Seb Dhajje Shares the Sincerity of Sound on Nomos Sessions

Not long after recently talking to Seb Dhajje about the premier of his new show on FRISKY and the mix he was creating for Chill Featured Artist selection, we found ourselves wanting to dig a little deeper into the specifics of Seb’s inspirations for the sounds he had and will be choosing. Delving more into the concepts behind the Nomos show and how Seb’s partnership with his wife on the project has opened up the possibilities for the sounds, we are given some insight into the world of music they call home and how it all encompasses their idea that “Life is not a succession of moments but a constant reality.”

Check out our follow up with Seb Dhajje and his wife and be sure to listen to their new show on FRISKY premiering May 6th @ 11AM [convert timezone] or available anytime after on-demand.

Since our last time talking you’ve been busy with the Nomos Sessions show launch and the debut of your new mix for the FRISKY’s “Chill Featured Artist”! I spent some time with your featured mix and was touched by how many different spaces and images it conjured. I am very curious what some of the inspirations were for this particular mix?

A few days before I did this mix, we went with my wife in a town in south of France called « Six Four Les Plages », to see an Olafur Arnalds’ concert.

This city offers several points of interest. It’s a sea side, with a big coastline cut up in to sandy beaches and secretive inlets, with little harbors and protected forests.

The afternoon before the concert, we made a ballad on a little island near this town. The story of the mix was especially inspired by the sounds of this island, with children, people, birds and of course the beautiful concert of Olafur.

This mix also feels like a continuation from the “Nomos Sessions 20” mix you put out a couple of months ago, and really puts emphasis on your idea of things being less about individual moments, and more of a constant line. Could you speak more about how this might influence the way you build mixes and your new show?

All the mixes are inspired by something. It may be a trip, a city, a book, people’s behavior, a meet or tv news…

In addition to the images which remain to me, there are feelings like joy, sadness, tenderness or anger I need to share, that I can’t keep for myself.

I prefer to express myself through music, than write lines on social networks, I think it’s more beneficial and more significant than words.

Music is a language, like poetry, painting, dance or cinema, with this difference that musical work has often no reference to something specific, and refer us to our memories.

Therefore, Nomos is a questioning, a reflection on ourselves, our past, our future. It’s not a question of style, but of sincerity.

As Brian Eno said, “ambient music is a space to think”.

You spoke last time about how much of a role classical music plays in your mixes. Is this something that will also carry over onto the Nomos Sessions show? What do you see as the role of using classical music as interludes in your mixes?

Classical music has a vital role in my mixes, because this music has a soul, it’s complex and imaginative, and it brings us back to memories and imagination. It’s our musical heritage that includes the greatest works of our western history.

I really think this musical work is timeless, and doesn’t necessarily reflect a time, unlike the rock’n roll in the sixties, or the “Charleston” in the 20s.

The border is small between classical music and current music, and especially with ambient and electronica, which are very close to it.

Like I said in previous interviews, having studied it for several years in conservatory helped me to have an open-mindedness on music, and if today I’m here with Nomos Sessions, it’s not by accident. Now the cycle is complete.

The other thing that is of great interest to me is all of the “real-life” field recording samples you use. Whether its of nature, people speaking, or noises of a city, they conjure very unique images next to your music. How do you find them and what goes into your decision about when to use them in your music?

Indeed, we used with my partner lots of samples in Nomos mixes. We pick up specific moments with our phones, whether on the street, in a store, in a school, in a bus, in a church, or even in a library. It is precisely these moments of life that each of us lives every day.

Then we incorporate them in the mixes, without really order, it’s the pieces of music who dictate which sample to add, and vice versa.

For this show how does working in a partnership change the dynamic and perspective of the journey that you hope to achieve with the mix? Is it a shared vision, or two visions working side by side and intertwining?

I can say it’s two visions working side by side.

I grew up in Paris, with this stress, this noise and this speed of everyday life. I locked myself in a bubble during many years, maybe to protect myself. And at this time, my first Nomos mixes reflected this state of mind.

I realized that when I met my wife.

Born next to the sea, far from the stress and hassles of urban life, she needed to look and contemplate nature, landscapes, she practiced yoga and meditation.

She brings me this optimist side, in life and especially in music. It’s a bit like Yin and Yan, in chinese philosophy, so yes we are complementary.

Is there anything else you can share about the Nomos Sessions show and what the listeners can expect for the future?

We sincerely hope the FRISKY listeners will enjoy our Nomos Sessions show, and that they will be captivated by our stories.

To finish, we would thanks the FRISKY crew for giving us our chance.

Tune into the premiere on May 6th @ 11 AM EST [convert timezone] or listen anytime / anywhere after with a FRISKY Premium Subscription & FRISKY Mobile Apps.

NOMOS SESSIONS