I'm an electronic musician and these are some texts about me and my music. It might seem a bit self-centered to have a whole book about "yourself", but in the last years I had written quite some texts about the thoughts and concepts behind my music, so it seemed a good idea to put them up in a collection.
Some texts are about music theory. Some are background information about my tracks or releases. Some texts are about politics. And some personal stories. If this is interesting to you, enjoy the read.
Find more info about my actual music at:
https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/
https://www.discogs.com/artist/22777-Low-Entropy
https://www.facebook.com/lowentropycore/
Monday, January 20, 2020
My Progression In Music
When I started doing music in 1997, I was interested in Experimental Hardcore, as it was done on labels such as Fischkopf, Praxis, or some releases on Digital Hardcore Recordings (especially Ec8or). I was also interested in two styles that just began to emerge: Speedcore and Breakcore. So the first tracks I produced were in these styles. A very early track by me - Adrenaline Junkie - was an 800 BPM Speedcore track that was later the first track by me that which released on vinyl (on the Biophilia Allstars LP in 1998, when tracks with such speed were still very rare). So this was my first phase of doing music, and tracks from that era for example ended up on my Blut EP or the Widerstand LP.
My conception of music thoroughly changed when Somatic Responses send me a copy of one of their demo cassettes in late 1998. That kind of music just blew me away. What I noted was that there was not only a focus on noise and distortion, but also on intricate melodies. So I decided to leave the pure "bang bang" Speedcore and noise-centered Breakcore behind, and create music with attention to melodies and atmosphere too. I called this type of music "Soundscape" - the idea that there is music that makes you imagine a futuristic, alien or dystopic landscape in your mind while you were listening to the ambience and mood of the tracks. This was my main focus for a while, and results of this can be listened to on my Praxis EP or the "c8.com demo CD-R" that has been re-released digitally a while ago.
I had left Speedcore behind for a few years, partly because I didn't like the direction the German Speedcore scene had taken. But somewhen after the year 2000 I noticed that things had changed again. People were embracing the noisy, french label (Anticore, Sans Pitie...) inspired Speedcore I was loving (and producing) 5 years ago. So I decided to go on the Speedcore road was once more and produced a lot of tracks in that vein again. This also led to me being booked for a lot of parties in Germany, and a lot of tracks were produced with a live-setting in mind. Because I was more focused on playing gigs than getting my tracks released on a label, stuff from that period was at first not released, but I did so later digitally (on my bandcamp) and some tracks actually found their way to vinyl around 10 years later (Acid 8, Kick... check discogs for them). Around the same time that I started getting back to Speedcore, I also began to become very interested in Techno, Acid and Oldschool sounds - a style I had rejected during my "Experimental Hardcore" years, as I saw it as music "of the past" - but it was now becoming the future again. This led to the creation of tracks like Urban Uprising or Back To The Oldschool, released on the Acid Massacre EP. I was also becoming more and more interested in Doomcore and Doomtechno (a style that, unlike Oldschool etc, I had loved the years before too), especially the stuff that was done on labels like PCP and Things To Come. My own productions in a Doomcore style were first released on the Emerald Planet EP in 2005. There was a slight detour in 2004, when I did a "Soundscape Breakcore" album for Praxis that was planned to be released on Vinyl and CD, but, due to some complicated releases (on my part), was first released in 2018, digitally (the "Malfunction" album).
Then came my long break from the Hardcore scene (and producing music) which lasted until 2008. When I got back, I was very interested in Techno once more, especially Detroit type Techno, but also generally Acid, Techno and House sounds from the late 80s to the early 90s. Also my interest in Doomcore was growing once more. So from now on I mostly produced Doomcore with a focus on a Techno "groove" or theme. The results of this phase of doing music was released on many netlabels around the world. At the same time I was also doing Speedcore now and then, usually with an "Oldschool Speedcore" flavor.
My Techno love didn't wane, but I was also becoming very much infatuated with New Wave sounds, Post-Punk, Goth, Indie Rock... I was especially loving the focus on melody these genres have, with very special, emotional, bittersweet melodies and harmonies (music with focus on "melody" was, after all, a heavy influence during my "Soundscape" era already).
My production then shifted once more to melody and mood as the central theme of my tracks; the Techno influence didn't go away but it now had to play together with the melodic aspects of the track. These tracks, again, were released on a lot of netlabels.
So this was (is) my progression in music. I'm not sure where the journey will lead to next. Lately I've become more interested in Experimental sounds once more... so things become a bit like a circle, maybe? We will see where the road leads to.
My conception of music thoroughly changed when Somatic Responses send me a copy of one of their demo cassettes in late 1998. That kind of music just blew me away. What I noted was that there was not only a focus on noise and distortion, but also on intricate melodies. So I decided to leave the pure "bang bang" Speedcore and noise-centered Breakcore behind, and create music with attention to melodies and atmosphere too. I called this type of music "Soundscape" - the idea that there is music that makes you imagine a futuristic, alien or dystopic landscape in your mind while you were listening to the ambience and mood of the tracks. This was my main focus for a while, and results of this can be listened to on my Praxis EP or the "c8.com demo CD-R" that has been re-released digitally a while ago.
I had left Speedcore behind for a few years, partly because I didn't like the direction the German Speedcore scene had taken. But somewhen after the year 2000 I noticed that things had changed again. People were embracing the noisy, french label (Anticore, Sans Pitie...) inspired Speedcore I was loving (and producing) 5 years ago. So I decided to go on the Speedcore road was once more and produced a lot of tracks in that vein again. This also led to me being booked for a lot of parties in Germany, and a lot of tracks were produced with a live-setting in mind. Because I was more focused on playing gigs than getting my tracks released on a label, stuff from that period was at first not released, but I did so later digitally (on my bandcamp) and some tracks actually found their way to vinyl around 10 years later (Acid 8, Kick... check discogs for them). Around the same time that I started getting back to Speedcore, I also began to become very interested in Techno, Acid and Oldschool sounds - a style I had rejected during my "Experimental Hardcore" years, as I saw it as music "of the past" - but it was now becoming the future again. This led to the creation of tracks like Urban Uprising or Back To The Oldschool, released on the Acid Massacre EP. I was also becoming more and more interested in Doomcore and Doomtechno (a style that, unlike Oldschool etc, I had loved the years before too), especially the stuff that was done on labels like PCP and Things To Come. My own productions in a Doomcore style were first released on the Emerald Planet EP in 2005. There was a slight detour in 2004, when I did a "Soundscape Breakcore" album for Praxis that was planned to be released on Vinyl and CD, but, due to some complicated releases (on my part), was first released in 2018, digitally (the "Malfunction" album).
Then came my long break from the Hardcore scene (and producing music) which lasted until 2008. When I got back, I was very interested in Techno once more, especially Detroit type Techno, but also generally Acid, Techno and House sounds from the late 80s to the early 90s. Also my interest in Doomcore was growing once more. So from now on I mostly produced Doomcore with a focus on a Techno "groove" or theme. The results of this phase of doing music was released on many netlabels around the world. At the same time I was also doing Speedcore now and then, usually with an "Oldschool Speedcore" flavor.
My Techno love didn't wane, but I was also becoming very much infatuated with New Wave sounds, Post-Punk, Goth, Indie Rock... I was especially loving the focus on melody these genres have, with very special, emotional, bittersweet melodies and harmonies (music with focus on "melody" was, after all, a heavy influence during my "Soundscape" era already).
My production then shifted once more to melody and mood as the central theme of my tracks; the Techno influence didn't go away but it now had to play together with the melodic aspects of the track. These tracks, again, were released on a lot of netlabels.
So this was (is) my progression in music. I'm not sure where the journey will lead to next. Lately I've become more interested in Experimental sounds once more... so things become a bit like a circle, maybe? We will see where the road leads to.
Five Phases Of Doing Music
There are / were 5 phases of doing music for me. When I started, I tried to make "Experimental Hardcore", i.e. using Speedcore, Breakcore stuff with avant-garde ideas and art in general. That stuff ended up on my Blut and Widerstand 12"s.
The second part was when I was influenced by the likes of Somatic Responses, Senical, The Joker... what I aimed at was basically trying to do a movie-score like sound with a big focus on ambiance and feelings... while still using Hardcore beats and methods. Turned out non-4/4 beats felt best for this approach. These tracks ended up on my Praxis 12" and the digital album in 2018. The third phase was me getting addicted to Techno, Rave, Oldschool sounds and I tried music for the dancefloor with a rhythmic groove and sounds, but still "Hardcore". That music ended up on my Black Monolith 12"s. After a 4 year break in producing I picked up right there and got even more into Techno and forward-pushing, hypnotic music, and this influenced my own tracks even more. This stuff ended up on Zuur and many other labels.
Then came the phase when I got really into New Wave, Gothic, Post-Punk and other music that focuses heavily on melodies and dark harmonies. I tried to make melody-centered music then and these sounds are on the releases I made in the last years. And right now I'm in my fifth phase, where I don't really have any such "beacons" to navigate by and just focus on the sound and the ideas, while trying to combine ideas from the previous phases into something new. This sound is for example on my Doomcore Initiative and Blackened Hardware releases.
The second part was when I was influenced by the likes of Somatic Responses, Senical, The Joker... what I aimed at was basically trying to do a movie-score like sound with a big focus on ambiance and feelings... while still using Hardcore beats and methods. Turned out non-4/4 beats felt best for this approach. These tracks ended up on my Praxis 12" and the digital album in 2018. The third phase was me getting addicted to Techno, Rave, Oldschool sounds and I tried music for the dancefloor with a rhythmic groove and sounds, but still "Hardcore". That music ended up on my Black Monolith 12"s. After a 4 year break in producing I picked up right there and got even more into Techno and forward-pushing, hypnotic music, and this influenced my own tracks even more. This stuff ended up on Zuur and many other labels.
Then came the phase when I got really into New Wave, Gothic, Post-Punk and other music that focuses heavily on melodies and dark harmonies. I tried to make melody-centered music then and these sounds are on the releases I made in the last years. And right now I'm in my fifth phase, where I don't really have any such "beacons" to navigate by and just focus on the sound and the ideas, while trying to combine ideas from the previous phases into something new. This sound is for example on my Doomcore Initiative and Blackened Hardware releases.
Producing Durations
How long does it take me to work on a track?
Well, when doing tracks, there are two phases for me. First, the planning phase. Before working on a track, I make a detailed and often complete blueprint for the track in my head. The general idea and concept of the track, what synths to use, what kind of drums, samples, down to the percussion and the structure and patterns of that track. This often builds on an idea for a track i have suddenly, for example while taking a walk or cooking or watching a movie or anything else. I usually have the "complete" track in my head within seconds. In other cases, I have an idea for a track (usually a more "general" idea) and keep it, and only add more detailed layers to it later.
This then can span a long amount of time, I often add on ideas of tracks I had 1, 2, 5, or 20 years ago. Sometimes I have a track in my head for a decade before putting it down to actual creation. As I got older I got to diving faster into the past, and have made tracks that built on ideas I had in my early childhood for example.
