salute 在奥地利维也纳度过了人生的前18年，这座城市以清澈的街道与美丽建筑而闻名。作为一名维也纳少年，互联网与 FIFA Street 这样的游戏使他们迷恋上 grime, drum & bass, dubstep, garage 等英国舞曲，制作自己声音的想法也随之跃入他们的脑海。“我真的被它迷住了，在某个时刻我意识到自己也想制作这样的音乐，” salute 回忆道。“13岁时我下载了 Fruity Loops，这便是一切的开端。” 18岁 salute 移居布莱顿，最终在曼彻斯特扎根。salute 开始活跃在当地的俱乐部夜晚中，逐渐深入其中所蕴含的文化，并迅速成长为一名成熟的音乐人。“在那之前 YouTube 和 Boiler Room 是我唯一接触到这类声音的渠道，那时我的音乐少了很多俱乐部气息，少了很多舞曲。所以 grime, garage 和 dubstep 对我的制作与声音产生了巨大的影响。”
《Condition I》,《Condition II》,《Condition III》
滚动收听 salute 的音乐作品，你可以清晰地感受到其中的演变。早期的创作往往倾向于更为柔和、轻快与甜美的歌声，佐以松弛的慢节奏而诞生的旋律。《Lionheart》（2013 年）、《Gold Rush》（2015 年）和《My Heart》（2016 年）等 EP 以人声和旋律为核心，在 R&B, post-dubstep, dance, hip hop, jazz 与 gospel 自如切换。当 salute 推出 Condition 三部曲（发行于 2018 年至 2019 年），其中的声音开始向俱乐部转变。《Condition》系列以舞曲为主导，由简洁、细碎的电子元素融合 garage 风格采样构成。洋溢活力的人声描绘着缤纷的音谱，在忧郁与欣快的矛盾情感之间流转。如果说《Condition》系列是为夜幕降临之前的暖身曲目，那么他此后的创作便是着眼于夜晚本身。充斥夜间能量的《Want U There》是一首致敬舞曲经典的作品。“它有着 garage 的能量，” salute 说道。“我在成长过程中听了很多 Daft Punk 和 Ed Banger 的作品，《Want U There》是我对 Roule Records 经典声音的诠释。”
《Want U There》
2022年，salute 开始在世界范围内掀起狂热，他的发行获得了 Four Tet、DJ Seinfeld、Floating Points、Mall Grab 等杰出音乐人的支持，更受邀前往 Field Day、Parklife、Secret Garden Party、Warehouse Project 以及 Boiler Room Vienna 等音乐节演出，并于同年成为其儿时梦想 Ninja Tune 厂牌旗下的音乐人。本周六，salute 将来到 POTENT，率先跟随线上杂志 Astrian Music Export 于上个月的采访深入了解 salute 关于英国舞曲、身份及创作背后的想法。
音乐人如何找寻自己的声音？
How does a musician find their sound?
salute：通过创作大量的音乐。我做音乐已经14年了，但我并不总能拥有自己的声音。我听的电子音乐不多，是城市流行、80 年代灵魂乐和福音音乐带来的影响让我获得了独一无二的声音。我喜欢城市流行是如此的多彩又感伤。
salute: By making a lot of music. I’ve been making music for 14 years, and I didn’t always have my sound. I don’t listen to a lot of electronic music. The thing that makes my sound unique is all the other influences – city pop, 80s soul, and gospel. The thing I like about city pop, for instance, is that it’s so colorful and sentimental.
在电子音乐方面，英国人相比奥地利人更适任吗？
Are the British more competent [than Austrians] when it comes to electronic music?
salute：英国人为 garage, grime, bassline 与 drum’n’bass 而感到自豪 —— 所有这些流派都诞生于英国，由来自牙买加与加勒比的非裔所带来的文化。通过“Black Lives Matter”，更多人开始关注这段历史，并意识到音乐曾经是政治性的。所以我认为英国确实在这方面更适任。这里就像个大熔炉，之所以存在饥饿，是因为贫穷始终是个真正的问题。这也是和维也纳不太一样的地方。不过来自维也纳的厂牌 Affine Records 依旧是领先时代的，我至今仍然关注着他们的发行。向他们致敬，真的太棒了。
salute: They’re proud of garage, grime, bassline, and drum’n’bass – all those genres were invented in England, by Black people who brought their culture with them from Jamaica and the Caribbean. With Black Lives Matter, a lot of people have become aware of this history and noticed that the music used to be political. So yes, I think there’s a greater level of competence. The country is a melting pot, there’s this hunger because poverty is a real problem. That’s not so much the case in Vienna. Affine Records was way ahead of their time, though; I still listen to them today. Props to the label, that was crazy.
