Hello guys, a pleasure to have you with us today. How are things with you both and what have you been up to lately?
Hello and thanks for chatting! Mike here, I will be doing the interview.
We’re pleased to be speaking with you ahead of the release of ‘Dive’, your forthcoming single on Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels. A beautiful piece of music and storytelling. What can you tell us about ‘Dive’ and the inspiration behind it?
The song is about a breakup, it’s about growing apart from someone.. Liz wrote the lyrics. Musically I was inspired by polyrhythmic composers like Steve Reich, and shoegaze groups like Slowdive. I wanted to try to take a new approach to a techno song.
The release marks your return to the label for the first time since your 2018 ‘You Stopped Dying’ and also follows a brief break in releases from yourselves. Could you tell us a bit about the pause and what inspired you to return to releasing as Pale Blue?
There wasn’t really a pause. We released an EP called “Breathe” on 2MR, a label I used to run. That single did really well for us actually. It was in a few tv shows and became a minor viral track on tik tok. Then Covid hit, and we took a break. During Covid I decided to leave 2MR, and go out on my own. I sent Damian the record and he was into it… And here we are!
Could you talk us through the creative process on ‘Dive’? How did you approach this track and were there any key pieces of equipment involved?
I wanted to make a song that used polyrhythms instead of arpeggiators. I wanted the movement in the song to be from that aspect, and I was also trying to use the 303 in a melodic way, almost like a guitar. The main synth in that song is a Korg Polysix . It’s one of my favourite synthesizers. I just kept adding layers over layers…
The single also features some brilliant remixes from Fort Romeau and Rebolledo. What were your first thoughts when you heard the remixes?
I loved the remixes! I am a huge fan of both artists. I’ve known Rebolledo for a long time. As a matter of fact, I remixed a track of his in the past. He is a good friend. I’ve never met Fort Romeau but I play his tracks all the time so I was excited when he signed on to do the remix.
For our readers that may not know, what’s the story of how you came together to form Pale Blue?
We formed almost 8 years ago. At the time I was the owner of a label called Italians Do It Better, and I was going to release the Pale Blue record there, but I left that label. I met Liz because she asked me to remix her old group SilverHands. I loved her voice, and asked her to sing on a song I was working on. It went well, so I sent her more.. Eventually there was a whole albums worth…
Thank you for chatting with us today! Wishing you all the best for the forthcoming release. To round things off, is there anything else upcoming that you’d like to share with us and where is the best place to keep up to date with you?
Look out for the LP, and you can follow us on Instagram @mikesimonetti and @palebluemusic
