pensive electronica from a talented brisbane composer

Noir et Blanc is the musical project of Amber Ramsay. Earlier this year she released her debut album Wallflower Pedestrian - a collection of lush electronica and beautiful ambient-tinged neoclassical. For her lazydaze mix, Amber weaves together an emotional journey featuring music by some of her favourite artists. Enjoy the ride.

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Could you tell us a bit about your journey into music? What’s the first thing you heard that you remember really having an impact? My first spark for music was hearing my grandfather play the piano from as young as I can remember. The earliest musical works that impacted me were by Yann Tiersen from the soundtrack of Amelie. Also the music of Moulin Rouge. My love of piano and music in general really grew from those songs.

When did you first start making music? Are you classically trained? I started writing music around age 17 on GarageBand (lol). I was classically trained in piano but sort of rebelled against that into pop and alternative music and turned my attention to guitar and singing. Recording and mixing music was where my passion for music really flourished and sort of cemented my desire to follow my intrigue and creativity more seriously. In hindsight, I have a much higher appreciation for my classical roots and have kind of come full circle in the last two years.

You released your debut album this year. How did you find the process and what did you learn or gain from the experience? The process felt really natural with this album. It was born out of necessity I think, during the weird time of early Covid. Taking a step back from the usual routines, there was this new room for a much slower and natural approach to writing, which for myself felt really therapeutic at the time. That was kind of what I felt the core of the album was. I gained a lot of clarity and balance from the process itself.

How did you decide to approach your Lazydaze mix? Was there an idea or concept behind it? I guess the correlation between the works included is that these artists or songs all have a kind of emotional significance to me and I paired that with an appreciation for some of my favourite synth tones and textural layering in music. The energy shifts a lot throughout the mix and that kind of guides the flow of it all.

Which artists inspire you in the ambient/downbeat/electronica realm? Thom Yorke, Grouper, GODTET, Nils Frahm, Sigur Ros, múm, Sufjan Stevens, James Blake… to name a few.

What’s your all time favourite track, LP, mix or mix compilation for winding down and relaxing? A Walking Embrace - Nils Frahm. I listen to this on repeat for hours when I am writing or reading or just want to relax. Rainy mood but make it music!

What’s happening for you at the moment? Any upcoming releases, projects or live shows? At the moment I am tracking my third album for my other project Cloud Tangle and re-studying classical piano. I have a couple of new tracks in the works for Noir et Blanc, one of which is in the mix actually, so that’s something maybe on the horizon too.

You can check out the full tracklist for Noir et Blanc’s mix here.