City Nomads Radio: Axel Serik Underpins Human Connectivity and Mental Health In His Music

PUBLISHED March 31st, 2023 06:00 am | UPDATED August 19th, 2024 02:37 am

You might know him from his groove-worthy stints in local bands like Ruins & Remains, Sphaeras, T-rex and former home projects such as Navire Creux, Axel Serik is the man behind the musical persona known as Frinla. The Singapore-based producer/composer experiments with dark industrial, deeply atmospheric textures and Foley recordings and is admired for his effortless blend of sculptured harmonics – from string instruments, to low frequency rumbles and machine noises. In this edition of City Nomads Radio, we chat about his recent Repressed & Redirected Mix, mental health, emotional connectivity and how they play a crucial role in his music.

Listen to his specially curated mix for us on Mixcloud here!

Having faced some tough challenges growing up, therapy was not an option for the artist who found himself not fully understood by professionals. Intent and emotional connection is key in Serik’s music.

“That’s why connecting with others who had similar upbringings has been so meaningful; it’s like we understand each other on a different level. For me, making music has been a powerful way to channel my emotions and create something beautiful. Through texture, rhythm, and odd melodies, I can express myself in a way that others can connect with and find solace in.”

Even after many conversations, mental health remains the elephant in the room in Singapore. The pandemic has just about plunged us into a mental health crisis with often recurring burnouts, anxiety rates and depression. According to the artist, the increased number of restrictions during the pandemic, also restricted the potential for artists to grow and blossom, whilst causing damage to our current mental state of mind. He hopes to see some changes in this department in the future.

The connectivity and mental health theme features particularly in his recent Repressed & Redirected Mix on Soundcloud. Dealing with frustration and mental episodes, the artist ‘raged’ over this mix as a form of therapy. “In this mix, I feature artists that I’ve discovered in recent years who simply blew my mind with their complexity, grace and brilliant storytelling that evokes such strong feelings” says Serik. Apart from the featured artists, the playful, progressive mix combines high energy music and fast paced transitions. Ideal to dance away your aggravation away, we think.

A term coined by Serik’s precious musical persona (Navire Creux) in his recent album “Left Behind“, “Frinla” is a random word that he thought to have a pleasing sound. Although it doesn’t seem to have a particular significance, it was chosen to link the next phase of his artistic expedition.

As Frinla, the artist is known for his impeccable use of sculptured harmonics – think things in the kitchen, the toilet, conversations, water droplets, utensils as well as bad shows that he samples to make them sound enticing and perspective-changing. He also recycles some sounds from Navire Creux and manipulate them to new ideas, and heavily process them to add a new life to the sound and expand the identity of my music.

“I used to get so frustrated with construction sounds when I was living on the first floor. I could feel the vibrations of the drilling and hammering and it shaped the way I hear music especially coming from a Hardcore/Metal background. That made it really interesting to reinterpret daily sounds into a work of art.”

Speaking on his musical inspirations, Serik mentions his favourite artists Hidden Orchestra, Culprate, Alon mor and friends from the music industry like Eric Volta, Farid Ali, Cats on Crack, Barren Sector, Isyraf, Oftrt, Yahna and many more that are constantly pushing the boundaries of the sonic world. Playing in Sphaeras & T-rex also expanded his world of rhythms and odd time signatures. The artist also connected with Stephan Kain and Luca Fucile through the world of Ableton Live and their similar struggles which was translated into music.

That’s not forgetting that Serik’s mother was once a singer herself. “[she] raised us single handedly with so much love and understanding that allowed me to flourish doing what I love.” His brother, who he shares a musical connection with, is constantly in touch as his second pair of ears for his new tracks.

In the future, Axel hopes that the nightlife scene in Singapore is able to co-exist with technology and artist are able to curate new and interesting sounds. “More audio-visual reactive shows and originality as I’m always on the lookout for artists who break rules and push the boundaries. Dj-ing is fun but when there’s originality and substance to one’s creation it makes so much more sense to feel the connection and story behind these tunes and better understand the artist’s intention.” But most importantly, Axel hopes that the industry evolves and values artists more. “Because if not for art and music, life would be empty and meaningless.”

Serik found that this mix was a great opportunity to try something different and also to sneak in some of the stuff he is currently working on. It is a mixture of releasing bottled up emotions before the bottle breaks and to redirect feelings into something sustainable and physical for keepsake! He hopes listeners could relate and be inspired to redirect emotions and feelings into something sustainable and inspiring.

Track Listing:
Reality Check – Momentum
War – One Question
Tenebre – Knives
Pearson Sound – Cobwebs
Frinla – Imbecile
Frazer Ray – Screamer
Floating Points – Vocoder
Max Cooper – Void
Alex Banks – Awake
Calibre – Time to Breathe
Thys – Go Again
And Samples from Primate, @Smallprint Recordings.

Axel Serik would like to thank his Mother & Brother, (his three cats included for soothing him whenever he’s in pain), Palm Ave Float Club, Ableton, Colossal Productions, Eric Volta, Barren Sector, Tutusefen, Shivarasa (his mentor), Smallprint Recordings, and so many more to mention for playing a big part in sculpting and fuelling his journey.

Keep up with Axel Serik on Soundcloud and Instagram.

photo credits: Ruth Schooling, Marc Tan and Sarah Chan.