Music as therapy: Paul White finds peace through chaos

Paul White has been crafting atmospheric sound galaxies and gentle and beautiful electronic pop for 15 years starting with the debut album, The Strange Dreams of Paul White. A passion to innovate his cinematic sound has led him to become a creative visionary of the 21st Century. When you listen to a White composition, you cannot help but feel and take deep emotions from it.

Transitioning from his early recordings of carefully curated instrumentation to a more live instrumentation approach, he released Shaker Notes in 2014 for R&S Records. This album pushed his methodology forward and artistry found a new breath.

In the meantime, White began producing songs for artists including Homeboy Sandman, Danny Brown, and Charli XCX. His work as a producer influenced his work as a musician. In 2018, White went back into the studio, once again collaborating with guest vocalists like he did on the 2011 Rapping With Paul White. Releasing Rejuvenate, he enlisted the talents of Danai Moore, Shungudzo, and Sarah Williams White. It’s in these moments of jazz, folk, ambient, and cosmic rock that you experience White’s fresh diversity in how to perceive them.

Fast forward to 2024, and White escapes from the outside noise to search from within. There he finds a refreshed cinematic collection of stories backed by breaths of synth landscapes. Songs like “Supernova,” “First Sight,” and “Sky Castles” feel as crisp and calm as marveling over a winter sunset or being aware of your connection to the natural world. Peace in Chaos is much needed music to present cosmic calm and guide you through a journey of tranquility in a wondrous way that White has crafted.

A fan of his body of work, I had the opportunity to talk to him about motivation, the new album, and vision as an artist.

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I have grappled with this opening question, from what inspired you to be a musician to what inspired you to be a producer. But I feel in your case, the two go hand in hand. Therefore, I want to simply ask, what inspires you as a human because I feel that Peace in Chaos draws from that inspiration.

That’s a great question, and also a hard one to put into words, almost impossible in fact, or really easy as I could just answer—everything. I think searching for rich feelings inspired me for many years. It still does to a certain extent, but more recently settling into more of a state of calm inspires me. That and being in the moment. Letting my feelings come from a less turbulent place.

I suppose what inspires me to be in these places are other people a lot of the time, or the work of others, whether they are musicians, painters, poets, or philosophers, nature, loved ones, friends, the rollercoaster of life and everything that inspires me.

There is a lot of emotion that goes into your work, how did that drive the momentum for Peace in Chaos?

In every way to be honest. I can’t lie, the time I wrote the album I wasn’t in the happiest of places, so this album was purely run off and made with pretty raw spontaneous feelings. Nothing was thought out; I just went into my studio every day and let the first thing that came to me come out. I didn’t really think or stop to analyze it.

That created a very free environment for my subconscious to pour out into the music and become a real therapy that helped me through that time. I was the one trying to find peace in chaos at that time.

What is it about a cinematic vision that you find attractive?

I grew up around TV as my dad was a director and editor, and I always drew and painted growing up. I’ve always thought of music in a visual way and seen scenes in my head to music. So sound and visuals have always been joined at the hip for me; my first artist name was Visual. I love rich emotions, and music has lots of that—so does art and film. Together, I feel they just enhance each other and can move us, inspire us and calm us so deeply.

Peace in Chaos being your sixth release, what did you do differently and what did you learn from the process of this album?

I always approach an album differently; I don’t think any have been the same. This just comes from loving to try new things and explore new sounds and worlds. I love so many different types of music. I did know with this one, I wanted to go back to my ambient roots a bit—my TV family roots. It was the perfect canvas to explore all of what I was feeling at the time.

I felt the album was made so fast in about six weeks. What struck me the most was after I finished it and listened back to it (I didn’t stop whilst I was making it), it felt like my subconscious was screaming messages at me. So, it really showed me the power of how feelings can come out in such a powerful subconscious way before they’ve hit your consciousness.

You have a remarkable way of piecing together sounds that come together in an esoteric collage of intricacies (I am thinking “Humble Beginnings” or the interpretation in “The Big City”). How do you define sound? For Peace in Chaos, is there a way people should philosophically or metaphorically embrace these sounds?

Thank you! Sound to me is just feelings, mixed with imagination, mixed with something magic that comes from somewhere else indescribable. It’s such a pure expression. If you’re lucky to be untouched by the overthinking constantly moving in your mind, it can be so peaceful, and energizing! I’d love people to just float away to this album, to wherever they’d like to go—inwards or outwards. To touch something that you can’t describe.

One of my favorite songs on the album is actually the opener, “Supernova.” It’s a song that sets the stage for everything else. It’s powerful in its own existence and a very beautiful composition. Were you looking for a subconscious theme for the name and construct of the song? Or, is this song supposed to exist within itself? How does a song like this define the other songs and how they are built?

Again, thank you. I think it was written to exist by itself and just felt right to be the album opener. This was actually the song that felt the most powerful to me in the sense of it felt like my subconscious screaming a feeling of despair at me, like a warning of me not being happy in my current place. Though when I’ve said that to friends, they haven’t said it feels like despair to them.

I was desperate, angry, sad, scared, and I think that all came out in that song! It really felt like therapy and made me feel so lucky to have music in my life to help me explore my feelings and have an outlet for them. God knows where that energy would go otherwise.

What are your favorite moments from the album?

I think for me it’s the journey through the whole album which is my favorite experience. Though I can say there’s something potent for me about ‘In The Heart.’ That’s me at my most vulnerable that I’ve ever been reflected on a piece of music. I actually recorded the vocals a day after coming out of a long-term relationship. In fact, all the vocals I did were within a couple of days of that. There’s just something about that song for me.

How has your production work helped make you a better musician? How has being a musician helped your production work?

I don’t often think of them as different things. To me, making music is just making music, putting feelings and energy into some kind of sound. I guess there’s a balance to strike for me. One side is the analytical side, which is thinking about all this, how to be a better musician and producer, and what I need to study and how everything works together, etc. The other is the magical side, and to be honest, I always try to stay as close as I can to the magical.

Tell me about the artwork to Peace in Chaos?

I have to thank Kims Mihailovs for the beautiful artwork. It came from the video for ‘Glory In Stories.’ I loved what he did for that video and for ‘Surreal,’ as I did the video for ‘First Sight’ done by Benny Aves.

I always wanted the cover to be a picture of someone in total peace amongst chaos. This came out a bit different, not really with the chaos, but it was just such a beautiful image. It feels like she’s flying in bliss and in a very peaceful state. It just had to be the cover.

What is coming up for you for the rest of 2024 into 2025? Any visions you would like to share?

At the moment I’m really focusing on writing and production. Also doing some work for television. That’s what I’d love to do more; music for film is my dream. I’m also thinking about my next solo music plans very loosely. So, lots to come! Thank you.