Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with SLAPPER

SLAPPER - Hope

HOPE is an emotional exploration of fear, love, pain, and the healing that rises after the storm. Every track is crafted with atmospheric textures, analog warmth, and melodic intensity, forming

a cohesive narrative of renewal.

Interview with SLAPPER

What was the core inspiration behind Hope and how does it explore fear, love, pain, and healing?

"Hope" was born from a very personal emotional arc — one that moves through fear, love, pain, and ultimately healing. The album is structured like a cinematic journey, where each track represents a different stage of that inner transformation.

Fear appears in the darker, more atmospheric pieces — the moments shaped by childhood nightmares, anxiety, and those "Ignored Spaces" of the mind or of a relationship that we often avoid. Tracks like "Among Night Creatures" especially channel that haunting side, in its emotional intensity and shadowy sound design.

Love enters the story through warmth and nostalgia. I use melodic motifs to capture connection, memory, and the kind of affection that isn’t loud but deeply felt. Songs like "Oxygen Kiss" or "Velvet Harp" reflect this — intimate, gentle, and built around emotional resonance rather than force.

Pain is woven into the tension between melodies and textures. Instead of expressing it aggressively, I let it surface as melancholy, introspection, and unresolved chords. Many tracks hold a sense of being "between (the) storms" without yet seeing the sky.

Healing becomes the core message of the album. The title track "Hope (For a New Dream)" and pieces like "Afterlight" or "Follow Your Dreams" represent the emergence of clarity. They carry a sense of movement and release — a slow rising from darkness into something brighter, not triumphant but honest. It’s transformation through acceptance rather than escape.

The last track "Zephyr (At the End)" is a song for endings that matter: a relationship, a phase of life, a dream... or whatever you’re ready to let go of gently.

How did your approach to atmospheric textures, analog warmth, and melodic intensity shape the album’s narrative?

The sound design of Hope was crucial in telling its story. I wanted each track to feel like a space you could inhabit emotionally, where textures and tones communicate what words can’t. Analog warmth grounds the listener in something tactile, human, and comforting, while atmospheric layers evoke the uncertainty and depth of fear or longing. Melodic intensity acts as the emotional spine — moments of clarity or tension are carried through melody rather than lyrics, giving each track a narrative arc that mirrors the journey from darkness to healing.

How does Hope connect musically and thematically to your previous album Music Box Memories?

While Hope and Music Box Memories share a sound palette — lush synths, layered textures, and cinematic approaches — their emotional landscapes differ. Music Box Memories is gentler, softer, almost like a sci-fi story, with textures that feel friendly and inviting. Hope, on the other hand, has a sharper tension, a darker psychological edge — it’s more akin to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, exploring inner struggle, fear, and healing. The connection lies in the craftsmanship and melodic sensibilities, but the stories they tell are very different.

Your sound blends electronica, synthpop, melodic techno, and trance. How do you decide which elements dominate each track?

Each song starts as a blank canvas, a project growing organically from the first idea or motif. As the track develops, I let intuition guide its direction. Sometimes a piece begins in trance or melodic trance but naturally evolves into synthpop — it’s less about forcing a genre and more about responding to the song’s emotional logic. The dominant style emerges from the melody, texture, and feeling rather than a predetermined plan. Every track has its own personality, and I try to honor that journey.

How has your experience as a DJ in Bucharest’s club scene influenced your production and composition style?

DJing in Bucharest gave me a broad sonic perspective. Playing everything from electronica and indie to ’70s classic rock, ’80s synthpop, and new wave exposed me to a variety of rhythms, textures, and moods. This diversity shaped how I approach production. It also encouraged experimentation across subgenres, allowing me to blend electronica, melodic techno, and pop sensibilities in my own work.

Mirrors dealt with love, anxiety, and depression. How do those themes evolve or transform in Hope?

Mirrors was about observing struggles outside myself — other people’s pain, fears, and anxieties. It was a third-person perspective, though inevitably, the emotions sometimes became my own. Hope flips that perspective inward. It’s more personal, a journey through my own emotional landscape, from fear and love to pain and ultimately healing. While Mirrors reflected the world around me, Hope is about the inner world, processing and transforming those feelings into a narrative of acceptance and resilience.

Which artists from your influences had the biggest impact on this album’s sound?

I don’t think any single artist dominated Hope. Instead, their influences appear in moments: Ignored Spaces echoes the late ’80s Pet Shop Boys; Follow Your Dreams nods to Chicane or Paul van Dyk; Between the Storms channels Jean-Michel Jarre’s latest work. Tracks like Afterlight, Desolation Skies, or Among Night Creatures are steeped in Depeche Mode’s mood and textures, while Silhouettes feels like a homage to Duran Duran’s Save a Prayer. You might also notice subtle inspirations from New Order, Kraftwerk, or Moby — albums like Substance, The Man-Machine, and Play are still fresh in my mind.

How do you balance nostalgia and innovation when creating tracks that are both reflective and forward-looking?

It’s a constant challenge because nostalgia naturally dominates. Our world pushes us toward a future-oriented mindset — life feels chaotic, and history often repeats itself painfully. For me, nostalgia becomes a tool to ground the music, to remind listeners of emotional truths that are timeless. Innovation comes in subtly: evolving sound design, unexpected textures, and structures that keep the music fresh. The goal is to reflect on the past without being trapped by it, creating music that feels emotionally familiar yet forward-looking.

Were there any particular challenges in translating complex emotions into electronic music for Hope?

Yes — the album is deeply personal, built on my own emotional experiences over almost ten months. Translating that into electronic music was less about finding ideas and more about production. The challenge was to give each emotion a sonic identity, to make fear, love, and healing tangible through textures, synths, and melodies. Some tracks took longer because capturing subtle emotional nuances in electronic form requires patience and careful attention to detail.

What do you want listeners to feel or experience when engaging with Hope from start to finish?

I want listeners to have the freedom to explore their own emotions within the music — to imagine or invent experiences of love, heartbreak, fear, or peace of mind. The journey of Hope is universal, yet personal. It’s about connecting with the feeling without necessarily confronting it alone. Ideally, the album guides the listener gently through its narrative, offering both reflection and emotional release.

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out SLAPPER on the Pigeon Spins Playlist