Kormac Goes Deep: New Sounds, Raw Machines and a Return to Solitude
- Undrtone Blog
- Jul 14
- 3 min read
Kormac is no stranger to scale. In recent years, the Dublin-based producer and composer has scored award-winning TV dramas, toured with orchestras, and collaborated with a cast of vocalists, musicians and authors. His past work is expansive, cinematic and layered. But with ‘Down Below’, set to be released 18th July on his new label Always The Sound, he ditches the big setups for something far more raw. Pre-save it here: https://found.ee/kormacdownbelow.
“This time it was just me and the machines,” he says.
Written and recorded alone in his Dublin studio, ‘Down Below’ marks the start of a new run of releases built around modular synths, drum machines, and minimal interference from software. It’s all hardware, unpredictability and instinct.
“I missed the immediacy,” he says. “With orchestral work, you write, chart it, record it, take it back to your studio and only then do you start mixing. With modular gear, I sculpt a sound, record it, and move on. There’s no middle step.”
The track features a vocal from Katie Kim, best known for her work in ØXN alongside Lankum’s Radie Peat. Her voice floats between soft and unsettling, adding a ghostly tension to the mix.
The collaboration wasn’t planned.
“I sampled her track ‘Pause’ just as a placeholder, thinking I’d get someone else to re-record it,” Kormac explains. “But it fit so naturally with the chords and drums I’d written that I felt I had to ask if she’d be open to me using it. Thankfully, she really liked it and was so gracious about it all.”
That tension between beauty and unease was exactly what he was looking for.
“I was drawn to her voice because there’s a contrast there, delicate and sweet, but with a darkness underneath. It reminded me a bit of ‘Pet Sounds’. I loved the idea of placing that over gritty synths and 126bpm drums.”
The tools used to create this new material aren’t exactly standard studio fare. The entire project was built using modular systems, circuit-bent drum machines and samples manipulated into entirely new forms.
“The opening chords are actually made from a tiny bit of radio static,” he says. “I tuned it to a single note, then ran it through the modular rig to stretch it out. That became the foundation of the harmony.”
The result is a track that feels alive, slightly unstable, and totally personal. It’s a long way from his score for Steven Knight’s ‘This Town’, which won two Royal Television Society Awards earlier this year. It’s also a world apart from his massive retrospective live show in Dublin last year, which featured a full orchestra and over 40 performers.
“That show was one of the best nights of my life,” he says. “But after that, I felt like it was the right time to draw a line under that chapter and try something more solitary again. I had this idea for a new AV show, and I wanted to scratch that itch.”
The new live show brings the music into an immersive visual world that Kormac builds himself. Using Resolume, a Prophet 6, modular rig, turntable and controller, he performs both the audio and visuals live from the stage.
“Each track’s visuals are based on still photos or themes I’ve been working with. I glitch the loops, process them heavily and spread them across different screens depending on the venue. I gave it its first test recently, opening for Faithless, and it went well.”
While this setup may seem a departure, Kormac’s earliest years were spent making hip hop beats and DJing, and that DIY approach still runs through everything.
“People would be surprised how much I learned from turntablism and sampling. It’s shaped the way I write film and TV scores. On ‘This Town’, I blended artists like Celeste, Olivia Dean and Gregory Porter into the score using those same techniques.”
That crossover between scoring and production has created a feedback loop.
“I’ve been a lot more productive in writing songs since I started film scoring,” he says. “And at the same time, I bring a lot from my club work and record releases into the world of film and TV. I think that gives my work a unique feel that directors and producers connect with.”
As for what’s next, this is just the beginning.
“There’s some variance in the new material, but everything’s built around the same ingredients: modular synths, tiny samples, arpeggios, and melodies. It’s all quite upbeat and pacey.”
After years of expansive collaboration, ‘Down Below’ shows what happens when Kormac goes inward - just him, the gear, and whatever sounds fall out when you let go of the rules.
Kormac
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