Shannon Mavrik is a Meanjin based producer known for his contribution to projects such as Penelope Two-Five and Das Druid. Devs / Deus is the latest offering under his Dociyle moniker and was released through The Space Between Us in April.
The EP is comprised of 6 tracks that plunge the listener into a deep aural expanse with no apologies and no sign of home. The EP will be accompanied by a full audio/visual live experience designed by Shannon.
What does "Dociyle" mean to you?
Dociyle represents how I am when I'm making music for myself. I’m a docile person so it was fitting.
I can lock myself away in my bedroom and learn how to create sounds and music that really appeal to me. It’s a nice escape and I’m sure most artists have that same feeling.
Where did this record come from?
I have always wanted to try scoring film/game sound design and my main goal was to make Devs / Deus more than just listening music.
I wanted whoever listened to these tunes to be able to visualise themselves were somewhere out of reach to the earth's surface. I’m also big into techno/garage and wanted to combine the feelings of sci fi atmosphere and drama with a warehouse rave.
"Sci-fi film meets warehouse music". What films inspired Devs / Deus?
Ex-Machina, Interstellar, Annihilation or series such as Devs and Raised by Wolves. A lot of them are based around a dark timeline that humans could potentially face and I wanted to capture that same dramatic theme.
Alex Garland films have especially cool sound design that blur the lines between score and possible warehouse banger.
What production workflows do you rely on to create these dark, brooding aural environments?
With this project I made sure to use my MS20 in every track. It just has that perfect tone and modulation to it for sci-fi and techno sounds.
I also learnt to warp and modulate field recording samples and make them into new sounds. A lot of processing was different. Everything apart from the drums was layered multiple times with different FX racks. A sci fi wall of sound. Workflow would always be atmosphere creation first, drums and bass second.
"The album is accompanied by a full audio/visual live experience." Was this always an important aspect to the project?
The further I got into the project, the more I wanted the visual aspect. It just creates a greater sense of immersion and the music.
Eventually, I only wanted to create tracks that could be part of a whole show or performance and be accompanied by specific visuals. I’m working on the visuals myself but will be searching for someone to help out with lights.
As this is a bedroom project, I’m trying to do as much as I can myself. There’s tiny snippets on my instagram for promo videos I’ve made.
