Listen: Aporia - Stereo Moon (UTR Premiere)

Berlin-based ex-pat Aporia (aka Mitchell O'Sullivan) has popped up with his beautiful new single 'Stereo Moon' which we are delighted to premiere here at UTR. The track will be featured on the artist's upcoming EP Almost Tropical, which follows up from his debut offering Heavenly Force Early Fall and is due out early August. Take a listen to 'Stereo Moon' below and then read our chat with O'Sullivan below...

You started releasing music under the solo moniker Aporia just over a year ago. Where did the name come from and what does it mean to you??

Aporia is a state of constant metaphysical confusion. It comes from Socrates and is pretty much what happens when Socrates asks so many questions and leads you so deep into an idea that you can no longer reply. It was his little trick; just keep asking questions until they can no longer reply. He’s much like the fool in Shakespeare, the cosmic joker of the Ancient Greek world. Confusion can also be a very pleasing human emotion; we are all up a stream without a paddle if you like… just got to relax into the cosmic confusion.

Last time we spoke to you it was about your single 'Bad Faith', which ended up on your debut EP, and at the time you explained the song had been inspired by certain philosophical ideas. What inspired the lyrical content for 'Stereo Moon'?

Haha yes, I was well into the Jean-Paul Sartre at the time, and his ideas around the authentic soul. I like absurdism, but 'Stereo Moon' is more of a surreal collage of confusion. I had just moved across to the other side of the world and become a landlocked being in Berlin; I have always lived by the sea. 'Stereo Moon' is more of a mediation upon that trans-oceanic trip I took and this wonderful thing in Polynesian culture of navigating from the stars. I was imagining two moons in glorious stereo sound beaming out maps to help make sense of it all.

We heard you’ve got a video coming out for 'Stereo Moon' very soon, can you tell us a little bit about that?

Yes I’m well excited to release the video! It was half shot in LA by my dear friend Shane McKenzie AKA Snakechimezen and half at the Berlin aquarium. Pretty much I went there one day with a German friend of mine and shot loads of footage of jellyfish floating around. It’s in this weird old ‘Jegendstil’ building with gold lettering. The actual concept of an aquarium is quite depressing but thank god they don’t have big sea life in this one, just small fish and jellyfish. Kelly Tarlton's is quite heavy with big sharks in these tiny tanks. The best part of the Berlin aquarium though is they have a New Zealand section and they misspelt New Zealand as ‘New Sealand’. Genius really. Shane’s part of the video is the VHS manipulation, we were hanging out in LA a lot and he has this crazy set up is his room where he mashes together VHS footage from stuff he has shot. I’ll have another video of his stuff with the next single too.