“I’m very inspired by the state of being in a trance, or being dragged into a spiral… …The feeling of being lost and transported to a different world, or when you’re in a really immersive art exhibition or in a club, and you just forget where you are. That’s what I’m chasing to achieve in my music.”
Sasha Scott
Sasha Scott is a composer, electronic artist, and violinist born and based in London. Sasha’s compositions blend electronic and acoustic textures, creating simultaneously menacing and expressive sound worlds, releasing her debut EP Spiral in February 2023. Described as “tremulous and powerful” (5:4) and as creating “fantastic expansive soundscapes” (Afrodeutsche), Sasha has composed music for the BBC Concert Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, London Guitar Festival, and Beijing Music Festival, among many others; she was BBC Young Composer of the Year in 2019 with her piece ‘Humans May Not Apply’. Sasha was a Britten-Pears Young Artist 2022-23, and is a LSO Panufnik Composer 2023-24, writing a new work for the London Symphony Orchestra to be workshopped in April 2024. Sasha currently studies with Mark-Anthony Turnage at the Royal College of Music, as a Kirby Laing Scholar.
Sasha’s upcoming projects include commissions for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Her Ensemble at Cross Currents Festival (University of Birmingham), and Sean Shibe and Ema Nikolovska at Wigmore Hall. Ahead of these performances later in 2024, we caught up with Sasha at a café in west London, talking about Aphex Twin, remixing her own work, overwhelming feelings, creating “rockstar moments”, and more…
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Zyggy/PRXLUDES: Hi Sasha! Thanks for joining me today. Tell me about how you first got into composition, and working with electronic music in particular; how did you first get involved with electronic music?
Sasha Scott: I started out as a violinist, from quite an early age. I was quite bad at following rules with practice; I really didn’t enjoy practicing. I used to spend my time making things up, kind of rebel… -laughs- It got to a point where I started being able to play things on the piano. At that point, it wasn’t specific music that was making me want to write music; it was just [that] I really liked improvising, [and] the way that felt.
When I was about 16, I found the music of Massive Attack — and I just fell into this wormhole of music that I’d never heard before, And I just started listening to everything — Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin — so many artists. It just really inspired me; that’s how I started writing my own stuff, from that.
That’s amazing. What was it about those particular artists, and that particular sound, that inspired you?
I really love music that has hundreds of layers, and a lot of depth. You know the album Drukqs, by Aphex Twin? It was from 2001, but I only discovered it at this time; I’ve been listening to it for six years, and I still discover new sounds, and new details, every time [I listen]. The same with Flying Lotus’ Cosmogramma; there’s just so many layers that it’ll almost be new forever, because you notice different things every time. There are sounds I’d never heard before, sounds that aren’t possible on an instrument. I think that was what inspired me most about it.
Did you first feel electronic music as more of an augmentation to your compositional practice, or was it something more separate?
I think at that time, that did feel very separate. I don’t think I was considering sound worlds that much until I found electronic music. In a way, at that time, maybe I was writing a bit too much for Sibelius… -laughs- [But] having those listening experiences, all these new sounds — experimenting with noise, texture — made me rethink the sound worlds I was creating, and why I was doing it.
Your piece ‘Humans May Not Apply’ won a BBC Young Composer Award, and was subsequently performed at the BBC Proms; tell me a bit about how you sourced the electronic textures in that piece?
All [of] the sounds from that started off as a recording that I’d done on my violin, and I then chopped it up and layered it up to create the electronics after. That was quite an important piece for me in a way, as I felt like when I started [making] electronic music and writing that piece, I had a lot less rules for myself, and I felt a lot more free to push boundaries.
Especially studying contemporary classical music — because I’d had teachers around me a lot, and I’d studied it more academically — sometimes, when you think of an idea, you think “oh, maybe that’s a bit too cheesy” or “that’s not complicated [enough]”. The string parts in that piece are mainly glissando; which at the time, I found quite scary, because I felt like people would say “it’s just glissing, it’s not doing much else.” I wouldn’t have had the guts to do that, I feel, with contemporary classical before I discovered electronic [music]; it kind of made me shift priorities in how I wanted to create music.
I get that — sometimes you need those alternate perspectives to create textures that sit with you differently from what a “traditional” notational practice might allow.
For sure. It’s like treating the ensemble more like a synth, instead of thinking of all of them as classical players. Thinking of them more as a unit — I found [that] quite exciting. It felt quite natural to fuse together, it wasn’t like I consciously thought “I want to fuse electronic sounds with [an] orchestra”. The sounds originally came from a violin, and then became electronic — and then a new acoustic layer was added, taking inspiration from the original layer. It was like a remix, remodelling same thing in different ways.
