Can you tell us about the origins of Hexwave? What inspired you to create music under this moniker, and how did your journey in electronic music begin?

So, I haven’t been in the scene for too long, starting a bit before COVID in 2018 with my first piece of hardware (the Teenage Engineering OP-Z). Back then, I was basically discovering through a Youtube hole that electronic music was a lot more approachable than I thought, as I believe a lot of people did around that time.

Before that, I always enjoyed electronic but honestly didn’t know that many artists and was definitely not in the scene, as none of my friends growing up were really into it and a lot of us including myself were (and still are) very much into metal. I would randomly find artists I liked that were electronic and almost feel guilty about it, like NIN, IAMX, and lots of video game soundtracks (huge nerd alert!).

In highschool I dabbled with Fruityloops trying to see if I could make some music but honestly it was just too much and Youtube wasn’t what it is now back then, and either way I was much more into playing guitar, drums, violin, and other instruments.

Once I started to see these very physical, contained machines (which of course had been around decades before this) and realized it was something that really clicked with me, I fell in and it completely took me over. I kept investigating and trying new machines, buying and selling, and the Deluge was another great one that I wrote the majority of my original name (Chroma Surge) with.

But for the first few years I was VERY experimental, and eventually I decided I wanted a bit more focus so that people had a general idea of what to expect when they heard one of my songs. I still experiment a lot and like to make a fairly wide range of tracks, but I try to keep my album releases fairly coherent.

And the direction itself was always a bit inevitable, being still very much into metal and generally liking darker tracks I wanted to focus on a sound that was kind of a blend of my musical passions. The name, well, was the one I landed on after a word brainstorm, always wanting a kind of dark fantasy name mixed with something either related to music or sci-fi… So Hex was like, a spell from a witch or a curse or something, and Wave for a sound wave like a square wave or something. Sort of like a new kind of sound wave, made entirely out of curses? Hey, names are silly, and I never take myself too seriously!

What are some of your biggest musical influences, particularly in the dark synth and electronic genres? How have these influences shaped your sound?

As you can probably expect from my last answer, most of my biggest musical influences are actually metal, and lots of video game soundtracks. NIN though for sure influenced me a lot as I listened to those albums a ton growing up. From metal, it’s mostly things like the melodies they tend to have, as well as my love of really punchy, distorted sound which you hear in my music a lot. I couldn’t really say particular influences as I listen to a lot, but the primary kind I’m listening is a lot of Finnish, Swedish, and German metal like old In Flames and Opeth, Children of Bodom, Powerwolf, Amorphis, Finntroll, Borknagar, Amon Amarth, so on and so forth. But plenty of others from other regions like Gojira, Periphery, Cryptopsy, Ghost, etc.

For games, lots of retro stuff like the Zanac and Gauntlet soundtracks for NES, and really just a lot of Nintendo music because man, they know how to make a soundtrack. Super Metroid? Amazing.

But yeah, since getting into more electronic stuff, it’s these days what I listen to 50-60% of the time. “Dark synth” is a genre that is kinda loose and some people probably say one artist is and another isn’t, but stuff like Carpenter Brut, Perturbator, Daniel Deluxe, and Mega Drive. But honestly I’m usually listening to independent artists on Bandcamp or Youtube, like PVC members and others that I follow, because I find it usually more interesting and varied and I like the personal aspect of it.

Walk us through your creative process. How do you approach composing a new track, and what role do your hardware instruments play in this process?

There’s kind of two modes here; I’m either writing music because I want to write something and have no idea what, or I have a melody or musical idea that I want to build off of.

If it’s the latter then I usually try to copy what I’m thinking of first which is usually a melody, by picking a basic sound and recording it into whatever like my Digitakt or Syntakt or whatever I have at the time. After I have it down roughly, I usually pick a kick to start as I feel that is the best way to get the basic bones of the song to build from, then go from there.

If I just want to write something and don’t know what, honestly I’ll often go through presets or just kind of sound explore for awhile until something neat catches my ear like a nice sounding synth or a really punchy bass drum, then I’ll kind of figure out at that point what kind of song I want it to be and paint some notes or beats, then build from there. Sometimes (or a lot of the time) I get a bit carried away and add too many parts, as I keep thinking of a cool sound I could fit in or another melody that would sound nice… But I always try to remember, less is more!

As I have the Vermona Perfourmer Mk2 right now and it is pure knobs and no menu diving, and no saving of presets, it has really helped me just kinda go with it and find a nice sound and not obsess over if it’s perfect or if I can do it again. Going with the flow is a nice way to create.

Your music often features apocalyptic and sci-fi themes. What draws you to these themes, and how do you incorporate them into your music?

For sure the musical influences help a lot, but I’d say more for the themes it is from video games, movies and books. I have always really loved both fantasy and sci fi on a pretty much equal level and have a hard time picking one over the other, so I usually end up blending the two. For game influences definitely my biggest one is the Dark Souls series and pretty much all Fromsoft games. I just love me some skeletons and wizards, what can I say?

But more loosely, I like kind of invoking the spirit of retro PC D&D games or something, which often had wicked soundtracks and just really nerdy and cool art and themes. This is also why I am a fan of (and sometimes incorporate parts of) the Dungeon Synth genre as well because it is all about that.

