Hugo Paris

-Hugo, what initially drew you to the world of electronic music and synthesis?

HP: I spent a lot of time at my grandparents' house as a kid. My uncle has a studio there. Being in that environment influenced me deeply. It was the early '90s, and my uncle had various synthesizers from the late '80s, like the Korg M1 and the Roland D-50. I was fascinated by the sounds of his keyboards. They expressed flavors that seemed like nothing I had heard before. Discovering those sounds was like having ice cream for the first time. I remember being in awe with how otherworldly it all was. He had stacks of keyboards and used his Ataris to sequence everything. Seeing a family member doing it made it seem possible for me to do the same. It never occurred to me to question how to use a sequencer. I just absorbed it by watching him.

Photo by Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

During this time, my older cousins, my neighbour, and my childhood friend’s older brother were all into gabber music. I was around seven years old and they dubbed me cassettes which had caught my attention because of their striking artwork. It was at the hype of the Thunderdome series. I listened to those tapes on my walkman, obsessively. Often alone, as I was an only child and spent a lot of time by myself. The repetitive nature of gabber, with its heavy use of the Roland TR-909 drum machine and minimal arrangements captured my imagination and sharpened my attention to detail. I was analysing patterns and textures way before I understood music.

Around the same time my grandmother noticed my interest in my uncle's keyboards. She’s the one who had bought him a JX3P a few years back, and she got me a red portable toy piano to get me started. It’s a simple instrument that only plays the C scale, regardless of which key you press. It has an audio out and it is battery operated, but its magic lies in the gentle warble and distortion that its on-board speaker brings. I found it again recently. It still works great and sounds tremendously nostalgic, to the point that I am considering tracking with it.

My grandpa is still alive, he just turned 100 years old in April. We talk every week about politics, history, anything really - he's very sharp. Being able to circle back and share my music with him brings me a lot of gratitude and pride.

-You recently collaborated with Joachim Garraud on making the movie 'Modular California vibes' where a team of producers went on an adventure in the California desert to create music. Was there a moment in the desert that profoundly changed your perspective on music?

HP: Just being around these producers [Joachim Garraud, Trovarsi, Franck Martin] was incredibly inspiring. It’s hard to pick a specific moment, because it was all very marking. Maybe I’d pick one from early on, when we left LA at 1am on board Joachim Garraud’s studio bus to arrive in the desert of Alabama Hills at sunrise. Joachim immediately told everyone to get their gear outside and get ready for recording. I was taken aback. I had expected a slower start, perhaps sitting down to discuss our plans and gently easing into the process. Instead, it was all about diving right in. In the desert, you have to work in the morning because it soon gets too hot for both the people and the equipment. This urgency stripped everything that would normally get in the way of creating . It was decomplexing to work like this.

Another incredible moment was filming a scene for the movie atop a big mountain in Soggy Dry Lake. Trovarsi and I drove up with Joachim and the crew in the dune buggy. We set up, then Trovasi and I played up there overlooking the vast landscape. It was like performing outdoors, with a truly epic panoramic view on top. This setting makes you feel incredibly free, similar to the exhilaration of riding a dune buggy full speed (which we also did) or being in an ultralight airplane with the wind in your face. It's a sense of freedom and motion so intense that all second-guessing goes out the window.

-One of Erica Synths main mottos is that physics can't be left in the formulas, it has to come to life through understandable manifestations, in the best case scenario - through something beautiful, for example, music. Given your background in the scientific field, how would you describe the connection between sciences and arts in your work? Can you elaborate on how your scientific expertise influences your artistic process ?

HP: To me, art and science are not separate things; they're just ways to describe our living experience. Music tends to focus on emotions. It's more existential and evocative, whereas science is more literal. They are intertwined and delightfully complementary. Biology is a science, but when you delve into the way brain chemicals work, you're discussing emotions, and suddenly the line blurs. When you look at a painting, it helps you understand your experiences and sometimes also create a connection with what others go through. Another example is when you go through teenagerhood thinking, 'Nobody gets me.' But suddenly an artist shows you that you’re not alone in this. There is this artist too, and all their community. Live music connects emotions regardless of your background. You might find yourself next to a stranger and feel compelled to hug them because the shared emotions resonate. I love that art has this unifying power. That’s what I am after.

