The making of Inward Eye (Greenway) was an exercise in looking back to move forward. While Maryam Qudus was busy crafting Spacemoth’s second LP, she was also digitizing a family collection of home movies. A running VCR was her frequent companion, and she couldn’t help but take in the random images of her younger self flickering across the screen—the kid who once made guitar loops in her bedroom. Decades later, Qudus is still following those same breadcrumbs.
Following Spacemoth’s 2022 debut, No Past No Future, Qudus spent the better part of four years balancing her own creative pursuits with work as a producer/engineer at Tiny Telephone Recording, the Oakland, Calif., studio owned by John Vanderslice. She also took Spacemoth on the road with bigger acts like Tortoise and Speedy Ortiz, and her production work on La Luz’s News Of The Universe led to a touring gig with the band.
Qudus initiated much of what would become Inward Eye on the road with a small synthesizer in her lap. “The moving landscape in the tour van at times felt similar to watching those home videos—these small glimpses of time and beauty rolling by quickly,” says Qudus.
That sense of motion is embodied in the album’s tightly interlocking rhythms, loops and repetition, a formula that nudges Spacemoth’s cosmic psychedelic pop in a more intricate and rhythmic direction. “It was very cinematic to listen to my songs and work on them while the landscape was constantly changing minute to minute,” says Qubus. “I think some of that dreamy, movie-like quality comes through in the music too.”
Qudus kept the cameras rolling in a recent interview with MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland.
What is it about cyclical patterns that fascinates you?
I’ve been making loops since I was a kid after I got my first looping pedal. It’s become a part of my musical DNA to create these short ideas that repeat and interlock. I think about bands like Tortoise or Stereolab, who are such a big influence for me. I love how all the rhythms in the grooves interweave and open up as the song goes on. This was a big driving force for Inward Eye. Philosophically, I also connect loops with time, daily routines, emotional loops in our mind and the cycles of life.
Aside from Tortoise and Stereolab, you’ve cited Can and Kraftwerk as inspirations. What are some other lessons you’ve learned from those artists?
Every part of their records feels intentional. Every moment and idea is well thought out and executed and sounds amazing. I took this lesson with me when I was writing Inward Eye. I always left more space on the songs than I initially wanted. This allowed them to really blossom slowly and left room for me to add ideas intentionally.
“Internet Fantasy” grapples with the distraction and the pull of digital life. How do you navigate the tension between online existence and being present in your own reality?
I think my generation may have been the last to know what it’s like to live without the internet and constant access to a computer. I think about that often. I spent a lot of my childhood staring outside and daydreaming. I think that’s what opened so many creative pathways in my mind and opened me up to music. I try to give myself time to daydream day to day and stay away from the digital world when I can.
As a producer and an engineer, you’ve spend a lot of time helping other artists realize their visions. How different is it to build a world entirely around your own instincts?
The fun thing about creating a world for Spacemoth is that there are no rules and no limits. It’s a playground for musical exploration. I have a lot of creative freedom with the projects I work on, but it comes with the limitations of the style or aesthetic that the artist is going for. With Spacemoth, I’m creating the world. I can make the weirdest sounds, turn things up way too loud and push the boundaries as far as I want to.
Inward Eye keeps returning to the idea that our past selves never truly disappear. Where do you stand with your younger self these days?
I’m living all my childhood dreams: producing records, running my own studio with my husband, Beau Sorenson, touring the world, making the music I’ve always wanted to make. I’m always pinching myself because it feels unreal that my dream is a reality.
See Spacemoth live.