You've been part of Petite Victory Collective since the beginning. How has your music evolved over the years with PVC, and how has the collective influenced your artistic growth?

Honestly, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am without PVC. Since joining the community it really gave the music a bit more of a sense of purpose, instead of just randomly getting some comments from people, it feels more like you’re part of a bigger thing and everyone supports each other and it’s just wonderful. I greatly appreciate each and every person in the group, and always strive to hear as close to everything that the members make as possible. Which honestly isn’t hard, because it’s almost always of shockingly high quality!

PVC is definitely what influenced me to keep with it and define the music more, which led me to Hexwave. There are so many (SO many) great members with strong, defined sounds that it really was inspirational.

How do you translate your intricate, hardware-driven sound to live performances? What can fans expect from a Hexwave live show?

Well that’s a good question, because I have only played live one time and it was only for less than 15 minutes! The scene here in Toronto isn’t super easy to just go and play somewhere and I’m not really the type of person to set something like that up. However, there is a wonderful event called TEMOM that happens every second Monday in a month,  but I’ve only been able to make one of them because of my work schedule! I hope to hit a couple more this summer because there’s lots of talent there and it was lots of fun last time.

Last time I made heavy use of the “song mode” on the Syntakt to keep the music chugging along with the structure so I didn’t get lost and could focus more on just parameter changes or temporary fills and whatnot. I’m not sure whether I will do that again next time or try a fully loose style, but I need to honestly do a lot more practicing of mock live sets at home. Especially with my new setup! The Vermona is fantastic and I’m fairly quick with it, but it does of course take some micromanaging as you have to manually turn everything. But that’s the fun of it!

What have been some of the biggest challenges you've faced in your creative path as Hexwave? Conversely, what are some of your proudest achievements?

For the biggest challenges, honestly it’s mostly how often I run into walls with my gear and decide I need to change something to something else, which beyond the buying and selling aspect of it is mentally taxing by having to relearn a new setup. But at the same time, I really love learning new gear! And I would say I am proud at how well I do that, and I always dive into the manual and often make videos about little hidden “tricks” I discover. Anyway, no changes for a long time (I’ve said that before) because I love this setup!

Some of my proudest achievements would be my albums. As Chroma Surge I put out 4 which have some cool tracks that I’m nostalgic for, but honestly they’re a bit of a mess. Since switching to Hexwave, I am pretty happy with everything I’ve put out, which is one EP and 3 albums! That’s a lot of albums for a short amount of time on the scene I think (not as much as some people I know, GeorgeL909!!). And maybe I’m weird, but I listen to my own albums quite a lot. And when I do, I’m usually thinking, damn, I made this, that’s pretty cool!

Other than that, I’m happy with how much my Youtube channel has been growing! I am not one to obsess over the numbers or anything because it’s always just a creative outlet for me and never a plan to make it a “thing”, but I like making tutorial type videos and mostly from those I’ve hit some milestones I’m pretty happy about. It just feels cool having some random people around the world appreciate your stuff.

Also, while I’m not part of it now and it has changed forms, very proud of the work I did with the great team for Massive Radio for the time we were together there. Great memories and really really cool thing we made together, and everyone worked so hard and did an amazing job. And it was nice having my own radio show for awhile (Patterns In Noise), maybe it’ll start up again one day (but probably not!).

You are coming over to Copenhagen to join 2 of our major events here in November: Push The Buttons and Sonic Playground 2024! What are you the most looking forward to? Any expectations/wishes?

Yes I am! I have been looking forward to this trip for a very long time, can’t wait for my wife and I to make it out there finally and meet everyone and listen to all this great music live! I’d say the biggest thing I’m looking forward to is the social of finally meeting so many good friends in person (even though I’m quite awkward socially so, I’m sure I will make a fool of myself!).

And then to get to see and hear the music making and performing first hand, very cool! All the times that I have seen shots and heard clips of these events it has never disappointed. PVC just has too much talent for that! 

Outside of that, just also looking forward to exploring the city, eating the food, and relaxing!

What advice would you give to aspiring electronic musicians who are just starting out? Are there any lessons you've learned that you'd like to share?

Yeah! The best piece of gear is the one you have, so don’t be like me and change your stuff every 10 seconds! Learning a machine inside and out really helps you be confident and write the music you want, and most machines have a lot more to offer once you learn their intricacies.

And if you are starting out, don’t go straight for the flashy, trendy looking thing that you see in influencer videos. Don’t get me wrong, influencers are very useful for sharing info and I watch a lot of them a lot, but look at what the musicians are playing.

Find someone you like and see what they use, then look into that and decide if it’s for you. In the end, there is almost no chance you will strike gold and be happy with your first machine and never change it, so trust your instincts and just go for it. Elektron can be pricey, but it is also a very strong and common and stable choice!

Join a group (like PVC!) so you can bounce ideas off people that know you and your style, it can really help to encourage and drive you.

And never be afraid to make any kind of weird or supremely normal music that you decide you want to make. Do techno one day, and a noise soundscape the next, and be proud of it all. Music is art and it has no rules (and if people tell you it does, thank them for their advice and continue!).