The Philosophy of Personalization: The MAD Series
Since I was a teenager, I began decorating my world like anyone else—covering notebook covers with clippings, prints, and drawings. Today, more than fifteen years later, modifying my belongings has become a necessity. When I own something meaningful, I only feel it is truly mine once I have altered it, even if only through a small, seemingly insignificant detail.
The Need to Belong
Every notebook or journal I own has its own unique cover. Every shirt or jacket has at least one swapped button. My operating systems are minimalist, stripped down and rebuilt for my specific use. This philosophy extends to every instrument and peripheral I own.
At first, it was just a bit of paint on replaceable parts. But as the years passed, as depression deepened, so did the need to take ownership of my environment. What began as decoration evolved into creation: carving new cavities, modifying circuits, cannibalizing components from vintage appliances, and incorporating materials often considered “esoteric” but which are actually fundamental to modern life—like quartz. However, instead of using industrial synthetic crystals, I use raw, imperfectly fragmented quartz, heavy with emotional weight.
From Modification to Creation
At the peak of this journey lies self-creation: building an instrument from scratch using 100% recycled materials and family heirlooms that spent decades gathering dust in dark corners. It is a process of forcing mathematics to fit into found objects, resulting in a sound that is unique and perhaps—no, definitely—peculiar.
The MAD Series
This is how the MAD Series was born. These are modified instruments, saturated with history and decades of existence. They are crafted from the soul, from the shadows of a mind navigating depression.
Each piece represents weeks, months, or even years of: Accumulated modifications and intricate soldering, hand-carved woodwork and custom fitting.
The physical toll of creation:
Every cut, every burn, and every nail has left a mark on me, just as I have left mine on them.