salute & Skin On Skin
这两个地方面对种族议题有什么区别？
What are the differences in racism between here and there?
salute：在维也纳，人们喜欢假装情况并没有那么糟糕，非裔群体只是太敏感了。但我常常会在那里听到 n-word，这是我搬离那里的理由。在英国则永远不会发生，这里有更强烈的公民勇气，人们更勇于面对问题。这里的种族偏见是偶发性的 —— 就像人们认为我应该创作一种特定类型的音乐，因为这是他们所认为的非裔音乐。
salute: In Vienna, people like to pretend it’s not all that bad, that people with dark skin are just too sensitive. But I heard the n-word fairly regularly. Racism is the reason I moved away. That would never happen in Great Britain; there’s a lot more civil courage, and people confront it. Racism there is almost accidental – like when people think I should make a particular kind of music because that’s what they think Black music sounds like.
你什么时候感到快乐？
When are you happy?
salute: 当我知道对我而言重要的人们都生活的很好的时候。安静的氛围与好的音乐同样使我感到快乐。
salute: When I know the people who are important to me are doing well. Quietness makes me happy. Good music.
你如何在功能性与创新之间取得平衡？
How do you strike that balance between function and innovation?
salute: 我知道俱乐部曲目是如何运作与构成的。重要的是你清楚它的结构并拥有正确的声音，这使你能更自由地处理其他事情。技术完美的音乐可能会很无聊，氛围往往更重要。
salute: I know how club tracks work, how they’re structured. As long as you’ve got that structure and the right sounds, that’s all that matters. You can be much freer with everything else. Music that produced to be technically perfect can be really boring; the vibe is often much more important.
你的合同中有着关于包容性的附加条款。为什么多元阵容与你而言那么重要？
You have an inclusion rider in your contracts. Why is a minimum level of diversity in line-ups so important?
salute: 因为这样能使观众更加多元化，氛围也更好。你能够探索到新的音乐。很多时候，一些活动（的阵容）会由十个白人男性组成 —— 这本身并不是件坏事，但如果他们都很无聊就会有点糟糕。在经历了一个特别糟糕的夜晚后，我和我的经纪讨论了我们在这种情形中可以做些什么。美国已经有一些人开始进行这样的包容性条款，我从其中借鉴了一些。这种支持对于氛围而言非常重要。到目前为止，它运作的很好。在此之前，我接受所有 booking，但我意识到自己想帮助 promoter 为公平做出更多努力。
salute: Because then the audiences are more diverse, and the vibe is better. You discover new music. A lot of times, the program consists of ten straight white dudes – that’s not bad in itself, but if they’re boring, then it’s bad. After one particular bad night, I talked to my agent about what we could do about it. A couple of people in America already had these inclusion rides, and I took some elements from them. Good support acts are so important for the flow. It’s worked pretty well up till now. The year before, I was still accepting every booking. But as an artist, I want to help get promoters to make a little more of an effort. It’s just fairer.
坚持做音乐是否很困难？
Has it been hard to stick to making music?
salute：除此之外没有什么我想做的事了。无论我需要付出任何的代价 —— 时间、心灵的平和 —— 我都需要它。不然我不会感到快乐。我最想要的便是创造艺术，创作音乐。
salute: (thinks) There’s nothing else I want to do. Whatever it costs me – time, peace of mind – I need it. Otherwise, I’m not happy. There’s nothing I want more than to make art, to make music.
图片 ©️ salute
采访来源：Astrian Music Export / “NOTHING SCARES ME ANYMORE” – THE SALUTE INTERVIEW by Stefan Niederwieser. Translated from the German original by Philip Yaeger. April 19, 2023