So, there is a lot of work and especially a lot of time involved in creating tracks for me.
I have the track planned in my head. What now? Actually creating it. What happens then is between two extremes. Sometimes I create the track just as it is in my head - even though it of course sounds different when actually doing the melodies and patterns and structures, which sometimes has interesting results. But most often, when producing the track I get new ideas, and change the track then according to them. It's a matter of "going with the flow". I arrived at the point where I don't follow any notion of how the track "has to be" anymore - it can sound any way it can while producing it. Sometimes the end result is the complete opposite of how I intended the track to be (for example planning a Speedcore track and ending up with producing a Slowcore track). This "producing" part is usually very quick and fast and if I have planned the tracks thoroughly in my head already, I for example can produce a lot of tracks in just one weekend or even one night.
That the tracks change while producing doesn't mean I "discard" the ideas and planning then. It's more a marriage of sonic idea and actual production. A dualism that is complex and can be hard to navigate but it's what I focus on by now.
Well, when doing tracks, there are two phases for me. First, the planning phase. Before working on a track, I make a detailed and often complete blueprint for the track in my head. The general idea and concept of the track, what synths to use, what kind of drums, samples, down to the percussion and the structure and patterns of that track. This often builds on an idea for a track i have suddenly, for example while taking a walk or cooking or watching a movie or anything else. I usually have the "complete" track in my head within seconds. In other cases, I have an idea for a track (usually a more "general" idea) and keep it, and only add more detailed layers to it later.
This then can span a long amount of time, I often add on ideas of tracks I had 1, 2, 5, or 20 years ago. Sometimes I have a track in my head for a decade before putting it down to actual creation. As I got older I got to diving faster into the past, and have made tracks that built on ideas I had in my early childhood for example.
So, there is a lot of work and especially a lot of time involved in creating tracks for me.
I have the track planned in my head. What now? Actually creating it. What happens then is between two extremes. Sometimes I create the track just as it is in my head - even though it of course sounds different when actually doing the melodies and patterns and structures, which sometimes has interesting results. But most often, when producing the track I get new ideas, and change the track then according to them. It's a matter of "going with the flow". I arrived at the point where I don't follow any notion of how the track "has to be" anymore - it can sound any way it can while producing it. Sometimes the end result is the complete opposite of how I intended the track to be (for example planning a Speedcore track and ending up with producing a Slowcore track). This "producing" part is usually very quick and fast and if I have planned the tracks thoroughly in my head already, I for example can produce a lot of tracks in just one weekend or even one night.
That the tracks change while producing doesn't mean I "discard" the ideas and planning then. It's more a marriage of sonic idea and actual production. A dualism that is complex and can be hard to navigate but it's what I focus on by now.
On My Music - Part 3
My intention in my music is to have a psychedelic effect. All other aspects of my music are subjugated to this. If I need to run a bassdrum straight for 8 minutes to have this effect I'll do it. If I need to make a 30 seconds only track for the effect, I'll make it. Some people feel this effect in my music, and others don't. I noticed that mostly people who use a similar psychedelic effect in their own productions "feel it" too. Of course I'm aware that psychedelics are a wide field and even those who are inclined like this might not "click" to my particular way of getting there. But I imagine to someone who is not interested in psychedelics at all, my music must sound quite dull.
On My Music - Part 2
I've sometimes been asked why I don't make (much) music in the style of my early period of music (1996-2004) anymore, like my LP on Widerstand or my digital release on Praxis for example. The reason for this is the following. My first period was fueled by vile opposition to the western world of music - from pop music to "classical" western music. I hated its ruled and codes and commands and limitations and tried to get as far away from it as possible. That's why I made Breakcore with weird sounds and otherwordly rhythms (or was it the other way round?). But in the end I realized I was fighting a losing battle. I used odd time signatures, but my tracks still had beats and drums and percussion. I used atonal scales but my tracks still had notes and "melody". So I still was close to western music, and still followed the ruled and commands and codes even if I didn't want to. The only way out for me was to banish music as a whole. My Breakcore and Industrial sounds were - still music, and for me, music has to be rejected - total. But what to do now? In a train of thought that I wrote down elsewhere, I made the choice to express ideas that can not expressed in music by using music. Techno, Doomcore and Speedcore were just the right template for this. The focus is not on the drum or the percussion, not even the melody, but the idea that is expressed by them. And the same idea could be expressed by Doomcore, or Folk Guitars, or Rapping, or Baroque Music - so the music itself, the genre, the sounds, faded into the background and only the idea keeps going on. It's like a cook who one day becomes a poet but doesn't publish them in a book, instead puts them (edible?) into the cakes at his restaurant. The music and all it's rules and mistakes and fallacies is negated to become only a tool for the communication of ideas. Now, I must admit, my hatred for music is not total. I do adore Doomcore and Techno and so on. But the important part is the idea.
Spaced Out Producing
I don't do drugs, but a variety of things can get me high; one of them is music (and one of them is pain for some odd reason). And more than that, producing music can get me high. This is how I done music in 2009-2015. I tried to create sounds that started to trip me out, then go along with the trip while building the track. I would start to space out and my fingers where moving almost automatically while producing. And I got on some really good trips and reached some really good highs that way.
This is an understatement. I reached highs of a cosmic quality this way.
Coming down after this was not always easy as I often was a bit disoriented and had trouble speaking clearly or thinking. My tracks also confused me when I listened to them "sober" again; 'did I create this?' 'and how did I create this?'
The tracks were my personal trip diaries.
Because of this, I assumed they would be of little interest to the outside world, but to the contrary, these were often the tracks I got the best feedback on. "The advent of acid" was produced this way, and "Really into this space stuff" and "Fourth Uprising" and countless of others.
Definitely an interesting experience, and probably a safer high then when doing real psychedelics.
This is an understatement. I reached highs of a cosmic quality this way.
Coming down after this was not always easy as I often was a bit disoriented and had trouble speaking clearly or thinking. My tracks also confused me when I listened to them "sober" again; 'did I create this?' 'and how did I create this?'
The tracks were my personal trip diaries.
Because of this, I assumed they would be of little interest to the outside world, but to the contrary, these were often the tracks I got the best feedback on. "The advent of acid" was produced this way, and "Really into this space stuff" and "Fourth Uprising" and countless of others.
Definitely an interesting experience, and probably a safer high then when doing real psychedelics.
My Motivation
When I got back into doing music, I was very enthusiastic at first. But that quickly waned. There were two reasons for it.
The first was, I felt my music was not on par with my earlier music. It just didn't feel as exciting to me anymore. But the other reason was more important. I felt that I had expressed all that I could express with my old style of music already. I had reached a plateau. And I wondered if it was possible to get to a higher plateau. What made it worse was that with most music I listened to, I had the same reaction. It seemed to be good and exciting and everything, but didn't get beyond a certain level. And I wondered if it was indeed possible to transcend that level by the use of art.
Then three things happened. I re-read Neuromancer by William Gibson, listened to the new music done by Joerg Buchholz, and watched Inland Empire by David lynch. This showed that there was still a higher level to be reached by art.
This was in 2011. All music I done since then would likely not have been possible without encountering these three things.
I of course don't mean I tried to reach the level of mastership a David Lynch or a William Gibson has. But to realize there is something in art, that is still above and not common, and maybe one can reach and share a tiny part of it. Maybe it's a kind of hubris to even desire to reach this level. But I gave it my all, and I am not to judge if I succeeded with it or not.
The first was, I felt my music was not on par with my earlier music. It just didn't feel as exciting to me anymore. But the other reason was more important. I felt that I had expressed all that I could express with my old style of music already. I had reached a plateau. And I wondered if it was possible to get to a higher plateau. What made it worse was that with most music I listened to, I had the same reaction. It seemed to be good and exciting and everything, but didn't get beyond a certain level. And I wondered if it was indeed possible to transcend that level by the use of art.
Then three things happened. I re-read Neuromancer by William Gibson, listened to the new music done by Joerg Buchholz, and watched Inland Empire by David lynch. This showed that there was still a higher level to be reached by art.
This was in 2011. All music I done since then would likely not have been possible without encountering these three things.
I of course don't mean I tried to reach the level of mastership a David Lynch or a William Gibson has. But to realize there is something in art, that is still above and not common, and maybe one can reach and share a tiny part of it. Maybe it's a kind of hubris to even desire to reach this level. But I gave it my all, and I am not to judge if I succeeded with it or not.
Musical Interest
my current main interest in music does not only predate my producer life by far; it predates most of my life!
i must have been 2 or 3 years old; at the beginning of the 80s. there was a show on TV i had not seen before and did not see again. it was about teenagers in a school; i assume it was a UK series. but what happened in the series was not important. when the ending credits appeared a new wave song played. of course at that age i didn't know this music was called new age. when the melody of that song played... it touched me so deep. it was a true unearthly experience. i felt like i was flying. i felt full of bliss. in other words, i had my very first true high. the high lasted for more than a day. i had no clue what that song was. i desperately tried to memorize the melody. but i failed at it and soon forget how the song sounded like. but that event stayed impaled in my mind.
i'm quite certain i heard the song again much later in my life, but i don't know it. it could have been something by new order or human league, or yazoo.
when i was a kid, punk was a big topic in the media, and i had two older brothers who were into all sorts of "alternative" music, so i always had a steady input of punk music even at a very early age (in a sense, i *grew up* on punk, but that's a different topic). i loved that music as a kid, and when i grew older i realized there to me was something special in the melodies of punk and new wave songs; but i didn't know what it was.
when i turned to hardcore techno and became a producer, i could not care less about these things anymore. the topic was now avantgarde and noise, and i was very skeptical of using any melodies at all.
when my first enthusiasm in hardcore waned, a friend gave me a CD that had a cheesy pop-punk cover of "everything counts" by depeche mode. they changed the melody a bit, and i noticed that it had this thing in melody again that i was curious about earlier in life. by now this thematic stuck with me.
i think somewhere in 2010, 2011 i *finally* realized what it was. the special thing, that gave me my first high.
of course i won't explain what it is, to not spoil the mystery. i know 100% how to use it and what it is. i made some half-hearted attempts to find it in music theory, but no success yet (i'm generally not interested in western music theory).
it's something that, at least in the way i'm interested in, is very common in punk, new wave, goth, reggae, 50s doo wop, indie pop, folk and chiptune.
it's not common in metal, 19th century classical, rap and lots of other music.
in electronic music, for example some tracks by somatic responses and miro have it.
so, i had this thing. i was at that time looking for something new, something else to add to my tracks so i discovered it at the right time.
but it was not easy to merge it with my style of music that started from so different roots.
only in the last years i have a feeling to have some success at using this "technique", but i'm still not fully happy with it. something for the future?
