DJ and producer Sam Deliaert, known professionally as Farrago, is at the forefront of a new generation of techno music. You may also recognise his face as Talbot Wood, a previous persona he performed as ten years ago. Now back with new music, Sam has selected the name Farrago — meaning a perplexing mixture — because of its representation of complex, dynamic ideas coming together. With a mix of sounds, some of which harken back to his roots and others of which feel completely brand new, he truly embodies this idea and his name.
With a sound epitomised by trippy, fast, electronic beats, the artist creates atmospheric melodies that will put you in a trance. An Exhale resident and co-founder of Lenske Record Label, Farrago celebrates a new chapter of his music with a debut album, Blesssed. Today, he shares one final single ahead of its release. An ambient track, “Everything Is Going To Be Daijoubu” follows the euphoric singles “Addicted To Bass (feat. Amelie Lens)”, “Ducky Tribal Mission”, and “Naked Light” in preparation for Blesssed. With six songs left unheard, we are counting down the seconds until the album’s release.
Ahead of premiering “Everything Is Going To be Dajioubu”, we were honoured to speak with Sam about his inspirations, creative process, and journey leading to Blesssed.
Listen to “Everything Is Going To be Dajioubu”…
Now for the interview…
Who and what inspires you to make music?
Both the crowd and touring inspire me the most. It’s why I didn’t release anything during covid. I was just not into it and couldn’t find any motivation to go into the studio.
What about production first drew you into it?
I love to create and the idea of creating something out of nothing is what got me into music production.
What is your creative process?
I usually don’t go into the studio unless I have a clear idea of what I want to do. I produce music that compliments my sets. I usually have a few hooks or patterns in my head or voice memos on my phone and I write the hook first while a kickdrum is playing. Then I play around with it a little to get a feeling of how powerful or catchy it is. If I’m happy with it, I’ll continue to finish it and if not I save any sound design as a rack or audio processing I did and try something else.
How would you define your production style?
I like to implement sounds or ideas from many different styles and try to make it fit within the spectrum that is techno. Lately I’ve been loving this fast and trippy music with trancey melodies. It works really well in my sets as a breather in-between some of the more big room tracks that I play.
How did you go about co-founding the labels EXHALE and LENSKE?
It happened naturally as there is always a constant influx of music coming from new producers. Lenske was always meant to be more as a family thing and Exhale was broader and more based on a certain sound that fits with the brand.
The story behind the debut album is incredible – how have you used music to get through the difficult times that you have been through?
To me it’s the same reason why people like to write in a journal. It’s a way of expressing yourself. Also, the studio is like an alternate reality, a form of escapism almost.
What drove you to release your debut album after all these years?
I had a stroke 3 years ago and it was pretty bad. The fact that I could have died and there were still a lot of things I hadn’t done made me realise I shouldn’t postpone any important things any longer.
What was your journey in creating the album?
I made the first track after my recovery just by chilling on the couch, I made it on laptop speakers because I couldn’t be bothered by going into the studio or grabbing headphones, I was just too tired all the time because my body was still recovering. When the track was finished, I knew I wanted my album to sound like this.
Talk us through the title, Blesssed?
I didn’t feel like any of the track names I had really fitted to be used as an album title so I went with Blesssed to describe how I feel about being able to release this album after everything that happened. I suffered a lot of brain damage so I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to make music again. Hence the title.
Where did the track “Everything Is Going To be Dajioubu” come from?
The idea came from the realisation that I had an album with about 8-9 tracks so far without any ambient tracks. I used to love making ambient music and pretty quickly cooked one up. It was inspired by a track on one of my favourite albums, Discovery by Daft Punk.
What do you want listeners to take away from the album?
It’s really up to the listener to be honest, there is no hidden message or anything with deeper meaning so I’m not gonna make anything up. All it really is, is a compilation of tracks that fit together really nicely and made in a short timespan all with the idea of being released together as an album.
Where do you want to take your artistry next?
I haven’t got a clue. I am feeling kind of blue which I think is natural when you finally finish such a big project and I need some time to get excited for the next big project now. I think I will be doing some collaborations next focused on releasing singles and of course continue growing my new label.
Buy the album here!