viista is undoubtedly one of Audiotool's wild ones. His mixture of noisy Trap and anarchic Lo-Fi Breakz often scratches the border of the bearable but also gives you time to catch your breath in more relaxed Downtempo beats. His genre creation Vistacore keeps what the name promises. For all those who appreciate the experimental approach to electronic music, viista is a must. It is particularly well suited for those who want to push themselves in this direction, as it wraps experimentation in the garb of temporary popular music. Hats off, Mista Vista!'

Interview:

About Kurtis St. Marie aka viista☁

Hey yall, I'm from North Carolina but moved to Massachusetts for 10 years and then moved back to NC 4 or so years ago. It has been a long and complicated journey to say the least with both inside and outside audiotool.com land. I've been on this website for roughly 5 and a half years, and I can assure all of you I would not be the same person without this place that helped me find my sound, as well as most of the friends I've made online. So thanks for that, I'm very grateful, I really genuinely mean that. :]

Describe the style of music you produce

There are two main versions of my style on Audiotool, Trap and Downtempo (calm chill melancholy stuff). now my goal rn is to really push the these genres to a different level. i try my best to combine elements of other styles and genres of music with trap drums, and different types of breaks just to see what happens. I'm currently inspired by these people outside of AT (exodus1900, quannnic , Autumn/Twinuzis , Slump6s , LONEWOLFPRIE, and so many others). As for in Audiotool, these people really helped me get my feet off the ground, so a genuine thanks to everyone listed here (laevent , sky bound zoo , apoc , aeiter , solitude , naswalt , vudumagic , hvd , death/Kam. , VII, VSD , Kibbey , Joe , dreamweaver , all the looplabs people :D , and everyone else that I didn't mention I really am sorry if I didn't put your name on here)

What is your musical background and when did you start making music?

Well if you wanna go ALL the way back the first music I ever listened to was Linkin Park. I vividly remember getting Meteroa and listening to it fully for the first time on my ps3. I will never forget how I felt that day, which made it hurt to see Chester go so soon. (I genuinely mean this as a real person that I truly wish him the best whatever he's doing in heaven right now.) With that being said, my first interests in music production started around on Indiloop when I was around 10 years old, which was a website dedicated to creating mashups of various copyrighted songs and music (you can guess why it was shut down). After I couldn't use Indiloop anymore, I shifted my focus towards another website called Looplabs. You may know some artists from Audiotool that were originally on Looplabs (namahage, Snio , Sirzero , n o t s a l v o , and many others that I can't name because my mind is going blank I apologize if you are not listed here). If I had to describe it, it's kinda like Audiotool expect in the studio there are no synths just samples and a sample editor called "CHOPPA" which, well, chopped samples in different ways. Looplabs also had basic effects, like reverb, gain, distortion, compressors, all that stuff. In hindsight I wish I downloaded more of my music on there because now Looplabs is not even accessible anymore. :( Now don't quote me on this, but if I had to say why you can't use it anymore, I would say most likely say copyright since their former name clubcreate was removed for that reason. During my time on Looplabs though, I discovered Audiotool, and signed up. (aka the best decision I ever made). my name was vistamista for a long time until it became shorted to viista, although both names are interchangeable and I don't mind being called either. I started out using only basic Trap drum loops and other samples (mainly because I did it on Looplabs and everyone was okay with it on there). But over time as I grew up both as a person and artist, I begun to expand my sound, trying to make House, Acid, sometimes DnB-ish music, "lo-fi Hip Hop" (not actually lo-fi according to sila and other people who have brain cells), and even elements of my current Downtempo music were formed from my first 2 - 3 years on AT. Nowadays I've mainly stuck to my Trap and Downtempo stuff, although I'll occasionally try other genres to spice things up. If you somehow have had the patience to read this entire wall of text, congrats , have a cookie ! 🍪 :)

What is your favorite Audiotool device and why?

Okay, so it's a three way tie between the Pulv, Pulsar Delay, and Waveshaper. But if I had to choose, I'd say the Pulv because my Downtempo style would either not exist at all or not be the same without it. so thanks Audiotool for that, you people are very awesome and COOL. 😎

What is your favourite trick in AT/What technique do you always use?

My favorite technique is how I've been making my 808s recently (also wanna thank laevent for helping me figure this out.) I'll just take an 808 sample, put some tube distortion, then waveshaper, then slope with low frequency turned all the way up, then a crusher to help with mixing.

Ok the crusher thing might actually be my favorite. It just doesn't seem like it would work but it does a pretty good job at mixing your track, even if you shouldn't rely on it too hard and instead also use the curve and sometimes the quantum (at least in my opinion).

Have you ever had a writer's block? If so, how did you deal with it and what do you recommend to your colleagues?

If you are an artist and never had artist/writer's block, you are either extremely lucky, very lazy, or just aren't an artist at all. I feel that there is no "BEST" way to deal with this issue as it varies from person to person. But I usually take a short break from it all and either go outside and sit on my porch for a few mins, play a game or two, just do some random improv on my keyboard (if you never had one then this doesn't apply to you i guess), or watch YouTube videos (I try to not do this for too long to prevent my brain from becoming mush). If that doesn't work then I'd try using your emotions to your advantage and make music off of that (it doesn't always work but it's worth a shot!)

