SHEDDE0D: The New Kid A wants to play

This is the most difficult article/review I have written. Not just because talking about electronic music isn’t exactly my area. But because the kind of homemade music produced by Portuguese Antonio Ordaz – who goes by the name Shedde0d – is of an artistic minimalism that takes a long time to be properly absorbed and understood.

Released in dec/2023, “The new kid” is a concept 10 track album that covers very common sounds from any geek’s youth, those coming from video games. “I think my sound works as a soundtrack to an imaginary movie. In this case, inspired mostly by childhood events in my life”, explains Ordaz, who learned how to create music by himself. Regarding the album title, although it immediately refers to one of Radiohead’s greatest works, it was chosen in another context:

That’s a parallel to how I see myself in the music scene. I am just the new kid in here.

Antonio Ordaz – SHEDDE0D on the album title

2 5 Things about SHEDDE0D

RC – How are you Antonio? From where are you talking about?

AO – Hi Marcos! I am doing fine. Hope you find yourself well too! I am from a semi-rural region in the district of Lisbon, Portugal.

RC – I’m new to this type of instrumental-experimental interesting sound that you make. Tell us how it works and how the album was composed.

AO – I think my sound works as a soundtrack to an imaginary movie. In this case, inspired mostly by childhood events in my life. I don’t have any formal training, I play by ear, and my composition process starts by setting a mood, then playing until I find something that fits the particular story I am trying to evoke. I play mostly with a keyboard/synths, but I experimented with a guitar, harmonica, and cassette tapes, to make this album. When I think I have enough takes, I bring them to the DAW and start layering sounds and see how they work together. That’s when I start having an idea of how the actual song will be structured. Because of my lack of academic knowledge, my whole process works like an exploration, from beggining to end.

RC – Why title the album “The New Kid”? Who exactly are you talking about?

AO – In this not-so-fictional world where I placed the events in my album, there’s this new kid that arrives at a new school and there isn’t a welcoming reception(refer to “The Outsider”, the first track in my album). That’s a parallel to how I see myself in the music scene. I am just the new kid in here. Hence why the album’s title.

RC – The track by track of your album kind of works like a soundtrack, that is, a kind of guide. Where do you get inspiration for composing?

AO – Yes, the album is structured as a story, and each track is a moment in this story. I agree it works as a soundtrack, and that was one of my intentions. My inspiration for composing comes from artists like AMULETS, The Caretaker, Boris, and Melvins. And even though I don’t think my sound reflects it, Yuzo Koshiro, most know for his videogame soundtracks, is a huge influence on my will to make music. The SEGA MegaDrive era of gaming exerts a big influence on my taste, and my main instrument in this album was the MegaFM, by Twisted Electrons, which is a synth with two YM2612 chips inside. That’s the same soundchip inside the MegaDrive. Also, under the radar, is the influence of classical music, and the way I interpret it. I love to listen to these long compositions that don’t usually have a “chorus moment”. That moment you are expecting next. You just listen to it without anticipating anything.

RC – The sound looks like Radiohead. Do you think that the type of sound you produce, that is, non-commercial, reaches the public with more difficulty?

AO – Comparing my music to Radiohead’s is a HUGE compliment! I believe, indeed, that it is hard for my kind of sound to reach the public. It demands close attention, at least in the first few times you listen to the tracks. They are long, and ever evolving. The textures are intricate, and some parts border the noise frontier. There are no drums. The public in general, nowadays, doesn’t stop much to actively listen to music. They want a quick fix, something catchy to distract them from their routines, which is totally valid, and I indulge in that too from time to time. But the concept of my music doesn’t fit those criteria.

Track by track: The New Kid by Shedd0d

This won’t be a conventional “Track by track”… Why? It is impossible to analyze Ordaz’ music in a non-subjective way, given that one quality of his work is precisely to free our imagination. So, this time I decided to write about the first feeling/idea that occurred to me when I pressed play, song by song (bellow).