i must have been 2 or 3 years old; at the beginning of the 80s. there was a show on TV i had not seen before and did not see again. it was about teenagers in a school; i assume it was a UK series. but what happened in the series was not important. when the ending credits appeared a new wave song played. of course at that age i didn't know this music was called new age. when the melody of that song played... it touched me so deep. it was a true unearthly experience. i felt like i was flying. i felt full of bliss. in other words, i had my very first true high. the high lasted for more than a day. i had no clue what that song was. i desperately tried to memorize the melody. but i failed at it and soon forget how the song sounded like. but that event stayed impaled in my mind.
i'm quite certain i heard the song again much later in my life, but i don't know it. it could have been something by new order or human league, or yazoo.
when i was a kid, punk was a big topic in the media, and i had two older brothers who were into all sorts of "alternative" music, so i always had a steady input of punk music even at a very early age (in a sense, i *grew up* on punk, but that's a different topic). i loved that music as a kid, and when i grew older i realized there to me was something special in the melodies of punk and new wave songs; but i didn't know what it was.
when i turned to hardcore techno and became a producer, i could not care less about these things anymore. the topic was now avantgarde and noise, and i was very skeptical of using any melodies at all.
when my first enthusiasm in hardcore waned, a friend gave me a CD that had a cheesy pop-punk cover of "everything counts" by depeche mode. they changed the melody a bit, and i noticed that it had this thing in melody again that i was curious about earlier in life. by now this thematic stuck with me.
i think somewhere in 2010, 2011 i *finally* realized what it was. the special thing, that gave me my first high.
of course i won't explain what it is, to not spoil the mystery. i know 100% how to use it and what it is. i made some half-hearted attempts to find it in music theory, but no success yet (i'm generally not interested in western music theory).
it's something that, at least in the way i'm interested in, is very common in punk, new wave, goth, reggae, 50s doo wop, indie pop, folk and chiptune.
it's not common in metal, 19th century classical, rap and lots of other music.
in electronic music, for example some tracks by somatic responses and miro have it.
so, i had this thing. i was at that time looking for something new, something else to add to my tracks so i discovered it at the right time.
but it was not easy to merge it with my style of music that started from so different roots.
only in the last years i have a feeling to have some success at using this "technique", but i'm still not fully happy with it. something for the future?
My Shift In Music
the music i did in my first period of producing (1997-2004) and the music i do now (2008 and after) is vastly different. my early music was more experimental with focus on noise and drones and breakdown on rhythm and structure.
some might think, perhaps i've mellowed down. or i found taste in more conventional structures, found merit in that, and that is responsible for my shift.
but this is not the case at all.
with my first period of music, my intent was to do experimental music. to get as far away from any convention in western music and to challenge any "rule" on how music has to be.
but i soon ran to the point where it seemed impossible to go on.
for example, the traditional rhythm in most of current western music, if we look at pop and electronic music, is a 2/4 or 4/4 rhythm. but if you use a rhythm like 7/4 or 3/13, and still using a pop or techno or hardcore set of drums, are you not still following convention? and even if you used different drums, is not using a steady time signature or one that can be expressed in rational numbers still a limit?
schoenberg did some of the most experimental music in his day, yet youngsters could sneer at him for employing the traditional instruments in his compositions.
stockhausen's electronic releases don't have that flaw; but it's still music on a CD that is listened by people at home; a convention that neither traditional nor techno music had and has.
so, how to get rid of this almost infinite amount of rules and conventions in music?
easy: annihilate music altogether. to hell with all rhythms and tonal structures and song schematics.
but how to do this?
to focus on something outside of the music you create. an idea or ideal.
for example love, or anarchism, or truth, or revolution.
the goal of the track is to express an idea. how the track expresses this is meaningless. how the track is produced is meaningless.
love could be expressed by a folk song, or indie rock, or gabber, or black metal. it is no difference.
i just use sonic forms to express ideas, and often the form is techno, but that is just the form, it is of no importance. the idea or ideal is important.
but this is not the whole truth; different forms have different merits (abilities to express ideas) also i love the techno form, or new wave form, and it best, but not necessary if both the sonic form and idea behind it is great.
but the idea or ideal is the most important thing.
some might think, perhaps i've mellowed down. or i found taste in more conventional structures, found merit in that, and that is responsible for my shift.
but this is not the case at all.
with my first period of music, my intent was to do experimental music. to get as far away from any convention in western music and to challenge any "rule" on how music has to be.
but i soon ran to the point where it seemed impossible to go on.
for example, the traditional rhythm in most of current western music, if we look at pop and electronic music, is a 2/4 or 4/4 rhythm. but if you use a rhythm like 7/4 or 3/13, and still using a pop or techno or hardcore set of drums, are you not still following convention? and even if you used different drums, is not using a steady time signature or one that can be expressed in rational numbers still a limit?
schoenberg did some of the most experimental music in his day, yet youngsters could sneer at him for employing the traditional instruments in his compositions.
stockhausen's electronic releases don't have that flaw; but it's still music on a CD that is listened by people at home; a convention that neither traditional nor techno music had and has.
so, how to get rid of this almost infinite amount of rules and conventions in music?
easy: annihilate music altogether. to hell with all rhythms and tonal structures and song schematics.
but how to do this?
to focus on something outside of the music you create. an idea or ideal.
for example love, or anarchism, or truth, or revolution.
the goal of the track is to express an idea. how the track expresses this is meaningless. how the track is produced is meaningless.
love could be expressed by a folk song, or indie rock, or gabber, or black metal. it is no difference.
i just use sonic forms to express ideas, and often the form is techno, but that is just the form, it is of no importance. the idea or ideal is important.
but this is not the whole truth; different forms have different merits (abilities to express ideas) also i love the techno form, or new wave form, and it best, but not necessary if both the sonic form and idea behind it is great.
but the idea or ideal is the most important thing.
My Musical Project
i think it's time to introduce you to my musical project, that i worked on since 2009. especially since it's now almost 8 years and i haven't disclosed it yet.
when i got back to hardcore in 2008, after a 4 year break, i was very euphoric. i was doing sounds like i used to do again, and the scene that i left years ago still seemed to be around. but i quickly felt this was an illusion; my music didn't feel as interesting to me anymore; it had lost "it"; also the scene was already at its end, and it began to crumble, i lost many social contacts to it, and was suddenly "in the air" again.
so where to go to now? i felt there was nothing i could do artistwise anymore.
my interest in all forms of art, music, movies etc. was still as strong as ever, though. i noticed, that i, and many people like the form of art the most that is not just a work of art, but - a "world" of art. an artistic world of its own.
the works of jodorowsky come to mind, who formed his jodoverse: a work of comic book series and maybe movies soon, that span over dozens and dozens of comics, with different collaborations, concepts, stories, tone, but taking place in the same imaginary world with the same characters that might or might not make an appearance in another new series by him.
a more "overground" example might be star wars and star trek, which also have 100s of works, offshots, sequels and specials, that take place in their same own world.
i realised; this was what i wanted to take a shot at with music. not writing another track, but creating a whole world of tracks.
there are three main principles behind it:
1. interconnections between tracks. a lot of my tracks share a same feeling, imaginery, intent, content. for example, there is not just the emerald planet, but the blue star, nightsky, midnight... space travel, behold the universe... dozens of star themed and cosmic themed tracks by me.
another occuring image is that of a palace, throne room, Enthronement...
or a cyborg, robot, android topic. you can find a lot of these "links" in my tracks.
2. there is also a connection in production. often tracks share a same approach, say "baseline and drums only", or multichannel melodies with the bass synthesizers as the focal point, or similiar fx on synths...
this has already gotten a mind of its own by now. when i watch a movie and find a good sample for example, i think, "can i really use this?" - does it fit to this imaginary production style or world that are my other tracks are in?
it has evolved into a lot of rules, sets, concepts, framework, when producing a track. and often i find i can't break these rules even i wanted to - maybe amend them - and maybe once in a while i could.
3. there is not just a "world of tracks" but i also imagine the tracks to take place in a world of music that is not my own too. a world where rockabilly, new wave, synthwave and oldschool techno are played at the same party and people dig it.
where 70s punk and early goth bands rule, together with speedcore and stockhausen. basically, it can happen that i sit down to produce, and i've feeling in my head, that is like: okay, imagine that this track is being played at a party tonight and the crowd likes big rock anthems and gabber beats, so how could this fit into my production?
it's just an imagination, but it is an influence.
and the funny thing is, that by now this really has a real world extension - or vice versa. most music social contacts i have really dig italo disco and black metal and reggea and funky disco hip hop at the same time, or try to combine these.
so, yeah, i tried to create some kind of an own world here, with its own rules and concepts and intent and framework. i'm not to judge if i succeeded at it, or, most importantly, if this might be interesting to anyone besides my self. but, for sure, for me, it was a wild ride till now!
when i got back to hardcore in 2008, after a 4 year break, i was very euphoric. i was doing sounds like i used to do again, and the scene that i left years ago still seemed to be around. but i quickly felt this was an illusion; my music didn't feel as interesting to me anymore; it had lost "it"; also the scene was already at its end, and it began to crumble, i lost many social contacts to it, and was suddenly "in the air" again.
so where to go to now? i felt there was nothing i could do artistwise anymore.
my interest in all forms of art, music, movies etc. was still as strong as ever, though. i noticed, that i, and many people like the form of art the most that is not just a work of art, but - a "world" of art. an artistic world of its own.
the works of jodorowsky come to mind, who formed his jodoverse: a work of comic book series and maybe movies soon, that span over dozens and dozens of comics, with different collaborations, concepts, stories, tone, but taking place in the same imaginary world with the same characters that might or might not make an appearance in another new series by him.
a more "overground" example might be star wars and star trek, which also have 100s of works, offshots, sequels and specials, that take place in their same own world.
i realised; this was what i wanted to take a shot at with music. not writing another track, but creating a whole world of tracks.
there are three main principles behind it:
1. interconnections between tracks. a lot of my tracks share a same feeling, imaginery, intent, content. for example, there is not just the emerald planet, but the blue star, nightsky, midnight... space travel, behold the universe... dozens of star themed and cosmic themed tracks by me.
another occuring image is that of a palace, throne room, Enthronement...
or a cyborg, robot, android topic. you can find a lot of these "links" in my tracks.
2. there is also a connection in production. often tracks share a same approach, say "baseline and drums only", or multichannel melodies with the bass synthesizers as the focal point, or similiar fx on synths...
this has already gotten a mind of its own by now. when i watch a movie and find a good sample for example, i think, "can i really use this?" - does it fit to this imaginary production style or world that are my other tracks are in?
it has evolved into a lot of rules, sets, concepts, framework, when producing a track. and often i find i can't break these rules even i wanted to - maybe amend them - and maybe once in a while i could.
