Spotlight On... Sonotto
Following the release of his debut album WE ARE LABELS, we shine a spotlight on Stirling-born artist Sonotto and premiere the music video for INFINITE YOU (I lost myself)
On 4 April, Bristol-based, Stirling-born Otto Neckel released WE ARE LABELS, his debut album as Sonotto. An unconventional dance record at its core, WE ARE LABELS' power is in its ability to keep progressing forward by way of scratchy and glitchy electronics, squalling sax, and bright open moments that feel euphoric and cinematic.
To celebrate its release, we're delighted to catch up with Sonotto for this week's Spotlight On, which also brings you the premiere of the beautiful, weird, wonderful and oftentimes claustrophobic music video for his latest single INFINITE YOU (I lost myself), which was filmed in Stoer, near Lochinver in Scotland. You'll find more on that further on in our chat. But first...
Can you start off by telling us about yourself – who is Sonotto, how did you get into music-making and who/what inspires you?
The name Sonotto came to me while I was working at an Italian-run cafe in 2019. I asked the manager how to say, "I am Otto", and she told me "Io sono Otto" or "Sono Otto". So, in a loose way, Sonotto means "I am Otto", which is my name.
I was born in Stirling, though we moved around a lot, mainly around Perthshire and Edinburgh. During this time, I was homeschooled and found myself jumping from one creative output to another, most notably Lego stop-motion, photography, film, and dancing. I used to be part of a contemporary dance group, and an international trampolinist.
Music came relatively late for me; I only started making it when I was 17. I remember finishing a video game design course in Glenrothes, which turned out not to be for me. However, every time I had an opportunity to make a presentation or some form of film, I felt right at home. I loved making movies, specifically those inspired by music. At the end of the course, I made a music video, out of sheer procrastination, for Nangs by Tame Impala called DISTORTION – I still incorporate it into the visuals of my live shows today. It was this burst of creativity that made me think that music videos were where I wanted to be. But the more I explored this path, the more I would say to myself: "I wish I could make that music".
In regard to inspiration, life inspires me. That might sound like a pompous statement, but I genuinely believe it’s true. From day one of making music, the inspiration and drive have always been for that feeling you can’t quite explain, but we all know it. When I first started, it was all I knew; it wasn’t until about three months into making music that I realised there was such a thing as a bassline – I always thought the bass came from the kick drum. But I never cared about what I did or didn’t know about music, because to me, if it felt right, that’s all that mattered. To this day, that hasn’t changed.
This approach is why I believe life really is the inspiration, because when I’m creating, I’m not interested in the output being a form that I like; it’s a completely unconditional process. So, if for example, I’m going through a breakup, this will probably have an effect on the creative output. But in that moment, my intention is not to write a breakup song, but to surrender myself to the creative process when I feel it coming. Now, my life in that moment and its entirety is at play without judgment.
If we’re strictly talking about music, Flying Lotus is number one for me, followed closely by Celer, whose album Discourses of the Withered I cannot listen to without crying.
Image: Behind the scenes on the INFINITE YOU (I lost myself) video shoot by Eddy Hubble
Your debut album, WE ARE LABELS, was just released. You describe it as “a search for clarity in a world of identity.” Can you tell us more about this?
I feel we are more than what we experience, and that the answer to life is not outward, but inward. Does attachment and accumulating knowledge really bring us closer to who or what we are, or does it only take us further away? If the latter is true, then the search for clarity in a world of identity would be a futile pursuit. I see the tracks of WE ARE LABELS each representing that futility in varying forms of human experience.
The album was recorded between 2020 and 2022 – can you tell us more about the recording process, especially with a lot of it taking place during the pandemic?
It was mostly produced in my old bedroom during the lockdown in Scotland, near Kirkliston, in 2020/21. Some tracks I started during my first year at BIMM Bristol in early 2021. The arrangements and initial creative process were all bedroom-based: microphone, MIDI keyboard, and Ableton Live. The title track WE ARE LABELS was actually produced in my friend's attic in Linlithgow when we both had COVID during the summer of 2021, and I managed to set up a pop-up studio as I was feeling inspired.