Conceptually, ‘Humans May Not Apply’ centres on themes of technology and AI — how did those themes manifest in the piece?
I guess it’s quite relevant now… -laughs- The idea was to reflect on how AI, and technology, are taking over us more and more — and us not having that much control, even though it’s from us. That’s why I quite like the idea of it starting as “human”, and acoustic, and then becoming electronic. Then having to regain control, in a way — a more human-acoustic way. I’m not sure if the control was regained… -laughs-
Following your BBC Young Composer Award, you went on to create electronic EP Spiral — did the sound worlds of this EP also blend electronic and acoustic elements?
Most of the sounds from that EP did stem from old recordings, of classical work I had. Maybe I’d spent an hour with a flute player, years ago; and I just had that recording on my laptop. I was digging through old files, and especially old pieces that maybe I’m not the proudest of now, or I wish I’d done in a different way. I’d try to twist those into new things. Almost like remixing my old stuff to make them new. I found it to be quite a healthy way of working — [to] utilise everything you’ve done so far.
Was there any particular way you put these sounds together, or manipulated them, in the compositional process?
In particular, most of my sounds come from granular sampling. Sometimes I’ll put a whole piece in — which might be like six minutes — and stretch it out to be fourteen [minutes]; and then I’ll listen through it, and maybe loop a couple of seconds, and see if that could be a slight beat. Other times I’ll find split seconds from multiple recordings, fuse them together and find new sounds that way.
In terms of which recordings, and which instruments, you took samples from — was there any formal structure behind that for you?
Honestly, no… -laughs- When I’m working with electronic [music], it’s probably when I’m thinking least consciously about making decisions. It’s usually [that] I’ll be on my laptop late at night, and I’ll be like “Oh! I have all these recordings, let’s see.” ‘Adrenaline’ is the [piece] that has a sampled flute in — [but] I can’t explain why I chose the flute. It’s like that moment in a band, when you’re all jamming, and [in] that moment someone goes “yeah, we can work with this”… Sometimes you can’t explain it. It’s from the heart, in a way.
Absolutely — but then in that case, that process is replicated between you and a laptop.
Yes, it’s just me… -laughs- It’s not as social.
Tell me a bit about your ideas of repurposing existing material and remixing — what kind of perspective did creating Spiral give for you on those earlier works?
It’s quite a personal thing. I feel like as you go through life, your music changes so much, and your approach changes with you. So when I look back on old pieces, it’s almost like looking at your old past self in the face. Even with Spiral — that was released in February [2023], but I’d been working on a couple of the tracks two years before. So I’m having similar feelings with those. I think I’ll probably end up sampling those, and then making new ones. -laughs- I like it, in a way; it’s like bringing a bit of your old self with you on each journey. It’s this nonstop cycle of rethinking, and recycling your work; like your pieces never end, they’re always changing throughout your life.
I get that — there’s remixing, and then there’s remixing the remix.
It’s a constant cycle, yeah. Shiva Feshareki does that. She often takes pieces she’s done for an ensemble, and then uses them on her turntables — which really inspires me.
Does that approach also have any relation to how you’ve approached more “conventional” remixes you’ve done — such as your remix of Ben Corrigan and Robert Ames’ ‘Chrome Ocean’?
I was interested to see if there would be — because obviously, my work is quite remix-based with my own stuff. Remixing their track actually felt quite natural. The track is really rich, luscious, and dark, and there’s so many layers of strings. I guess the process of digging through the stems of the original track is quite similar to my own process with my own work and how I started with electronics anyway — so I wanted to preserve that dark, and consuming, nature of the track, but to also fit it to make it a bit more aggressive, and fast paced. And add beats, which weren’t there before.
Has there been a point at which you’ve done things the other way — where you’ve taken electronic textures and sources, and translated them into a more ensemble or orchestral context?
I’m trying to do that at the moment, for the London Symphony Orchestra piece [ed. for the LSO Panufnik scheme]. I always try to make sure I don’t have a conscious[ly] different way of working, when working with orchestral or instrumental writing and electronic; I don’t want to fall into what’s “expected” of each box. But I’ve realised recently that there is a slight difference. I think I’ve pushed ideas to more extremes with electronic [music], because it’s just me — I’m the only person listening, or playing it. But it takes a lot of trust to give something to a player, no matter how incredible they are.
