TIKHET’s Songwriting Survival Kit

TIKHET’s Songwriting Survival Kit. Angela Aux: “I prefer to write leaning far back.”

The duo DJ/producer Sepalot and songwriter/poet Angela Aux share the essential gear that’s helped shape their upcoming debut ‘Mixtape Suite’

The songs of TIKHET draw from genres as varied as krautrock, nu jazz, and Britpop. Fear not though, the duo of Sepalot and Angela Aux manage to bind those ingredients together, turning them into an innovative cake of their own making. Early singles Smoke Rings and Right Now I Can See provide a glimpse of this magical mixture, one that can be tasted in full with the release of debut album Mixtape Suite later this year. In the meantime, the duo share those pieces of kit needed to make the music happen…

Discover more Songwriting Survival Kits

1. VINYL RECORDS

Sepalot: Input from other music is very important for my songwriting. Anyone who claims that their own music is not influenced by the music of others is a liar. I have a very, very large record collection. When I pull a record off the shelf and put it on, it’s always sounds and tiny little fragments and rarely the melodies that inspire me. To find these small sources of inspiration, you have to zoom in extremely on the sound recordings. That’s a good starting point and is often the first splash of colour on the white canvas of songwriting.

2. RHODES MARK V

Sepalot: My Rhodes electric piano is my first ‘go-to’ instrument for approaching an idea or a song. At some point, I modulated the pickups. The electric piano now has a very soft sound. In combination with the Hohner amp, it produces a very warm and pleasant sound. This unobtrusive and sometimes indifferent sound leaves enough room for a song idea to develop.

3. OP1

Sepalot: This little synthesiser is my ‘chaos maker’. If I’m stuck somewhere, I pull out this little partner. I usually connect it to a guitar amp and a tape delay. It is often responsible for the key melodies or simply provides absurd effects.

TIKHET. Sepalot: “Anyone who claims that their own music is not influenced by the music of others is a liar.” Photo: A. van Zanten & Otto Chr

4. HOFNER 185 SHORT SCALE

Angela Aux: It is one of my two favourite basses, the other is the Hofner 182 short scale. You can lie comfortably on a couch with either one, the bass on your chest. When Sebastian is making beats, I often lie around and find a good groove for myself. Most of the time the bass isn’t even plugged in or turned up yet. Both basses have a nice warm bass sound and sound special somehow, I can’t say exactly how. If I had to choose one bass from all the basses in the world, I would choose this one.

5. FENDER TELECASTER

Angela Aux: Very classy. I like the way it feels in my hand and I prefer to write leaning far back. My first guitar was a red Squier, which I played for years. The Tele is a small upgrade, but the feeling is the same. You can mute the strings very easily with the palm of your hand, which allows you to play faster licks. I could lie and play like that forever.

6. INTERNET

Angela Aux: Very neo-classy. After I have found a feeling and a mood for a track, my thoughts revolve around all sorts of associations. I then often try to lose myself in some documentaries or Wikipedia pages and challenge my subconscious a little. I often let two or three documentaries run one after the other and try to follow the three stories at the same time. It usually works quite well, at least if, like me, you like more associative/Dada symbolism and like to have several text levels running in parallel.

Mixtape Suite by TIKHET is out digitally on 13 December with physical copies available in early 2025. Learn more at eskapadenmusik.bandcamp.com

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