However, it wasn’t until the summer of 2022 that my university had an opportunity to book out a professional studio with an engineer on a weekly basis. I immediately caught onto this and would be there every week at Humm Studios until they pulled the funding. Fortunately, it was enough time for me to mix the entire project with my now-friend, Dom Mitchison, who was the engineer present during the sessions. It was during these sessions too that Andrew Neil Haye’s saxophone and Holly Eve’s vocals were recorded.
Image: Behind the scenes on the INFINITE YOU (I lost myself) video shoot by Eddy Hubble
Given the timeframe it was recorded in, would you say the record is a product of the pandemic, or do you feel it was shaped by the pandemic? Or was it something far longer in the works?
To be honest, I don’t think the pandemic situation ever crossed my mind when I was creating the music; I felt like my output in volume, at least, was much the same. If anything, the most I remember about that period was that I was going through my first breakup. I was one of the fortunate few who enjoyed the lockdown; I’ve always been comfortable being with myself, so I felt like I was thriving in a space where I could be at home, resting in the act of doing nothing.
WE ARE LABELS is a remarkably cohesive record, glitchy, itchy, comfortable, uncomfortable, soothing, and dancefloor worthy all at the same time. Given that it is full of so many ideas and nods to different genres – what was the process like for you trying to stitch it all together into an end product?
Firstly, it’s really wonderful to hear that it makes you feel this way; or in many ways, for that matter! I love sharing art because I find you have no control over how it’s received or how someone interprets it, and that’s part of the beauty, in my opinion.
The idea of WE ARE LABELS as an album only really happened when all [seven] tracks were finished. I don’t find myself thinking too much about where the music will end up or if one track will work with another. I like to just create and let things fall into place. For example, I produced NEED in April 2020. It wasn’t until I finished I LOVE YOU BUT I DON'T NEED YOU in March 2022 that it occurred to me that these two felt right on an album together. But at the time I produced NEED, just making that track was enough for me. I didn’t feel the need to release it – excuse the pun.
So I never found myself producing something specifically for this album or changing an element to satisfy a concept. It came together organically and almost in a naive way – like I wasn’t aware of a greater process at play.
Can you tell us about the idea behind the video for INFINITE YOU (I lost myself), which we're delighted to be premiering above!
It’s about a romantic relationship that’s had its moment, and though the individuals in question feel this, they remain attached to one another. I remembered feeling this way myself and noticing a contradiction going on inside: I knew instinctively that life wanted us to move apart, and in fact, it was going to benefit us both. But there was something else clinging on, trying desperately to stay alive within me, and I wasn’t letting it go because I believed if I did, I would go with it.
Why was it so important for you to film it in Scotland?
Because nowhere else felt right to do it. I remember the first image I had of this film came to me as a thought at about 1am when I was falling in and out of sleep, it was so striking that I sat up and typed like a madman exactly what I was picturing into a Google doc, and the scenery was the Scottish Highlands – so I trusted the vision.
Aside from the vision, I’ve always felt there’s something about the daunting, yet so grounding landscape and atmosphere of north west Scotland that just makes me emotional evening picturing it. If it were a character, they would be a big fierce giant that on the outside is rough, aggressive and built like a brick shithouse, but on the inside just wants to give you the biggest most loving hug. I have no doubt once I settle as Sonotto that I will call that part of the world my home.
Image: Behind the scenes on the INFINITE YOU (I lost myself) video shoot by Eddy Hubble
With the album now out, what does the rest of the year look like for Sonotto? Will we be seeing you up in Scotland any time soon?
The rest of the year is exciting because I don’t know what’s going to happen! But I do know I have a vast amount of music and multiple projects nearing completion. It’s almost a race now to see which one gets to see the light first! Though I will say one clear aim for this year is to be signed. If I can direct, produce, and create all of this by myself, what’s going to be possible with a team?
In regard to Scotland, I really hope so. I’ve put so much work into the album’s launch show that, actually, I’ll have performed by the time this is out (Hello future me, I hope it went well!). I desperately want to tour it. Unfortunately, one of the struggles of being independent is the time, energy, and, frankly, finances you have just as yourself. Though I remember my sister once told me, and it’s stuck with me since: what you need doesn’t pass you by. So if I’m meant to bring Sonotto back home on this project, it will undoubtedly happen.
WE ARE LABELS is out now