Los Angeles -based jazz artist Florian Mavridorakis released his new single “Revelations,” a burst of musical skills and part of their album “SHADES” under his project FM Experiment.
FM Experiment is the musical project of Florian Mavridorakis, a drummer and a dreamer who loves jazz. With an entrepreneurial spirit and artistic skills, Florian Mavridorakis is the composer and producer of his project, besides his role as drummer. Florian has a prolific career, collaborating with exceptional artists and continuously perfecting his craft.
“Revelations” is a collaborative production with the Grammy Award-winning engineer Warren Pettey and rapper Marcus Gon. The most exciting thing about “Revelations” is that it is an improvisation. The band and Marcus Gon put into it whatever was in their hearts at that moment, creating a musical picture of fantastic artists creating music together.
When hitting the play button on “Revelations,” you will hear Florian Mavridorakis's drums marking the pace while the bass accompanies him. Marcus Gon starts rapping about the frustration of an artist late at night without a single word in his mind, wondering what was there to him if he lost his talent. Trumpets and Saxo cry to the night in a gloomy ambiance.
“Revelations” has an oniric touch, as if your mind blends with the sounds and Marcus Gon’s words. The lyrics tell you about the human madness reflected in the climate crisis and hypocrisy in politics. “Revelations” is poetry turned into music. But isn’t it the essence of jazz?
Stream FM Experiment's “Revelations” is available on all streaming platforms today.
Welcome to BuzzMusic FM EXPERIMENT, and congratulations on your latest release, "Revelations. What has been the most rewarding part of making “Revelation?”
I would say it was the process. It had been a long-time dream of mine to get to a studio, pick a theme or a color, describe it to the musicians and press record and freely improvise in a band setting with that theme in mind. I have to admit it was the best experience of my life, and I loved it so much that we ended up doing it on four tracks of the album (Illusions, Remembrance, Meditation, and Revelations), and I plan on doing it much more in the future. This requires a very specific mindset and an incredible band of like-minded people.
How did making “Revelations” impact the band?
I believe that making revelations brought the band together; it made everyone aware of the special connection we had with each other and how much we enjoyed playing together. It also gave us so much faith that we are going on this adventure together for the right reasons: because we love music in all its forms and because we would love to have a positive impact on the world, whether it's a very large one or a very small one.
How did you decide to work with Marcus Gon to make “Revelations?”
I have known Marcus for a long time and always enjoyed his vision of music, so it felt natural to bring him on board for this project. He is an encyclopedia of music, especially how songwriters and storytellers like Kendrick Lamar connect instrumental and lyrical stories. I had been looking to work with rappers/vocalists who have this appreciation for instrumental music for a while. When we recorded this improv In the studio with the band, I immediately thought of bringing Marcus in to write words to it because I Had this storyline in my head but Was still missing the Lyrical part of it, and he came through and delivered big time.
What would you like your listeners to feel when listening to “Revelations?”
I would love for people to feel relieved. I think we live in a world where everyone feels a lot of pressure, be it from work, social media, or even friends and family, and I truly believe this is all a creation of our minds. This is what revelations are about, realizing that you as an individual build your pressure from your mind and that you are in absolute control of relieving pressure from yourself. I think we as humans face so many new challenges in the 21st century with the immediacy of society and the amount of scrutiny generated by social media. Still, I think we also have so much untapped power in ourselves to focus on our emotions and block out the noise around us to channel the best version of ourselves.
How does “Revelations” fit into your album “SHADES?”
Revelations feel like the perfect conclusion to the album. This piece of art we put together is about discovering ourselves as young humans, our personalities, our relationship with life, and our path in the near and distant future, who we want to be. And it feels like the themes we elude to in Revelations are an important pathway for the future, a primordial step in our path to greatness as musicians and individuals.
What's next for you?
Of course, there will be many opportunities to present the album live, especially in the US, where we have a tour in the works. But we are also already turned towards a continuation, a second act if you will, of this work because we believe there is much to explore and to be said about this world. We are already planning on recording a second album as a band in the summer of 2023, which will be the time of the tour’s launch, and we hope to see many of you guys out there vibing with our music and coming to talk to us after the shows!