SINES are a dynamic, political, and endlessly cheeky synth-pop project comprised of two artists living on opposite sides of the world: producer, composer, synth nut, and DJ Jason Wann, who is based in Portland, and singer/songwriter, visual artist and director, Kitty Richardson, who lives in Leeds, in the North of England.
Despite never actually meeting in person, Wann and Richardson recently released their first full album together, called Gravity. Wann, has said that though the project has released two albums and a few singles prior to Gravity, this album is truly what SINES was meant to be.
According to Wann, “The first album was me attempting to make my version of I what thought a modern pop record was. The second was made during lockdown and the less said about it, the better. A Series of Moments is to me, the first real SINES album because that’s when Kitty got involved. The songs are much darker lyrically and I think sonically I found more confidence as a producer and a writer, and it just feels so much more cohesive than the first albums.”
The distance between the two clearly didn’t matter, as Gravity is cohesive, relevant, and seems to combine the talents of both artists perfectly.
Tattoo.com caught up with Jason Wann to find out more about the inspiration for Gravity, his writing process, and how SINES got together.
What three things can’t you live without?
J: Food, air, and water (just kidding). I can live for a few weeks without food and water, but I can’t live without love, science, or technology.
What inspired your new album, Gravity?
J: The biggest inspiration was my divorce and subsequent depression. I felt very much like I had been dropped into a world that I did not know or recognize and had to reorient myself to a completely different existence than the one I knew prior.
How, when, and where did the two of you first connect?
J: I first ‘met’ Kitty through Vocalizr in 2021 whilst working on the album ‘A Series of Moments.’ We haven’t actually met though. We do everything via the internet.
How did you get started in music?
J: I’ve been obsessed with music since I was a child. I used to carry around a portable turntable as a small child and dance for people on a cutting board. I got my first synth as a teen, and it’s been my burning passion ever since.
Where are you from?
J: Planet Earth. More specifically, I feel most at home in Portland Oregon.
Did your hometown impact your sound?
J: Not really. I think perhaps the fact that it rains a lot lends itself to the sometimes-solitary pursuit of making electronic music. I guess the fact that it’s a port town and used to be a great spot for finding import albums when that was still a thing. I used to spend HOURS in record stores searching for stuff. That certainly influenced me greatly. I used to spend all my money in record stores when I was younger.
Did your sound evolve naturally, or did you deliberately push it in a certain direction?
J: Our sound specifically has happened very organically but the decision to be electronic was definitely a deliberate choice. Almost a manifesto of sorts. I like being unabashedly electronic married to the very human qualities of Kitty’s vocals and songwriting. I think it’s a very powerful combination.
What inspires your writing? Do you draw inspiration from poems, music, or other media?
J: I’m inspired by feelings mostly. Some of those feelings come from film, some of those feelings come from music and others come from simply the sounds of the synthesizers. I have musical frisson so I’m constantly chasing that dragon. Always looking for the thing that’s going to give me goosebumps.
What can you share about your writing process?
J: The writing process is pretty different for each song. Sometimes I’ll write an instrumental idea, send it to Kitty and she’ll send a vocal idea and we’ll go back and forth until we have something we like. Other times Kitty will send over a song, typically piano and vocals and I’ll deconstruct it and rebuild it around her vocal or chord progressions. I think we always try to serve the song and do what’s best for the piece as opposed to serving our egos.
Which artists in your opinion are killing it right now?
J: I think musically CHVRCHES are the most interesting band of the last 10 years. Film-wise my favorite director is Panos Cosmatos. I love his stuff. I also LOVE working with Suspirialand. She has done a lot of artwork for me and she is amazing.
How do you define success?
J: For me, I think success is how closely the output matches the vision of the project and the output accomplishes what it set out to do. In that regard, I think Gravity is already a massive success. I think it looks great, sounds great, and has some terrific songs. I’m incredibly proud of this body of work and it was a joy to make it.
What can your fans look forward to over the next six months? Music videos? Live gigs?
J: SINES is not a live experience at this point. I think electronic music can be very boring live without certain things in place and we’re not financially in a place where we can pull that off. Secondly, we are artists, not performers so we probably won’t ever do the ‘traditional’ concert-type thing. That being said, fans can look forward to more videos and more songs. We are hard at work on our next album called ‘Teenage Fantasy’ which should be released in 2024.
