Active since 2010, it’s hard to believe that electronic producer What So Not aka Emoh Instead has yet to release an album.
With four EPs to his name including 2016's widely-praised ‘Divide & Conquer’, What So Not is ready to unleash his debut album ‘Not All The Beautiful Things’.
Fans can expect many surprises including the incredible line-up of collaborators featured (Daniel Johns, Toto, Evergreen Oak).
Emoh says the creation of the album was incredibly exciting. “You don’t have to just produce a single that works for radio and festivals; you can really go outside of that realm and create textures and cinematic moments. That was very exciting for me with this project.”
Emoh worked a lot with Daniel Johns (former frontman of Silverchair) on this album including recent single ‘Be Ok Again’, which Emoh explains is the anchor for the album.
The single was the very first track Emoh not only wrote, but also added his own vocals to. “It was really Daniel Johns that pushed me to do that [add my vocals].
"We worked on a bunch of records and this one sort of sang to him, so he re-sung some of the parts that I had done, encouraged me to leave the more vulnerable verses on there and had some really great wisdom on how to really climax the song and turn it into what it is now.”
Emoh also managed to work with rock legends Toto on the album (after playing their classic hit ‘Africa’ many times over the years) thanks to close friends Skrillex and Chris Morris, who were able to get the rock legends in the studio with Emoh where they created the single ‘We Keep On Running’.
“It was just this crazy, new age way of jamming where I plugged in my computer and the guys plugged in their guitars and mics and we all sorted of jammed.
“By the end of it I had about 100 different takes of all these components together and sort of had to Frankenstein it all together into the song we hear today.”
2017 was quite the year for Emoh having headline festivals such as Listen Out and Ultra Music Festival. Emoh also performed for a third year in a row at Coachella where he was chosen to close one of the main stages explaining that it was a dream come true.
“I was up against Kendrick Lamar; everyone’s sort of half excited that I was closing but also nervous as Kendrick had just dropped his album. But by the end of the set the tent was full; people were spilling out of the sides. It was so exciting to see how many people were so eager.”
Emoh will tour Australia later this year. He is excited to see, for the first time, fans singing along to his own tracks as well as throwing in a few, sneaky, small shows where he will be able to get back to his roots playing in nightclubs.
“It’s always fun to do little club shows, having the freedom to play [any] songs.”
What So Not's debut album, 'Not All The Beautiful Things', is available now.
What So Not Tour Dates
Sat 16 Jun - Metro City (Perth)Fri 22 Jun - HQ (Adelaide)
Sat 23 Jun - Forum Melbourne
Fri 29 Jun - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Sat 30 Jun - Brisbane Showgrounds
