deepspace

Immersive soundscapes, cosmic storytelling, and a fascination with the shimmer of water – Australian composer Mirko Ruckels better known as deepspace has long been a cartographer of the imagination, building sonic worlds where awe and melancholy hold hands. His latest work, Water Planets (2025, Projekt Records), plunges listeners into the fictional Hydros system: a constellation of aquatic worlds, each haunted by both wonder and human fragility. More than an ambient album, it’s a speculative fable where chance accidents spark galaxies, science fiction doubles as climate allegory, and sequencers bubble like submarine vents.

Across seventeen releases, deepspace has become known for crafting “sound architecture” – pieces that feel less like songs and more like structures you could walk through, swim inside, or dream beneath. In Water Planets, he marries this architectural instinct with a sci-fi narrative of survival, extraction, and reverence, a story that resonates all too sharply with our own planetary predicament.

In this conversation, we explore how autocorrect slips can spark entire albums, why science fiction is sometimes the most honest mirror of reality, and what it means to make music that is at once escapist and confrontational. Think of it as a guided dive into Hydros: oxygen tank optional, sense of wonder required.

Chain D.L.K.: “Water Planets” began with a calendar autocorrect from “water plants” to “water planets”. Do you think chance is often a hidden collaborator in your creative process?

deepspace: Absolutely. Having been creative most of my life, harnessing chance is a big part of creativity for me. I often see musicians throwing away great ideas because they seem to think that if it came by chance, then it can’t be good. This is not true. Humans are quite amazing at superfast cognition if they don’t get in their own way, which is where entirely formed ideas can emerge instantly and with great ease. The reverse is true too – some artists accept anything that they play and don’t develop ideas intentionally. Intention is also very important, and spending time working at a previously unworkable idea can yield dividends. That “width of perception” which encompasses the spectrum of chance and intentionality is what I love about creativity. I love that feeling of openness to ideas. It’s like playing a flute to an invisible cobra. You don’t know if, or how, it will dance or if it will strike, and you can’t use your visual perception to solve the issue. Fishing is another metaphor. You can intentionally put the fishing rod in the water, but you have no idea what sort of fish you will catch. You also don’t know how good the meal you mak e with the fish will taste. The water planets/water plants incident just reminded me of how important openness is.

Chain D.L.K.: The album comes with a detailed sci-fi narrative. Did you write the music to fit the story, or did the story evolve to explain the music?

deepspace: I recently saw a video of David Bowie talking about this idea: what is the order of creation? He said the fact that most artists name their work after they create it suggests that the ideas come first and the story follows. For me, it was a bit of both. After an initial fusion of both, the story and music developed after I had the idea and became increasingly detailed. I sent the initial story idea to my author/labelmate friend Sean, (who will be known by your readers as ambient artist theAdelaidean), and he helped me understand a few logic problems that my initial idea had. After that, I restructured it. I had a seed of a sound in my mind that came with the initial idea however, like a 10-second-long mind ‘demo’ of sounds. I tend to get these at my breakthrough moment. For Water Planets it was the idea of very gentle bubbling sequencers and softness. The opening of the first track exemplifies the thought.

Chain D.L.K.: The narrative frames humanity as both the destroyer and desperate survivor of water. How much of this project is an allegory for our current environmental reality?

deepspace: A lot of it. We do mourn for our earth and most people, taken individually, know that something is wrong and are concerned. However, our systems and those who follow them tend to go in destructive directions. I didn’t want to be too heavy-handed and overly political, but I wanted to focus on the awe and wonder of planets first, and then our ability to change direction and use our technology to save us while protecting these planets when the need is greatest. I think back to 911 and how people lined up around blocks to give blood. That was something that stuck with me and gives me hope for the humans. We tend to band together when things get really bad. With the current administration in the US, it feels like that hope is threatened and power and fascism will rule over our progressive spirits. But I feel the world will prevail together, and we’ll look back at this time as a bad memory. The clock hands will turn.

Chain D.L.K.: The story describes “The Great Quantum Entanglement Disaster”. How do you see the role of science fiction in amplifying awareness of very real climate issues?

deepspace: Science Fiction has always been several steps ahead, looking at what could be: that’s almost the whole function of the genre – to be able to think without constraints through story. Dune by Frank Herbert looked at the possibilities of climate and its effect on planets, Kim Stanley Robinson and the Mars series looks at that too. I also think of writers like Iain M Banks speculating on AI with his Minds, which is basically superintelligence. What was HAL if not AI gone wrong? It’s a profoundly important genre, and now we see innovators following science fiction ideas for future paths. One of the scariest recent developments that disturbs me is people turning away from science. That terrifies me, as it is our best friend as a tool and arguably the only bringer of clarity and understanding in this universe. I love science, and I’m pretty sure that is evident even if just by the titles of the pieces (laughs).