3. there is not just a "world of tracks" but i also imagine the tracks to take place in a world of music that is not my own too. a world where rockabilly, new wave, synthwave and oldschool techno are played at the same party and people dig it.
where 70s punk and early goth bands rule, together with speedcore and stockhausen. basically, it can happen that i sit down to produce, and i've feeling in my head, that is like: okay, imagine that this track is being played at a party tonight and the crowd likes big rock anthems and gabber beats, so how could this fit into my production?
it's just an imagination, but it is an influence.
and the funny thing is, that by now this really has a real world extension - or vice versa. most music social contacts i have really dig italo disco and black metal and reggea and funky disco hip hop at the same time, or try to combine these.
so, yeah, i tried to create some kind of an own world here, with its own rules and concepts and intent and framework. i'm not to judge if i succeeded at it, or, most importantly, if this might be interesting to anyone besides my self. but, for sure, for me, it was a wild ride till now!
A Message
when i started doing music almost 19 years ago, i always had a clear, a very clear idea of the main things i wanted to express in my art, and these ideas did not change over time and they stayed the same.
1. "it's alright"
hardcore was often produced and listened and to by troubled people, at least it seemed to me, people with problems, mental health issues, on a dead end way. yet to me, hardcore always put the message: it doesn't matter in the end. you are still a valuable person. you can still enjoy life even if everything is shit around you. you can still celebrate life.
punk or some type of rock too had a kind of "brilliance in face of misery" attitude, but to me that was too self-destructive and ultimately negative. to me it meant, 'okay, your life has problems, but try to change it, do your best, but while you're stuck, don't let your head down'.
be positive in face of misery, and if the world's end sirens wail tomorrow, we can still party.
2. "embrace it"
human nature is split, we have a positive and a dark side. most people try all of their life to run from their own darkness. that can be feelings of depression, or aggression, or perversion, or whatever else. hardcore showed me you do not need to be afraid if your negative emotions. i'm not talking about living out wicked fantasies or shit like that. but accepting that humans have a fascination for the diseased, the crooked, the misfit, and that is part of our personalities too. and there is no harm in thinking about these things. again, i'm not talking about sick stuff here, but for example feelings of overwhelming melancholy or frustration / alienation.
3. "there is an alternative"
hardcore itself was an alternative to the overwhelming boring mainstream music in the 90s. but apart from that: most people feel stuck in their lives and society right now.
they don't think a different way of life or social structure is possible. but that's not true. alternatives are always possible. there is something that is a true opposite to our oppressive and unjust society. a free, just, peaceful society is possible. even if it just starts at "small scale" first.
you *can* live life differently than the rest. don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
this is my message. i hope it got through.
1. "it's alright"
hardcore was often produced and listened and to by troubled people, at least it seemed to me, people with problems, mental health issues, on a dead end way. yet to me, hardcore always put the message: it doesn't matter in the end. you are still a valuable person. you can still enjoy life even if everything is shit around you. you can still celebrate life.
punk or some type of rock too had a kind of "brilliance in face of misery" attitude, but to me that was too self-destructive and ultimately negative. to me it meant, 'okay, your life has problems, but try to change it, do your best, but while you're stuck, don't let your head down'.
be positive in face of misery, and if the world's end sirens wail tomorrow, we can still party.
2. "embrace it"
human nature is split, we have a positive and a dark side. most people try all of their life to run from their own darkness. that can be feelings of depression, or aggression, or perversion, or whatever else. hardcore showed me you do not need to be afraid if your negative emotions. i'm not talking about living out wicked fantasies or shit like that. but accepting that humans have a fascination for the diseased, the crooked, the misfit, and that is part of our personalities too. and there is no harm in thinking about these things. again, i'm not talking about sick stuff here, but for example feelings of overwhelming melancholy or frustration / alienation.
3. "there is an alternative"
hardcore itself was an alternative to the overwhelming boring mainstream music in the 90s. but apart from that: most people feel stuck in their lives and society right now.
they don't think a different way of life or social structure is possible. but that's not true. alternatives are always possible. there is something that is a true opposite to our oppressive and unjust society. a free, just, peaceful society is possible. even if it just starts at "small scale" first.
you *can* live life differently than the rest. don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
this is my message. i hope it got through.
Scales With A Single Fundemental Note
coming from a "techno" background, i was always fascinated by logarithmic scales and their possibility of free transponation of melodies. yet, i was also always interested in linear tuning system.
what do i mean with logarithmic and linear? 12 TET is a logarithmic tuning. all intervals are the same between notes according to their steps; C - C# is the same as F - F#. in other words, the intervals are not based on a "fundemental" note, such as C, but each interval makes sense from any note of the tonal scare. the opposite is the 12 tone linear tuning that i mentioned before; where each interval is based on a basic note, the first note. the second note then is 12-13, the second 12-14, and so on. so, unlike in TET scales, an interval between the third and the fourth note is different than for example the first and second. all tones are directly linked to a fundemental note, ratio.
now, the pythagorean tuning seems to be quite popular these days. yet, if i understand it right, it's not a linear, but a logarithmic tuning again. the interval C-G is, in it, based on the harmony 2:3, which is linear. yet C-D is not based on an interval relating directly to "C", but going a step 2:3 further from G. which means the D directs to the G, not the C. so the "C" is not a fundemental note on which everything is based.
now, each system seems to have its merits. yet i have a feeling that there is something extraordinary about linear tunings / based on a fundemental note. actually, with my first attempts i was not happy at all with the results in trying out this tuning. but now i am finally gaining ground, and the result, in the moment, is more satisfying than linear tunings to me.
what do i mean with logarithmic and linear? 12 TET is a logarithmic tuning. all intervals are the same between notes according to their steps; C - C# is the same as F - F#. in other words, the intervals are not based on a "fundemental" note, such as C, but each interval makes sense from any note of the tonal scare. the opposite is the 12 tone linear tuning that i mentioned before; where each interval is based on a basic note, the first note. the second note then is 12-13, the second 12-14, and so on. so, unlike in TET scales, an interval between the third and the fourth note is different than for example the first and second. all tones are directly linked to a fundemental note, ratio.
now, the pythagorean tuning seems to be quite popular these days. yet, if i understand it right, it's not a linear, but a logarithmic tuning again. the interval C-G is, in it, based on the harmony 2:3, which is linear. yet C-D is not based on an interval relating directly to "C", but going a step 2:3 further from G. which means the D directs to the G, not the C. so the "C" is not a fundemental note on which everything is based.
now, each system seems to have its merits. yet i have a feeling that there is something extraordinary about linear tunings / based on a fundemental note. actually, with my first attempts i was not happy at all with the results in trying out this tuning. but now i am finally gaining ground, and the result, in the moment, is more satisfying than linear tunings to me.
My Musical Language
if i should describe myself, i would call myself an explorer. that's really my mode and modus. what interests me. my drive. it maybe explains why, when i reached something artistically, i usually discarded it, and moved on. because i needed to move on, and to know more, to explore more.
this exploration has three basic roots for me.
one, knowledge from books and other media. ah, you're book-nerd, you might now think. well, maybe i am. but let me continue. i tried to read up on any imaginable topic, and even more. usually when i had something that interested me i tried to find as many books, theories, written stuff and possible and study it. it's a boon for me that public domain ebook libraries such as gutenberg.org exist now as this means i can read a lot more and faster than if i had to get my supply on the real world libraries here.
but, even as a child, i realised that getting information from books is not enough. you have to venture out in the world, deeply, to really explore things, to real get to know stuff. i felt, and later knew, that there is so much that is not in books, not chartered, not explored, that can only by understood by life itself.
it's only now that i realise that there can be a lot of value in "book knowledge", there were times when any written knowledge or theory was suspicious so me.
so, when i got into anarchism, i first got it to through books, essays, pamphlets. but i knew that to be a real anarchist, i needed to get really involved in the anarchist scene, really get connected with other anarchists - in real life. so one day i went down to the anarchist bookstore, where i never had been before, and a woman let me in and she made tea for me and she asked me a bit about my life and it was a bit of an awkward or curious situation for both of us. this was how i got involved with anarchism then eventually.
this was just my real life exploration regarding anarchism; i explored much more and much deeper, which might have room in another text. just let me give an example, various people had chosen me as a "master" for them, even though i never hinted at that or had mentioned a desire for this. not some sexual master, not what you think, you naughty boy/girl. a philosophical, sage-like master. at the age of 21,22, i should add.
so let's leave the real world exploration at that.
the third, and most important source for my exploring needs, was - surprise surprise - myself.
if i found a theory, a concept that i found interesting, i tried it on myself, to find out more, to learn more, to put it in practice, to gain something.
and also, i used myself to gain knowledge and insight; one's own mind, personality or intellect can really be a great source for that.
now, to come to the point, what has this to do with my music. well, i had the feeling, i had gathered a lot of knowledge and insight eventually. and i wanted to spread it. but i didn't do this in the language of words, but in the language of sounds. instead of writing a book, or a theory, i created tracks and sounds. but just as authors want to put through a message, an intent or a theory, i tried to do the same; just with music.
this exploration has three basic roots for me.
one, knowledge from books and other media. ah, you're book-nerd, you might now think. well, maybe i am. but let me continue. i tried to read up on any imaginable topic, and even more. usually when i had something that interested me i tried to find as many books, theories, written stuff and possible and study it. it's a boon for me that public domain ebook libraries such as gutenberg.org exist now as this means i can read a lot more and faster than if i had to get my supply on the real world libraries here.
but, even as a child, i realised that getting information from books is not enough. you have to venture out in the world, deeply, to really explore things, to real get to know stuff. i felt, and later knew, that there is so much that is not in books, not chartered, not explored, that can only by understood by life itself.
it's only now that i realise that there can be a lot of value in "book knowledge", there were times when any written knowledge or theory was suspicious so me.
so, when i got into anarchism, i first got it to through books, essays, pamphlets. but i knew that to be a real anarchist, i needed to get really involved in the anarchist scene, really get connected with other anarchists - in real life. so one day i went down to the anarchist bookstore, where i never had been before, and a woman let me in and she made tea for me and she asked me a bit about my life and it was a bit of an awkward or curious situation for both of us. this was how i got involved with anarchism then eventually.
this was just my real life exploration regarding anarchism; i explored much more and much deeper, which might have room in another text. just let me give an example, various people had chosen me as a "master" for them, even though i never hinted at that or had mentioned a desire for this. not some sexual master, not what you think, you naughty boy/girl. a philosophical, sage-like master. at the age of 21,22, i should add.
so let's leave the real world exploration at that.
the third, and most important source for my exploring needs, was - surprise surprise - myself.
if i found a theory, a concept that i found interesting, i tried it on myself, to find out more, to learn more, to put it in practice, to gain something.
and also, i used myself to gain knowledge and insight; one's own mind, personality or intellect can really be a great source for that.
now, to come to the point, what has this to do with my music. well, i had the feeling, i had gathered a lot of knowledge and insight eventually. and i wanted to spread it. but i didn't do this in the language of words, but in the language of sounds. instead of writing a book, or a theory, i created tracks and sounds. but just as authors want to put through a message, an intent or a theory, i tried to do the same; just with music.
About Doomcore Records
hi,
thought i'd wrote down some ideas about doomcore records.
