Limitations can boost creativity

The maestro of combining classical and electronic music - composer, producer and DJ David August pushes boundaries with his works, and in an interview with Vijesti, he also addressed the increasingly frequent use of artificial intelligence in music.

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David August, Photo: Alia Malin
David August, Photo: Alia Malin
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Italian-German composer, producer, DJ David August is not one of the standard club music producers. Namely, his musical education and versatility have enabled him to create a unique sound because in his works he has managed to erase the boundaries between classical and electronic music, and combine genres that many consider incompatible. Thanks to this, he is one of the most innovative artists in the world of electronic music.

He has been involved in music since childhood, and comes from a musical family - his father is a pianist, while his brother is a producer like him, and from the age of 16 he dared to create compositions that are layered, and thanks to his unique approach, it didn't take him long to stand out. However, it's not just the important tapes that remain as proof of his creativity, but for a decade he has been trying to make his live performances different, which he also showed the audience at last year's Rubix festival in Tivat.

David August on Rubix
David August on Rubixphoto: Miroslav Jovović

"I haven't done classic DJ sets for years. That changed about ten years ago when I started developing live performances, where I also want to express emotions through scenography, lighting and a certain stage design, visual and musical narration, in addition to music. With the latest album "Wyss" I created a special concept where I have two dancers performing, and a drummer performs with us, and the lighting and scenography are a key part of the entire performance. So it's not just a musical performance, but a musical-dance and visual performance. Three disciplines that come together, and for inspiration I would say it comes from cosmic, ancient places, but always with an eye towards an optimistic future. The idea of ​​my show is that we start in the past, go through the present and arrive in the potential future, like a timeline of evolution," August describes his performances.

However, combining multiple branches of art can often be a double-edged sword, as other segments of the performance can easily distract the audience from the music. For this reason, the Vijesti interviewee claims, it is important to strike a balance.

“It’s a very fine line to balance between all these disciplines because none of them are secondary. All the disciplines, at least what I’m trying to do, are equal and interdependent. Music alone might not work, dance alone wouldn’t work, and light alone wouldn’t work, but when all these arts come together and create a compact whole, then together they form the fourth dimension. So far, I think we’ve managed to balance everything pretty well and the music hasn’t lost its focus. It’s still obviously a musical performance, but it only makes sense with this set design and the performance on stage,” explains August, who is one of the few producers and DJs who plays the piano perfectly. He started learning to play at the age of five, and it was this experience, as he says, that led him to explore music and find a new path, not just in one direction, but in many others.

“I see myself more as a composer and a musical performer. My classical music education helped me understand and connect musical connections faster. Sometimes it can be a hindrance, because you think too much about what is logical in a musical sense, trying to follow all those rules in music that you learn about in school. So you don't let yourself go so much. However, I try not to let my musical education influence the creative processes too much, such as when it comes to finding ideas. It is very useful to have some knowledge of melodic, harmonic and instrumental connections, because it can speed up certain processes. I am grateful to have had that part of my life. But again, sometimes it can be counterproductive to think only in this academic way. Music should be free from any restrictions or limitations. Sometimes people who have had no education make the most interesting music. And people who have a musical education make boring music because they think in the way they learned in school,” August is honest.

In classical music, the rules are clearly defined, from the structure of the composition to the manner of performance. Each period, whether it is Baroque, Classicism or Romanticism, has its own specific styles and forms, which performers and composers respect. Phrases in classical music often follow a harmonic logic that leads to an expected conclusion, and is there any such thing when working on electronic music, the interviewee of Vijesti says:

“Ah, the rules. Of course, with evolution, classical music also became freer. Baroque music had very strict rules, then came the classical era where they became a little 'loose'. Already in Romanticism, they were noticeably relaxed, and in the 19th and 20th centuries, not to mention. In line with classical, music in general became increasingly freer because social constraints also became increasingly looser over time. Also, individual freedom of expression became freer, without restrictions. Electronic music is just an evolution of classical music in a way. Classical music is called that precisely because it was limited because technology was not used. All technology back then was an instrument, and now you can create music on a computer. So, 'electronic music' is just a name, but it is an evolution of music in general, where we become freer with the tools that are available to us to use,” explains August, adding that society has also become freer over time, as has individual forms of expression.

