Beezi Flybynyt is a self-taught multimedia artist and experimental electronic DJ and producer from Johannesburg. He is also known as IAMWINDOWS 95 which speaks to his character as a vaporwave producer and digital artist. He is a collector of vinyls, cassettes, clothes and books based on psychology, metaphysics and theology.
With his release of the avant-garde Electronikamontage vol 1 EP earlier this year I spoke to him to find out more about his art and musical projects.
I’d be interested to hear what your mindset was going into the EP that you just released, Electronikamontage vol 1
Electronikamontage is a plunderphonic tape. The idea came from an artwork I made which is also the cover art of the tape. So basically I make soundtracks for all the artworks that I make. This helps direct the viewer’s imagination when viewing the images.
The first track I did was ‘Frequencies’ with Ramintra, a producer from Bangkok. The direction of the song gave birth to the direction of how I wanted the tape to sound. The song started as an ambient and experimental sound that I used to focus my attention on when I was meditating and trying to heal my depression. I was going through a lot at that time. I spent a lot of sleepless nights trying to put the tape together. I even developed a habit of not going to sleep just passing out on the chair.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from anything that captures my attention, like seeing musicians I know performing live. It gives me ideas and the energy to go home and spend the whole night playing with my drum pads. It also comes from conversations that my friends and I have and sometimes from artworks I make or images I take. Images give me a sort of a direction on how I translate visual elements into sound. You can find me on Photoshop editing an image while trying to come up with the right notes for the bass line of a song on ALBETON at the same time.
Aside from making music, you express interests in photography and design. Tell us more about this?
I grew up around different artists who introduced me to a lot of cool stuff like Adobe. My old friends used to take me to art exhibitions and workshops. I got to meet a lot of artists in different fields that liked my personality and how I presented myself with fashion, and they would ask to photograph me. I was creative but couldn’t express it until I had my own equipment. I got my camera and started taking pictures of different designs of buildings, of fashionistas and of anything that captured my attention with interesting detailing. I got Adobe Suite that enabled me to play around with different software and I started manipulating images I took to create vaporwave digital artworks.
Tell us where you grew up? And do you feel your city has influenced your music?
I grew up in different places in and around Johannesburg. I am from Katlehong but have also lived in Gosforth Park, a small suburb near Alberton north. I also lived in the JHB CBD. I spent most of my time in town because of school. I used to play in game shops ,internet cafes and buildings around the city where my friends used to live.
Yes the city influenced the direction of my music because in all the places I lived people there listened to different genres and in town I got introduced to electronic music artists like James Zoo and local artists like Card On Spokes, Christian Tiger School and Nonku Phiri. I listened to a lot of artists from record labels like Ninja Tune and got to a point where I wanted to make my own music and come up with my own identity and sound; I wanted a style that would express who I am.
What are your plans moving forward with producing and what can we expect to hear from you next?
I am working on upgrading my Ableton live sets, getting more bookings, as well as making videos for my music and adding vocals to my beats.I am also working on a tape called ALONE, which is about a girl. I will be dropping it soon.
Check out Beezi Flybynyt’s blog and, bandcamp and souncloud to keep up with his work.
