Multi-instrumentalist Hisham Duhad’s RIŽIK project is a live performance exploration of the space between electronic worlds and human emotions, where precision meets imperfection in real time.
Blending field recordings, vocals and layered instrumentation, the resulting tracks are raw and ethereal, inviting listeners to relax and connect with our surroundings.
Tactile Soundscapes
Inner Space Ambient
Noir Electronica
Sources artists on influences, creative roots, inspirations, rituals and their releases on the label.
Photography by: Hisham Dahud
Words by: Jamie Collins-Adams
RIŽIK talks about playing music the way long-distance runners talk about a runner’s high, a transcendent moment where body and instinct align to make the head fizz. In the studio he’s chasing the same feeling, something electric and unrepeatable where everything clicks. “When you play live you have lightning moments,” he says. “You can’t reproduce those in a studio, it’s like describing what lightning is to someone versus seeing it yourself.”
That image sits squarely at the heart of his new EP ‘Through The Dark’, a record that is about making music your calling, or central purpose. A lifelong musician, RIŽIK spent years on the inside of the industry, working supportive and strategic roles that kept him close to sound (and gave him some great anecdotes about working with Richie Hawtin), but removed from making it for himself. ⬤
“Unknowns can be a good thing, I’m not sure anyone has solid answers.”
‘Through The Dark’ marks a way out, feeling without overthinking and creating for the joy, the musician’s high that can’t really be explained. “I pull, I draw from the mystery. I draw from this unknown,” he says. “I hate solid answers. I don’t want those.” Citing influences for the record we go through everything from early progressive Trance music like Sasha to Hawtin, metal bands like Opeth and Hollywood composers such as Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL). Hugely differing in output but artists who have defiantly done things their own way.
The resistance to certainty has deep roots. Growing up as the only Palestinian student at an all-Catholic school, RIŽIK found himself drawn into theological debates (and kicking ass playing drums), fascinated less by doctrine than by the vast, unanswerable questions underneath. The same comfort with mystery informs both his spirituality and creative process, something to move with rather than define. ⬤
“When you’re writing, there is a lightning moment when you know it works.”
‘The music industry can be corruptive to your artistry. You have to return to what is in your heart.“
In practical terms, that means a ‘kinetic’ approach to writing. Guided more by feel than theory, RIŽIK built a new rig of synths (‘The Machine’) for this release, to fully immerse in the flow state and explore “the dark”, surrounded by hardware and cables. “Half the time I couldn’t tell you what key I’m in,” he laughs. “It’s like navigating through the dark and letting the track show me where it wants to go.”
The record isn’t just about exploring calming states, or taking listeners to transcendent moments but also about encouraging others to follow their inner spark, chase their creative highs and live with authenticity glued to their heart, even when it’s scary to do so. ‘Through The Dark’ is about being alive and surrendering control, just long enough to encounter something bigger than ourselves. In a world where everything is branded and strategised to perfection, it’s a record for embracing the messy unknown, lit by the moments of lightning. ⬤
Multi-instrumentalist Hisham Dahud’s RIŽIK project is a live performance exploration of the space between electronic worlds and human emotions, where precision meets imperfection in real time.
Performing with a custom-built rig of analog synths, RIŽIK shapes sound in real time, taming machines to extract emotion from their circuitry. Every pulse, tone, flaw and modulation is shaped by touch, embracing fragility as the essence of authenticity.
With a background as a live drummer for metal bands and neoclassical composition, RIŽIK channels the rawness of those worlds into electronic forms that feel both intimate and immense. Performances blur the line between control and surrender, with evolving worlds that breathe, react and transform moment to moment.
‘Through The Dark’ sees RIŽIK crafting quiet, introspective music for emotional release while chasing “lightning moments” of inspiration. Recorded live with an immersive hardware setup, the EP is a transcendental exploration that draws into moments of surrender.