Producer and composer Daskal says that he started on his musical path in a pretty traditional way.
"I began playing piano at eight years old, and through middle and high school I played in a few bands," Daskal says. "In the rehearsal room I was always full of ideas, and I loved the thrill of seeing them come to life and actually move an audience. When I was 15, I fell in love with electronic music. It felt like magic — something I needed to touch and understand. At 17, I bought my first synthesizer and started teaching myself how to recreate the sounds that blew my mind in songs at that time (Weather Report, Radiohead, Justice, James Blake, Boards Of Canada, Biggie, Warren G, Snoop Dogg, Rihanna and more).The way music became truly serious for me is a bit heavier. I always knew I’d be a musician — I thought I’d become a classical or jazz pianist. Shortly after being accepted to The New School, I started experiencing intense pain in my upper body that prevented me from practicing. A few years later, doctors diagnosed it as fibromyalgia.Instead of practicing piano, I found myself sitting with Ableton, drifting into this magical world of beats and textures. It felt like touching the same magic — just through a different door. I’ve been there ever since.?
Daskal refers to his sound as "Melanctronic."
"[It's] a blend of melancholic and electronic," he says. "It’s emotional but optimistic, meditative, and ethereal."
His latest release is the OD album.
"OD was born out of a two-week creative burst with producer Dori Sadovnic of the almighty Red Axes," he says. "I knew I wanted to shift gears from my previous releases. Until now, I’ve explored a lot of ambient territory — synths and piano-driven music. This time, I wanted to build a bridge from that intimate ambient world into the club, in a way that feels natural and unforced.I was aiming for groove — but without losing the harmonic depth and the ethereal atmosphere. It’s still very much a classic Melanctronic album."
As for gear: "The album features Prophet-6, Minimoog, Nord Wave, Prophet X, Juno-106, MicroBrute, Fender Rhodes Mark II, Wurlitzer, Buchla Music Easel, a ’60s Mellotron, Jupiter-8, Perkons HD-01, and Analog Rytm MKII.We mixed the album through an RFZ MP-4084 desk from 1982."
Looking ahead, Daskal has plenty planned for 2026.
"The full album drops in early March," he says. "I’m planning to tour and perform as much as possible — and, of course, start working on the next record."