-What was your role in the LIGO project?

HP: The LIGO project is focused on detecting gravitational waves and extracting information from them. Detecting these waves, which can be imagined as ripples in a vast pond (the universe), helps gather data about cosmic events, enabling us to understand phenomena occurring far out in space that regular telescopes can't see.

I was involved in multiple ways along the project. Initially, I worked on the large stainless steel platforms that decouple the laser optics from ground vibrations - this ensures that minor disturbances like someone walking nearby or a distant truck don’t affect the measurements. Such isolation is crucial because gravitational waves are incredibly subtle by the time they reach Earth, and even a slight misalignment in the laser can cause significant data loss.

My work started during my master's internship at MIT, where I focused on active controls, developing filters that would allow the platforms to react based on data from sensors setup upstream. Preemptive adjustment helped maintain the stability of the platforms ahead of ground vibrations reaching them. Later, at the Washington State Hanford site, I continued this work, commissioning platforms, updating software, and I contributed to improving the seismic isolation systems that now meet unprecedented performances.

All this work required handling sensitive software tools, which led me to joining the Stanford University LIGO team , where I worked on software updates for the project. I’d take signals off from here, put it there, filter, blend, make sure it doesn’t go and make a mad feedback loop - a bit like a modular.

The project made its first gravitational wave detection in 2016. It was a monumental discovery, but it couldn’t be announced right away. When you make a detection like this, the whole scientific community is watching. You only get one shot with the announcement. You definitely don’t want to miss it. We had to keep it a secret for months, the time for the data to be diligently combed through.. I told absolutely no one. I felt like a special agent with classified information. It was a very unique and exciting.

Photo by Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

As LIGO progressed, I found myself drawn back to music. My team at Stanford was very understanding. They supported cutting down my hours so I could volunteer at the San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital and attend the 4+ band/solo rehearsals I had weekly. At the hospital, we had a studio rigged up, which was used to run a pilot program with. I produced tracks with kids all ages 5 to 18 years old, all abilities (physical, mental and musical). We had two hours to make a band out of strangers. Everybody went back to their room with the CD of the song we made, all together. Being around those kids, seeing their courage and positivity created a shift in me. l eventually left LIGO and went on tour for my second album Horizons Beneath the Surface (Jacktone Records), then I moved up to Portland OR, to start working on the Spherical Wavetable Navigator with 4ms company. It entered production in the spring of 2019 and I have been full time on music since. It came with challenges. For example, I initially had to downsize to an 8ftx8ft tiny house so I didn’t have to compromise integrity in any way, until I could build my income streams from there. It’s a relentless effort, but the joy of getting up to follow your calling is unmatched. I am incredibly grateful to be where I am now.

-That's a diverse career - from contributing to this science project to even providing therapy sessions in the children's hospital. What would you say is your musical mission, if there is one?

HP: Thanks! I grew up in a small town in the south of France, where no one was making music - let alone the experimental or hard music I was drawn to. In my household, pursuing musicianship wasn't an option. We couldn't afford music lessons, and I was constantly told that I'd end up alone, marginalized if I pursued it. I also ended up believing that I had started music too late (14) to have a shot at having an impact in the field. These ideas rooted deep, and I did tremendous amounts of work to overcome them. To this day, it’s a daily battle to keep them in check. Ironically, when looking back, I was already doing what I do now and I make a living at it in one of LA's most expensive neighborhoods. I record and produce music all day, just like back then when I was a kid, so passionate that I would forget everything else, including eating that day. I knew I wanted to be on that path, but I didn't know how to connect there from where I was then. One of my missions is to empower young lives to fully embrace their journey, to believe in what they want and to find their pathways to pursue it. Empowering the next generation is crucial to me.

The other side of my mission revolves around the belief that true fulfillment comes with the awareness of what we hold: time ahead and our ability to connect. A lot of my work takes its time to unfold, so that you can take time with yourself, your senses, your thoughts and your emotions - It’s through this time with ourselves that we can truly connect with others. Frantic over-consumption is at the root of many of our societal issues. I see connection as the antidote, and I aim to foster it.

