Following a long-held tradition in electronic music, the project by the name of Ni Moya is a one-man operation. John Vagenas started out a life of artistic creation when he entered the Film Department of  the School of Fine Arts in Thessaloniki, where he later wrote and directed «Warp», a 30’ surrealistic horror film, engulfed in the teachings of David Lynch, Andrei Tarkovsky and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Shortly after, he co-founded the psychedelic rock band Naxatras, assuming the bass guitar / lead vocals duties and proceeding in the following decade to make an acclaimed career in the psych rock scene, with 4 albums and an ever increasing number of tours throughout Europe and Australia.

Ni Moya as a project came to life around the same period, when deep experimentation with music-making software triggered something creative, soon to be followed by the love for analogue synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, sequencers and the decision to compose with hardware equipment. The first solid ideas led to the build-up of the four tracks that shaped the “Ni Moya” album.

A variety of influences marks the identity Ni Moya, from Aphex Twin’s IDM and the psychedelia of Shpongle, to Brian Eno’s ambient, GAS’s atmospheric techno and Psykovsky’s experimental psytrance, without taking out of context elements of traditional psychedelic rock and jazz.

Three years after the release of his self-titled debut album, Ni Moya, bassist and singer of Naxatras, releases his sophomore LP through Same Difference Music. “Reverie” is a work of psychedelic electronic music, characterized by deep interiority and post-rave aesthetics. Four extensive compositions of impressionist ambient, in the footprints of Brian Eno, Terry Riley, Steve Hillage and Ashra, born out of hardware improvisations on analogue synthesizers, samplers and sequencers. Music rich in textures and timbres, minimal but lush, intended for transcendental day dreams.

The better half of Ni Moya’s creative purpose is the setting of the forthcoming live performances, which will showcase the material’s full potential and will be taking place not only in regular venues, but, also, in non-conventional spaces, like art galleries, exhibitions, in accordance with artistic installations and will explore the adventurous nature of the tunes, through extensive improvisation and out-of-the-box perspective. Visuals will also be a vital part of each performance, in the form of edited bits from experimental, dadaist and surrealist films and animation, original film shots and various intertwined collaborative appearances by actors and dancers, in costumes or body paint.

The whole project feels like it will be served properly when the sole denominator, the one thing that will be consistent, is the absolute variation of every performance being different from all the others. Ni Moya also performs as a dj in a wide variety of styles, ranging from psych rock and funk to techno and electronica.

His mixtape for Paranoise is inspired by cold winter nights with chocolate and candles. Drone, dark jazz, ambient, electronica, minimalism blend together in an associative editing. What one would call eclectic is another's schizoid personality. Tune in tonight Saturday the 2nd of March for Ni Moya's guest mix on Paranoise!

‍

Links

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/nimoyaofficial

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ni.moya

Bandcamp:https://ni-moya.bandcamp.com

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ni-moya

Mixcloud:https://www.mixcloud.com/john-vagenas/

‍