NOTYOURORDINARY
... is an electroacoustic duo from Vienna, Austria that creates music somewhere in between IDM and improvised music. Their live shows are dancy, punky but also full of improvised music where the musicians perform on their instruments such as saxophone, synths, piano, guitar as well as live resampling. Both come from a background in improvised music and jazz but also have a love for heavy & intense live experiences.
Thanks for your time and here we go with our first question, who are the artists behind "NOTYOURORDINARY”?
Arsen Gürer and Michael Auinger. We’re both living in Vienna where we studied Jazz and improvised music. Arsen is a pianist in origin and Michael plays saxophone and guitar.
We’re working in all kinds of musical projects and gigs covering everything from Jazz to Classical, Rock & Funk, etc. But we also have a passion for electronic music which is why we came up with NOTYOURORDINARY.
We like to combine our instrumental background with intense electronic music/ beats and perform these songs live for our audience with improvisational elements as well.
"NOTYOURORDINARY" sounds impressive and reminds me a bit on The Prodigy, who or what was your inspiration?
Thank you! To be honest, The Prodigy was a big influence especially for this song. We like raw energy and were looking for artists and productions that transport it in preparation for this song. We also have a love for rock/metal and punky music which we think is also present in our music. Other influences (but maybe not for this recent release in specific) are artists like Nils Frahm, Squarepusher, Max Cooper, Modeselektor, Shpongle, etc. or more experimental glitchy stuff like IGORRR. But also modern Jazz Bands like The Comet is Coming or Nerve influence us a lot.
How would you describe your creative process and how long do you spend on finding the right sounds for a song?
It differs from song to song. Sometimes one of us starts with a pattern or melody, records it into the DAW and then we send it back and forth, building on each others ideas. Then we also jam over a drum machine, record the improvisation and later check which lines/chops would work for new material.
For this recent release, Arsen came up with most synth lines and drums and Michael later on put some sax on top of it. Then we sat together in several sessions and tried to fine-tune the arrangement. All the mixing was done by Arsen in this case.
What would you call the last "big thing" in music history?
Michael: Puh difficult question. To me, it’s insane how much interesting and skilful music is produced these days. Unfortunately, most of this music will never be heard by a broader audience due to the current structures and business models within the industry. That said, there are some artists that manage to stick out and change things - for example Kendrick Lamar. I’m fascinated how they manage to reach a big audience with quite experimental and progressive music.
Arsen: I would say ‘the mixing of jazz harmony + polyrhythms into electronic music’ as a concept, it really is a revolutionary, era defining thing, it opened up the limitless technological potential of electronic music/synthesizers with the endless possibilities of music theory! Like Michi said Kendrick Lamar is a great example, as well as Tyler the Kreator, the Smile or even Modeselektor.
When do we have the chance to see you live on stage?
Our next concert will be on June 17th at Cafe Siebenstern, Vienna. Hope to see you all there!
What's next for you?
Michael: At the moment, we’re preparing our live-setup for upcoming shows. In addition, we’re working on new material, some of which is almost finished. Some of this stuff will also show a more experimental side of our music, other pieces continue the driving, punchy vibe.
Arsen: Ah I’m just overly hyped for NOTYOURORDINARY and will enjoy the ride as we are gonna explode! ;)
