Marcel Thebach Interview February 2005   

Occasionally the rewards when discovering a new artist are immediate. Such was the case for many a person who discovered the group Interface in the mid-1990s. Composed of two young Germans, Michael Gross and Marcel Thebach, Interface was a group whose music was immediate. You didn't have to put forth extended concentration to "get it." You didn't have to be patient and then patient some more to receive the pay-off. No, the art of Interface was men making music for humanity--direct, emotional and exciting.

This remarkable sound, as so many artistic alliances, was not to be sustained as Thebach left to pursue a solo career after just two albums. After one more studio effort, Gross changed direction as he dove into the trance sound taking over Europe in the late 1990s. Thebach's first solo album, Follow Me, quickly showed he had what it took to also be a very successful solo musician. His follow up, California Orange, showed he was not afraid to push the limits with some experimentation, but also showed he could experiment while maintaining a quality of melodic glue--this was music that could just stick in your mind. His last album for the awesome and now defunct Innovation Communications, Ganja Grooves, is a must for anyone into progressive instrumental music. Not only does it span a stunning variety of moods, it also excells in nearly any qualitative attribute--production, sound design and compositional strength. Thebach has since produced two more solo recordings (samples can be heard on his Web site) and appears to be at a place many artists spend their whole life working towards--a watershed during moment where he has always wanted to take his music.

What would say are some of your greatest music influences?

I discovered Mike Oldfield to be a wonderful and great musician when I was 11. I remember Christmas in 1983 when Santa Claus brought me some „older“ albums such as Tubular Bells, Incantations and Ommadawn. I spent the whole night with my new headphones listening to that music that fascinated me from the first second. I guess it is Mike who influended me mostly. And he still does today. I also love Peter Gabriel , Vangelis and Pink Floyd. To me it is very important that music is experimental and differs from the mainstream. And I don not really need vocals in form of lyrics. If music is well done it can tell you more than any words. Try to describe a colour, for example, in words. It won`t be possible. But music is able to describe it!

Your musical output has ranged stylistically from tight, melodic compositions to trance-flavored tracks to ambient pieces. Do you have a particular style that seems most natural to you?

Of course I want to touch different styles in music. Some people describe parts of my music as „trance“ , but I think it’s really never been that. I always disappear in trying to produce anything commercial. The commercial style needs strict abstraction to make people dance. My songs contain too many melodies or soundscapes. So, if you ask me for a style that is most natural to me I have to say it is the classic style. Unfortunately, nobody can hear this in my music exept me! ;-)

Are there particular songs that you've written that stand out in your mind as personal favorites?

I like „Lovesong“ from Interface album Signs of Life. It was a real lovesong dedicated to my girlfriend at that time, Anette. From my solo-projects, I think that „Sun,moon,stars“ and the ethno-sections from Ganja-Grooves („Afternoon weed,“ „One world“ and „One Ganjaland“) are my favourites. The most successful songs have been „Miles to Spain“ which is being played everyday for example in a cinema in Milano. Many people have contacted me, after they heard that song in the movie theater. „Stropharia“ has become the backroundmusic for a commercial online game. Eternity, which has never been released, has become the soundtrack for a documentary movie about the history of computer development.

Your discography is littered with great examples of being able to express a wide variety of moods and ideas with wonderfully diverse albums such as "Ganja Grooves." How would you describe your music to someone that had never heard it?

Thank you! How would I describe it? Hmmm… I would say for example, if it comes to Ganja Grooves: Listen to it, let it go and do not think about styles! To describe Follow Me, I would say: „Well, I was young and unexperienced!“ Talking about California Orange I would say: “This is a demo CD for the new equipment I bought!“ And finally for Eternity and Silent Tunes: This is the beginning of what I ever wanted to do!

What are your musical plans for the near future? Do you have any plans to collaborate with Michael Gross again?