Chain D.L.K.: You’ve created imagined ecosystems on Hydros. Were there particular real-life aquatic environments that inspired your sonic depictions?

deepspace: I visited the Ningaloo reef in Western Australia last year, and that had a huge influence. I imagined being on another planet as we cruised around the area behind the big breakers on the reef. It was otherworldly. We saw and swam with whale sharks, too, which was just mind-altering. The ideas of the serene planets like Bathys and Hydraxis in the Hydros system were directly influenced by that experience. Also, I went to the Great Barrier Reef a couple of years ago, which is another stunning alien-like environment. Crystal blue water with sand, and little reef sharks checking us out like curious cats, as we snorkelled. That sort of beauty just goes in deep.

Chain D.L.K.: Many listeners describe your work as “sound architecture”. How do you sculpt pieces to feel like physical spaces rather than just sequences of notes?

deepspace: I get very emotional about sound- and I love harmony deeply. I’m always searching for beautiful chords, progressions, and the far-away dream-sounds that I’ve yearned for since being little and hearing distant sounds, like planes, trains, lawn mowers, and church bells. I melt when I hear church bells. So, I suppose I have become an architect of such environments, and I love building them from the ground up.

Chain D.L.K.: The first half of “Water Planets” feels serene and immersive, while the second half turns toward technology and extraction. How did you approach creating that contrast sonically?

deepspace: The idea of the machines in the second half came after the initial pieces about the planets. I thought it was a cool idea. My brother Jeremy once mentioned that I should make an album about abandoned spaceships (which I may still do), so it was only a short leap to making music that portrayed non-abandoned ones. I liked the positive feeling of those pieces. Some ship pieces sound a bit impish and almost cute, and others sound big and epic. I imagined the cantankerous movements of some machines, and then the smooth computery movement of others. It was fun to make lots of detailed little rhythms, and I used some digital voices too on those tracks, which was also very fun. You do hear my actual speaking voice on Journal from Ondine, though, which is a first! That Aussie accent… crikey!

Chain D.L.K.: What instruments, synths, or tools were central in shaping this aquatic soundworld?

deepspace: I use Reason 12 as my DAW, mostly soft synths, like Arturia, Universal Audio, Native Instruments, and Omnisphere. I also use a Prophet 8 synth and my Stratocaster, which I love layering into most things. My partner Diana provided the voice-overs in the first track, which she was fabulous at. My daughter Pixie (who is 11 and amazingly talented) provided the ethereal vocals on quite a few tracks. When you hear a choral sound, it’s her. She sings in an awesome choir now called Birralee Voices. I focused on sequencers a lot on this album and used a lot of stacked arpeggiators that kind of bubble into thousands of notes. That was influenced by an ambient artist called Telomere, who is a complete genius. I collaborated with him once, and he told me how he creates those cool modular arpeggios covered with reverb, and I followed his instructions.

Chain D.L.K.: Do you begin a piece with a sound in mind (like a ripple, a current, or a machine hum), or do you let experimentation guide you?

deepspace: Both. Sometimes I love feeling my way in the dark. Other times I’ll write a progression, then write something that matches that. I try not to always do the same thing. Sometimes, I try to find the right colour or mood that is playing in little loops in my head. It was the same on Neon Blue Utopia – there was a distinct sound that I had to reach. I’m grateful for those moments because it creates great cohesion and a sense of world-building for the album.

Chain D.L.K.: Your music often balances warmth and melancholy. Do you consciously seek that tension, or is it an instinctive outcome of your process?

deepspace: People have told me that everything I write sounds melancholy. I don’t know why. I think I’m attracted to sounds that are gentle and melancholy, so I’d go with instinctual on that one!