With all that ES does with education, the Garage, supporting artists. I’ve always felt that we share a calling around access, empowerment and artistry. It is very inspiring and an honor to be here.

-What brought you to our studio?

HP: I've been in the modular synth world for some time now. Presenting the Spherical Wavetable Navigator with 4ms Company at trade shows created ties with other makers and artists. That’s how I met Girts and Raivo, in 2016. Earlier this year, around January, I joined Joachim Garraud in Cannes, France to present our movie Modular California Vibes. Erica Synths was showcasing the Bullfrog with its entire curriculum there as well. It resonated with my mission around access and empowerment. We reconnected and Girts suggested that I come visit Latvia. I jokingly responded, 'Don’t threaten me!' . He was indeed serious, and proposed that I came after Superbooth. I booked my flights right away, and here I am.

Nina Elektrichka was also in Cannes. She played the last night of MIDEM. Her set blew my mind. We spent the following day walking in the city, sitting at cafe terraces, and chatting about music until we each went on to catch our train. She insisted that I play another show alongside a synthesis workshop while here. It took place at this amazing space called Kaņepes Kultūras Centrs. She made it all happen, the venue, the lineup. We just shoundchecked. I got to meet the community there, as well as the artists who will also be performing tonight. You can feel the energy in the room, it’s vibrant.

Photo by Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

Considering your view on the unique voice each artist brings to their tools, what was your weapon of choice here in the studio?

The 4ms Company Spherical Wave Table Navigator has always been central to my setup - after all, I got to make it exactly how I needed it. It gives me a large palette of sounds from gentle soundscapes to harsh noise washes, and I can confidently be expressive with it, whether I’m in the studio or on stage. I've also fallen in love with quite a few of ES’s modules, but the ones that are now in my case are not necessarily the crowd favorites.

Upon arrival, I was encountering noise issues with my case. Girts solved them in a split second with an Erica Synths case. It delivers much cleaner power than what I was using. It might not matter as much when you are recording if you are willing to put your time and compromises into audio repair, but when you start playing at high levels, and that you have ambient parts in your set - it becomes very important. The quiet moments cannot be spoiled by a hiss. I travel a lot, so having this lightweight case made of carbon fiber is a huge plus for me.

Having a new case prompted me to reevaluate my setup. I spent an intensive afternoon trying everything I could at ES. I tried something like 20 modules including the Black Hole DSP and the Dual Filter. Both stole my heart, with the Polivoks filter which I found incredibly musical. The Black Reverb is now my spatial effect of choice, clean, and fits great in my mix. Coming from a background of instrument design and producing records (www.TinyCrushMixing.com), I can have high expectations, especially at the end of my signal chain. I find good mixers to be hard to come by in the Eurorack format. Erica Synths’ Black Output is on point, sturdy and musical.

I also played with Pērkons, but not as much as I wished. My latest album (Nouvelles Aurores) was very ambient, while my liveset goes ambient all the way to techno. The music I produce under my birth name is hardware-based. I keep it as exploratory as possible and try to stay clear from existing codes (BPMs, predefined song structures, ...). I just go with the way things express themselves when I play with what’s available to me at the time. I have other projects that are very specific. I make sleep music, white noise, sound environments, under moniker names (Pastel Mirage, Dream Cabin). They are much more codified, which I love because it creates balance and it informs the rest of what I do. Seeing almost everyone at ES play on Pērkons led me to consider a new moniker focused on rhythm-heavy music. I’m curious to see if it would reconnect me with some of my sonic origins, while keeping my hands on hardware. In the meantime I have my eyes on Nightverb. I saw a breathtaking ES garage bass guitar performance on it. I want to explore it with guitar as well as the sensor/field work I am engaging in for my next album.

Photo by Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

So, are there any elements or techniques you have adopted during this stay that you would plan to carry on forward or maybe explore more?

Yes, definitely. There are significant insights I'm taking back from this stay. Most of them have much less to do with synths than one would imagine.