We are still friends and meet regularily, but Michael has his own way as well as I have. I really have to say that Michael has become a fantastic musician. Much much better than me, honestly! As for my plans for the future—at this time I am remixing my whole backup-catalogue due to that bad sound it partly has. I`ll start a new project in summer 2005. It´ll contain melodic traditional tunes with natural instruments in combination with fat virtual analogue sounds and athmosperic soundscapes. At this time, I am collecting soundsamples and composing melodies on a simple piano. I have decided to go this way, because I want to develop the composition on the piano before I meet it up with all that technical stuff in order to give it a naturally grown character.

Do you have any interest in motion picture, video game or television scoring?

What do you mean? Of course I like movies! My favourites are The Killing Fields, Das Boot (Best German Movie of all time) and The Wall. It would be a pleasure for me to write a soundtrack but I am really not a gamer. The only PC-Game I play is Backgammon! I really do not like TV! „Zapping“ is a world that is far far away from me. I unfortunately watch the News every day and that’s it. I could definitely live without TV.

Frank Van Bogaert Interview November 2004   

A criticism that can be leveled against a fair portion of contemporary music, both disposable pop music and even a fair portion of other disciplines such as contemporary jazz or retro electronic music, is very basic. It's the criticism that the music just isn't very musical. Yes, there may be many of the calling cards of a particular genre and perhaps the hint of exploration. But overall, how many songs do you hear on a regular basis, be it the radio, movie theater or even a friends house, that are truly tuneful? Thankfully, Frank Van Bogaert is the kind of artist that will make sure there is tuneful music out there to be found as long as he is recording.

Van Bogaert arose on the contemporary instrumental music scene in the late 1990s, in part because he offered a fresh, melodic sound. It didn't hurt that Van Bogaert first two studio albums also reminded people of the more musical moments of Deep Forest as well as Vangelis. Now in late 2004, Van Bogaert has definately established a recognizable sound and style that needs no such comparisons. Yes, there are moments on his latest album that definately remind one of Vangelis, but that is in part only true because there are still very few artists recording today that van take contemporary instrumentation and so deftly articulate it with melodic structures into songs the way Vangelis, and now Van Bogaert, do. Truly, about the only other artist or group that has been this successful in such an endeavor has been the brilliant duo Symbian (interestingly enough also from Belgium). Closer (2004) is Van Bogaert's fifth studio album and once again represents and interesting set of tunes that hold more than a little tunefulness.

As you sit back and listen to the music of Closer, does anything within it surprise you?

Yeah, in fact a couple of things.
First thing is that with Closer being my fifth album, it once more sounds, or better said feels, different to what I’ve done before. It’s clear that I’ve got my own way of composing and arranging music but the approach to producing a new album has been different with every album. This is something I’m very proud of! Whereas on my previous album Human, I improvised on a great deal of songs, with Closer I chose most of the time for what to me is the most basic method of composing--namely on the acoustic piano.
Most of the album has been composed on an old upright piano in my office and not in the studio. Don’t get me wrong, Closer has not become a piano album but I could play this whole album in a kind of unplugged version on an acoustic piano only, leaving all synths, rhythms, atmospheric sounds etc. out and the songs would still stand.
To me, this also explains the fact that Closer feels more “emotionally loaded” than previous works. Songs were composed at the moment I felt I needed to play, for whatever reason, but never because I had to release a new album. So there’s some very uplifting stuff followed by more comforting tracks and occasionally a more sad song, a bit like life goes by, isn’t it?

What would you say are your most important aesthetic objectives when producing a solo album?

Everything has to sound great!
Even if the song is very intimate and simple, it has to sound right. I think I owe this to the people who buy my records. I want them to get “good value for money.” So, my albums are produced in a real professional studio, not a home studio, using the finest gear and sounds. In the “Electronic Music” scene of today so much cheaply produced crap is going ‘round that sometimes it really makes me feel bad or even ashamed when people ask me “oh, you’re into electronic music? Not really my cup of tea, it all sounds a bit cheap.“ Luckily the label I’m working with, Groove Unlimited, is not signing that kind of stuff anymore, so things are starting to look better for electronic music in general. Also, I always pay great attention to the cover-art work (always designed by my brother Kris, a graphical designer). I think you can distinguish a lot of badly produced albums from good by the look at the cover itself.

