Joseph Manzoli, a Toronto-based electronic artist/producer who goes by the alias VTX, is set to release an EP titled “To Wake Up In Paradise.” This body of work is inspired by the film “Annihilation” and consists of five compelling tracks that have been ingeniously synthesised to rattle our eardrums.
Before pursuing his unique music endeavours, Joseph broke into the music industry by playing in several collaborations with Nick Hakim and Adrianne Lenker. He has also launched a label/collective called No Content with long-time colleague and friend Jonathan Nellen, in addition to his pseudonym VTX.
“Several layers in Annihilation” affected the EP, according to Joseph, including endless development, beauty, self-destruction, rising consumption, and our planet’s living conditions. This body of work contains artwork by Aaron Chartrand, who goes by the moniker memory.pig, and sends viewers into a state of psychedelia akin.
We talk about their collaboration, friendship, influences, and the focal point of “To Wake Up In Paradise,” in an interview with both creators, Joseph Manzoli and artist Aaron Chartrand.
Tell us about VTX, who are they, what do they stand for and how did they come about? And, in your own words, describe the genre of music VTX create?
Joseph: I think the easiest umbrella term for this music would be experimental electronic. With this EP hinting at deconstructed club, minimalism, and at times ambient, I really started this project to create a space for myself to do some sonic exploration in a more post-genre fashion. I’ve released music under a handful of different monikers that all, to me, felt sort of boxed in. The goal is for it to be something that I currently cannot imagine.
What does VTX stand for?
Joseph: VTX is just a shortened version of the original name I had come up with “Votex”. I really wanted to find a name with the letters V and X because they feel very intense to me. I later discovered that Votex is a sort of well-known farm-equipment company, so I played around with shortening the word, and landed on VTX. I then also discovered VTX is a Honda motorcycle, but that felt slightly more fitting, so I kept it.
Are there any established artists out there that VTX is like?
Joseph: It’s difficult for me to compare my music to other experimental music, but I will say that at the time of making this EP I was listening to a lot of Aphex Twin, Amnesia Scanner, Jon Hassell, and that Roberto Musci record “Tower of Silence”, so it could live somewhere amongst those vastly different worlds.
You say the EP “To Wake Up In Paradise” was heavily influenced by the movie “Annihilation”, can you please elaborate on this?
Joseph: I think the first and most important is the notion that infinite growth and beauty can lead to self-destruction. I was drawn to the idea of a “paradise” being the thing that destroys us. At times I feel this is present in our world, and we’re very much desensitized to it – i.e., our infinitely increasing consumption and need for ‘things’ that are now putting the planet’s liveable conditions at risk. In the movie it’s depicted as this beautiful glowing forest, referred to as “the shimmer”. I love this forest, it’s very ethereal and to me represents a state of being, so I wanted to have that represented in the music.
There are a couple of tracks that are very calm and sort of just wave back and forth with glassy crystal-like synth pads creating a horizon. In film, or at least mainstream film, we’re very used to scary things looking scary, so I was completely enamoured by this terrifying forest looking stunning, at first glance there’s nothing scary about it. In the movie this is juxtaposed with darkness in the form of self-destruction. I found that throughout the movie there was this extremely abrasive undertone just humming, it lived with you from start to finish, and likely stayed with you after too, it did for me. Beyond the lyrical content of the EP, which directly deals with these themes, the EP’s general mood reflects the paradise of destruction found in Annihilation.
Is the EP artwork also inspired by the movie “Annihilation”, how so?
Aaron: It is! Although I tried to allow my inspiration to come from sound and concept. Visual inspiration would obviously have been very easy to receive, but I felt as though there was a wider net of ideas in exploring the existential concepts that came from the film. While annihilation was an inspiration, it was important for me to keep “To Wake Up In Paradise” at the forefront of my mind. As much as “To Wake Up In Paradise” was inspired by “Annihilation”, the EP is its own living and breathing thing, so I decided not to solely focus on annihilation.
large amount of my work holds an interest in the relationship between present and origin, so it was exciting to have those things placed out for me at the start of the project. I think as an artist your kind of like a detective. You must find as many clues as you can and build a case of communication from that. So, when you approach a project, and the origin is already laid out for you- that’s a huge piece of information to explore that you can’t ignore. And building on that- if you have your origin piece (“Annihilation”) and your piece that takes place in the present (“To Wake Up In Paradise”) it’s very exciting to explore the gap between those two pieces. Not just taking inspiration from isolated events or pieces of work, but also thinking about- what is the space between these two things? What is the mess that exists between them?
How many tracks are in the EP, which are your favourite tracks and why?
Joseph: The EP is 5 tracks, which was scaled back from a much larger pool of music, 20-25. Some of those will still probably be released at some point. It’s always difficult to say which are my favourites as it changes based on my mood, and there’s a wide range of moods on TWUIP. I will say, most consistently my favourite track is “Specter”. It’s the most ethereal track on the EP and really makes me feel as if I’m floating in the shimmer.
Describe the creative process behind the EP’s artwork?
Aaron: Well, VTX and I had worked together on several projects in the past and he approached me with this album, asking if I was into it, informing me on where the inspiration came from, and then asked if I was interested in creating the art for it. It was an Immediate yes after listening to it. It unlocked very visceral feelings inside of me. It felt very strange, as if what I was feeling had been inside me, waiting since the moment I was born to experience. But there was also this other feeling as if I was stepping into a life that was still waiting for me in the future. A future that I would only encounter if I was born later in our timeline. Kind of as if I was trapped between lifetimes or realities. Which is interesting because if you’re familiar with the movie, there are some similar themes. It’s incredible that VTX found a way to translate those themes into something much more evolved. A big inspiration of mine is unwanted and misunderstood internal conflict. I’m very interested in where emotions clash, when you want something that you know you shouldn’t technically want. Or when you feel something, but logic tells you “that doesn’t make sense”. I think people move through life constantly changing into different shapes that fit into different spaces. And that’s what this album feels like to me. It feels like a shape that just keeps changing and changing as you listen to it. It’s constantly evolving. Like people. It made me feel understood in a way that I didn’t even know existed. It’s exciting when you consume work that reveals something about you that you didn’t know was there. So a big part of the visual process for this was really submitting to what I was hearing and what I was feeling, and then just putting down whatever mental mess that wanted out onto the page.
What made you gravitate towards creating the artwork for “To Wake Up In Paradise”?
Aaron: It’s always exciting when I get an email from VTX, because I know there’s going to be some heat in my inbox that I get to listen to before anyone else. A top-secret audio file. That immediately gets me going. I think what made me really gravitate and hooked me in was what felt like an entire millennium taking place inside one album. All the feelings and thoughts. All the ideas of where your life could lead or could’ve led had you made this decision or that, been born in a different time or place, or inside another life form all together. It’s also completely and unapologetically brutal in nature to me. The same kind of brutality that comes from nature. Not toxic. Just factual. Unforgiving and unbiased brutality. It’s somehow clean and filthy at the same time. Provoking. And a little terrifying, for what it pulls out of you. Bottom line it’s a beautiful piece of work, I had to make the art for it once I heard it. I think this album would have that effect on any artist. You almost feel forced to create something after listening to it.
Is there anything we should look out for in the future from VTX? Have you got further new music to come after the EP?
Joseph: Yup, as it stands, I have both a full-length record and a mixtape in the works. The mixtape is the first to come out somewhere towards the end of the Spring, followed by a full-length late summer. Naturally, this will probably change 100 times before it’s all said and done, but there is a large body of work simmering, waiting to be sorted out.
Listen to VTX here.