At the moment, I’m trying to play things a bit less “safe”. Maybe that’s not the right word — [but] I feel my electronic stuff is more fast-paced, and my instrumental stuff has been slightly more mellow. So I’m trying to bring some of that energy into my instrumental work as well. Orchestral writing and electronic [writing] are quite simultaneous, anyway; because when you’re producing, you have an orchestra, but every player is yourself. -laughs- It did help orchestration, actually, to do both. They’re quite similar.
Tell me about your approach to collaboration, more generally. How have you tended to approach working with performers, and does that differ from how you work solo?
I have kept it quite separate — except for ‘Humans May Not Apply’, which I don’t want to do anymore. It’s very personal. It’s a lot more collaborative when you’re working on an electronic piece with a musician, because you’re sampling them. If you want to take recordings, it’s of them, and they’re always gonna be in that piece.
I think my most collaborative piece [so far] has been with Sean Shibe, for the guitar. When I did the piece with Sean… [At] the start, he sent me scores of things — [as] I’d never written for guitar before — and I got a guitar lent to me from a friend, for sound worlds, to try things out. Even though I don’t play. -laughs- We had a workshop together where we tried things. It was for solo electric guitar and electronics, and Sean’s guitar was going through my laptop — through Ableton — where I’d pre-automated effects, so we were working on what tones, and what sounds, would be best for the performance. That’s something I definitely want to go down the line of: really controlling all the effects. Not just having acoustic instruments with some reverb (for example) on top of electronics — controlling every parameter.
I totally get it — like, you’re in the piece through the electronics. Tell me more about the piece you worked on with Sean Shibe; I understand it premiered last October at King’s Place?
It was called ‘Rush’. It was inspired by the feeling of being overwhelmed with emotion — almost like a headrush. I wanted the guitar and the electronics to sometimes feel like they’re fighting with each other; but I wanted them to be as important as each other. I didn’t want it to [feel] like the electronics are this “backing”, and they’re gonna sit quietly.
I was really inspired by metal bands, that side of things for the guitar. I wanted to give him [Sean] a kind of rockstar moment. I remember seeing him play David Lang’s ‘Killer’; the piece was amazing, but the energy, the stage presence that he had… I was so inspired [that] I wanted to make him a piece where he could feel like “this is my rockstar moment!”
Did he have a rockstar moment?
I hope so. -laughs-
On this idea of energy, and presence — was that more embedded in the structure, or was that more of a performative thing in the piece?
I think it was more a performative thing. I’m usually quite a control freak, and I’m very particular with scores; I wouldn’t say “go wild”, or just go free, or give a brief for the effects, I’d usually just write it out. But with this piece, there was a bit at the end where he has these harmonic squeals. When I first wrote it for him, I actually had written it very particularly; but reflecting after the concert, and now if he does it again, I’ll just rewrite that bit to give him more freedom and write instructions along the lines of “just go wild, scream on the guitar — go mad for this duration!” I think I came to the realisation that with those kinds of musical ideas, it’s better to trust the performer with the vision and give them more control, it makes it freer and a bit more rockstar. -laughs-
From what you’ve said, ‘Rush’ is quite an emotional piece. Would you say your compositional practice is becoming more emotionally-driven?
I think in all the work [I’ve done] in the past few years, I’m very inspired by the state of being in a trance, or being dragged into a spiral — which is what Spiral is inspired by, also. The feeling of being lost and transported to a different world, or when you’re in a really immersive art exhibition or in a club, and you just forget where you are. That’s what I’m chasing to achieve in my music, recently. Maybe that comes from the fact that that’s the feeling I get when I compose.
Is the act of composing — whether electronically or with notation — an emotional experience for you?
Definitely. 100 percent. I’ll just start and the time will just go. Sometimes I find it quite difficult to speak about pieces — because sometimes, I will sit down and it all just flows. Composing itself, it feels like an out-of-body experience sometimes. Some of my pieces are planned out more logically, like ‘Humans May Not Apply’, but often it almost feels like something else has taken over you and you’re writing things that you can’t always explain why — [but] you’re just doing it.
I guess it’s what some people call intuition, right? Almost like free-writing…
Especially [my] piece for Britten-Pears, ‘Introspection’. I was born and raised in London — but as much as I love it in London, it’s quite chaotic, and everything always seems rushed here. Whereas on that course [ed. the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme], it was like I had nothing else to do — apart from spend time with the amazing people who were on it, and write the piece. It’s just so calm there. That was probably one of the most flowing pieces I’ve written, especially because the majority of the piece had to be written on a 10 day course, so I didn’t plan it too much. I wanted to give it darkness, and almost a twisted and unsettling sense of peace and relaxation.