Some of your songs have an incredibly alluring sound design such as "The Drift" from Docking or "Falling Leaves" from Closer. How important is sound design to your creative process? Do you approach it differently for each track?

It is very important indeed. It can push a certain song into a direction you hadn’t thought of before. Mostly I use sound design to create an atmosphere that’s already present in my mind, to emphasize a song’s feel. So this means that the approach differs from song to song, but as I already said, on some occasions sound design has opened new ways and sometimes it has even made me trash a song just to continue developing the “sound design” into what is to become a new song.
I also listen to a great deal of music that’s mainly based on sound design alone, like Steve Roach’s music (and I’m a big fan), but have always found it difficult to produce it myself. I’m too much of a keyboard player so I get bored pretty easily if nothing happens after two minutes of sound design. But I love to listen to Roach or Eno stuff.

What you can tell us about the emotional intensity behind the song "A Picture of You" on your latest album?

That’s a special one!
I’m glad you felt the intensity in that track. This is something I’m sometimes afraid of: that people don’t feel it, don’t get it, especially with Closer. You mustn’t really know what a track is about but just feel the intensity and interpret that in your own way. But only because you ask, and this is the first song I have ever really explained. ”A picture of you” is about a good friend who also happened to be my roadie in the band I was in during the eighties, 1000 Ohm, so we‘ve been through some things together.
He called me up one day to say he was dying of cancer. I was completely upset; he was only 40. Before we even had the chance to meet once more, he was gone. So, the day he went, I looked up all the picture books of 1000 Ohm gigs, parties etc…sat by the piano and wrote “A picture of you.” The song hasn’t become too sad but got more of a “letting go” feel.

What do you see as some of the more interesting styles, ideas or musical influences that hold untapped promise for progressive instrumental music?

First of all, to me “progressive” doesn’t necessarily mean renewing but more like “standing out of the crowd.” A band I’ve been following for a couple of years now, and one that you could file under progressive instrumental music is Ozric Tentacles; I love their fusion of space rock, jazz and even Berlin school sequencer influences. Also, some jazz musicians comply to my definition of “progressive instrumental” Just to mention a few: Pat Metheny, Jan Garbarek….
I share the feeling with many of them that we shouldn’t let ourselves be influenced with what is being played in the media these days, but just do what we believe in. Progressive instrumental music isn’t made to reach the masses (and by this making lots of money) but just because we feel it has to be made. Just make music that feels right!

Categorical names can be as unhelpful as they can be helpful but it can still be use to help give a prospective listener an idea of what to expect from a recording. How you would you categorize a diverse album like Closer for a prospective buyer?

This has always been a tough one! It’s instrumental music; very melodic; every track is always a “song;” it’s electronic with loads of acoustic instruments; it has often ethnic influences; it’s made from the heart; some people like it to compare with earlier Vangelis work; from time to time it has jazzy influences; but it’s always very recognisable as “van Bogaert.”
But that’s all too much to stick on a CD cover isn’t it? So just let’s call it “contemporary instrumental.”

Do you have any broadcast or motion picture scoring plans right now?

I’m doing quit a lot of commercial work, so my music is regularly on national TV and radio. But this is all music made to the wishes of the client. This year there has also been a TV series I composed the music for. In 2005, there might be another motion picture to score, but the budgets haven’t been approved yet. Always bear in mind that I’m living in Belgium. It’s about the size of an average state in the US. I’m very lucky to have become a professional in this small country but I often have wondered how it would have been should I have lived in the US? Bigger budgets but also more competition, I guess? And, I’m sure I’d miss the Belgian beer ?

Steve Baltes Interview October 2004   

How many artists can you think of that can freely move between several music styles almost like a chameleon? How many artist would even feel comfortable moving from complex, enigmatic progressive instrumental music to high energy trance? How many artists do you listen to that seem to work with equal productivity as a composer, producer and remixer?