1. doomcore records if for real doomcore. this is a time when doomcore is "being discovered", by hype and business labels, and is watered down and mixed with hardstyle and other crap. it's okay - to me in the moment, but it could be that it goes into total hype soon.
so, doomcore records is for the real doomcore, the underground, the true dark techno and hardcore. not done by hype labels or artists, but by real people with real motivations.
2. doomcore records will always stay a free label, with freely shared releases. nothing wrong in running a pay label - but this free label approach will make sure everyone can download the tunes and releases, and it is kept underground and is not subject to money issues or hype.
3. doomcore records is for true doomcoreheads. it's music for you, by you, with you. the artists are just doomcore fans like yourself (i hope ;-) . the label is for those who are really into the sound, who know what it's about, who are into this thing, who are involved, yet also for newcomers who just discovered. not for the big party crowd at some commercial rave, but for the home listener, just like you. not that we mind if it is indeed played to large crowd at some point ;-) but it's not the main goal.
4. doomcore records is for all types of doomcore. there are so many various forms of doomcore in the moment - some harder, some more experimental, some fast paced, some slowly and menacing, and doomcore records is for all of them. there will always be two focal points with doomcore records: the style that has been called "phuture rave"; dancefloor stompers that are yet dark and brooding. and the introspective, experimental doomtechno sounds, slow, but dangerous.
5. doomcore records is family. when i got into hardcore, i liked there was no "business" atmosphere around it. these labels released thousands of record yet you could hang with them, chill with them, laugh with them, there was no level difference or hierarchy. i want to have this spirit with doomcore records too. there is really no level difference between the fans, the arists, the label. you are all part of this, part of doomcore, and doomcore records just wants to play a humble part in it too. the listeners are just as important as the releases that get put out.
and, most importantly, it's about the fun!
so, stay true, support the doomcore, and party.
doomcore records over and out
written 28.06.2014
thought i'd wrote down some ideas about doomcore records.
1. doomcore records if for real doomcore. this is a time when doomcore is "being discovered", by hype and business labels, and is watered down and mixed with hardstyle and other crap. it's okay - to me in the moment, but it could be that it goes into total hype soon.
so, doomcore records is for the real doomcore, the underground, the true dark techno and hardcore. not done by hype labels or artists, but by real people with real motivations.
2. doomcore records will always stay a free label, with freely shared releases. nothing wrong in running a pay label - but this free label approach will make sure everyone can download the tunes and releases, and it is kept underground and is not subject to money issues or hype.
3. doomcore records is for true doomcoreheads. it's music for you, by you, with you. the artists are just doomcore fans like yourself (i hope ;-) . the label is for those who are really into the sound, who know what it's about, who are into this thing, who are involved, yet also for newcomers who just discovered. not for the big party crowd at some commercial rave, but for the home listener, just like you. not that we mind if it is indeed played to large crowd at some point ;-) but it's not the main goal.
4. doomcore records is for all types of doomcore. there are so many various forms of doomcore in the moment - some harder, some more experimental, some fast paced, some slowly and menacing, and doomcore records is for all of them. there will always be two focal points with doomcore records: the style that has been called "phuture rave"; dancefloor stompers that are yet dark and brooding. and the introspective, experimental doomtechno sounds, slow, but dangerous.
5. doomcore records is family. when i got into hardcore, i liked there was no "business" atmosphere around it. these labels released thousands of record yet you could hang with them, chill with them, laugh with them, there was no level difference or hierarchy. i want to have this spirit with doomcore records too. there is really no level difference between the fans, the arists, the label. you are all part of this, part of doomcore, and doomcore records just wants to play a humble part in it too. the listeners are just as important as the releases that get put out.
and, most importantly, it's about the fun!
so, stay true, support the doomcore, and party.
doomcore records over and out
written 28.06.2014
On Anti-Sedative EP
in 1999, i already had sent out dozens of demo-tapes. emailed as much labels. but, so far, no one was interested in releasing a full EP by me. i had some tracks on compilations - biophilia allstars, irritant. but not a true release yet. so i walked in the otaku record store here in my city, hamburg. i had seen hardy, of fischkopf, working at the container record store before, so i know what he looked like. he ran blut records now, out of the otaku store. i bought a record, i think it was somatix on deadly systems, that just came in, and left. next week i came back with a demo-tape i had recorded for this purpose. i walked up to hardy and said "you are hardy?". he said "yes". i said "you're doing blut records right? i have a demo tape here for your label, with my music". he looked at me with a bit of bewilderment. i gave him the tape. "you are doing this music?" he asked, still a bit sceptical perhaps. i said "yes". a week later again, i came back. he said he had listened to the tape, and wanted to make a vinyl 12" with my music. it would be the last 12" of blut records.
why anti-sedative? i thought, and still do, that pop music serves as a sedative, a mental sedative, that keeps the masses dumb and numb and hinders them from uprising and toppling society and reaching utopia. and i thought hardcore techno was the opposite - that made people rebellios and aggressive, and question everything and be critical, makes them "wake up". this was the story behind the name.
the tracks:
a1 starting up
done this in late 1998. can't really say much about the track. it was the speedcore style i liked around that time. 380 bpm i think. the trick here is that i used a special "effect" on the bassdrum after a few second into the track, that gives it an extra punch, well at least i hope so. the rest is quite noisy. i tried to make the screetching sounds as abrasive for the ears as possible.
a2 flatline
this was actually the 3rd finished track i ever did, or so. i think i was 16 at the time i produced it. the name is nicked from neuromancer, where a "flatline" is mentioned as being the fate of cyberpunks who got killed on cyberspace - and have a flatline of the eeg. a dixie flatline character plays an important part in the book too, a human whose conciousness was transfered to a computer system.
the beginning sounds of the track have been described as weird alarm or rave sounds by others, but the intention is of course, to sound like the eeg going flatline. this effect is repeated in the track.
otherwise, i tried to fit as many noizy sounds into the track as possible. there is a bit of a thing which i called the french hardcore thing, which is a change in rhythm structure after 8 basehits, and then back again.
the track actually clocks both at single and double speed, which might not be so visible at first.
a3 disharmonic
one of my first experiments in just intonation and microtuning, after peter gebert of lux nigra intoduced me to that concept. the main melody is not in a western tuning. i had the idea to turn it into more of a techno-sequence in the middle of the track. the breakbeat was an old break i had, that i tried to make sound more metallic. there is a huge pause towards the end, which i added to use it in a live concept, to make people believe that the track has ended, (or the soundsystem broken down), only to be surprised by the onslaught of beats then.
b1 electrocution
hardy wanted "i am god". but by chance, i gave him the wrong track. electrocution instead. when we talked about it he said that this track fits good too, though, so we kept it. electrocution again is one of my earliest tracks. it was an attempt of me doing "hardcore electro", electro as in electrofunk. the thing was i didn't know much of electro at that point, so it sounded completely different. it is the only track, i think, of that period of my music, which uses a melody, even if only 2 different notes for a few seconds.
dj fishead described it as a weird perversion of new wave or so.
b2 sadstep
the moneymaker! well, not really. but it was the track that crept into sets of other people and bought me my first bigger piece of recognition.
i was mildly ridiculed by my friends, because i used a "two step" (or hardstep) rhythm in this track (the name was actually a nod to that), similiar to the amen, that was a definite "no-go" amongst more serious music listeners at that point. to think that decades later still use amen and two-step without batting an eye seems a bit ironic.
again i'm venturing out of standart western tuning here, as the orchestration is "tuned" way different.
b3 neuromancer remix
and again, one of my earlier tracks. this is a remix of knifehandchop's "neuromancer" track, whom i have known from the #gabber channel on IRC back then. i tried to destroy and cut up the tune as much as possible, and used a very cheap and trashy production on this one. the melody at most parts deliberately plays out of loop and rhytms and is sequenced in the wrong way.
again, this was a track lots of people enjoyed and brought me some praise.
the anti-sedative was received well, and i got some positive reviews for it. the initial pressing run was 500 records, which was not a small run for the experimental scene back then.
it was the record i got my first advance, and the first record contract for. i used the tracks of it a lot in my livesets in the later years.
okay, so that was it. maybe you are interested, and want to check out the sound of it.
why anti-sedative? i thought, and still do, that pop music serves as a sedative, a mental sedative, that keeps the masses dumb and numb and hinders them from uprising and toppling society and reaching utopia. and i thought hardcore techno was the opposite - that made people rebellios and aggressive, and question everything and be critical, makes them "wake up". this was the story behind the name.
the tracks:
a1 starting up
done this in late 1998. can't really say much about the track. it was the speedcore style i liked around that time. 380 bpm i think. the trick here is that i used a special "effect" on the bassdrum after a few second into the track, that gives it an extra punch, well at least i hope so. the rest is quite noisy. i tried to make the screetching sounds as abrasive for the ears as possible.
a2 flatline
this was actually the 3rd finished track i ever did, or so. i think i was 16 at the time i produced it. the name is nicked from neuromancer, where a "flatline" is mentioned as being the fate of cyberpunks who got killed on cyberspace - and have a flatline of the eeg. a dixie flatline character plays an important part in the book too, a human whose conciousness was transfered to a computer system.
the beginning sounds of the track have been described as weird alarm or rave sounds by others, but the intention is of course, to sound like the eeg going flatline. this effect is repeated in the track.
otherwise, i tried to fit as many noizy sounds into the track as possible. there is a bit of a thing which i called the french hardcore thing, which is a change in rhythm structure after 8 basehits, and then back again.
the track actually clocks both at single and double speed, which might not be so visible at first.
a3 disharmonic
one of my first experiments in just intonation and microtuning, after peter gebert of lux nigra intoduced me to that concept. the main melody is not in a western tuning. i had the idea to turn it into more of a techno-sequence in the middle of the track. the breakbeat was an old break i had, that i tried to make sound more metallic. there is a huge pause towards the end, which i added to use it in a live concept, to make people believe that the track has ended, (or the soundsystem broken down), only to be surprised by the onslaught of beats then.
b1 electrocution
hardy wanted "i am god". but by chance, i gave him the wrong track. electrocution instead. when we talked about it he said that this track fits good too, though, so we kept it. electrocution again is one of my earliest tracks. it was an attempt of me doing "hardcore electro", electro as in electrofunk. the thing was i didn't know much of electro at that point, so it sounded completely different. it is the only track, i think, of that period of my music, which uses a melody, even if only 2 different notes for a few seconds.
dj fishead described it as a weird perversion of new wave or so.
b2 sadstep
the moneymaker! well, not really. but it was the track that crept into sets of other people and bought me my first bigger piece of recognition.
i was mildly ridiculed by my friends, because i used a "two step" (or hardstep) rhythm in this track (the name was actually a nod to that), similiar to the amen, that was a definite "no-go" amongst more serious music listeners at that point. to think that decades later still use amen and two-step without batting an eye seems a bit ironic.
again i'm venturing out of standart western tuning here, as the orchestration is "tuned" way different.
b3 neuromancer remix
and again, one of my earlier tracks. this is a remix of knifehandchop's "neuromancer" track, whom i have known from the #gabber channel on IRC back then. i tried to destroy and cut up the tune as much as possible, and used a very cheap and trashy production on this one. the melody at most parts deliberately plays out of loop and rhytms and is sequenced in the wrong way.
again, this was a track lots of people enjoyed and brought me some praise.
the anti-sedative was received well, and i got some positive reviews for it. the initial pressing run was 500 records, which was not a small run for the experimental scene back then.
it was the record i got my first advance, and the first record contract for. i used the tracks of it a lot in my livesets in the later years.
okay, so that was it. maybe you are interested, and want to check out the sound of it.
