The first release on Latent : Forms comes from one of the earliest people to dive into the sessions… and it feels like the right way to kick things off.

Laszlow, aka Val, has been quietly making music for more than twenty years, mostly under different aliases, and mostly just for himself. Emergency Landing is his first EP through the label, LF001 on the catalog, and the first time the whole process behind aymat.org got put to the test from start to finish with another producer.

Val reached out to me in early May with a long, thoughtful email about why he wanted to try the sessions. He is no stranger to making and finishing music. He was a varied selection of music he has uploaded to his YouTube channel over the years, but not without some struggle.

In his own words “For a period I thought that time and motivation were the missing key in some tracks. However, I realized that that’s not actually the case. A month ago I had a whole free week. I sat down. Nothing came out. Couldn’t finish any unfinished track. I felt like they were missing the magic ingredient, or they were not worth the time, and so on and so forth.”

But he kept coming back to one thing: the tracks that worked, the ones that actually got finished, all had some kind of “magic” moment where they came alive. The problem was, that moment had stopped showing up on its own.

So with all that in mind, we began the sessions and worked through it, week by week, until finally he was able to put together his EP.

I asked Val a handful of questions about what the process felt like from his side. Here’s what he had to say:

Tell us a bit about your history as a producer, how’d you get started making music?

I didn’t even like music when I was a kid to be honest. Growing up, I discovered some very early hands-up tracks and I figured I’d try to understand how they were made. I’ve always been a very creative person, not only in music, but in many fields. I like to create and share; I usually have lots of ideas. In any case, I found an old disc called Rave Mission Vol.1 that my brother had in his room. I quickly fell in love and was extremely fascinated with early 90s hard trance, acid and so on and so forth. Since then, I have been “dealing” with music for twenty years now. It was very boring at first because it was very hard for me, somebody with zero musical background, to understand how to make a proper track. Little by little, I learnt many things, from theory to the technical side of things. Looking back at everything I’ve made, I am quite proud of myself.

You’re not a stranger to releasing music, your YouTube channel has quite a number of releases. I’m curious about that… what’s your relationship with releasing music been like, and did this EP break a different pattern for you in the way you normally approach it?

I have had several aliases and names all around the web. I used to try to force myself to release in the past, but that never worked. Right now, whenever I feel like I have some inspiration, a burst of energy or an idea, I just make the core of the track (usually in less than a day or two). The rest is just hard work making sure it sounds acceptable. When I’m finished, I try not to go back to it and simply upload to YouTube or whatever project/website. This EP is quite different because of how Joel has been structuring things. It’s definitely more professional and I consider myself no more than a hobbyist, so it’s a little bit scary.

How has the process made you feel working with a coach vs working by yourself?

Having weekly talks with Joel was not only inspiring but also helpful. Working on your own is obviously different and each one has their own process. However, when you have another pair of ears, and in this case quite experienced ears, you’ll feel things starting to fall into place. You are more motivated. Not pressured, mind you; it simply felt as if I was with a friend in my bedroom and we were hanging out while working. So, sharing, which is always a positive point.

Was there a moment during the process where something clicked, like you actually felt a change or shift in the way you approach making music?

More than a shift, a realization that what I had been doing in the past was actually the “right way”. I agree with most concepts that Joel explained but I could never put them into words. He is quite smart when it comes to this, and he helped me realize a few key things about my own approach. I believe that the sessions might be of incredible value to people that may feel lost or wandering around without a clear goal.

What has your experience with the whole process been like… what did you learn, not just about the process but about yourself, and what’s been the biggest takeaway?

Talking with Joel made me believe even more that making music should be a fun process. I think this is the main takeaway. Sure, it sounds simple, laughable even. However, not many people actually realize what this means. When the process is fun and you put feel into it, the rest of the track will follow along, as if the track had a soul of its own. It’s very hard to explain and it’s been refreshing talking with him about it. Do not discard this aspect of music: while the technical side, arrangement, sounds and so on are extremely important, they all come from the same foundations.

Anything you’d want to share with readers about your experience and what we can expect from you in the future?

To whoever is reading this, well, first of all thanks from me and Latent Forms. Secondly, if you are starting out as a producer, your tracks may be ugly, unfun, uninteresting: but those are the ones that make you learn for the next ones. Starting new tracks without finishing them is not a great habit. If you have fun while creating something, that piece of art will reflect that. My future-self is very unpredictable, maybe I might release some techno, maybe some ambient, who knows. I try to go with the flow, and many aspects of my life influence my creativity and mood!

Val, thanks so much for being the first to take this journey from start to finish. Your commitment and input through it all has been invaluable. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know you and work with you, and I’m so happy to have you as the first release on the label. I can’t wait to hear what’s next from you, and I’m looking forward to more releases in the future.

Emergency Landing is out now on Latent : Forms. –