists that impress us. We have a large collection from all kind of music. We can name few: Desiderii Marginis, Subheim, Field Rotation, Mike Sheridan, Bersian Quartet, Half Dub Theory, Somnia records, Ultimae records, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Kaya Project, Makyo, Niyaz and many more….  Also, some post alternative rock and ethnic sounds pass through our headphones.

5. Are there any plans to take A.I.A. on tour in the future?

Yes there are plans to take A.I.A on tour and we hope to participate in festivals during summer 2010 as a dj & live act. Nothing yet is confirmed. We still try to focus on preparing the live performance to be sure 100%, continuing to add to our studio set-up to make new tracks and more interesting sounds.

6. Where can readers unfamiliar with A.I.A. hear your music?

In a few months the official A.I.A. site will be uploaded. On there, our fans will be able to listen to new tracks, re-mixes and dj sets. Until then, our home is on Ajana records web-site and our Myspace profile (click the header to go there).

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