Mission Statement
there is a certain objective, goal to my music in the moment. what is this goal? well i'm doing for music for almost two decades now, and i noticed there is a kind of maturing to the sound, the purpose, when you are in it for so long. when i started, i tried to experiment, try everything out, without really knowing where i would venture. right now i am more interested in a bigger picture to my music. in things, that are just not adding sounds or concepts in an almost random fashion - although this has its pros too, of course, and i guess i will venture there again soon. so my approach right now is not just thinking of things like, adding a rock guitar to a breakbeat or finding the most weird sample sources and such.
one of the main, the biggest influences on all music was, at least in its first period, which ran along 1997-2004 basically, was progressive rock, psychedelic experimental rock. the "epic" rock songs with their stunning lengths and solos in the 60s and 70s. not because i like rock so much - i hated rock, i hated e-guitars from the bottom of my heart. this felt so backwards. but it is obviously some of the most complex, complicated, intellectual music made in the last century. i am not sure one could find music of this complexity - before the rise of techno - in any other genre, that is not academic in origin. only jazz also comes to my mind (maybe there is more - i am not an expert of this).
so this was always there and a backing setting for my own music, which was far away from rock in any other sense, as it was purely digital, sample driven and such.
now, with this maturing of ideas, and with looking for perspectives, i thought about furthering this connection even more. to make a style of music, that is a connection of psychedelic rock and techno music.
this was an idea that seemed weird enough for me. because, at first glance, these styles are so far apart from each other - the "real" instrument jamming and the preprogrammed digital world of techno. it seemed like a task big enough and complex enough to be interesting.
also, what made it attractive to me, is that noone else does this right now. well, i am sure there are people - i seen it on soundcloud - but even my friends don't produce it that way. 95% of producers don't do it. because techno is now at a point where it's preprogrammed, preplanned, completely synthetic, completely digital, with softsynths and all and complex sequencing programs.
i wanted to get completely away from that. from sequenced music, from programmed music. to not create techno tracks - but to create techno jam sessions, spontanous, chaotic, random, improvised.
this also brings us to the third point. techno is not like it yet - but techno used to be that way. the early outings of acid house, and i think of detroit too, are much more closer to the rock sessions of the 70s than to the presequenced techno of today. keep in mind that even kraftwerk, the so-called (really?) pioneers of "techno" arose out of the psychedelic jam rock scene of germany.
if you listen to my tracks you might note that, yes, there are sequences too in them. but i liked this paradox. i liked this idea. i wanted to combine these seeemingly opposites. to make mathematic music, but yes, also to have it improvised at the same time. to improsive mathematic formulas on the go, if you will.
nostalgia plays a role too, maybe, but i don't seem it important. i just liked the approach, the complexity of experimental rock of those decades. and the spaciness too, of course.
so, after i made the decision to venture down that road i had to figure out how to put in a praxis. how could i jam with my sequencer program and the pre-programmed sounds, or rather, how could i jam them, block them, to create beautiful unordered things. well, i came up with some ideas eventually. i simply... ah, not the time to spill my artistic beans here just yet. it will have to remain a secret for now.
of course, i don't dare to say i succeeded with my task. maybe this music doesn't live up to expectations. but maybe this is also not the point. to music in generally.
but, hey, at least i tried, eh?
one of the main, the biggest influences on all music was, at least in its first period, which ran along 1997-2004 basically, was progressive rock, psychedelic experimental rock. the "epic" rock songs with their stunning lengths and solos in the 60s and 70s. not because i like rock so much - i hated rock, i hated e-guitars from the bottom of my heart. this felt so backwards. but it is obviously some of the most complex, complicated, intellectual music made in the last century. i am not sure one could find music of this complexity - before the rise of techno - in any other genre, that is not academic in origin. only jazz also comes to my mind (maybe there is more - i am not an expert of this).
so this was always there and a backing setting for my own music, which was far away from rock in any other sense, as it was purely digital, sample driven and such.
now, with this maturing of ideas, and with looking for perspectives, i thought about furthering this connection even more. to make a style of music, that is a connection of psychedelic rock and techno music.
this was an idea that seemed weird enough for me. because, at first glance, these styles are so far apart from each other - the "real" instrument jamming and the preprogrammed digital world of techno. it seemed like a task big enough and complex enough to be interesting.
also, what made it attractive to me, is that noone else does this right now. well, i am sure there are people - i seen it on soundcloud - but even my friends don't produce it that way. 95% of producers don't do it. because techno is now at a point where it's preprogrammed, preplanned, completely synthetic, completely digital, with softsynths and all and complex sequencing programs.
i wanted to get completely away from that. from sequenced music, from programmed music. to not create techno tracks - but to create techno jam sessions, spontanous, chaotic, random, improvised.
this also brings us to the third point. techno is not like it yet - but techno used to be that way. the early outings of acid house, and i think of detroit too, are much more closer to the rock sessions of the 70s than to the presequenced techno of today. keep in mind that even kraftwerk, the so-called (really?) pioneers of "techno" arose out of the psychedelic jam rock scene of germany.
if you listen to my tracks you might note that, yes, there are sequences too in them. but i liked this paradox. i liked this idea. i wanted to combine these seeemingly opposites. to make mathematic music, but yes, also to have it improvised at the same time. to improsive mathematic formulas on the go, if you will.
nostalgia plays a role too, maybe, but i don't seem it important. i just liked the approach, the complexity of experimental rock of those decades. and the spaciness too, of course.
so, after i made the decision to venture down that road i had to figure out how to put in a praxis. how could i jam with my sequencer program and the pre-programmed sounds, or rather, how could i jam them, block them, to create beautiful unordered things. well, i came up with some ideas eventually. i simply... ah, not the time to spill my artistic beans here just yet. it will have to remain a secret for now.
of course, i don't dare to say i succeeded with my task. maybe this music doesn't live up to expectations. but maybe this is also not the point. to music in generally.
but, hey, at least i tried, eh?
Beyond Just Intonation
after 17 Years of doing music in just intonation, microtuning, xenharmonics, i have felt as i have hit a border with that approach alone. i eventually started to abandon Just Intonation in my music works, and employed the 12 TET system again - shame on me. i didn't think much about it; it happened naturally; and it felt necessary.
in the end this led to a realisation, and a new theory of mine. it's just a new theory; i haven't sonically tested it much yet; so it could be scrapped in a while; or it could hold true.
What i realised was this: maybe music is exactly organised in a way i always rejected; which is, that intervals are grouped in categories such as sixths, fifths, thirds and so on. i always tried to get rid of this system; it seemed so traditional; so western, and non-sensical. why should a pure interval of 5/4 and 5/6 and 6/7 called be a "third"? it seemed to me to be completely different individuals, with different ratios; only grouped together because it was traditionally done so in western music.
but now i realised, there might be actually more to it. so i am trying to devise a system, in which actually these "intervals" are the important factor, and *not* the tunings, may they be just, equal, or mean etc. well this only half the truth - i think they are half important.
so i am thinking now, that the harmonic structure of a song, of a melody actually lies in these intervals; the primes, the seconds, the thirds and so on, and the tuning, in this aspect, is not so important. at first, at least. yet, at the same time, it is also very important. but more of this later.
this means, when i come up with a melody, i think of how i use primes, thirds, fifths, and not the intervals, the tuning directly; it is not so much a factor if these are equal tuned, or just tuned, or different and so on.
from one viewpoint - but there is also another viewpoint. this might sound paradoxical, but i think both - the interval groupings as i mentioned - and the actual tuning, are very important, each in their own field. there are two parts to the melody, harmonies, structure of a song, a piece, and one is the groupings as i mentioned, and the second is the "tuning" then again. the german word for "tuning" is "stimmung", which also means "mood" or "emotion", and i think this holds some truth. the groupings lie the framework for the melody, but the "stimmung", the tuning, adds the mood. so a minor key has a different "mood" than a major key (although i reject the - boring - notion that minor would mean "sad" and major "cheerful"), and a JI key or scale has a wholly different mood altogether. this may seem very basic and logical, but for me it was a breakthrough.
okay, as i said, so far this may seem basic, or not so interesting, or not as important yet. i think it is better to illustrate this by showing the practical implications.
one thing, is, as i said, the consequence, that i do not care so much about the actual interval, the just ratio, the actual ratio anymore. a second is a second no matter if it is 9/8 or 16/15 or 17/16. a fifth stays a fifth no matter if it is 2/3 or 5/7 or 5/8. this is something i haven't done before; i calculated each interval carefully before. and i never would have considered an interval with a different ratio to be actually the same.
but there is also another important consequence. just or pure intervals themselves are suddenly not necessary anymore. the tuning adds the "mood". so i do not have to use just intervals; they add a certain mood, but i can also use other tunings, other scales. a just interval adds a wholly different mood to a melody, and it is thus important wether one uses it or not; but it does not change the underlying harmonical structure, from a certain point of view. a JI (or 12 TET) third stays a third.
this has even further consequences. it means i can use intervals that are not related to simple intervals - that are wholly "detuned" - to add a specific mood, for example. it also gives 12 TET some credibility again.
it had always occured to me in the last years, that pure JI melodies often seem - a bit dull. now i understood why this was. they lacked the "tuning" - the "mood". a certain "detunedness" can create a powerful (i am sure JI can do this too - both are important).
this means JI, and microtuning, is not the "end" to it. it is just a plateau. it might be time to move on from it, and explore further avenues.
i should note that i lack knowledge of most of western harmonic theory, as i tried to stay clear of it to come up with "new" things, so it might be that a lot of what i wrote is already common knowledge to many. but to me, it was new, and i think it holds a lot of possibilites.
in the end this led to a realisation, and a new theory of mine. it's just a new theory; i haven't sonically tested it much yet; so it could be scrapped in a while; or it could hold true.
