Domax is a multi-instrumentalist based in London, UK. As a session musician, he has worked with Sister Sledge, Incognito, Emeli Sandé, and Maverick Sabre. He brings a new melodic driven sound to the scene, drawing inspiration from Kraftwerk, Apex Twin, Squarepusher, Neu, The Yellow Magic Orchestra, and the Cocteau twins. Co founder of record label Jam International, Domax has released four EPs and a single in the last nine months and has more in the pipeline for 2023.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Domax, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
I started playing guitar at school when I was 8 years old I hated it and quit. I started playing again a few years later after discovering the red Hot chilli peppers. I used to play guitar every day and take it in to school and play during my lunch break. It became a bit of an obsessions. I moved to london at 17 years old to study music and pursue a career as a professional guitar player.
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
I'm a full time professional l music I do a mixture of live gigs tuition and some session work – as a session musician I've played guitar for Sister Sledge , Incognito , maverick Sabre , Emeli Sande. I'm trying to move my focus from my career as a musician in to my career as an artist. You have to give it everything you have to get it off the ground it can be difficult to focus well enough on both things. Ive spend the last 14 years trying to be a guitar player but Im now focusing on something else.I'm aiming to purse this new path as an artist with everything I have. I recently set up my own record label “Jam International” we've put out 7 releases since April 2022 and we have loads more lined up for 2023. I live with my beautiful wife and dog in south east london.
Your latest release is 'Volca'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
Volca was written and recorded July – September 2022. This is my third EP out of my four EP series. I made he majority of the music at home in my bedroom during a couple of late night sessions on my monopoly Synth. I took these Ideas to our studio Jam international HQ put the final touches together with my writing partner Andrew kremer . We then went on to record live drums (Jamie Murray) Mix the music ourselves and then it was sent of to be mastered by the amazing Tim Turan or turan audio. To be fair this process was pretty straight forward and I wanted to get from start to finish in a few months. I really think music should be made and put out as soon as its ready i'm not into sitting on tracks for ages. I think the whole scene is oversaturated with independent artists scrabbling to get there new single on the same thing i'm just not into that.
Where did you get the inspiration for this EP?
Although I started out as guitar player In recent years I've been more drawn to electronic dance music – focusing a lot on artists such as aphex twin fourtet squarepusher , boards of Canada and kratfwerk. I wanted to make a really melodic Ep surrounded with lush textures and high energy. The title “Volca” comes from a drum machine I was given as a birthday present I just thought it would would sound cool as a title.
How long did you work on the 'Volca'? Was it an easy process for you?
About 3 months beginning to end from writing to getting the masters back. To be fair this was quite a straight forward process. I had made and released two Eps prior to this one “Polygon” “Act” both out on Jam international. I was figuring out my sound and where I wanted this to go when I was making these where as when I made Volca I had a much clearer idea of how this would sound and where I wanted to take it. Also I felt that I had longer to get deeper in to the sounds and textures available in my synthesizer so I was able to take things a bit further in this EP.
How do you know when a work is finished?
When I can sing the melodies and listen through to the whole piece with out getting bored.
Can you write what was your best performance in your career? How do you remember it?
As a guitar player playing at cross the tracks festival with sister sledge we we playing some big tunes and the sun was setting against a backdrop of 25k people dancing the arses of that was awesome. Domax is still very new and I haven't yet really got out there and experienced my best perfromance yet – but this will happen soon.
How do you find yourself in the music business? When you started out in music, did you know it would be like this?
I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a musician I realised that I'd need to work at this a lot and be able to make a living to keep doing it. I guess I just naturally ended up doing certain gigs as most musicians do out of necessity to pay your rent and bills. I initially wanted to pursue my career as a guitar player and push it as hard as I could going from opportunity to opportunity etc …. .Now I see this more of a way of funding my own music. It's difficult balancing being an artist and holding down another career or full time job but I try to keep it as balanced as possible to ensure all my focus can go into my own music as this is exactly where I want to be and what I want to do.
Who is your favourite musician?
Jimi Hendrix hands down – he changed the game and made so much art between the ages of 24-27 he puts us all to shame !
What are your plans for the future?
I want to write and release as much music as I can over the next few years. I've always wanted to have a big body of work I personally feel this is the best way to go. I've put out 22 pieces of music since April 2022 I want to hit 50 pieces by April 2024 . Other than that I want to get my stuff out to as many people as I can - start a night somewhere hip in London and create my own scene around my music – Play festivals play night clubs and raves. I'd love to open for Arcade fire next time they are in town!