The Malta Independent on Sunday
Step outside your comfort zone
Circuits, the popular annual electronic music festival, will be bringing together artists from various disciplines for an edition which promises to be its most inclusive yet.
Electronic Music Malta (EMM) has been organising Circuits festival every year since 2016, bringing to the island electronic music performers, synthesiser makers and DJs from Malta and around the world. This year’s edition will be slightly different but promises to be even more exciting and inclusive than previous ones.
EMM was born in 2015, with a group of Maltese electronic music producers forming the voluntary organisation and immediately setting up an agreement with Spazju Kreattiv. “Our first ever event was held at Science in the City, where electronic music producers and DJs discussed issues relating to exposure to excessive sound levels and how to best protect one’s hearing,” says Edwin Balzan, EMM chairman and executive director. “Since then, we have organised an average of six events every year, one of which is the yearly festival entitled Circuits.” The first edition of Circuits was restricted to Maltese participants but has grown since. “We tried to invite as many of these as possible by setting up artist showcases, hosting lectures on music production and record label management,” says Balzan. “It was an edition where we also explored other musical styles, like contemporary classical music and other instruments too.”
Tina Camilleri, secretary of the Board of EMM, recalls that she was just a member of the audience during the first editions of Circuits. “However, I remember clearly that there were always key features one could count on, like the educational aspect. There are always lectures, installations about EMM’s goals, as well as hardware which allows interaction with the audience.” She adds that EMM’s love of experimentation between different art forms, as well as the performative elements have always been important features of Circuits.
Running a non-profit organisation comes with its own set of difficulties, and while the most pressing one is the lack of funding, reaching a wider audience has always been a challenge which EMM has tried to overcome. The electronic music community remains a relatively small one, notwithstanding the large number of events they organise each year. “This led us to devise a new strategy which is being supported financially by Arts Council Malta,” Balzan says. “We want to reach artists and audiences from beyond the realm of electronic music.”
This led to this year’s theme for Circuits, Away from the comfort zone, where electronic music artists will be joining forces and collaborating with artists from other disciplines. “I think that EMM has always stood to represent the fact that the electronic scene and music are not only a dark, underground culture,” explains Camilleri, who is the coordinator of Away from the comfort zone. “The organisation is also about the strength of productive collaboration, experimentation, pushing personal boundaries and experiencing music in every means possible.”
The fact that this year’s edition will fall in the middle of a global pandemic prompted EMM to think outside the box and make the most of the current restrictions. “Something we noticed was that more and more artists were seeking to help each other and collaborate. This is pretty much how the concept of this year’s edition evolved,” she explains. “A number of artists faced gigs being cancelled and we wanted to provide a means of keeping them motivated by pushing themselves beyond the material they would usually create in their studios or perform during events.”
While it will be possible to attend the festival in person, numbers will be restricted in accordance with public health protocols. However, all the events will be streamed online using high quality audio and visual equipment, so those interested in attending, perhaps for their first taste of electronic music, can choose to do so from the comfort of their own home.