Valeria Zaklinskaya, recording under the monicker Velf, graduated with a degree in electronic production and sound design from the Berklee College of Music in Boston before moving out to Los Angeles. Her debut EP, Pernicious Serenity, is a tour de force of clamoring synths and abstract expressionism that landed her a spot on the roster of experimental tape label Orange Milk Records. Her latest project, the five-part in a sense, was released on October 25th.
Double Negative: First thing I want to do is dive a bit into how you found yourself in Los Angeles and how this project began to take shape as a whole.
Velf: My latest project, I wrote during my last year at Berklee. It was a very stressful and pressing time as well as confusing and I didn't really know what I wanted to do after I graduate and where music would take me. I ended up taking a semester off to gather myself and figure life out so to say, that's when I wrote in a sense. I was going through a lot of personal stuff and mental health issues, as well as felt a lot of pressure from family so the album became my outlet for all of that and a way for me to speak my mind on everything that was going on. It also helped me put a perspective on things and understand the world in my own way. I think I tend to have very different ideas and a different thought process from the people who are around me, I tried to solidify my own opinions and thoughts with the album while simultaneously documenting that time of my life in my own way. Each song comes from polar end issues and I wrote them individually without thinking about the fact that it could be an album. After a certain time I realized that there are similarities within the compositions and that I could tie it all together somehow. It was also a way for me to experiment with new techniques and use all the knowledge I had acquired so far. One of the songs was actually for a school project but the professor I had really didn't like the composition or understand where I was going with it and didn't accept it as what I would turn in. No worries though, I decided to use it in my own way and sort of like an "I'll show you..." type of thing.
I think the most important thing I gathered from Berklee was that it doesn't matter what you do and that you can literally do anything you want...especially when it comes to electronic music and production. There are so many options and possibilities, that excites me and makes me want to try different things and tread on the lesser walked paths. No matter who hates or loves what you do, as long as you're personally happy and proud of the outcomes, that's the most important thing at the end of the day and eventually someone will understand what you're trying to say. As confusing as it may be...music is another language and the rules don't have to matter all the time or even be used, so I like to go against the rules and create my own.
Double Negative: Referring to that semester off - as that period of your life coincided with the beginning of this project - what was the goal you had in mind at the very beginning of the writing of in a sense? Did that change as the project began to take shape?
Velf: When I first started writing the project, I didn't really have any concrete plan or idea. I knew that I wanted to write a more cohesive album than previously and focus on how the songs progressed and what sounds tied them together. I would say my main goal was to not be so maximalist with in a sense and give it room to breathe. As the project began to take shape, the goal definitely changed because I could grasp what I wanted to portray more easily. I also listened to a lot of new music and had time to actually discuss the music I like with friends because usually our conversations are about school and jazz and whatever projects we have to turn in. I also wanted to focus more on sound design and how I could collage different sounds together to make one sound or a motion of sounds if that makes sense.
Double Negative: I want to contrast tracks such as “Chimera” with the first two tracks of Pernicious Serenity. The production on “Chimera” lets the song to fill out the room melodically, allowing the big moments to ultimately grow into something larger than its face value. On the two tracks starting Pernicious Serenity, our sonic palette is very sharp out of the gate - giving us bigger moments from abrupt shifts. How did this shift in style come about for you?
Velf: Honestly, I would say the shift in my style came from having more knowledge and a better grasp on production. When I wrote Pernicious Serenity, I had no clue what I was doing. I just really wanted to dabble in experimental music and see for myself what I could do; kind of like a personal challenge. It was the first truly electronic record I wrote and the whole process was a learning experience for me. in a sense is a statement whereas Pernicious Serenity was just me having fun and exploring different production techniques and working with synths. With my first album I never followed a specific structure or had any ideas going into composing a song, I wrote whatever felt right without the knowledge or skills to back it up. The end result was a surprise for me because I wasn't sure what would come out of it but I thought what I was doing was interesting and it allowed me to write without boundaries. With in a sense I knew I had to have a little more structure to the songs and have a basic idea/outline of what I wanted to create. Once I figured that out, the writing process I would say was the same as Pernicious Serenity except I actually knew how to implement my ideas this time and could do so more accurately. I definitely grew into my style and sound more which helped me with the whole process. I would also say that I got more nit-picky with in a sense and really put focus on the mixing and production side of things.
Double Negative: What sort of films and music did you find yourself revisiting the most during the writing process?
Velf: Specifically at the time that I was writing the album I started rewatching Russian films and animations I watched as a child. The music in Russian films is really amazing and through watching them again I realized much of my inspiration and the way I aim to compose comes from my childhood and what I heard over and over again. Daughter had also released a few music videos with their new album "Not To Disappear" and I appreciated the cinematography in those. They are also one of my favorite bands and their music always comes as an inspiration to me. Forest Swords came out with Compassion in 2017 and I listened to that album a bit before I started mine. The video for "Panic" is one that stuck with me the most because it has shots of slow movements and various things pulling and rubbing against skin, visually it is very artistic and satisfying. I also listened to Clark, Nicolas Jaar and Oneohtrix Point Never. The movie "Good Time" came out around that time as well which Daniel Lopatin scored (Oneohtrix Point Never). One of my professors at the time shared acousmatic artists with me and introduced me to the world of electro-acoustic music, so I would say that's where a big inspiration came from because that genre opened a new door for me.
Double Negative: I want to loop back to where you mentioned before the challenges of the writing process of this album, specifically the mental health and family struggles. I loved what you mentioned in regards to the "I'll show you..." aspect to your music. I think a lot of women in music (myself included) have that mentality. There's obviously still a lot of inequality and marginalization within the industry. How has being a woman in music impacted you?
Velf: There definitely still is a lot of inequality within the music industry. Not only for women but also for people of color as well which is very unfortunate. I've come to find that those people usually have some amazing ideas but they get overlooked due to stereotypes. Specifically being a woman in the industry is just very annoying because you have the same knowledge and skills as anyone else yet somehow your art gets brushed off just because you are a woman. A lot of the times I've found that people think my work is "cute" or I gave it a good try rather than people seeing the academics and work that was put behind it. At Berklee I believe the gender ratio was 70% male and 30% female for most of my time there. That ratio favors the male gender much more once you get into fields of production or composition. There were huge stereotypes around the fact that female artists are only vocalists or performers and they don't do much more than that. In a lot of my classes I was the only female student which definitely reflected the gender imbalance in the field. I found that I wasn't taken seriously a lot of the time, and still feel that way sometimes especially since I am in a more underground area of the industry. Women also have to put twice as much work if not more than their male colleagues just to be heard or taken seriously. It's a little ridiculous. There are many electronic female artists who are trying new ideas and techniques, you just have to take the time to listen and understand their work rather than just judging a book by its cover. I wish that being a woman didn't impact me but it definitely has and most of the time I try to not think about that or put too much focus towards it because the art is what really matters and who made it or what gender they are is insignificant if you enjoy the work in my opinion.
Double Negative: Before we wrap up - what’s next? Do you plan to perform the album for a period of time? Have you already begun work on another project?
Velf: At the moment I'm taking a little break and trying to figure out what I want to do for my next album. I have a few ideas and know that my next album will be pretty different from the last two. As far as performances go, I would love to play some shows hopefully sometime early next year or towards the end of this year. I want to rethink my live performances, make them more organic and maybe have another person join the band for live shows. Currently I'm working all of that out, but I'm excited for what's to come.
in a sense was released on October 25th by Orange Milk Records. Check out Double Negative's review of the album here.
