Ismael Zouaoui aka ISH is a Tunisian-Swiss Dj, electronic music producer and new media artist. Needless to say, the unclassifiable artist constantly reinvents himself.  Signed to System Error, Griffé, Partisan and Libertine Records to name a few, he has produced since 2018. From his studio based in Berlin, he looks back at the start of his career, on his 80's and 90's influences, his first Live A/V performance and tells us more about his collaborations with Masahiro Kahata and Childhood Intelligence under his project Kind des Geistes.

Your childhood?

I was born and grew up in a tiny village 30 km from Zurich. My mom is from Switzerland and my dad from Tunisia. He always used to play the Djembe and loves to dance, and my mom plays the flute and sings in choirs. I'm not sure if you can call us a musical family, but they definitely shaped me. My childhood was amazing and I'm eternally grateful to my parents for that. I always had a lot of support in whatever I did, up until now.

What are your music influences?

I had many influences over the years and it's constantly changing. First of all, I would say everything that I come across and is interesting or triggering me in some way will influence me and it doesn't need to be music can be anything. When we talk about influences from dance music, they are mostly from the 80's 90's and early 00´s. In recent years I was digging mostly around 88-92 the music from this time influenced me a lot. A few Live shows which had an impact on / blew my mind in recent years were Cabaret Voltaire, Richard Devine, Atom ™ or Aphex Twin to name a few. I got really inspired by Artists like Pete Namlook and all his collabs, DJ Laurent, William Orbit, Eat Static, New Composer, The Necks, Patchwork, Thorsten Fenslau, Susumu Yokota, Barbitura, Meat Beat Manifesto, FSOL, Mix Master Morris, Coldcut, Effective Force, Jon Hassel, Kode IV, The Infinity Project, Holger Czukay, Cosmic Baby, Moondog and many more.

How did you discover electronic music?

I discovered electronic music when I was a young teenager and was allowed to go out or not (laughs). I attended various parties, from small local events from our local heroes as Matija, Quitim or Stoga to more commercial events and village gatherings with house acts like Dj Antoine, Sir Colin or Mr. P!nk. Later on, I started going out in Zurich with my cousin Rafael and his friend Walid, where I discovered all the crazy clubs that offered everything from big techno venues Like Rohstoff-lager to House and minimal clubs like Club Q, Supermarket, Hive, Zukunft or Cabaret and after-hours parties in Oxa or Stairs Club there where many more venues around at that time. It was truly an amazing time, we had so much good and diverse music in Zurich. This was very inspiring for me. I distinctly remember my first contact with electronic music was at the Zurich Street Parade in the '90s. At the time, it seemed like a wild carnival to me, but looking back, it was my first exposure to this genre.

For you, what does your experience from Abbey Road Institute and Grammy-nominated Chez Cherie Studio mean?

I used to play different instruments like djembe, guitar, saxophone, and keyboard. But nothing really caught my interest until I discovered the magical thing called Djing around 15 years ago. 2018-2019, I pursued an advanced diploma in music production and sound engineering. This experience taught me many new tools and techniques, and it was very useful in taking my music to a different level. I never imagined I would attend school, but I found myself always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. It was an amazing experience, during which I created a lot of music and completed three albums, which I'm looking forward to releasing when the time is right. After that, I was fortunate to be connected with Chez Cherie Studio through my head coach. My time there was also incredible, as I worked extensively on my music and had the opportunity to exchange ideas with genius producers and musicians like PC Nackt, Deadbeat, T.Raumschmiere, Ben Lauber and Tillman Hopf. We had many interesting bands and artists coming over for production or to hang out. This gave me valuable insights in every way. I learned a lot and had lots of fun.

Your approach to music production?

I began producing music around 2010 when I asked my friend Walid to lend me his "Logic" CDs. That marked the beginning of my musical journey, and I was immediately hooked, even if I was only making some weird shit. It was the same when I started DJing a few years earlier. Some years later it was only natural to start playing live sets. I had my first live gig in 2015 at the Street Parade on Swiss Innovation Stage. Since then I play here and there, with changing setups and experiments. I spent almost all my 22/23 working on different Live setups and after a long trial and error I now have workflows for different live sets which are very fun to perform and have space to grow. So, I´m happy I finally achieved that. About my workspace I'm really fortunate to have a nice, spacious studio in Berlin at the beautiful MaHalla which is a mad inspiring place where I spend most of my days. I started sharing it with my friend Gwenan which feels very good. She is like the good soul of the studio. My approach to music production can change and has constantly evolved, as I'm always experimenting with new tools that allow me to create music in different ways. I explore everything from in-the-box digital production to hardware, acoustic recordings, sampling, and of course I’m checking out all the new possibilities with AI. There are phases to everything, and with new technology, knowledge, and skills, there are always new ways to create something, which is super exciting for me.