What i realised was this: maybe music is exactly organised in a way i always rejected; which is, that intervals are grouped in categories such as sixths, fifths, thirds and so on. i always tried to get rid of this system; it seemed so traditional; so western, and non-sensical. why should a pure interval of 5/4 and 5/6 and 6/7 called be a "third"? it seemed to me to be completely different individuals, with different ratios; only grouped together because it was traditionally done so in western music.
but now i realised, there might be actually more to it. so i am trying to devise a system, in which actually these "intervals" are the important factor, and *not* the tunings, may they be just, equal, or mean etc. well this only half the truth - i think they are half important.
so i am thinking now, that the harmonic structure of a song, of a melody actually lies in these intervals; the primes, the seconds, the thirds and so on, and the tuning, in this aspect, is not so important. at first, at least. yet, at the same time, it is also very important. but more of this later.
this means, when i come up with a melody, i think of how i use primes, thirds, fifths, and not the intervals, the tuning directly; it is not so much a factor if these are equal tuned, or just tuned, or different and so on.
from one viewpoint - but there is also another viewpoint. this might sound paradoxical, but i think both - the interval groupings as i mentioned - and the actual tuning, are very important, each in their own field. there are two parts to the melody, harmonies, structure of a song, a piece, and one is the groupings as i mentioned, and the second is the "tuning" then again. the german word for "tuning" is "stimmung", which also means "mood" or "emotion", and i think this holds some truth. the groupings lie the framework for the melody, but the "stimmung", the tuning, adds the mood. so a minor key has a different "mood" than a major key (although i reject the - boring - notion that minor would mean "sad" and major "cheerful"), and a JI key or scale has a wholly different mood altogether. this may seem very basic and logical, but for me it was a breakthrough.
okay, as i said, so far this may seem basic, or not so interesting, or not as important yet. i think it is better to illustrate this by showing the practical implications.
one thing, is, as i said, the consequence, that i do not care so much about the actual interval, the just ratio, the actual ratio anymore. a second is a second no matter if it is 9/8 or 16/15 or 17/16. a fifth stays a fifth no matter if it is 2/3 or 5/7 or 5/8. this is something i haven't done before; i calculated each interval carefully before. and i never would have considered an interval with a different ratio to be actually the same.
but there is also another important consequence. just or pure intervals themselves are suddenly not necessary anymore. the tuning adds the "mood". so i do not have to use just intervals; they add a certain mood, but i can also use other tunings, other scales. a just interval adds a wholly different mood to a melody, and it is thus important wether one uses it or not; but it does not change the underlying harmonical structure, from a certain point of view. a JI (or 12 TET) third stays a third.
this has even further consequences. it means i can use intervals that are not related to simple intervals - that are wholly "detuned" - to add a specific mood, for example. it also gives 12 TET some credibility again.
it had always occured to me in the last years, that pure JI melodies often seem - a bit dull. now i understood why this was. they lacked the "tuning" - the "mood". a certain "detunedness" can create a powerful (i am sure JI can do this too - both are important).
this means JI, and microtuning, is not the "end" to it. it is just a plateau. it might be time to move on from it, and explore further avenues.
i should note that i lack knowledge of most of western harmonic theory, as i tried to stay clear of it to come up with "new" things, so it might be that a lot of what i wrote is already common knowledge to many. but to me, it was new, and i think it holds a lot of possibilites.
On My Music
i found that music, and art, can often be reduced to a few core ideas that have driven the artist, when one analyses and reduces it. for my music, there were always some ideas that were stronger than the rest.
one of them was to combine techno music with the avantgarde. i will use the term "techno" in this text, instead of 'electronic dance music', as this is closer to my intentions.
i loved techno. and i loved avantgarde it. so i was happy to get to know music by a few artists, who two had these same interest in music. this convinced me, that this was a viable road to go on.
yet, the questions, is how to combine the two? as most people would think these are irreconcilable. 'serious' artists sneered at techno music; and a lot of techno enthusiasts had no interest in avantgarde music and art.
also, the main problem was, that i wanted to really fuse, mend them together. if i hadn't had this goal, my task would've become easier. i could have just added techno samples to an avantgarde piece, or the other way round. or create some art that has merely references to the 'techno culture'.
i wanted to make music that was really techno, music to dance to, to go wild too. but at the same time avantgarade, music for the mind, to ponder on.
for the first years, in my task, i tried to create avantgarde pieces of music, with a big nod to movie score music and dark ambient; and fuse them with hardcore dance beats. yes, that sounds a bit - unlikely. but i tried my best to succeed, and saw no reason why i should fail. again, i tried not do to merely "avantgarde with added beat".
then my music got exceedingly complex and complicated, and i felt it was slipping through my hands, as to me it was losing it's power. so i eventually turned it the other way round. creating techno tracks, with techno structures, and anything techno about them, but with avantgarde concepts and sounds.
again, eventually i felt this road was over, so now i try to combine both these concepts together.
this was my wish; to fuse avantgarde and techno; and i hope to see more projects and artists like this in the future.
examples of this music:
first phase: my track "the truth"
second phase: "fourth uprising"
third phase: "glowing cuboids"
one of them was to combine techno music with the avantgarde. i will use the term "techno" in this text, instead of 'electronic dance music', as this is closer to my intentions.
i loved techno. and i loved avantgarde it. so i was happy to get to know music by a few artists, who two had these same interest in music. this convinced me, that this was a viable road to go on.
yet, the questions, is how to combine the two? as most people would think these are irreconcilable. 'serious' artists sneered at techno music; and a lot of techno enthusiasts had no interest in avantgarde music and art.
also, the main problem was, that i wanted to really fuse, mend them together. if i hadn't had this goal, my task would've become easier. i could have just added techno samples to an avantgarde piece, or the other way round. or create some art that has merely references to the 'techno culture'.
i wanted to make music that was really techno, music to dance to, to go wild too. but at the same time avantgarade, music for the mind, to ponder on.
for the first years, in my task, i tried to create avantgarde pieces of music, with a big nod to movie score music and dark ambient; and fuse them with hardcore dance beats. yes, that sounds a bit - unlikely. but i tried my best to succeed, and saw no reason why i should fail. again, i tried not do to merely "avantgarde with added beat".
then my music got exceedingly complex and complicated, and i felt it was slipping through my hands, as to me it was losing it's power. so i eventually turned it the other way round. creating techno tracks, with techno structures, and anything techno about them, but with avantgarde concepts and sounds.
again, eventually i felt this road was over, so now i try to combine both these concepts together.
this was my wish; to fuse avantgarde and techno; and i hope to see more projects and artists like this in the future.
examples of this music:
first phase: my track "the truth"
second phase: "fourth uprising"
third phase: "glowing cuboids"
My Just Intonated Music
Just Intonation and Microtuning are two methods to create music outside of the now standard western scale, which is called 12 tone equal temperament. the 12 tone equal temperament means that there are only 12 semitones available for each octave, which have a fixed frequency and ratio. this is how 99% of all music in the western world is created now. in techno, dance, pop, rock, ambient, you name it. but it's a lie. there are more tones possible per octave - in fact, an infinite amount. yet western music repeats the same 12 semitones over and over again in each song and track. quite boring. also, the 12 TET is way off in it's intervals. when nowadays a composer, electronic or otherwise, uses a fifth, a third, a sept, this is actually detuned - due to 12 TET. it's not the same fifth, third, septs that Mozart, Bach, Haendel used. for the last 100 years or so, western music has been inherently detuned. no wonder it sounds so annoying.
i got introduced to the concept of microtuning and just intonation when i talked to a friend about composing and creating melodies. i was quite proud of the melodies i created, but he pointed out they were in a 12 TET scale and explained to me a bit of the background. i then started to dig deeper and read a lot about it, and it felt like i was hit over me head since i realised there was something in music i never recognized before and that was completely unknown to me.
i then eagerly started to use just intonation and microtuning in almost all tracks i created. all of my vinyl releases contained at least one track with just intonation or microtuning. the use of it in this field of electronic music was quite rare, and still is, i suppose. so i ended up creating some of the first hardcore techno tracks based on just intonation.
in the later years i let the JI thing sort of slip, since i changed the way and equipment i used for producing, and clang "desperately" to the intervals that are at least *slightly* close to the original, just intonated intervals - the fifth, the fourth, and so on.
but now i am getting back to creating electronic just intonated and microtuned music.
it would be nice to see if more artists picked up these methods and used them in their works, and if the knowledge about these things is getting more widespread.
tracks of mine with the use of JI and MT (some examples):
Urban Uprising (possibly the first just intonated hardcore track pressed on vinyl?)
Symphony Of Creative Destruction
Daark
Don't Let Our Dreams Die
Emerald Planet
The Truth
Soundtrack For Visiting Another Planet
JI = Just Intonation
MT = Microtuning
i got introduced to the concept of microtuning and just intonation when i talked to a friend about composing and creating melodies. i was quite proud of the melodies i created, but he pointed out they were in a 12 TET scale and explained to me a bit of the background. i then started to dig deeper and read a lot about it, and it felt like i was hit over me head since i realised there was something in music i never recognized before and that was completely unknown to me.
i then eagerly started to use just intonation and microtuning in almost all tracks i created. all of my vinyl releases contained at least one track with just intonation or microtuning. the use of it in this field of electronic music was quite rare, and still is, i suppose. so i ended up creating some of the first hardcore techno tracks based on just intonation.
in the later years i let the JI thing sort of slip, since i changed the way and equipment i used for producing, and clang "desperately" to the intervals that are at least *slightly* close to the original, just intonated intervals - the fifth, the fourth, and so on.
but now i am getting back to creating electronic just intonated and microtuned music.
it would be nice to see if more artists picked up these methods and used them in their works, and if the knowledge about these things is getting more widespread.
tracks of mine with the use of JI and MT (some examples):
Urban Uprising (possibly the first just intonated hardcore track pressed on vinyl?)
Symphony Of Creative Destruction
Daark
Don't Let Our Dreams Die
Emerald Planet
The Truth
Soundtrack For Visiting Another Planet
JI = Just Intonation
MT = Microtuning
My Anti-Intellectual Art
now that i got rid of my anti-intellectualism, i can discloure the methods by which i made music and art in the last years. i tried to be completely anti-intellectual, - or rather as anti-intellectual as i could be - in my art. to get rid of logic, thought, rationality, mind, intellect, cognitivity and intelligence in my art, and instead base it purely on instinct, emotion, feelings, improvisation, subconsciousness, motion and sense.
i tried to reduce intellectual ways of doing art as much as i could - or rather, as much as it was 'sensible'.
i tried to reduce reflection and thinking. i called this concept by the name of "no second thoughts". which means, that if i worked on a track, i would use the *first* concept, idea, structure that came to my mind. and never change it at all. even this was still much to "mindful" to me, this is why i tried methods that did not involve the mind at all. such as "blindly" sequencing and editing the music tracks. there was many and plenty of other methods i designed to reduce "intelligence" from my tracks. as i said, i wanted to base it solely on emotion, instinct and things like this.
as you might suspect, this didn't really work out in the end, and my tracks turned more complex and "thought out" than before. still, i tried to put a big deal of emotion into my tracks. i'm not to tell if i succeeded.
as i know now, this was of course the completely wrong way to go with art. yet it is interesting how much energy i actually put into this project, and it might be interesting for people to see an anti-intellectual approach on art, that is based on feelings and emotions.
this anti-intellectual period of my music spans three years from the end of 2010 to the end of 2013.
i tried to reduce intellectual ways of doing art as much as i could - or rather, as much as it was 'sensible'.
i tried to reduce reflection and thinking. i called this concept by the name of "no second thoughts". which means, that if i worked on a track, i would use the *first* concept, idea, structure that came to my mind. and never change it at all. even this was still much to "mindful" to me, this is why i tried methods that did not involve the mind at all. such as "blindly" sequencing and editing the music tracks. there was many and plenty of other methods i designed to reduce "intelligence" from my tracks. as i said, i wanted to base it solely on emotion, instinct and things like this.
as you might suspect, this didn't really work out in the end, and my tracks turned more complex and "thought out" than before. still, i tried to put a big deal of emotion into my tracks. i'm not to tell if i succeeded.
as i know now, this was of course the completely wrong way to go with art. yet it is interesting how much energy i actually put into this project, and it might be interesting for people to see an anti-intellectual approach on art, that is based on feelings and emotions.
this anti-intellectual period of my music spans three years from the end of 2010 to the end of 2013.
