INTERVIEWS: Angry Muffin by Sarah Chiu

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No matter how hard you may try to uncover the identity of the mysterious Toronto-based Angry Muffin, I’m going to go ahead and guess that you’ll have no better luck than I did. Citing his desire for his fans to listen for the music and not for appearances, gimmicks, or the like, Angry Muffin has elected to shroud his true identity in a cloud of smoke and flour. He just released his self-titled debut album that includes 7 tracks of emotive electronica and was sweet enough (hah) to help us get to know him better – whether we actually did or not…I’ll let you be the judge.

You’ve been in the industry for many years but few people have probably heard of you as Angry Muffin. Can you give our readers an idea of who you are and what muffins mean to you?

When I was a very young child, I was running frantically from a madman who had just murdered my parents and I got trapped inside a dark, sweltering sewer.  Then, out of nowhere, a disgruntled bakery owner dumped a truckload of muffins into the sewer and onto my head. I was horrified to a degree I could never adequately describe with words.  After that incident I was afraid of muffins. Eventually, I faced that paralyzing fear and used it as power by dressing up like a muffin to be a musical super hero.

Just kidding.

I’m a muffin, so I like muffins. You are human and you like humans right?  Its like that. What’s so perplexing about it.

Prior to becoming Angry Muffin, I understand you were on a bit of a break from making music. What was it that brought you back to it?

Well there comes a time in a muffins shelf life when you have to stop wallowing in the pain and self pity and just ‘do’.  The ‘doing’ is what makes you healthy again.  For me, there is nothing more life affirming and rejuvenating than making music. I have to do it in order to survive. From the moment I stepped into the studio I felt more empowered and self aware. I wish everyone in the world could have phenomenal such a gift to fall back on.

Your self-titled debut album was just released on Alpha Milk Records and covers a range of sounds, styles, and emotions. What were/are the biggest influences on your music and what story are you trying to tell?

The reason my album has such an intense mood is because it is essentially me working through my anger and resentment. The result is a dark, eerie brand of musical expression. I don’t think it is poisonous to listeners though, and I am pretty sure the result is that it helps them release their anger and hostility as well. One cannot dismiss negative feelings.  Instead, it is vital to embrace them and focus them into something productive, or else they will consume you entirely. If you repress them and hide them, they will grow stronger in their darkness until they re-surface to claim total domain over your psyche.

A lot of the music we feature here at EDM TOR is more on the house, trance, tech, and electro side of the electronic music scene. As an artist whose music doesn’t fit the same sort of stereotypically “ravey” live show as those genres, what can we expect from/at an Angry Muffin show?

Artistic expression and a unique presentation. I want to have fun at every show, and I want my friends to as well.  I will be center stage on a table, with bodyguards around me to make sure no one eats me, and there will be lights flashing all over me. Over to the side will be an illuminated sheet room with all my friends in it, and some musicians as well. The audience will be able to see the movements of the people through the sheets. I call this the ‘elite room’.  Behind the sheets will be naked women, live sex, burlesque dancers, and lots of people drinking lots of alcohol.

Many producers from around the world have been moving to Los Angeles recently, citing it as a thriving hotbed for electronic music and just a great place to be as an artist. What is it about Toronto that has kept you here? And how would you describe our artist community?

Well if I were to move it wouldn’t be to L.A.  It would certainly be  to somewhere in Europe, like Prague, Amsterdam or Rome. I love the European way of thinking and find the people to be far more natural and genuine.  Nothing is keeping me here per say because I do plan to move somewhere else very soon.  My moving will have nothing to do with music production though. It will be simply for a good time.

What’s next for you? Will you be reviving your previous identity or continuing on as Angry Muffin? 

I am Angry Muffin.

What do you do on your days off around the city? 

I do a lot of working out, girl peeping, walking and socializing. I love to drink whiskey and Euro lagers until 4 pm. Checking out some indie films also makes it onto my recreational list. Toronto is getting pretty cold when it comes to the nightlife, which is why I am making a departure soon.

Any parting words of wisdom (music-related or not)?

I think people should expand their minds when it comes to music and stray – at least sometimes – from the typical genres that dominate electronic music.  There are a great many things one can do with electronic sounds, and we haven’t even scratched the surface of it all. I also feel that labels should be less genre specific and more quality/originality driven. And you, the public, are important too. As consumers you basically decide what makes it or doesn’t. Try not to allow yourself to be spoonfed, and make your musical choices wisely.  Whether you realize it or not, the future of music depends on you.

 

To read the album review for Angry Muffin, click HERE.

Links

Website

Facebook

SoundCloud

 

Sarah Chiu  EDM TOR

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About Author

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Adele is the owner of Tranceported. She manages and maintains the social media and the photo and video teams, and has been shooting our event photos since 2011. She has been a fan of Trance music since the mid-90s and started this website (formerly called EDM TOR) in 2012.

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