It’s interesting to think about how we perceive different styles and genres, or what music one considers “relaxing”. Where do you think your work fits into that — are there any particular feelings you’re trying to channel for your audience?
A lot of people tell me that there is a darkness to [my] music. -laughs- I’ve had feedback on my applications where they say [that]. I’ve been told by family members and a few other listeners that [I] should write for a horror movie — which is actually something I’d love to do, so I take it as a compliment! For me, I don’t write [music] being like “I want this to really terrify people”, or be scary. I just like writing and listening to music that has that overwhelming feeling, when you’re being consumed by something — almost like trapping you into something.
No matter what you try and do as a composer — you can hope — but you can’t expect anyone else to feel the same. Everyone is going to have their own physical and emotional reactions to your work. It’s part of the reason why I don’t always like writing programme notes. I just want people to listen to it. I don’t want to put an idea in someone’s head, unless it was really thought through — such as if there was a really specific aim, or it’s about a specific event — but a lot of the time, it’s not.
Allowing for different forms of subjectivities, I guess. Have you ever written programmatic work?
I think ‘Humans May Not Apply’ was the most “like” that. But that’s not always the way I tend to work. It probably stems from starting composing through improvisation; at that point, I wasn’t really thinking anything apart from what I like the sound of. It probably comes from that.
Especially with electronic stuff: you’re doing everything by ear, there’s no pressure of a score. So everything, when I’m writing it, is like “how is this making me feel?” If you play a track for a friend, and then the big beat comes in — usually, nine times out of ten, they’ll be like “yeeahhhh…” It’s this reaction you can’t shake, it’s ingrained into us. I find it interesting to think of how to cause those reactions in people — where we’re thinking, like, what events am I going to highlight?
Like recreating the drop. -laughs- I also understand you have a practice with live electronics — how does the performance side of your practice filter into your compositions?
I perform [with] Ableton, I do electronic instruments live. It’s still quite new for me. I think in a way, I’m rethinking that at the moment — when you’ve been composing on something like Sibelius, where everything is very linear (at least for me), and you can see things happen and control everything. My electronic music is like that, as well; there’s always a specific structure, and I spend hours and hours filtering and layering singular sounds, really particular. So when it comes to the live performance aspect of it — because there’s so many layers — a part of me is like “oh my god, what do I do?” How can I take this apart and decide what I do live?
At the moment, I’m trying to discover new ways of doing my electronic tracks in a live context, and almost trying to unravel the way I thought as a classical composer — trying to be more “free”. Even though I started from improvising, I went away from that so much, in terms of: I improvised, but then I polished it, and it’s really tightly put together. Now, it’s kind of like: you can break this away, you can do this in a different way.
Finally: tell me about one of your upcoming commissions that you’re particularly excited about…
The one I’m finishing at the moment is for Her Ensemble. I’m so excited to work with them, because they do such amazing things for music by women and non-binary composers. It’s a string ensemble piece, for Cross Currents Festival at the University of Birmingham. Even though it’s for string ensemble, I’ve approached it as 13 solo string parts; and I felt like that is right for them, because they’re such an individual and unique group with so much personality. That’s something I’ve not explored before now and I’m really excited.
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Sasha Scott’s upcoming commissions will be premiered on the following dates:
- 22 February 2024 – BBC Symphony Orchestra @ BBC Maida Vale Studios (Ticket link TBA)
- 24 February 2024 – Her Ensemble @ CrossCurrents Festival, Elgar Concert Hall, University of Birmingham
- 4 April 2024 – LSO Panufnik Workshops @ Jerwood Hall, LSO St. Luke’s, London
- 14 May 2024 – Sean Shibe + Ema Nikolovska @ Wigmore Hall, London
Learn more about Sasha and her practice at the following links:
- sashascott.com
- https://soundcloud.com/sashascott
- https://sashascott.bandcamp.com
- https://www.instagram.com/sashascottmusic/
References/Links:
- Aphex Twin – Drukqs (Warp, 2001)
- Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma (Warp, 2010)
- Robert Ames & Ben Corrigan – ‘Chrome Ocean’, from the album CARBS (Modern Recordings, 2022)
- David Lang – Killer’ (2009), arr. Sean Shibe for guitar
header photo credit: Tristan Boldy
