Made With Novation: Meeyebo makes Techno soundwaves with Icelandic inspiration
Over 4,000 creators took part in our #MadeWithNovation competition, celebrating 30 years of musical innovation and the creativity of the global Novation community.
Among over 600 entries judged by the Novation panel with multi-instrumentalist Bad Snacks as head judge, Piotr Karczmarek, known as Meeyebo, was chosen as our grand prize winner, with an entry that delivered a stunning techno performance on the Icelandic seas, inspired by nature and way of life in the Westfjords.
“We spent 2 days on ‘Papey’, a fishing boat based in Súðavík, Iceland, with the accompaniment of a wonderful captain named Barði – he walked us around and told us many stories of his 50 years of service,’ says Meeyebo. “It was really a nice place with many helpful people like Jakub, who helped us to arrange everything and as well as being the best forklift operator on the planet!”
With the help of friends Martyna and Joanna as directors and editors, Meeyebo’s piece was filmed using several cameras and a drone, while Meeyebo provided the audio layer. “We recorded several audio takes during filming, mostly improvised. We chose the best one and based the story on it.”
Choosing Peak and Tracks to work with was a no-brainer for Meeyebo. “I just love them both! I've been using Circuit since the beginning,” he recalls. “I'm not good at creating tracks, but I love to jam, and Circuit is the fastest way to achieve what you want on the fly. And Peak is just an amazing and powerful synth. You can create whatever you want, it works with this one, it's amazing.”
“With the first Circuit, I was using it with Ableton Live. I love the workflow of Circuit, but I also had a few synthesizers, and I needed something to control them. With Circuit Tracks and Peak I am more flexible with the setup. I kept a minimal setup thanks to the Peak and Tracks helped me to control external gear.”
Meeyebo’s introduction to music started when he began playing guitar as a teenager. Years later, discovering electronic music opened a new world to him. “Everything just flipped – I started a job in a local music store, had access to the instruments. I learned how to use Ableton and started building the first setup. I haven't had a lot of gear in my life, but I've collected a few boxes and I'm really happy with them.”
Meeyebo notes that his musical journey has been shaped by the people he met along the way. “The people that I've met helped me to find myself in music. I'm still a musician using acoustic instruments, but I love to program synthesizers and sequencers as well. I'm trying to use all the equipment to play as a one organism.”
Describing his musical style as ‘artistic crisis’, Meeyebo focuses on having fun with his equipment while making music, with many jams uploaded to his YouTube. “I’m just trying to create something like a little story on the fly to entertain people during my sets, but everything was around Techno.”
As the winner of a full suite of Novation instruments to experiment with, the potential for Meeyebo to continue having fun and experimenting with equipment grows and gives him new creative possibilities.
“I'll try to go with the flow, and I'll be more motivated to create some nice things! I hope that Icelandic nature will be helpful to create something unique!”
Find Meeyebo on Instagram, Facebook, SoundCloud and YouTube.