The Contemplative Podcast

SYML.

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Contemplative Podcast! In fact, welcome back to a whole brand new season! In 2022, Matt Emery interviewed eight amazing composers, artists and labels (see the full list here), and today we're kicking off the third season's entry for this year with Brian Fennel, aka SYML, with a chat about his new record on Nettwerk, his recent session for KEXP radio, numerous collaborations, sound and genre explorations, and a lot more! Of course, there will be music along the way, taken from SYML's various albums and EPs released throughout the years. If you’re new to this series, please subscribe to keep up to date with the latest episodes and catch up on the past seasons. You can find us directly on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast app using the links on the sidebar. Enjoy!

Sophie Hutchings

Hello and welcome back to another episode of The Contemplative Podcast! As you may be already aware, we’ve taken a small break, but we’re very happy to announce our return with many exciting new guests in the upcoming episodes over the course of this year. If you’re new to this series, please subscribe to keep up to date with the latest episodes, and catch up on the past entries and seasons, in which we’ve covered many of your favourite composers and labels! You can find us on directly Spotify and Apple Podcasts or use your favourite app to subscribe using the links on the sidebar. In today’s episode, Matt Emery, had the privilege of chatting with the talented Australian composer and pianist, Sophie Hutchings, in which they talk about making music from a very young age, the creative process behind her latest release, Echoes In The Valley, working with various labels, in many studios, reading books, and so much more! As always, there is music along the way to guide us on this journey. We hope that you enjoy it!

Eydís Evensen

Happy holidays and welcome back to another episode of The Contemplative Podcast! If you’re new to this series, please subscribe to keep up to date with the latest episodes, and catch up to past entries and seasons, in which we’ve covered many of your favourite composers and labels! You can find us on directly Spotify and Apple Podcasts or use your favourite app to subscribe using the links on the sidebar. In today’s episode, Matt Emery chats with the Icelandic composer, Eydís Evensen, who has released her debut album, Bylur, on XXIM Records earlier this year. You will learn all about the making of her album, working with the label, performing live, favourite current albums and much more! As always, there will be music along the way with snippets taken from Evensen's album plus a stunning remix from Slow Meadow. Hope you enjoy!

XXIM Records

Welcome back to another episode of The Contemplative Podcast! In today’s episode, Matt Emery chats with Alex Buhr about his new label, XXIM Records (pronounced “twenty-one M”). Alex talks us through his musical background, setting up Mercury KX, and the vision behind his latest imprint. As always, there is music along the way from all of the artists on the label’s roster plus two tracks at the very end from the XXIM:EXPO project featuring Paddy Mulcahy and ABBOTT.

Robot Koch

Happy Friday and welcome back to the Contemplative Podcast. In this episode, Matt Emery meets up with award-winning producer and composer Robert Koch (aka Robot Koch) to talk about his early influences, his progression into music production, his two most recent albums, The Next Billion Years (Modern Recordings, 2020) and Sphere (Trees & Cyborgs, 2018), touring planetariums, working with an orchestra, his very own label, his brand new project, and much more! As always, there is plenty of music along the way, so please join us for this interesting discussion!

Sebastian Plano

Good morning and welcome back to the Contemplative Podcast. In this episode, Matt Emery meets up with Sebastian Plano (one of my personal favourite composers!) to chat about his latest album, Save Me Not (now out on Mercury KX), growing up in a musical family, working with Ben Lukas Boysen on the soundtrack for the game Everything, his recent favourite records, and much more! Be sure to also check out Headphone Commute’s In the studio with Sebastian Plano, and of course, subscribe to the podcast!

Rutger Hoedemaekers

In this episode of The Contemplative Podcast, Matt Emery chats with Rutger Hoedemaekers, who has recently released a new album on FatCat's 130701 imprint, titled The Age Of Oddities (check out "The Invention Of The Moon" track premiere). In this episode, you'll learn about the making of the album, the musicians who played on it, Rutger's new studio in Brussels, the process of translating the music into a live show, his film and TV work, including collaborations with Hildur Guðnadóttir and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson. This, and much more, coming right up! Be sure to also check out this In the studio with Rutger Hoedemaekers feature, published on Headphone Commute back in March.

Matthew Halsall

We’re back with the second episode (of the second series) of Contemplative Podcast in which Matt Emery chats with Matthew Halsall, a Manchester-based jazz musician, trumpet player, and founder of the independent Gondwana Records. Learn all about his new album, Salute to the Sun, his new band, living in Japan, and of course, his very own label. Be sure to also check out the previous episode, where Matt speaks with Hannah Peel.

Hannah Peel

In case you did not know this, let me restate. In September of last year, a Contemplative Classical community founded by Michael Price said its farewell. It has been active for three years, gathering a strong following for its expertly curated Spotify Playlist and a podcast where Matt Emery has interviewed contemporary musicians across thirteen (now archived) episodes. I quickly swept in to save this vessel, and in November declared the takeover and the revival of Contemplative Classical anew. Today, I am happy to announce the continuation of my commitment to this wonderful endeavour, with the official Series Two of The Contemplative Podcast. But, of course, I can’t take all the credit here myself. This would not be possible without the perseverance of Matt Emery, who is the key to all the magic that is behind this show. I am only a publisher. In this new season, Emery has already put together an amazing lineup for the entire year, and today we kick off with the first episode, featuring Hannah Peel. This Irish London-based Emmy-nominated composer, singer, and arranger has worked on everything from documentaries (on “Game of Thrones”) to Netflix Special TV Series (“Kiss Me First”) to music for theatre adaptations (“Brighton Rock”), and the score for The Deceived. She’s also collaborated with Spitfire Audio on creating the Music Box free Labs plugin. But I’m getting ahead of myself, and really should let Matt do the introductions. So here it is, without further ado, the first episode of Series Two!

Dmitry Evgrafov

Matt Emery chats to composer Dmitry Evgrafov about his new album 'Surrender', how he came to work with Fat Cat's 130701 record label, dream collaborations with Nigel Godrich, his modest studio setup, his app Endel which creates personalised sound environments to help you focus and relax, hiring a copyrighter to name 500 of his tracks and much more. Dmitrys 3rd album 'Surrender' is out now on 130701.