The answer is no doubt somewhere between a few and none, but now you can one to that list: Steve Baltes. A quick tour of Baltes web site is enough to leave your head spinning. Just who is this guy? Is he a remixer of chart topping dance such as Germany's U96? Is he an electronic-insider with membership in the legendary group Ashra and collaborations with guru Harold Grosskopf? Is he a solo musician looking to blur the lines between dance and progressive instrumental? The answer to each is "yes." If this hasn't peeked your interest yet, now is the time to investigate Steve Baltes. There might not be a single obvious point with which, so let us suggest one: Four Times Three, a live collaboration between Baltes, Grosskopf and guitarist Axel Heilhecker. (The album has been re-release by Groove Unlimited.) It will no doubt be worth your while.

Already in your career, you've participated in a wide range of musical projects including the band Ashra, solo work, live performance and production/remixing? Do you have favorites among these activities? Do they push you in different directions artistically?

I enjoy every aspect of making music, I couldn´t say that I prefer production or remixing but playing live is definitely one of my favorite things; it is the greatest reward for a lot of work in the studio. Also it´s a great gift to work with a lot different people, it helps you to do and see things in different ways. Performing with a band like ASHRA or playing with musicians like Harald Großkopf and Axel Heilhecker are one of the best things that have ever happened to me. It really inspires me a lot and it´s a great motivation for me to work on new music.

Your solo album Rhythm of Life has a range of moods within it, but overall melds a variety of progressive instrumental styles with the beat and energy of trance/club music. How do you see this alchemy working for you as your solo work evolves?

First of all, music for me is just an expression of my feelings. I like all kinds of music and grew up with classic electronic music like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and others, as well as wave and industrial music of the 80s. Later on (1993), I was fascinated how powerful and emotional trance music can be. So, I was focused on trance for a while but I really like to mix all styles even if I'm mostly known for my trance tunes. But I could never focus only on one type of music. I always like to try out new things and Rhythm of Life was my try to combine "classic" electronic music with modern aspects and all kinds of musical elements I love.

Do you think the more beat-friendly styles of music your have performed live in the USA could open up more "electronic music" to a broader audience in North America and elsewhere?

In radio and TV there's almost no electronic music like trance or ambient, it´s still a very little scene. Even trance is very much underground compared to Europe. It's very small but slowly growing. But I see a lot of potential and could imagine that fans of electronic dance music are interested in other styles. So yes, I do think it might help to reach a broader audience. I´m excited how it could look in a couple of years.

You currently have a fascinating track preview from an album you are working on with Harold Grosskopf posted on your site. Can you provide any insight on this project?

Harald and I are close friends and were working on music together for more then 10 years, releasing a lot of music under projects like N-Tribe, Holo-Syndrome and Sunya Beat with another good friend the incredible German guitar player Axel Heilhecker. In 2002, Harald came up with some track-ideas he had produced in his studio. I really liked the ideas of the tracks and so we decided to produce the tracks together as a new Harald Großkopf solo-CD which later was released under the title Digital Nomad. We had a lot of fun working on Digital Nomad and also a lot of positive reactions so we were thinking about a follow up very shortly after the release. In 2003, Harald started to work on new song structures, which we finished in my studio between the beginning of 2003 and August 2004. It´s a concept album inspired by the antarctic-journey of Explorer Ernest H. Shakleton including seven tracks between ambient, electronic, drum&bass and trance. We are really happy with the result, the CD will also feature a multimedia section with visuals for two tracks.

Do you have any plans to compile or re-release any of your hard to find or 12" solo music on CD?

I´m still getting a lot of e-mails from fans all over the world searching for some hard to find 12", so I almost gave away my very last copies I had here on my own. I really would love to re-release all of the classic tracks, but as most of the time it´s a problem with the rights of the recordings. The rights still belong to different labels and most of the time they are not interested in spending much money to just sell a few copies. At least I was able to re-release "A Kiss around Midnight" from 1997 on the US Label Dancing Spirit Recordings. They licensed it from the original company Go for It and to my surprise the first 500 copies were gone within just a few days, what is a good example how many people actually still looking for these tracks. Also I´m working on a way where people can download all of my older songs thru my web page for a really small price. I´m hoping this will be possible soon.

