The Berlin-based multimedia artist talks their third album, their ultimate cornershop snack, and the worst advice they’ve ever been given
Zöe Mc Pherson’s Pitch Blender opens with a percussive storm. The Berlin-based multimedia artist’s third album crackles with cataclysmic club sounds and brain-altering beats; its precision-engineered sound design reverberates across the room like a power drill. For Mc Pherson, it’s a constant state of processing and generating new ideas – or as they describe it, “it’s like my brain is bursting into thousand potentials, which can be both exciting and challenging” – a cybernetic exploration of togetherness through the eye of the machine.
The artist’s live shows are imbued with a similar state of flux: polyrhythmic patterns crescendo and mash together genres at warp speed, invoking the sort of digital-mystic energy that allows the rave to take on a ritualistic quality, where the decks become an altar and the dancefloor, a body-without-organs. Ahead of the premiere of their A/V show in collaboration with SFX co-founder Alessandra Leone at Rewire in The Hague, we catch up with Mc Pherson to talk the release of their new album, their favourite cornershop snacks, and the worst advice they’ve ever been given.
Hey Zoë! Congrats on the release of Pitch Blender. What are some of the main inspirations behind the album?
Zoë Mc Pherson: Membranes = everything + everyone + mass production + massive trash.
Vibrating = radical dreams + need for metamorphosis.
Together = human obsolescence + positivity injection.
What is your earliest music memory?
Zoë Mc Pherson: Mom singing.
What song could you not stop playing growing up?
Zoë Mc Pherson: MC Solaar – Obsolète.
Please share the most recent note from your notes App!
Zoë Mc Pherson: ‘Berghain guestlist’s puzzle’.
And the last meme you saved?
Zoë Mc Pherson: Probably something from Adrienne Maree Brown or Openly Gay Animals.
Your favourite cornershop snack?
Zoë Mc Pherson: Msabbaha.
What’s your ghost outfit?
Zoë Mc Pherson: Bubbles getting out of the bath.
The worst advice you’ve ever been given?
Zoë Mc Pherson: You’ll sleep when you’re dead.
What conspiracy theory are you quite into actually?
Zoë Mc Pherson: It all depends on how we define certain words, doesn't it? Our society is shaped by numerous conspiracies and dominant values. From the power of money and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry to ownership, national borders, advertisements, surveillance, oppressive systems, and injustices that go hand in hand such as racial disparity, exploiting natural resources, profit-driven mentalities and the list goes on. What other factors do you think contribute to shaping our society?
What do you put on your rider?
Zoë Mc Pherson: Everything pro, something green and a glass of scotch.
Pitch Blender is out now. Mc Pherson will premiere of their A/V show in collaboration with SFX co-founder Alessandra Leone at Rewire, taking place between April 6-9, 2023
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