What has helped you the most on Audiotool to improve and widen your musical horizon?

I'd say all the people I listed earlier in this interview, as well as my family (no really). I'm grateful to known and have known people that genuinely care about me , especially when they could have easily said I should pursue something else, but they're supportive and I'm eternally thankful for that. :)

What do you like most about Audiotool? Is there anything you would like to suggest?

My favorite part of Audiotool is the sheer amount of variety of things you can do in the studio. You can literally make any sound you want, for free (and hopefully make some longtime friends too). I would have actually sucked at music production for a lot longer if it wasn't for this website, so again thanks (I know I said that a lot but really, thanks). :]

Your message to the community:

I just want to say this to everyone on Audiotool (or anyone really) who may be going through some horrible things that no one would ever in their whole lifetime be able to understand, even if you told them a billion times. I genuinely actually seriously do care (this goes beyond words on the internet, this is a message from a person that really does care about everyone even if it doesn't seem like it). I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason even if it's a bad one or if it's unclear what that reason is, and that there has to be good somewhere, even if it is the closest to impossible ever to find. I want to tell you all now that (AND I HATE SAYING THIS) the only real solution is to at least try to not stress about things you can't control and that you have to keep going somehow, someway. I wish that I could help more people or say something else to help, but it feels like this is all I can really do, and I'm sorry if this didn't help you. you're loved or will be loved, even if it's not right now. ❤

Social/Musical Links:

Audiotool: www audiotool.com/user/vistamista

Soundcloud : www.soundcloud.com/vistmist

Instagram: www.instagram.com/vistagrm/

Edition Audiotool

Track #1:

nocturn by aeiter

I dont think i have a favorite song on Audiotool (it's literally impossible, i tried making a top 100 AT song playlist, it did not work) but I guarantee this is somewhere in there. I know the track is simple in nature, but it just has an aura that I feel is hard to replicate, with a few exceptions. It has a nostalgic feel, just woke up, cozy cabin vibe. Also one of the first songs on AT that helped inspire my downtempo style. Just a classic track. Very cool ethan moment! :D

[[EMBED:https://www.audiotool.com/track/nocturn-jvtincr/]]

Track #2:

thinking music (game 2) by nico

An interesting experiment by nico that I really enjoy. Great example of diminished chords and dissonance. This song has honestly helped when I was feeling anxious or overthinking a lot, snapped me back into reality. It almost feels like the song is about (even if it isn't) recognizing your faults but also moving forward for the better. That's just the vibe I personally got from it. much love to nico, fr.

[[EMBED:https://www.audiotool.com/track/zs5ruzj7f5/]]

Track #3:

Aura by ApoC

I always end up forgetting about real life for a moment when I listen to Apoc, it just feels like an escape to me, hopefulness. It's that special kind of EDM music that can cure cancer and depression at the same time. Also gives me the same feeling as old flash game music, if that makes any sense. What a time capsule.

[[EMBED:https://www.audiotool.com/track/v0zypigx5q14]]

Track #4:

▶FireBreather by ✧*laevent ✧*

Here is a desc of this song: nasty. gross. disgusting. filthy. yucky. but good, wonderful, great, extremely great at the same time. this music is sound of being fed up with everyones bullshit and lies. literally an atomic bomb converted into audio format. It has been genuinely amazing to see how from ancient times (aka rabb.it), thru the ups and downs, to now look and see how they grew both as a person and artist, it is truly an honor to be considered a friend of theirs's, especially as it can sometimes be hard to find those anymore. <3

[[EMBED:https://www.audiotool.com/track/xd28apfx]]

Track #5:

FloridaWater! by solitude,

Very good combination of relaxing and something you can headbang to. this is what it's like to sit outside on your porch just clearing your mind, taking a break (but converted into music). tbh any solitude track could work for this list of tracks because I've never heard a bad song from them ever. I don't normally say that because I don't really like it when people say that about an artist most of the time but as of right now I firmly believe it, so ill make an exception. :)

[[EMBED:https://www.audiotool.com/track/qn7sdhvoypc/]]

Track #6:

delicate by viista☁ and sky bound zoo

As of right now, it is my favorite track that I've released on AT sky bound zoo (aka percussion lord) is one of the most pure people on earth, please protect him at all costs. Always stuck up for me, a real one. And whenever we collab, it feels like everything is aligned. like, everything happens exactly how it was supposed to. Just wanna say I'm very thankful for that, really am! :D

[[EMBED:https://www.audiotool.com/track/rsirciyn4/]]

Full Album

Edition Audiotool: viista

• a-records

32

about 1 year ago

1		nocturn aeiter	aeiter	1278
2		thinking music (game 2) nico	nico	284
3		Aura ApoC	ApoC	233
4		▶FireBreather ✧*laevent ✧*	✧*laevent ✧*	1361
5		FloridaWater! solitude,	solitude,	190
6		delicate sky bound zoo viista☁ Senay	sky bound zoo viista☁ Senay	2609