Can you talk a bit about some of the musical projects you have planned right now?

The next thing I´m really looking forward to is a live CD from a set I played at a huge show at the Bill Graham in San Francisco USA in February this year. It includes some unreleased live versions of my classic trance-tunes as well as some new material. It´s the first new real solo CD in five years. Also I´m spending a lot of time working in the studio with my new group Room 13 which is a three man electro/pop/alternative project with full vocal songs; we are hoping to release our debut CD at the end of the year or beginning of 2005. Later on this year, there will be an ambient/electronic/jazz/yrip hop CD with guitarist Axel Heilhecker as well as some more dance/trance related 12" records and remixes. Next to that, it might be time to start on a new Steve Baltes studio CD soon.....

Andy Pickford Interview June 2004   

How often have you heard music bland enough to fit a commercial purpose but also bland enough to be easily forgotten? The answer, of course, is innumerable. Now think how many times have you heard music that was utterly memorable, utterly engaging. That is the work of Andy Pickford. Pickford emerged on to the new instrumental scene with his album Replicant in the 1990s and quickly received respect for his compositional abilities and the passion that infused his music with life. Now, a decade later, Pickford has evolved his art with more subtly and modernistic structures but without losing his sometimes lyrical and enigmatic persona.

Lughnasad, Pickford latest solo album doesn't immediately grab your attention quite like some of his earlier work, but its' hypnogogic tones grow with every listen. The same goes for his his wonderfully thought-provoking new project with fellow Englishman Paul Nagle, Binar. In a short decade Andy Pickford has gone from newcomer to new master. Where many other progenitors of electronic-progressive music have become caught up in their own styles (in turn losing the whole progressive thing), in turn unable to thrive artistically, Pickford has done just the opposite. Not satisfied to just stay the safe and repetitive course, Pickford is a beacon in a dark night. His aesthetic fire burns with perhaps a more controlled flame now, but like an industrial torch, that flame is even hotter and more effective in many ways. Listening to Pickford's work is believing--so listen.

What would say are some of your key musical priorities these days?

I like to keep things simple. I work a fairly grueling shift as a tracing agent for the logistics firm DHL, so I fit my music schedules in where I can. I absolutely must play music I enjoy. That is the main consideration. If I had to spend six months now producing one album, track by track I think I'd come to hate music so much I'd probably sell all my gear. So I've really fallen in love with the approach of keeping it spontaneous, raw and achievable within a few takes. To be honest, I think working to such a discipline really does make it fun and a challenge.

Lughnasad makes something of a departure from its predecessors such as Nemesis. Does this signal a new path you're pursuing in solo work?

Theoretically I don't have a path to stick to as such. Because once I've explored one I like to try another. All Lughnasad signaled really was a maturing of the way I visualize music. The fact that it's so exploratory on many dimensions really showed that I was trying to communicate something quite pictorial through the language of sound really. Most importantly of all it needed to be functional. I required something to act as a musical distraction at the end of a hard day's work. Not New Age as such, because
the intention wasn't to actually put people into a state of meditation or anything. But certainly I wanted something capable of overriding unwanted thought of the here and now. So I studied a lot of music psychology to produce Lughnasad - learned about frequencies which stimulate different kinds of brainwaves etc. Lughnasad, in all it's apparent simplicity, is incredibly complex and interwoven throughout with frequencies to generate synaesthetic responses.

Your recent live performances with Paul Nagle take a somewhat restrained approach, never seeming to let passions get too extreme. How does this differ for you as a performer from your fiery performance of solo material a few years back?

