Seattle’s Restless Planet returns with their eighth release on their label - a digital compilation featuring various artists from up and down the West Coast. By including tracks produced by folks they’ve become connected with through their musical journey, the release not only expands the Restless Planet sound, but their ethos as well.
Restless Planet co-founder Mason Harris, aka Sojourn, has offered up his dreamy dub Paper Paradise for a first listen through Peace Portal. The track’s warm chords, hypnotic rhythms, and tender low end are indeed utopian, conjuring delicate sonic diadems in the ear.
Below you’ll find the track, as well as a brief interview with Mason regarding his track and the release at large:
Give us a peek into your production process on this track.
When it comes to a production process, I’m not actually sure I can share a specific strategy… I often find myself at a creative elevation when I’m motivated by external events - such as things going on in the world, in my personal life, my professional life, etc.. Oftentimes the electronic music I produce is influenced by low-budget indie films as well for example, that’s how I found myself in production in the first place so many years ago. My goal is to inspire with my writing, to generate something that a targeted audience can relate to, and feel something.
Tell us more about this “Paper Paradise” your track is titled after.
“Paper Paradise” to me means “false paradise”, a portrayal of the pretenses and restrictions of people in the modern world. We are all raised and shown all kinds of precedents for life: how to act, what to create, what to become; my contribution to the first Ultra Violets release series hosts uplifting elements through drone, rift and percussion, creating the auditory illusion that everything is as it should be - sound, and balanced. Realistically, we all face an internal battle every day but this song, Paper Paradise, is meant to remind oneself that happiness is actually achievable in the most organic way, through musical experience.
Can you share more about the connections to the artists on this compilation?
This release was meant to bring together a very small sample of talent we have on the West Coast. You can hear with each track that each artist has their own way of expressing themselves as individuals - each artist has their own unique motivation, and inspiration musically, but a synchronous love for quality underground house music is the glue which made this all come together. There are a couple first time releaser’s on here, veterans, friends.. we each are committed to a movement, a movement to move audiences with texture, complexity, and emotion.
What, if any, unifying factors do you observe from the tracks on this first volume of Ultra Violets, beyond the interconnectedness of the producers?
Beyond the personal connections between producers, I think what unifies the tracks on this first volume of Ultra Violets is a shared emotional palette, and willingness of risk-taking. There's a level of introspection to every track, each artist brings their own voice to the forefront but there’s a collective atmosphere that is truly special. Aside from the fact that each producer differs in style, what truly connects them under this release is their fearless approach to sound and a beauty that lingers. It’s our goal at least that the beauty found here lingers and resonates with a whole range of audiences!
For more from Sojourn, follow him here:
For more from Restless Planet, follow them here: