Sunda Arc, being brothers Nick and Jordan Smart, are known for their blend of electronic and acoustic sounds, drawing on techno, electronica, neo-classical, and post-rock influences. They are also two-thirds of the jazz-influenced minimalist trio Mammal Hands.
HC: Given your background in Mammal Hands, how do you consciously differentiate the creative process and output for Sunda Arc?
Jordan: So, for Mammal Hands the process is usually very organic and starts with the instruments but everything is played together and the ideas are formulated in that context. With Sunda Arc it’s a much more studio-based approach, we still usually start from long takes and improvisations with instruments and synthesisers but the process then involves using our home studios and much more detailed arranging and collating with sound in Ableton Live, our favourite software.
HC: What’s your approach to blending electronic elements with live instrumentation like saxophone, bass clarinet, and piano?
Jordan: We use the instruments often in the same way as working on a puzzle, we let the music lead and suggest what it needs or what would fill the space or sound best. We sometimes leave the instruments very organic and sometimes process them heavily, we leave it very open to experimentation and also sometimes chance events curated through different combinations of processing to aid the creative process.
HC: “Sunda Arc” is named after a volcanic arc. How does this geological inspiration translate into your music or overall artistic vision?
Jordan: I think volcanic and seismic activity is very inspirational and a good metaphor for the creative process. We are generally very inspired by nature and natural processes and this one seemed to fit the vibe of the band at the time we formed it.
HC: Can you walk us through a typical creative session when developing a new track? Do you start with a melody, a rhythm, or a specific soundscape?
Nick: It’s often just an idea one of us has had but it could be anything really, sometimes a concept we find interesting and we try to create a musical representation of the idea. It could be something non-musical like a field recording, sometimes it’s just a chord progression and drum pattern on a specific machine that gets us excited.
HC: What are some of the homemade software patches you use, and how do they contribute to your unique sound?
Jordan: So we tend to build max patches any time we need to achieve something with software that isn’t possible or easy currently. It’s a good way to bridge the creative gap between your ideas and what software can handle, although this gap closes every year at the moment to be honest.
HC: Are there any particular analogue synthesizers that are central to the Sunda Arc sound, and why those specific ones?
Nick: The Korg Minilogue was the first analogue synth I ever bought and has been used a lot on our tracks over the years. More recently we’ve been using a Prophet Rev 2 and Oberheim OB6 a lot, also the Arp Odyessey and Moog Matriarch.
HC: How do you balance the “controlled” and “chaotic” elements you’ve mentioned in your music, especially in albums like ‘Night Lands’?
Nick: Usually we do this quite instinctively, just trying to listen carefully and follow where the music wants to go. We have approaches we’ve developed for integrating chaotic ideas into areas of the music but once the track is starting to take shape, it develops a life of its own and you have to let the music guide you as much as possible.
HC: Which artists (electronic or otherwise) have been significant influences on your sound, and how have they shaped your approach?
Nick: The first electronic act I remember getting really into when I was a teenager was the Future sound of London, I discovered the ISDN album and cascade and became pretty obsessed with those. But if I had to pick only one electronic album to listen to for the rest of my life, I think it would be Immunity by Jon Hopkins.
HC: When performing live, how much improvisation is involved compared to structured compositions?
Jordan: There is more improv in the live show for sure, we tend to bridge between tracks with improv and also sometimes leave spaces within certain tracks and do special intros and outros that we only do live. It’s of course trickier when you use programmed drums so we find the improv more naturally finds its way into ambient sections and builds but we also do a lore of playing with melody and structure live.
HC: What’s one piece of gear, electronic or acoustic, that you couldn’t imagine making Sunda Arc music without?
Nick: The most integral is definitely ableton live. We have synths and drum machines that we use a lot and all our acoustic instruments too but the thing that allows us to shape and blend all these elements together effectively is ableton.
HC: Being from Norwich, how has the city influenced your musical journey and the development of Sunda Arc?
Jordan: it’s where we started the project and I still live here so it’s of course quite special to me. The city has changed much over the years but also is somehow still the same at its core. I think I find new things to appreciate as my life changes and I go through different periods of growing and aging.
HC: Are there any specific venues or local scenes in Norwich that have been particularly supportive or formative for you?
Jordan: The Norwich Arts Centre for sure. Has been there always since the beginning. Also we used to love DJing at the Playhouse Bar back in the day 🙂
HC: What are some of the biggest challenges and rewards of being an independent electronic music duo in the current landscape?
Nick: For me, it’s navigating the world of social media as an artist. Your work is mixed in a virtual platform with basically everything, including comedy, news, sport, food, extreme violence, corporate marketing, fashion…
I believe music often takes time to reveal itself and can rarely be as instantly gratifying as these other media its forced to compete with in these platforms.
I think it would work much better if there was a dedicated social media platform just for music, so people who are really passionate about it can enjoy it on its own terms, rather than this endless competition to make content shorter and have maximum impact within a 10/15 second timeframe, which I just don’t believe works well for music and has a negative impact on composers having to consider these extreme limitations just to give their music a chance of being noticed!
HC: You’ve played some impressive venues (Royal Albert Hall, Roundhouse) – what’s been your most memorable live performance as Sunda Arc so far, and why?
Nick: The Royal Albert Hall was a really special one, there’s so much history in that room and it was amazing to hear our music blasting out of their massive sound system!
HC: What are your aspirations for Sunda Arc in the next few years? Any dream collaborations or venues you’d love to play?
Jordan: We just want to continue building the project and making music together really, it’s lovey to have this band to work on music in a really open ended way and have a creative outlet.
HC: Beyond music, what other forms of art or media inspire your creative work?
Nick: There’s a novel called Wolf Solent by John Cowper Powys where his descriptions of nature and the mysterious interconnection between people, animals and plant life throughout the book is so vivid that I remember being totally immersed in the book. The book was written nearly 100 years ago and when I was reading it I felt like his writing was revealing some lost, secret way of perceiving and experiencing the world and the subtle ways we are all connected to our environment. It definitely influenced the way I viewed the world and our connection with nature, which often feels pretty neglected at this point in time and it was interesting to try and reflect the way this book made me feel in musical language.
HC: If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring electronic musicians starting out in a regional city like Norwich, what would it be?
Nick: Tell your story, whatever that is. Don’t try and pretend to be anything other than what you are to get noticed in the industry. There’s so much noise out there in the world of social media but I still believe that when somebody allows themselves to be truly honest and vulnerable in public and share something of themselves then it cuts through the noise and has massive power to connect with people.
HC: What’s one hidden gem in Norwich that you think more people should know about?
Jordan: The Alexander Tavern, great place for a pint.
HC: What other collaborations have you got going on?
Jordan: At the moment we have both Mammal Hands and Sunda Arc together, I’m also working on a new project with Milo Fitzpatrick called Vega Trails, and there’s some new music bubbling away that will hopefully get released in the next year or so but as yet unnamed projects.
HC: What new music can you tell us about?
Jordan: There’ll be a series of new Sunda Arc tracks coming this year throughout the year and some live videos. Also keep an eye out for some exciting news later this year from both of us.
HC: When/where are you next performing?
Jordan: Next Sunda Arc show will be in Czechia at the Colour Meeting Festival.
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