I don't possess that kind of passion within me any more. Well, maybe I do, but, well, young rivers grow into calmer waters. But do remember that still waters run deeper. So maybe instead of looking to my passions to unleash expression in my music, people should look actually within what I'm trying to weave into it at a more spiritual level. It's like the frustrations of my previous incarnations have been replaced with a more quiet kind of confidence. These days my statements are more astutely formed. I'm no longer trying to change things so forcibly with my music, but I am still trying - though by stealthier means. This may present more of a challenge to the listener but that's a good thing. Sometimes it's good to think about what you're hearing rather than to treat it as an asides.

What are a few things you would suggest to the field of "electronic music" to help it grow and thrive rather than rest on it laurels?

Hehe... See, I always criticized my dad because, of all the wonderful things to eat out there, he'll only eat roast meat and vegetables for dinner - no herbs or spices; occasionally a fry-up or some sandwiches. Never anything remotely what you'd think of as flavourful or ambitious. Yet it's all out there to try. Same goes for electronic music. There are so many styles and approaches to take, all of which may be strictly electronic, but for some reason the style known by the tag 'electronic music' kind of got set in it's
approach because some acts made a popular sound and focused everyone down a narrow path. Now, all which fall outside that realm seems to be considered kind of alien to the scene. But I think things are changing, or certainly capable of changing. Take what I'm doing with Binar for instance - Paul and I are introducing dance elements, dub, drum & bass, trip-hop, ambient -
well, just about the whole plethora of what we can cram into our music - it's all going in there. But we keep our bedrock philosophy true to the sounds we were raised with as musicians. Hence we retain a core of our sound which can be recognized by any electronic music fan, but which also ventures well beyond all that. But that's just us. At the end of the day, what we love as electronic musicians, all of us, will still be special to us as individuals. It's good that it is that way really.

More than one follower of progressive instrumental music has noted your music has the innate ability to catch a variety of peoples' consciousness and that there's really potential for a greatly increased audience. Is expanding your audience a high priority to your now? If so, how are thinking of tackling it?

Well, no I'm not all that popularist in my outlook to be honest. What I would like to achieve though is to reach a solid core of people who think about music in terms of it meaning more, portraying more perhaps than it at first seems. To truly unveil Lughnasad and the music of Binar for instance, you need to spend time with it and hear it under the right conditions for it to become what it's really meant to be. I'm a thinker. So is Paul. We place a high value on our philosophical approach to music and to our lives in general. So what we're putting into our music is really what others might be putting into writing. I, we, just want people to think a little more about the world around them. But in doing so the outreach of the sound is ostensibly quite popularist. So if by that it achieves a higher status then so be it. It will be because what went into producing it was quality thought and some fine work, we hope!

Aesthetically speaking, the lines between a whole host of progressive musical styles such as trance, ambient, new instrumental, electro and drum 'n bass seem to be blurring more and more in the hands of a few visionary artists. What do you see as artistic doors yet to be opened or at least well explored?

The sky is the limit. To think beyond the 'box' is, to me, paramount. There are plenty of musicians these days who are coming to realize that there really isn't to stop them from exploring many styles within one album, or to release different styles of music under different names. I've a yen for drum & bass, in some format, being interwoven into electronic music. Essentially, it's polyrhythmic, hypnotic and allows great space for textural themes to develop over a length of time. You may be seeing Binar evolve in such ways
in the future.

Do you have any plans to release on CD any previously unreleased or very rare material in your catalog such as the album "Valhalla?"

It's always been a buyer's rather than a seller's market in our scene really. I'd need a breakthrough album of some sort to act as a kicker for the release of any back catalogue stuff. If that doesn't happen, it's a loss-leader even trying. It's a shame, and were I based in the US I'd probably have the level of interest to make it viable. But fate made me British instead! I have been trying to figure out ways to have a distribution base in the States, but that would require someone with a very straight record of accountability and the time for all the effort involved. Finding such people who are prepared to accept they might not be earning a full living at the offset for the work involved, isn't easy.