Chain D.L.K.: “Water Planets” is your fifth release with Projekt. What do you feel this label context adds to your artistic journey?

deepspace: I am a Projekt fanboy. I’ve been a huge fan since I heard Vidna Obmana’s The River of Appearance. I lost my mind when I heard that and then discovered Steve Roach, of course. So it was incredibly humbling to be accepted onto the label of my heroes. Sam, the label owner, is a phenomenon. He works so hard and has built that label from the ground and literally nothing can stop him. What working with Sam and Shea from Projekt added to my journey was the ability to find my ‘lane’. When you are next to someone like Steve Roach, you go “ok, well, I can’t compete with that, so I need to really go within and find my voice.” That really happened properly with The Black Orchid Galaxies I feel. Every release since then, I feel like my sound is becoming more distinct, and I found myself bringing back things that I had abandoned earlier, because I felt like I needed to “sound-like-an-ambient-artist-on-Projekt”. Now I don’t do that, and I’m following my excitement again.

Chain D.L.K.: With seventeen albums behind you, where does “Water Planets” sit in the arc of deepspace – an evolution, a culmination, or a new departure?

deepspace: It feels like an evolution of what started with Black Orchid Galaxies, but that was building slowly from the start. To create worlds, as that’s what I seem to do without even thinking about it. I want to invite the listener into something and have them experience a feeling similar to what I experience. Even though I know ultimately, they will experience something unique. I look back at the first album, The Barometric Sea, from back in 2007, and I was trying to suggest a place there too. It has just taken me a while to be confident enough to make the world more realised and more expansive. I’m already working on the next one, which is another world and will come with a full digital gamebook that I am writing now! I don’t want to just make albums, I want to make experiences.

Chain D.L.K.: You’ve been compared to artists like Pete Namlook and Carbon Based Lifeforms. Do you embrace those comparisons, or do you prefer listeners to approach your work without reference points?

deepspace: I know that I can’t control the listener and what they compare it to. But I’m honored to be compared with the artists that come up. Pete Namlook was a wonderful composer, and I listened to a lot of his releases, so his influence is definitely there, especially in the bass!

Chain D.L.K.: Does your background in psychology (if still relevant) influence how you construct music designed for immersive listening?

deepspace: As psychology teaches, you are changed by every interaction, so that would mean yes. My songwriting days influence me when I construct music. I don’t like to overwhelm the listener, and I don’t really like very harsh or high sounds, and I like to build in variety and then to at other times, create a sense of hypnosis through certain harmonic moves. I see it as a real balancing game.

Chain D.L.K.: How much of “Water Planets” is escapism for you, and how much is confrontation with human fragility?

deepspace: Escapism first, confrontation second. I love music that makes me excited, and I tend to take that over experimental art. I always write what I would love to listen to, and I am a sucker for beauty, the surreal, and the sublime.

Chain D.L.K.: Do you personally imagine visiting Hydros – or is the album more about longing for a place we’ll never reach?

deepspace: I would love to visit Hydros, and I kind of did when I made the album. Yes, there is always longing there too – a love letter to the fantastic. That’s why I do this – I love the sense of awe that we can reach in our minds.

Chain D.L.K.: Water is often associated with memory and emotion. What personal associations does water hold for you?

deepspace: Oh yes. Great question. I’ve always had surreal dreams about water. Dreams where I can see through the water at thousands of fish, from tiny to vast. I love these dreams. They originate from when I used to explore Moreton Bay as a child with my dad. Other dreams feature gigantic waves coming from the sea, breaking on the shore, and destroying everything. Water is often viewed as a deeply emotional entity, and I explored this concept in my World Ocean Atlas project, which marked my first attempt at creating an aquatic album.

Chain D.L.K.: The Hydros system in your story has six planets. Could future albums explore each one individually, like chapters?

deepspace: That’s a cool idea! Definitely will consider it now after that question!

Chain D.L.K.: Technology in your narrative is presented as both the cause of collapse and the possible saviour. Do you think our real-world relationship with technology is just as ambivalent?

deepspace: Right now, the AI boom is definitely headed in that direction. People seem to be in two camps: that AI will destroy the world or that AI will create a utopia, with some in the middle. Humans tend to fear change, and for every technological paradigm shift, we tend to explore the entire continuum of possibilities, which is probably a good thing, really.

Chain D.L.K.: Finally, if you could send “Water Planets” out into the cosmos as a message in a bottle, what would you hope an alien civilization would understand about us from listening?

deepspace: That we were able to redeem some of our worst tendencies as a species. And maybe technological advancement, if used the right way, can help a species realise their best and most sustainable selves. I’d also send a warning about the late stage effects of any financial system, and also send them some music from the Beatles, Cocteau Twins, Debussy, and a copy of Structures from Silence.

Visit deepspace on the web:




https://deepspace1.bandcamp.com/