Interview Conducted by Carolyn Zaldivar Snow

Carolyn: Hi Toby– it's summer. I remember once your air conditioner went out in a Seattle heatwave and you had to stay in a bar most of the night. What's summer like in Seattle? What are you up to?

Toby: Growing up near Seattle, we used to complain of a heatwave when it was in the high 70’s; it’s definitely become increasingly intense over the years. The city lacks infrastructure to deal with the heat, so when you’re in a small club or basement, running all your gear, it can get sweltering. This time of year the PNW electronic music community seems to explode with events, so I’m looking forward to a lot of shows, especially outside like Modular On the Spot. I’m also super big into camping, and look forward to hitting the road to find new parts of the state and region we’ve yet to explore.

C: This track is geographic–  where is Deception Pass?

T: Deception Pass is located on the north end of Whidbey Island, about 80 miles north of Seattle. Before spending a few years living on Whidbey, I used to drive over the pass on my way to visit my dad — I didn’t feel like spending three hours in peak ferry traffic. The drive’s about two hours longer, but you end up winding through the fertile Skagit Valley, past a few picturesque lakes, and up a slight incline before finding yourself nearly 200 feet above the water. The Puget Sound there is an eerie jade green color, and you’re offered a view of the open water all the way to Canada and the Pacific Ocean beyond. It’s a really awe-inspiring sight, and I’m always taken by surprise at the juxtaposition of the gorgeous vista and the mundanity of commuting over a bridge at 20 miles an hour while tourists gawk. In the fall there’s often an eerie fog covering the forests, and the whole area just holds an air of mystery and intrigue. Deception Pass State Park is also one of my favorite places to camp in Washington.  The mushrooms are plentiful and the proximity to the sea water makes the most amazing smell. It’s a great place to bring a battery-powered music setup.

C: What's happening with the vocals in “deception pass”?

T: The vocals in the track are a little biographical. I’ve always loved sample-based music, from Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique to the haunting YouTube samples used by Burial. Sampling in 2024 is difficult, as you can no longer claim ignorance for sampling copyrighted material, so I’m always looking for creative ways to either make or find my own way. I ended up sampling my high school jazz band tape that featured my much-younger self singing a ballad. I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

C: You often play as part of a techno duo called SAD BOIX, tell us about this side project.

T: Michael Squilla – who goes by Mycorrhiza when he’s making his own music – is the second half of SAD BOIX and also part of a local artists collective started by myself, Michael and our partners KayLee and Shannon. It’s my first time ever being in a “band” as an adult, and I’ve found it to be an incredibly inspiring experience. I’m really meticulous and detail oriented when it comes to my music, sometimes to a fault, and working with someone else is in many ways about giving up control. We both really like techno, and when we perform together it’s purely natural and collaborative. I feel like we’re telepathically linked when we’re on stage – most of our music is improvised or loosely bound. It’s an exciting way to make music. The first time we played together, we called ourselves SAD BOIX because the show we organized was called SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. We positioned the show as an opportunity to dance and let loose, harvesting some endorphins and positive vibes for the gray Seattle winter.

C: For the uninitiated, what is Basement State?

T: Basement State is an amazing local Seattle music collective that hit its stride during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It began as a regular online music show, where the rules were whatever you played, it had to be live. They broadcasted live on their Twitch channel, and you couldn’t submit a pre-recorded set. I started out as a fanatic viewer – I was just getting back into music at the time and was gobbling up any content I could find. Eventually I was invited to perform, which was my first ever performance as ybot. Basement State eventually moved to in-person shows around the Seattle area from house parties to clubs to record stores, and have released two compilation tapes and an EP on vinyl. They’re awesome, open and receptive people and I’m so glad to know them and to have worked with them.

C: You're a PNW tech worker– does that seep into your music? What's a ybot?

T: The nature of working in technology made me realize how much I needed an emotional or creative release that could happen away from my work desk. I sort of stumbled into technology after I got my BFA from University of Washington’s Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media. While I was in school, I focused on ambisonic sound installations using the audio programming language SuperCollider. After I graduated, I could now make ends meet but unfortunately the next 12 years were bereft of artistic inspiration. I found it incredibly difficult to spend all day on a computer, then try to use the same device for making music. It finally clicked when I bought a Digitakt in 2020. Dedicating myself to making music with just one hardware device created opportunities and context for me to be creative again, and that’s where the whole ybot thing started. Working in technology enabled me to make that purchase in the first place, and also allows for me to work remotely. I can take my work anywhere, and I can drag my music setup along with me.

As for what a ybot is, when I was struggling with making music I called myself “trademark”, because my initials are TM. I decided to go with ybot– it’s my name backwards.

C: What's in your live setup these days? 

T: I tend to bring a different setup to every gig. The main core is always an Elektron device, either a Digitakt or a Digitone. Then I pair it with a small Intellijel palette case which contains an ever-changing selection of eurorack modules. My go-to for any given show is usually a mini-version of the Make Noise Tape & Microsound Machine in four modules: Pam’s New Workout, Morphagene, QPAS, and Mimeophon just so happen to be the exact same size as my case. The modular is usually playing samples, field recordings, vocal clips or atmospheric synths all while providing a rhythmic counterbalance to whatever is going on in the Elektron box. I like that everything fits into one or two small bags, so I can just show up and easily set up anywhere.

C: You self released a really great self-titled cassette, want to plug that here?

T: Thanks! That project was a labor of love, and definitely an example of the aforementioned meticulous and detail-oriented music making. It’s called Operator, and I wrote and performed itentirely on the Elektron Digitone. Unfortunately the initial run of tapes is all sold out (unless you’re in Seattle and check out the tapes at Selector Records) but it’s available on my Bandcamp and on streaming services. 

ARTIST PLAYLIST

We asked Toby to send a playlist of what he’s listening to lately which you can check out on Spotify below:

LINKS

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