Paul Lawler Interview May 2004   

Summing up the current career of Paul Lawler is a difficult task indeed. It is something better perhaps tackled with a full length feature, if not several, but suffice to say it is amazing. Amazing is a strong word but Lawler's career so far justifies it on two counts. First, he is a musician, composer and artist in the true sense of each term. Lawler has an active solo career, at least three significant musical side projects, a strong resume of film/broadcast scoring and even a robust commercial clientele. Second, his available recordings are a true rarity in the music industry. They are full of well written, engaging, superbly produced music.

Lawler's second solo album, Year Zero, is perfect evidence of this. Stylistically defining the record is a challenge--as most truly amazing music should be. Lawler freely mixes so many styles, that calling it anything other than new instrumental, or something equally broad, would be a disservice. Year Zero does not sound like it was recorded for any particular market niche or trend de jour. It's just genuinely well written, played and produced music--full of emotion, power, varying moods and energy. His equally engaging side project Max van Richter is no difference. Just take the final song "Last Exit" from the project's debut album Resurrection; Lawler covers interesting sonic ground, gives it memorable flair and (as if that's not enough) also establishes a brilliant cinematic atmosphere as if it is closing some passionate motion picture that only exists in your imagination. Like I said before: amazing.

Your musical output represents a incredible breadth of mediums from studio albums to film soundtracks to commercial compilations. What keeps your drive up to produce such a variety of well produced music?

Money :) but also because I can't do anything else and could never survive mentally in a proper job. I would be lying if I said I enjoyed everything I do, sometimes it feels like I've become a music production line, some jobs make me cringe at the thought of starting them. BUT, at the end of it all I can work in my home studio, I never have to commute, and I am essentially making a living out of what I love most so I shouldn't complain.

You have released albums under your name as well as side-projects including the band Arcane and Max van Richter. What is the strategy around how your pursue these three different artistic streams?

The works using my own name are written in styles that I feel are my own. Arcane is without a doubt heavily influenced by Tangerine Dream and Berlin School music, and Max Van Richter takes Berlin School and adds a symphonic feel to it. Having pseudonyms is important if you are going to be releasing albums in such varied styles, this way everybody has an idea of what they are buying. I also released about 14 New Age albums using the name Amrita, so you can see how this could become a little confusing for the consumer, plus the whole different name/image etc. helps to add to the feeling of a complete package to each album.

What do you see as some of the areas or styles of music right now offering to most promise for artists looking for new influences and explorations?

I can only answer this from the types of music I am familiar with, but one of the most exiting new mediums for music is computer games. This industry is rapidly catching up with Hollywood, and it has its own stars and A-list composers.

With your own ability to compose tunes that easily cross a variety styles well demonstrated in your discography, do you have particular tempos or moods that stand in your mind as favorites or most natural for you?

I find that writing happy tunes is a real struggle sometimes (not sure what that says about me). I think there is so much more you can do with melancholy and moody music.

Do you have any plans to release/remix any of the material you've produced for commercial libraries as a studio album or collection for new instrumental music listeners?

I do not own the copyright for these albums so that's not an option, but I really don't see there would be that much of a market for them anyhow.

What are your musical plans for the near future?

I have a new "Paul Lawler" solo album due out in May called Lucid Dreamer. I've just started work on a new Arcane album. I have more library CDs, TV commercials, job pitches than I know what to do with at the moment and of course all being well I will be scoring the British Feature film To Love and Conquer which should start filming around September. I'm also about start work on a project for the artist Mars Lasar, but I don't think I'm supposed to mention any more than that for now.

It almost goes without saying that it can be quite a challenge to get the word out (in the USA in particular) on music that does not fit commercially-approved radio formats. Do you see the Internet as playing a significant role in opening doors to new listeners over time?

I would imagine that anything that can potentially get into the household of every computer owner can only be a good thing. I don't suddenly see the attitude of the general public toward music that is mostly not that accessible changing though. The good news is that the internet allows the artist to get his music heard without having to deal with record company A+R men, and worse still, their secretaries who are like vicious wolves protecting their cubs.

[editor's note: visit Lawler's site (see the links page) for more information on his work and Mars Lasar's site for news on their new interactive music tool.]