Live is very different from studio work for me. When playing live I aim for a different playback volume than with most recordings. I want to create the right experience with pressure. Having the proper auditory feedback at high levels is key. I was given access to ES’s performance space, with its beautiful sound system. I got to tune my new live set very precisely - from sub frequencies to the very high highs. I could feel the physical pressure of sound and make precise adjustments accordingly, particularly on the rhythm sections.

Seeing others like Kaspars Rolšteins play here has also inspired me greatly. He plays heavy electric bass riffs through some crazy overdrives, and Nightverb is used to create an ethereal musical fabric all around. While we express ourselves through different means, the immediacy of his approach and the way he commands attention through his expressive playing, without flourishes, was thoroughly inspiring.

Integrating my guitar into the sets was another breakthrough. The Erica Synths crew went out of their way so I could try a few guitar models. We landed on a Fender Telecaster. While I use them in the studio, I didn't expect guitars to work so well on stage, but they did. The contact with the strings and the direct feedback from the instrument feel very genuine. My first string instrument was an electric guitar. It’s good to be back on stage with it, and it allows me to blend in songs from my latest album with older material.

-With so much gear available nowadays, how do you manage to stay focused and maintain a clear vision for your projects?

HP: I initially struggled with focus. I come from a modest background. I built up a lot of frustration around access to instruments. I went overboard when I started to have access to them. I wanted to try everything. I traded a lot on the second hand market. I was also eying every release, reading manuals for everything I was interested in. I learnt a lot, and I got to figure out what works for me and what doesn’t. But it was a real time commitment. Over time, It became clear that if I spent all my time thinking about setups, I'd end up only making rigs, not music. To me the perfect setup (if it exists) is useless if you don’t create and share. I chose the few instruments that were meaningful, and I shifted my focus back to the emotions I want my work to convey. I have been working on sharing that in its purest form since.

This shift has influenced not just how I interact with gear but also how I perform live. For instance, for my Kanepes performance, I relied on the simplest, most affordable controller I could find in the ES studio. My aim was to show that you don't need expensive equipment to engage in meaningful art. Even if all I had was taken away, I'd still make music - with whatever I could find, even a rubber band. I want to debunk the myth that new gear is the key to unlocking talent. Talent is already there to foster. While gear can facilitate certain projects, it's not a necessity for creativity. The artists I admire make music, not thanks to the gear, but despite the limitations they face., They just make it work with what they have.

Photo by Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

-How did you enjoy Riga during your stay? Were you able to experience the local music scene?

HP: It has been wildly rich. I just had a swim in Daugava with the ES crew even though I lost a part of two fingers on my left hand this morning. I’m performing tonight and will have to be playing guitar with bandages on those fingers. We just had soundcheck and it seems like it’s going to work out fine. I’m excited and slightly anxious to find out. Something upset me though…

You guys have an Eiffel Tower and it's taller than ours?! Girts and I had a good laugh about it. He gave me a solid tour. I saw the presidential palace, the town and its old trolley, the river banks at sunset. I loved the architecture and its juxtaposition of brutalism with modern buildings. I could feel the history in the older parts of town and found the artist community I was introduced to very welcoming and vibrant.

I also got to see the old Erica Synths space, the one by the river banks. It has that crazy parking lot nearby with a bunch of old custom-painted Fiat 500 cars. They look crazy cool.

Still, I am just here for a week, and even with everyone’s generosity in showing me around, I didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked because I've also been working so much. I’ve always dreamt of being in a cabin in the woods, just making music with friends, without boundaries - no restrictions on sounds, BPM, or genre. Just spending the time we need until it feels right. I talked with Nina Elektrichka earlier and she was saying that there are great spaces for that here. I want to come back to see more of Riga, go to the woods, rent an A-frame, and make music for a week, maybe put together an EP. I also met this interesting man who makes pianos - Davids Klavins. He's got some really cool projects and invited me to check out his studio. Those are great plans to look forward to.

-What's the secret to the best crepes?

The friends you make them for!

Photos from Erica Synths Kitchen IG account / @ericasynthsvirtuve

Watch the video recording from his performance at Erica Synths Garage -