"If you look at the history of art, from impressionism, expressionism to modern art, everything was becoming more flexible and without restrictions in expression," he adds, and about how much this freedom killed creativity, he says:

“Sometimes it’s really important for authors to set limits and boundaries for themselves. I believe that limits can enhance creativity, because sometimes, when you have too many options, you might not explore the possibilities of one instrument deeply enough. For example, if I were in a studio and I had a lot of instruments around me, I don’t know if I would be more creative. Maybe I’m more creative if I had just a computer or just one instrument and I focused exclusively on it. I think that limits are important for embracing the creative process. But rules, I think they’re also important. Maybe all of this sounds dramatic, like you’re doing something that’s bad. Limits and rules are two different things to me. The word ‘rule’ for me can have a negative connotation, like a negative meaning. Limits are limited possibilities. What you can achieve, I think, can be infinite, even with limits. So it’s all about what kind of limits we’re talking about – are they technological limits or are we talking about musical limits, in the sense that I have to make a certain piece that follows certain structures, like a pop song that has a verse, a transition, a chorus. That’s already a musical limit. "But I believe that restrictions can empower creative processes, while rules can actually stifle creative processes," August believes, adding that for him, the processes when making classical music are no different from the process when creating electronic music.

David August
David Augustphoto: Filip Preis

“If I use classical instruments, it’s always in an electronic environment. At least in the last few years, that’s been the case. For me, there are no boundaries between these two sources of instruments and approaches. In fact, I’ve always been interested in merging certain sonic environments. I think if there’s one thing that’s been consistent in all of the music I’ve made, I think it’s been the combination of acoustic, maybe more organic sound sources versus the digital world. And I think that collision is where, for me, the most interesting new things happen. So I don’t see any difference, really. I think, at least in my case, they’re quite intertwined,” says the producer who continues to push musical boundaries with each new release.

“Thank you very much, if you think I'm pushing the boundaries. But I don't think it depends on the source you use if you push the boundaries. Much more, that creative process depends on the inner state, the attitude. You can be extremely innovative using only classical instruments. It's not about the source and the technology. It's about how you use them and what you express through them. So, if I manage to do something innovative in some way, I'm grateful, I'm happy about that. But I don't think it's because I'm using these two sources, like digital and analog, acoustic and computer-based music. I think it's because of something else. I think innovation always depends on the time you live in. So, some music may be innovative now, but it wouldn't be innovative in 20 years,” he explains. DJs used to be mainly focused on mixing and reinterpreting other people's music, creating unique sets for the audience. However, thanks to the development and advancement of technology that is increasingly used in music production, the role of DJs has expanded significantly. Today, thanks to software and tools powered by artificial intelligence, almost anyone can become an author and producer. These tools allow the creation of original compositions and remixes with minimal technical knowledge. Artificial intelligence now helps create melodies, beats and even entire arrangements, making music more accessible and personalized than ever before. As a result, DJs are no longer just performers, but often innovators who push the boundaries of what is possible in the music industry. On how much what is happening in electronic music today will affect music in 10, 20, 30 years, August says:

“First of all, I think that artificial intelligence is also just an evolution of technology. It is a very strong evolution and probably one of the industrial revolutions. It is the pinnacle of innovation. Every technology still requires a human being to shape it into something meaningful or into something that touches you emotionally. I think that is still such a subtle and highly individual trait that we have as humans. At least for now, artificial intelligence still needs human supervision or human dictatorship to shape it into something that transcends, something that can touch you,” he believes, adding that creating with artificial intelligence can suggest different points of view to authors than those they would come to thanks to their own artistic experience.

“For now, I see it as something exciting and something that offers opportunities to expand creative processes into fields that we as authors could not have foreseen. But, of course, I think it has to be controlled. It has to be used in a very careful way and should not be taken for granted. As for the future and the next 10-20 years, I don't know how it will be reflected. I mean, for example, chatGPT uses its knowledge from the Internet and constantly generates its intelligence through the input that you give it. There was a big debate that if chatGPT takes its knowledge from the Internet, that means that my creative rights, which I own, have also been used to develop its intelligence. So, that was the moment when artists started protesting against this movement, because where is my credit if the artificial intelligence also uses my input that I gave to gain its knowledge,” August concludes.

As for music, I don't know how that's going to develop. I think we're probably going to have to adapt a little bit to a whole new way of understanding, I mean, understanding our world in general. And about conveying through music a deep state of consciousness, maybe something that's connected to that. And within that deep state of consciousness, maybe being more in tune with something that we can't really explain, but that's all around us.

Of course, with evolution, classical music also became freer. Baroque music had very strict rules, then came the classical era where they became a little 'loose'. Already in Romanticism they were noticeably relaxed, and in the 19th and 20th centuries, there was no talk of that. In line with classical music, music in general became more and more free because social constraints also became more and more loose over time

Artificial intelligence offers the possibility to expand creative processes into areas that we as authors could not have foreseen. But of course, I think it has to be controlled. It has to be used in a very careful way and should not be taken for granted.

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