TARAANAH
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
I have been producing music as Stephanie M for some time, but as I am working in so many different genres I decided to have my world music, classical and ambient tracks under a separate name.
Your musical influences
My ambient/electronic influences are widely varied - as a teenager I started to listen to synthesisers properly for the first time when a schoolfriend introduced me to the wonderful world of Walter (now Wendy) Carlos with some amazing performances of Scarlatti, along with Keith Emerson's pyrotechnical playing with Emerson Lake & Palmer. There were some great pioneers and players of synthesised music in the 70s and 80s - it was a great time to be around when it was all starting to develop. Brian Eno with his boxes of switches and wires on stage, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark with their machine (which they named Winston !) back in their early days. My passion for synthesised and electronic music has been constant down the years - Kraftwerk, Isaio Tomita, John Foxx and Jean-Michel Jarre are just a few on my list of favourites - and not forgetting the wonderful experimental sounds of Delia Derbyshire ! And if anyone can point me in the direction of music by Tonto's Expanding Headband, let me know. I've only ever heard one short extract of their music and it's haunted me ever since !
What equipment do you use?
PC based. Software of choice is Making Waves as I create a large proportion of my music with midi. Also use random loops/samples (most of which I mangle beyond recognition to get the right sound). Keen to experiment with a more organic way of creating music by eventually getting a new bass guitar and some keyboards.
