Pushing out the boundaries with jazz electronica fusion

It is not overstating it to describe Galway native Aengus Hackett as one of the most proficient jazz guitarists in the country. His work with post-rock band Zinc, as well as a host of other projects, has seen him take huge strides as both a songwriter and a producer over the course of the last decade.

Now, with a wealth of ability and industry experience, Aengus has taken on a new direction with his music.

On May 21, under the moniker of Penji, Aengus released an eponymous four-track EP.

In doing so, the Galway man has realised a lifelong passion for electronic music. Penji incorporates elements of the jazz guitar with which Aengus is usually associated but it also brings to light his ability as a beatmaker and a composer of electronica.

“I played jazz and studied it for years but I always had a passion for electronic music,” Aengus recalls.

“I suppose with my approach to making music, I would take a sort of improvisational approach really just seeing where equipment can take you through guitar pedals and all of that kind of stuff. I would have a very free approach to composing and that.

“It wasn’t really intentionally trying to bridge a gap [between jazz and electronic music] but I think my knowledge in terms of the jazz approach definitely informed it.

“I used to be in a band called Zinc and that was more like a post rock band. Our tunes were always written through free improv so it was a very free approach but the style wasn’t jazz – it was totally different.

“It’s kind of a similar approach to this... The aesthetic is very different to jazz but the approach is almost the same.”

While he was afforded plenty of freedom with Zinc, Aengus has enjoyed having total creative control on this Penji project.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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