Katz expands from jazz artist to deft purveyor of hazy, heavy-lidded electronica with his debut EP Waterfall, out today! Recorded largely in his Collingwood home studio and co-produced with Simon Lam.
Learning piano from the age of 4, Katz cut his teeth leading jazz ensembles around Melbourne. It wasn’t until he found himself sitting in on friends’ electronica projects that he decided to try making it himself. It was here that Katz began laying foundations for his debut output.
Lead single and EP opener ‘Hollow’ was co-written with Gab Strum, and features Charlie Lim on vocals. A frequent collaborator with Katz. “It’s a heart-on-sleeve, bittersweet kind of song,” says Katz. “Melancholy lyrics against a hopeful backdrop.”
Woodes’ dusty voice lends an ache to the twilight haze of ‘Spinning Out’; ‘Waterfall’ focuses on a relationship disconnect; Fractures finds some solace on the neo-soul-tinged slow jam ‘Cipher’; and ‘Floating’ is a chopped-up, pensive instrumental collaboration with Lanks.
“On some level jazz will always influence the music I make,” says Katz. “Equally inspirational is the music my friends are making.” Those friends happen to include Japanese Wallpaper, Charlie Lim, Woodes, Buoy, Fractures and Lanks, who all either feature or collaborated on his debut EP.
