Watching Waters

By Sean Maldjian, Contributor

Photo provided by, Watching Waters

Meet Watching Waters

A New York City-based electronic music producer whose work generates awe and intrigue Watching Waters is a must-listen for any fan of ambient and downtempo electronic tunes. Similar to the phenomenon of vaporwave the music of Watching Waters generates nostalgia for a time that never existed. It really is a beautiful thing. In our latest interview, we chat with the musician about gear, collaboration, and unique venue ideas.

“A Charming Story With a Happy Ending” a fill in the blank with Watching Waters

Once upon a LIQUID NITROGEN, there were three little pigs. The first little pig was very CRUEL, and he built a house for himself out of CHOCOLATES. The second little pig was BIG, and he built a house out of DUCKS. But the third little pig was very ILLUSTRIOUS, and he built his house out of genuine NEW YORKERS. Well one day, a mean old wolf came along and saw the houses. "OY!!!" he said. "I'll JAUNT and I'll JOUST.and I'll blow your house down." And he blew down the first little pig's HELMHOLTZ COIL and the second little pig's COINS. The two little pigs ran to the third pig's house. Thereupon, the wolf began blowing, but he couldn't blow down the third little pig's MÖBIUS STRIP.house. so he WOLFED off into the forest and the three little DUBIOUS pigs moved to Chicago and went into the sausage business.

Would you rather

have to live for two years inside a Chuck E Cheese, or the guitar center on 42nd street?

Realistically, Chuck E Cheese, at least they have food there right? Guitar Center would be nice but I haven't touched a guitar in years.

Some Questions With Watching Waters

What gear was essential in finding your sound as a musician?

I think the most essential piece of gear I use has to be my pair of Peavey Basic 60 Bass amps. Dynamically it’s very limiting but I use them as my main studio monitors when mastering. EQ-wise it naturally pushes me to make the sound more bass heavy and I think it’s been very instrumental to my sound as a whole. I love these things so much, I would even go as far as saying my music was meant to be played through these things. They're nothing fancy but if you're playing any music out of them, it better be thundurus.

What kinds of places do you like to bring people with the production of your music?

In general, as an artist, I’d like the music to speak for itself but the amazing thing about vaporwave is really it’s fantasy aspect. Whether it’s a vision of the future or if it’s a distortion of the past, the landscape of its imaginative reach, I would say, is nearly infinite. With my music, and with this genre I call home, I’ve always felt like I wanted to root my music closer to reality. In terms of places, I guess I’d like my listeners to think back to a time in the recent past. To a place familiar to them, and finally allow yourself to feel whatever you need to feel over there, and to know you’re not alone. I want to take them to a place where you can let go, in solitude.

What was the collaborative process like while working on your release ‘我們買ORO’?

The collaborative process with releasing 我們買ORO felt very natural. My collaborator, who wishes to stay anonymous, and I were looking to work together on making music again. The motive was really more so to just help the time pass in the never ending nightmare that was 2020. We found ourselves at home very often and wanted to stay as creative as possible. The samples weren't picked out by me, but I mainly worked on the music production and of course the manufacturing of tapes while my collaborator worked tirelessly on the art direction. We've worked on music together before it's always been natural for us.

Where would be your ideal NY space to put on a show?

St. Patrick's Cathedral, the reverb in there would be insane. Alright who am I kidding, I'm pretty old school, I wish I could've played a show at Death By Audio when it was still open but at this point I would be honored to play in any sort of DIY space or bar. It's been far too long.

What is the best thing about making music in NYC?

The best part about making music here in NYC has to be the mentality to just create. I feel like everyone I know here is working hard at their day job on top of doing something else on the side, whether that's making music like me or some other sort of side hustle. There's a focus you see in people that's really inspiring. Even though I'm mostly a loner, the creators I do surround myself with really push me to do more.

There is heavy use of deep reds and black throughout your album artwork. Is there a rationale behind this choice?

It's kind of a long story. There is this other New York City creative I love, her name is Cassandra Jenkins and she had this lyric that I really resonated with, it went "Clear is the color of hell" in the song titled "The Bird". Finding clarity or truth in life was always something painful for me. We all live in hell and we know it, but the reality is, it hurts not to pretend. We're all cowards pretending in this world and there's no shame in admitting this but going back to wanting my music to be rooted in reality. I not only wanted my art to be mildly realistic but I also wanted it to be under a filter, a clear red filter, for what I see the world as, and it's just one big sad bloody hellscape, truthfully. I hope my music speaks to that sort of outlook.

What was the best interaction you have had with an appreciator of your music?

A few years back I got a really really kind email from a fan. This interaction eventually turned into us making a whole album together. He goes by the name "Panda Rosa" and he's from Melbourne, Australia and in 2019 we released a collaborative album titled "否 Place". Looking back at that project I really felt it pushed vaporwave into new territories, mixing Shoegaze, Downtempo, Dark Ambient and Vaporwave all together. To this day I'm so grateful he reached out and emailed me. We haven't spoken much since the release but he's found new successes with his own solo music, and I'm proud of him. I hope we work together again someday.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

I'M WORKING ON A BOOK TO GO WITH MY 5TH ALBUM. I spent all of 2020 writing this thing and I think I may spend all of 2021 editing it. I plan to publish this thing and I wanted a soundtrack to go with it. Big plans for the future. Other than that, I read this quote somewhere and it went, "The overstatement of harm is used as the justification for cruelty". Let that sink in, thank you so much for your time.