Originally from Liverpool, England, Matthew Barnes produces intricate soundscapes under the name Forest Swords. The former visual artist turned electronic musician creates his music from a highly visual background. His debut LP Engravings was released in August 2013 to critical acclaim, garnering a “Best New Music‰” from Pitchfork. WVAU recently sat down with Barnes before his live show with How To Dress Well at the U Street Music Hall.

What got you started in electronic music?

Matthew Barnes: I was a graphic designer, and I lost my job about four or five years ago. So I spent a lot of time at home, just sort of playing around with software on my computer. At that point I was really getting into electronic music, and I was getting into understanding sort of textures and sounds. So I was just making this music and these songs with no plans for an EP or an album. I made them purely for my own enjoyment and to learn something. It was just a slow and gradual process, and then all of a sudden I‰’d had an EP‰’s worth of songs.

Where do you find your creative inspiration?

MB: My inspiration doesn‰’t come from other music really. It comes from things like design and art, rather than from music itself. I find it really exciting to be sparked off by an idea that‰’s not music. I might go to an art gallery and see a painting, and there will be a color that is quite an interesting facet. So then I‰’ll think about that and try to reflect that in music, rather than listening to a band and hearing a cool sound and saying, “I‰’ll rip that off and use this to my own gain.‰” That doesn‰’t really interest me very much. It‰’s all about sparking off an idea that is perhaps is unexpected.

How do you feel about the current state of electronic music?

MB: I think the current state of electronic music is actually really healthy. With the access to cheap software and a huge online presence of electronic music in blogs and magazines, I think that means that more and more people are interested in it. There‰’s a lot more of an audience for it that there was, especially in America. There‰’s a lot more curiosity about it than there was maybe five years ago. That‰’s exciting for me, because as an electronic music it‰’s great to have people engage with my music directly. In terms of the wider scale of things, it‰’s really healthy, especially in Britain and the UK and across Europe.

You recently played at South by Southwest. How was the festival as a whole?

MB: South by Southwest is a real experience, it‰’s like nothing you‰’ve ever seen before. It‰’s one of those places that I never planned to go to, but when the opportunity arose, I thought, I‰’ll give it a go and see what it‰’s like. It‰’s very busy, it‰’s very hectic, but there‰’s a really positive energy about the whole place. There‰’s a good vibe to it because everyone is there for the same reason. The unfortunate about it nowadays is that it feels a bit corporate and music seems like a secondary element compared to the brands involved. But I think deep down, there‰’s still a huge audience there of people who are really curious about seeing new bands and new acts.

In your creative process, what kinds of soundscapes are you trying to create for your listener?

MB: What I try to achieve is to have people immersed in something. You try to create a miniature world for people to engage with and drop into. It‰’s not an easy thing to do and it takes a long time, but for people to emotionally connect with something they have to feel like they are part of that world.

How has touring with How To Dress Well been?

MB: The tour has been a lot of fun. I‰’m really good friends with Tom [Krell], we‰’ve known each other for a few years. I worked on his last record as well, and we‰’ve known each other for a while so it felt like a good fit for us. We both make very different music but there‰’s an interesting crossover in the things that we enjoy. The audiences have been absolutely amazing.

How do you go about finding new music to enjoy outside of your creative process?

MB: It‰’s quite difficult because I don‰’t really listen to that much music. I listen to a lot of radio and rap radio. I think there‰’s just so much music now, there‰’s so much out there online and it‰’s actually very difficult to filter the good things through. I like almost being force-fed things and discovering things that way, it‰’s quite an easy entry point. Also a lot of word-of-mouth with friends through Facebook and Twitter, and I find recommendations really satisfying.

Your live performances have been really celebrated. What are you trying to perform for the audience in your live show?

MB: It has to feel like a full experience. I don‰’t want it to just be a guy behind a laptop, so I have live visuals, and I have a bass player who plays with me. They add different elements to it, so it‰’s not just a normal electronic show which people see. I want people to really engage with it on quite a physical level, and a different level than they would normally. I design the visuals and I collaborate with a filmmaker in Liverpool who‰’s a good friend of mine. I‰’m really pleased with the way it looks.

What are your top three albums of all time?

MB: The top three albums of all time would be Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, Vespertine by Bj̦rk and probably Donuts by J Dilla.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be?

MB: The artist I would collaborate with would be Bj̦rk. I think she‰’s so forward-thinking and exciting, and she‰’s consistently pushing boundaries. I would absolutely love to get in the studio and try things out. I‰’m really attracted to female voices, there‰’s something incredibly powerful and emotional about them. I think that would be really cool.