Interview: aztechsounds

Hailing from Bristol, UK, aztechsounds has been crafting immersive ambient soundscapes for over 15 years. With deep roots in texture-driven production and influences ranging from Boards of Canada to Final Fantasy VII, their music blends nostalgia, emotion, and sonic exploration. Working independently and primarily in Reason, they've honed a unique voice in the ambient world. In this interview, we explore their creative process, inspirations, and latest album Celestial Bodies. Dive in and discover the mind behind the textures.

General info

Artist Name: aztechsounds

Location: Bristol, UK

Social Media / Music Links

instagram.com/aztechsounds
spotify
aztechsounds.bandcamp.com
threads.com/@aztechsounds
soundcloud.com/aztechsounds

How long have you been making music?

15 years

Do you release music under a label or independently?

Independent

Creative process and inspiration

What drew you to ambient music in the first place?

I think it was a combination of stuff, really! I was really into Enter Shikari's first record when I started getting into making electronic music around 2008 and their first album had little interludes with these floaty electronics in them (presumably to contract all the heavy sections) that I just found totally absorbing. I shuffled around various genres of electronic music, listening to a lot of dubstep and various formed of bass and dance music, but didn't find out until a few years later that there was a whole genre that sounded like long versions of the seconds-long interludes I had always loved! Sonic texture was always super important to me and to find a genre that entire revolved around that was amazing!

Can you describe your creative process when starting a new track?

It really depends! Infrequently I'll have like a melodic fragment that I like the sound of, but more often than not I'll work on a sort of backing drone then add ornamentation on top of that. That initial texture-driven drone will inform the sort of sounds I use to build up the track, what it needs, and the overall mood of the finished piece.

Where do you find inspiration? Emotion, nature, science fiction, or something else?

I think I specifically try to look anywhere but music because if I draw from music I'm worried I'll just end up ripping it off. At the moment I'm taking a lot of inspiration from physical textures, like there's one drone I'm working one that's supposed to sound like a huge slab on concrete, but looking through my discography there's a lot of nature influence like in Winterscapes or Snaggletooth, or space and science fiction (There Is Too Much Filth In The Air We Breathe To Worry About What We Consciously Ingest, or debug7, an entire album influenced by Final Fantasy VII).

How would you describe your sonic identity or the mood you aim to create?

I never thought much about having a sonic identity so this is all coming from other people, but there's a lot of influence from 90's video game soundtracks, Warp records electronic stuff, all filtered through a modern ambient lens.

Are there any artists that deeply influenced your style?

Boards of Canada are probably the standout, but I'll try to forgo the obvious ones, sorry Mr Eno! There's a lot of atmosphere I draw from in early Pink Floyd, and Loathe's ambient output, plus a lot of early dubstep production I've carried with me -I guess I'll name Ital Tek if I have to specify an artist! Oh yeah, and I can't forget Ben Frost's work but in terms of soundtracks an other production. Sunn O))), Current 93, Nurse With Wound, and Carbon Based Lifeforms were probably the earliest stuff I listened to regularly with ambient bits, so definitely worth mentioning! (I also have to thank Chris, here, for showing me all four!)

Gear and setup

Are you using hardware, software, or a hybrid setup?

Software, specifically Reason 12 currently, with Reason 4, and 7 coming before, with Fruity Loops way back at the start! I have a Microkorg, a guitar and bass set up, and a couple of other little bits I like to fiddle about with, but Reason is where the sounds I release end up coming from, just because of how quickly it can take me from having an idea to being able to actually hear it.

What’s your favorite piece of gear or plugin, and why?

Gotta be Thor. I'm sure there are presets from it on just about every release of mine, but it's also a powerful sound creation tool and I know it like the back of my hand. I use Europa more now for making sounds I've never used before, but I always come back to Thor when I need to make a sound quickly and know what I'm going for.

Challenges

What’s been the biggest challenge so far in creating ambient music?

Keeping it fresh! Certainly we're at a time now where there's more ambient music than ever but that's more of a double edge sword for everyone than I think we realise! Like, yeah, it's great that there's such a demand for it, but musicians have trouble standing out and it's easy to get lost in the noise, where on the other hand you have consumers who are faced with such a baffling array of ambient music that finding anything apart from AI (or at least AI-sounding) "sleep-playlistcore" must be hard. I struggle to find interesting or original new stuff, so for someone with a passing interest it must be impossible so yeah, standing out from the noise and getting heard!

How do you stay motivated or inspired when you're in a creative rut?

I try to avoid sitting in front of a blank Reason file, hoping something will come. Reading, watching films, or just going about life until something resonates with me tend to work for keeping me writing, but if nothing comes I've been known to start working on a cover of another producer's track, and then adding my own parts and removing the covered bits until I've made a new tune of my own almost by accident! (seriously, try this, you'll be amazed!)

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I'd like to shout out Clara first, Chris for collaborating with me on more music than anyone else has been able to put up with, Cheba for listening to my early tunes, and anyone I've ever lived with who heard half-baked versions of my stuff over and over and over and over and - I've got a new album, Celestial Bodies!