We speak to Will Amson - aka Symmol - a dBs Manchester student who has just released his latest EP When We Decay on Billegal Beats.
dBs Institute is a place where music producers can sharpen their skills, engage with the music industry and work on projects that can be released professionally while they study. Will Amson, who produces under the moniker Symmol and studies BA (Hons) Electronic Music Production at our Manchester campus, exemplifies those principles in action.
Moving into his third year in September, today Will drops When We Decay EP, his second release on Mr Bill’s Billegal Beats imprint. We spoke to him to learn more about his new release, how he got into music production and how studying at dBs Institute has helped him feel like he’s, “Properly in the industry.” Read on to find out more!
Hi Will! Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm Will Amson. I'm from Staffordshire and I'm 25. I've been producing for nearly 10 years, but taking it seriously for five or so. I listen to a lot of different music; lots of underground electronic music, but also lots of indie rock and R&B and stuff like that.
How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I would say my music is minimalist but detailed - if that makes sense. My biggest inspirations are KOAN Sound and Mr Bill but then indie artists like Daughter, EDEN and Crywolf. People like that.
So you’ve been producing music for 10 years, how did you first get into it?
It started by listening to Monstercat on YouTube when I was about 12 and then I found some free production software to start messing around with. I wasn't very good to start with. We didn't have the best computer and I was using mobile apps for a while. It wasn't until I got FL Studio that I started taking it more seriously. Then I got Ableton when I started the course here and I've just been using that since!
Was there a Eureka moment during that process when you thought, “Yeah. This is what I want to do”?
Ever since I started making music, I wanted to do it properly and as a career, I just didn't take the time to become good! Then when I wrote my first EP, it actually felt like a thing on its own. It worked well together and sounded like decent music rather than amateur.
Tell me a bit about that project.
That was called Under Orion and I self-released it in 2019. I'd finished and released one of the tracks already, but then I finished up a load more that tied together that period for me. So I unreleased that first one and then did a proper full distribution of the tracks as an EP.
Since then you’ve released several more EPs and you’re about to drop another! What’s the story behind this new release?
It's called When We Decay. It's my second EP with Mr. Bill’s label Billegal Beats. I guess the earliest point I started work on the project was a couple of years ago. I wrote a cinematic piece, which I liked, but it sat on the back burner until I knew what to do with it and I’ve repurposed it at the end of this project. The main body of it, two of the tracks, were actually written during the course at dBs. That was the work I was submitting for my modules, but I continued them way further than that and this EP is the final result.
How does it feel to be releasing this new music?
It feels good! I've been sitting on this release for like a year now, so it's definitely nice to get it out there.
How would you say this EP compares to your other work?
I wouldn’t say the music is very different to my previous EP, but it does feel more refined. You can hear all sorts of stuff from the old projects but maybe more well done.
You said this is your second release on Billegal Beats. How did that relationship start up?
Two, or maybe two and a half, years ago I wrote a couple of tracks and sent them to his label and they were like, “Yeah, this is what we're looking for, but we're only doing four-track EPs,” so I wrote two more for a released called When All stands Still EP! They signed that, then I had a single on one of the compilations and now another EP.
How does it feel to be releasing music on Mr Bill's label?
It’s crazy. I remember when I first found his music, I was blown away by just how insane his production is. He's always been a huge inspiration for me. His IDM and his glitch stuff are some of my favourite music, so to have him take my music onto his label is crazy!
How different is self-releasing music from releasing it through an imprint?
It can be more long-winded than I'd like sometimes! But it's also much more in-depth. There's a lot more to it than what I do on my own. It feels like it means more and maybe the projects will do better.
Are you doing any live shows? What’s next for this EP?
I don't do live performances yet, sadly. We have done the live module, which gave me a taste of it, but I'm not a person who's very comfortable performing. It's a big stepping stone for me to get into that. I just like writing the music. I know a lot of people focus on writing music that will do well live, but that’s not what I go for. I go for anything that I want to write, which doesn't always suit a live environment!
What techniques do you like to use when you're producing music?
Field recording is definitely something I’ve started doing more. I’ve started resampling my recordings and incorporating them into tracks; sometimes just raw snippets. It makes the music feel more personal because it's not all made from sample packs like lots of music is nowadays. I like to feel that I’m using sounds I've made where possible. I like the idea of integrating nature into my music.
So you try and make most of your sounds bespoke?
I feel like sound design isn't my strongest area, but I do try. Sometimes it'll be through really manipulating a sample, but with the stuff I'm working on now, it's a lot more about using things that wouldn't usually be used for that context, like using a field recording of a waterfall to make drums or something… Now, I've said that, I might go and do it! [Laughs]
What is it that you enjoy about producing music?
I never really think about it that much. I want to write a song that can mean something significant to someone else. I’d love to write a track that could be someone else's favourite song or something someone resonates with. I try and put emotion into songs, but I never think about what I'm doing. It's just a flow of writing music.
Is that how you’d describe your workflow as well? Do you go with the flow or plan?
It's very much not planned. If I make myself write music, more often than not, it doesn't come to anything. Whereas, if I sit down and mess about, I’ll end up starting a whole track from a silly idea I've come up with.
Moving onto dBs, what’s your experience been like studying Electronic Music Production so far?
Overall, it’s been really good. We were the very first cohort at the Manchester campus, so there was only a small group of us. There were a couple of small issues getting settled in but since then, it’s been really good. It’s been great having access to the resources, the studios and the synths. The whole environment is a complete change to what I’m used to. It’s so professional. The staff are great, friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, too. It's great.
How has dBs helped improve your skills as a producer?
There are all sorts of tiny little things that are subconsciously working in; sound design, songwriting and thinking more about what the elements of the track are there for, rather than just throwing things in. Networking and professionalism are also things that I was not very good at, but I’ve made contacts through dBs that I would never have made otherwise.
Are there any other opportunities outside of production that have opened up during your studies?
Yeah, I've been working with Tim [Clerkin] and his label Ransom Note doing some behind-the-scenes stuff around distribution, YouTube and Bandcamp. We did the Dolby Atmos module at dBs, which was great and it's a completely different experience, and that led to me doing a Dolby Atmos mix for one of the releases on the sub-label Insult to Injury. That was really cool. All of that extra stuff makes me feel like I'm properly in the industry, rather than just being someone on the sidelines doing it for fun. It feels more professional.
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