Speaking of which, what do you think about AI? 

I try to follow what is going on and mostly music production related. It is definitely changing our lives in many ways and I'm really curious to see where it will go in my lifetime. Personally, I already use quite a few AI tools which just make my workflow faster/easier. Now are things possible which haven't been just a Year ago and that's incredible. As an example, now you can almost perfectly take a voice out of a song and vice versa which is an amazing thing if you sample a lot suddenly there are millions of new possibilities to sample. It's already disrupting the music industry with AI songs getting nominated for Grammys and all the Ai versions of big pop Acts. But for sure there are a lot of jobs which will be replaced. For now, I think they can help Artists but not replace them but I cannot imagine how it will be in 30 years when the technological singularity is supposed to begin. 

How did the  label Partisan approach you and Cobert? 

I met Anthea I think in 2016 in Zurich before I moved to Berlin, and we immediately clicked. She liked my music, and one thing led to another. At that time, I was living with Cobert and wanted to support him, and Anthea was cool with it.

This year, you have three releases on Small Moves, The Nashville House Syndicate, and Libertine Records. What emotions do you want your audience to experience?

Yes, there should be even a few more releases coming this year, including another album under my alias "Kind des Geistes." Each of these releases represents diverse music, influenced by various moments and experiences in my life. I don't think about the audience when I make music; for me, it's more about internal processing and sometimes collaboration with friends. I love the moment and the joy I get from making music. As long as the audience feels something and their neurons are sparked, I'm happy.

Tell us more about your project Kind des Geistes.

This project started in the Autumn of 2021 when I met Masahiro Kahata. He created a device and software called Brainduino to visualize brainwaves, which can then be sent out to my computer as midi or cc messages. Like this I create songs and also play liveshows. Earlier this year I performed the first A/V Live act as Kind des Geistes where I used the real time generated brainwaves visualizations to play on one side the music and on the other are the base of the visuals. I send this visualization through a video synthesizer to create something unique every time I perform. Together with Childhood Intelligence I'm working on an album release where we are also doing a short documentary about Masahiro and me and the Project. Probably coming out by the end of the year.

Any labels or artists you would like to collaborate with?

I have a few people in my circle, including musicians from various genres, that I'd love to collaborate with. I enjoy working with different people to create something that wouldn't be possible without their unique contributions. I only have a few labels in mind, but also, I’m really open to interesting labels. There are so many cool new labels, but I can’t really keep up. I would love to work with labels like Warp, R&S, Ninja Tunes or a younger label like Kalahari Oyster Cult, Ilian Tape or Kulør.  Ideal case would be a Platform where I can release all my output with a big reach so I wouldn't have to think about that anymore. I would love to work with a visual artist like Weircoretv and all the artists I mentioned which influenced me but also with my Friends for example Cobert, Dj W.E.B, Selassie or Manuel Fischer. Other labels also include Radiant records, Magicwire, Tofistock, Planet Euphoric, Step Ball Chain, Sound Metaphors, Animals On Psychedelics, Hard Beach Entertainment, Where We Met... 

You seem closely connected to the Georgian rising and activist scene…

The Georgians are in a challenging situation, and I'm truly impressed by everything they're doing. On one side, they're fighting for their rights, and on the other, they're creating high-quality art and events, ranging from Festivals as 4GB to great club events in places like Aprili, Harbor or Bassiani and interdisciplinary experiences such as the festival Tkeshi. 

Your upcoming projects?

I'm always trying to stay productive. This year, I focused more on finding new ways to perform live. I just recently started dedicating most of my time to making music. I have a few ideas in mind, including a project where I wanna work with various musicians and artists. Another project under my Kind des Geistes alias is also in the works, where I want to work. I want to fuse together music, visuals/light and dance. And, of course, I'll continue making music without any specific goals in mind and just for the love of making music.

I believe I'm in the perfect time period for my creative pursuits. While there are challenges, it's an exciting era for producers, with computers becoming increasingly powerful tools. However, from a financial standpoint, I might prefer the '90s or early 2000s.

Anything else?

Thanks for having me! Much love to everyone and everything that supports and inspires me. Hey something I really forgot to add to my inspirations that a big inspiration is my girlfriend, Travis or Alice. She is digging and playing all this crazy new music which i don’t know, this also really helps me to stay in touch with recent developments in electronic music. Thank you !  Ismael Zouaoui Insta.

Interview by Sabrina Bouzidi