About My Tracks "Trilogy Of Wisdom"
around 2000 i made the track "anything is possible", which was later released on widerstand records. this marked a point on a road i went on, which was that i tried to make my tracks continually more complex, thought out and and complicated. with this track, i felt like i had blewn it. it felt much *too* thought out, 'intellectual', quirky, i felt like i tried to hard to make it "strange" and intelligent. the joy, the liveliness that i felt in earlier tracks seemed to go missing. so i decided to call it a stop at this point, and to move in the opposite direction. to try to make basic, "simple" tracks with a fast paced feeling, enthuasism and spontanity. to try to get away from the intellectual angle i had on my music so far. the results were tracks like "urban uprising" or "acid 9", which became my most known tracks to this date. of course, as you suspect, i didn't really manage to get away from "intellectualism" and probably spend more thinking and philosophing about music than before. yet i was honest with my "keep it simple", keep it direct approach to music. eventually, the inevitable happened, and my tracks grew more complex again, the results were tracks like "don't let our dreams die", or "emerald planet".
after my break from the music scene, i actually started somewhere in the middle again - or rather, i had no idea where i started. so i went on the "complex" route of producing. this, again felt very quickly as not a very lively way to produce music again, and i felt my tracks had became cold and detached. this was were i hit a bit of an artist crisis and didn't know where to move to from that point this time. years ago i had started to develop a liking for the acid house and early techno sound of the late 80s and early 90s. this was where i orientated myself again. well, not exactly at the *sound* of this genres, (although in some tracks i did, this time), but rather, again, the whole approach at doing and producing music. to keep it extremely simply, to not overthink things, to have a kicking track that just makes you want to move, instead of overly complicating things and to strive for complexity. it goes actually way more deeper than this, maybe i will talk about it in another text. basically, i tried to ban every from of "intellectualism" from my tracks. with this approach, for a longer period of time, i never managed to create tracks more than 1-2 minutes, sometimes even much less time. the results of this period was released on my album "micro tracks for macro people" on k-net records. this may seem weird, but maybe you can imagine how limiting it is to be suspicios of any thing that could be "intellectual" in music and to not use it or remove it then.
this was also the basis of my doomcore sound, which results in around 15 tracks aptly named "doomcore (+number)" by me.
and again, the complexity of my tracks grew, but i always tried to stay carefully within the lines of anti-intellectualism. the end point of that period was the release "another uprising" which i released myself, without a label, on the internet.
by the end of 2013 i suddenly got rid of my anti-intellectualism, the story behind this could fill another text or even several ones. it came to my like a kiss in the desert, like being lost and found. it just happened. maybe i will write all this down elsewhere.
i immediately felt i should celebrate this, one of the deepest, changes in my life, by writing a piece of music about it. this was how the "trilogy of wisdom" came to be. it includes the tracks "wisdom", "take off" and "are you the goddess?". as you might suspect, i called it "trilogy of wisdom" to celebrate thinking, intellectual capability, knowledge and man's desire of exploration. finally, after more than 10 years, i felt like i was free
to use the full capacity of my brain again when doing art. anti-intellectualism be gone! this was a moment of deep liberation and joy for me, and i hope this joy is somewhat experiencable in these tracks.
after my break from the music scene, i actually started somewhere in the middle again - or rather, i had no idea where i started. so i went on the "complex" route of producing. this, again felt very quickly as not a very lively way to produce music again, and i felt my tracks had became cold and detached. this was were i hit a bit of an artist crisis and didn't know where to move to from that point this time. years ago i had started to develop a liking for the acid house and early techno sound of the late 80s and early 90s. this was where i orientated myself again. well, not exactly at the *sound* of this genres, (although in some tracks i did, this time), but rather, again, the whole approach at doing and producing music. to keep it extremely simply, to not overthink things, to have a kicking track that just makes you want to move, instead of overly complicating things and to strive for complexity. it goes actually way more deeper than this, maybe i will talk about it in another text. basically, i tried to ban every from of "intellectualism" from my tracks. with this approach, for a longer period of time, i never managed to create tracks more than 1-2 minutes, sometimes even much less time. the results of this period was released on my album "micro tracks for macro people" on k-net records. this may seem weird, but maybe you can imagine how limiting it is to be suspicios of any thing that could be "intellectual" in music and to not use it or remove it then.
this was also the basis of my doomcore sound, which results in around 15 tracks aptly named "doomcore (+number)" by me.
and again, the complexity of my tracks grew, but i always tried to stay carefully within the lines of anti-intellectualism. the end point of that period was the release "another uprising" which i released myself, without a label, on the internet.
by the end of 2013 i suddenly got rid of my anti-intellectualism, the story behind this could fill another text or even several ones. it came to my like a kiss in the desert, like being lost and found. it just happened. maybe i will write all this down elsewhere.
i immediately felt i should celebrate this, one of the deepest, changes in my life, by writing a piece of music about it. this was how the "trilogy of wisdom" came to be. it includes the tracks "wisdom", "take off" and "are you the goddess?". as you might suspect, i called it "trilogy of wisdom" to celebrate thinking, intellectual capability, knowledge and man's desire of exploration. finally, after more than 10 years, i felt like i was free
to use the full capacity of my brain again when doing art. anti-intellectualism be gone! this was a moment of deep liberation and joy for me, and i hope this joy is somewhat experiencable in these tracks.
Urban Uprising And Emerald Planet
my tracks Urban Uprising and Emerald Planet are both parts of the same thought (i suppose), polar opposites of a concept. i wrote Urban Uprising in 2001, final touch in 2002 and it was released later that year. i wrote Emerald Planet in 2003 and it was released in 2005.
just as Emerald Planet, Urban Uprising arose out of a certain mindset. and it was my dearest wish to express and communicate this mindset with this track. most people believe in the concept of "good", or "positive". and these who are cynical or negative retain some notion of the good. if they don't think society or the world is good, they at least think some of their social surrounding or activites are somewhat good. it gives them comfort and something that they can find solace him. before i made Urban Uprising, i embraced the mindset that there was no good at all to be found in the world. no real happiness. no real joy. no hope. no solution. no exit. no light of the day. that all the nice words of the philosophers who talked about tasks, goals, ways to attain something real, pure and good was mere children's wishes, pipe dreams. no solution - not political, cultural, social, philosphical or in any other way. that the notion of "good" itself had to be abandoned. but i didn't embrace this in a cynical or negative way - i didn't feel put down by this. in itself, this felt as something "positive". as pure freedom. if you don't have to strive for any "good" anymore you can enjoy life at is is - finally. this was the point my thoughts circled around, and that i wanted to drive home. 1000s of years people had been oppressed and slaughtered for a "higher good". so let us forget any "higher good" forever!
it also didn't mean that i would not experience happyiness or laughter or joy - but happiness embedded in real life, in the actual world, not a serene, exalted joy, that the philosophers talked about. as i said, i put all this to "pipe dreams" of history.
so Urban Uprising arised of 100% nihil if you wish.
now, Emerald Planet came from the exact different direction. with it, i wanted to express love. sweet, pure, honest, overarching, total and 100% love. this was what i wanted to spread, to send out in the world.
happiness, joy, love, sweetness, enjoyment, complete bliss became a sudden possibility again, a thing that is real. one of my inspirations that i wanted to follow on was the music of David Lynch and Julee Cruise, which was produced by Angelo Badalamenti. of course i didn't want to copy anything, i just found a certain mood, expression in these songs, that i truly liked. listen to a song like "Falling" or "The Nightingale", and maybe you can find some sort of resemblance in Emerald Planet? maybe it's just in my thought.
so this was the tiny message i wanted to give to the world. did i succeed? hard to say. but maybe i could give some happiness to the world.
note: this might seem like a personal story of extreme moodswings to some people but it is not. as i said, i didn't really feel sad or down about the first idea. it was - to a large part - a 'philosophical' conception (even though i often hate this word). same for the second part.
just as Emerald Planet, Urban Uprising arose out of a certain mindset. and it was my dearest wish to express and communicate this mindset with this track. most people believe in the concept of "good", or "positive". and these who are cynical or negative retain some notion of the good. if they don't think society or the world is good, they at least think some of their social surrounding or activites are somewhat good. it gives them comfort and something that they can find solace him. before i made Urban Uprising, i embraced the mindset that there was no good at all to be found in the world. no real happiness. no real joy. no hope. no solution. no exit. no light of the day. that all the nice words of the philosophers who talked about tasks, goals, ways to attain something real, pure and good was mere children's wishes, pipe dreams. no solution - not political, cultural, social, philosphical or in any other way. that the notion of "good" itself had to be abandoned. but i didn't embrace this in a cynical or negative way - i didn't feel put down by this. in itself, this felt as something "positive". as pure freedom. if you don't have to strive for any "good" anymore you can enjoy life at is is - finally. this was the point my thoughts circled around, and that i wanted to drive home. 1000s of years people had been oppressed and slaughtered for a "higher good". so let us forget any "higher good" forever!
it also didn't mean that i would not experience happyiness or laughter or joy - but happiness embedded in real life, in the actual world, not a serene, exalted joy, that the philosophers talked about. as i said, i put all this to "pipe dreams" of history.
so Urban Uprising arised of 100% nihil if you wish.
now, Emerald Planet came from the exact different direction. with it, i wanted to express love. sweet, pure, honest, overarching, total and 100% love. this was what i wanted to spread, to send out in the world.
happiness, joy, love, sweetness, enjoyment, complete bliss became a sudden possibility again, a thing that is real. one of my inspirations that i wanted to follow on was the music of David Lynch and Julee Cruise, which was produced by Angelo Badalamenti. of course i didn't want to copy anything, i just found a certain mood, expression in these songs, that i truly liked. listen to a song like "Falling" or "The Nightingale", and maybe you can find some sort of resemblance in Emerald Planet? maybe it's just in my thought.
so this was the tiny message i wanted to give to the world. did i succeed? hard to say. but maybe i could give some happiness to the world.
note: this might seem like a personal story of extreme moodswings to some people but it is not. as i said, i didn't really feel sad or down about the first idea. it was - to a large part - a 'philosophical' conception (even though i often hate this word). same for the second part.
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