BlueTonicWorld (Bit Burn) Interview April 2004   

Even in a project that is eventually doomed for business reasons, great things can emerge and live on--like a symbiont who can find a new host, or adapt to live without one. This is the case with Canadian artist Bit Burn and his highly successful project BlueTonicWorld. One of the truly worthy artists to emerge from the now defunct mp3.com business, BlueTonicWorld gained attention and success the old fashion way--through people listening, liking it and passing word of the music to others. BlueTonicWorld is a hybrid of styles ranging from new instrumental to ambient to trance and while not clearly falling into any one of those categories (to its benefit) BTW obviously appealed to fans of each. As is often the case with surprisingly engaging progressive music, Bit Burn cut his teeth with a variety of musically styles and configurations. With experience as the teacher that refines musical vision, the result can sound as it should cultured without being trite, accessible without being manufactured pop.

After releasing three studio albums through mp3.com, project founder Bit Burn has found himself at a decision point where next to take the project that owes it's success to the Web.

Your main musical project, BlueTonicWorld, includes a diverse set of musical influences. How would describe the project to someone that had never heard it?

I call it "chill out music" with a bit of house elements

Who and what are some of your major musical influences?
In the early days, like 10 years ago, I listened to a lot of Enya and classical music as well. I then discovered bands like Jam & Spoon and Underworld that I really dig.

BTW experienced a rare and meteoric rise to popularity on what was mp3.com. How has this method of promotion vs. label promotion and live-dates influenced your outlook on the industry and the role of progressive or ambient music can play within it?
My views of the music industry in general has changed a lot these past few years. The mp3 revolution came to me as a blessing! I tried sending demos to labels before but no one really saw any potential. Mp3.com opened up an entire new world of promoting your music...only on the web which is quite cost-effective for both them and the artist. This actually turned out to be the best way of getting my music known out there because there seem to be a movement on the web vs. electronic music that you just don't get in the real world. Technology + electronic music goes hand in hand it seems! If BTW was a rock band it would have probably been different, meaning less successful on the web and finding a decent record deal the old fashion way!! And BTW has no live-show yet.

BlueTonicWorld has released more than three full albums of music during the past five years. Is it your intent to re-master and release this music on CD?
Since mp3.com shut down I haven't really thought of what to do about selling my music online. Now everything has been recently moved to www.besonic.com/btw. It's free to download and I kind of like it that way. I mean, on the web it's different. CD sales represent only around 5% of BTW revenues during the past three years. But I just might throw out a new CD on besonic.com soon for those hardcore BTW collectors out there!

The "Envy Mix" of your recent song "A Wondrous Night" is a fantastic blend of dance and melodics. Do you have plans to have more of your material remixed or released for the club scene?
Actually, this is the plan for 2004! I'm currently working a lot these days with Martin Villeneuve a.k.a Envy on some new material. Martin will also be working with me on BTW in the next few months. I might throw on some more vocals in there as well!

Where do you see BlueTonicWorld going musically in the near future? Do you have any specific goals aesthetically speaking?
I believe answer #5 details plenty, but again there will be some new ambient tracks coming up as usual.

Robert Solheim (Current) Interview November 2003   

A native of Norway, but presently a resident of Spain, composer and musician Robert Solheim, the creator and prime-mover of Current is an artist as diverse in his sound as Norway's cold sea breeze is to Spain's warm Mediterranean summers. In the short space of a few years, Solheim has established himself as a legitimate leader in new instrumental music. His debut solo album, Enter the Dream tells a solid part of this story in just about an hour's time. Enter the Dream is the type of album you do not want to stop. It's the kind of album you find time to finish in a single listen. It's the kind of album you find yourself going back to time and time again.

Solheim followed up this amazing debut a second studio album Musik almost four years later. A quieter affair, Musik stills shows the hand of an artist that not only really understands music, he really cares about it. Now, another two years down the road from Musik, Current is again bringing us something worth our attention in Communion. "Ghost Trip," which is being released as a single from the album, is perfectly indicative of the Current-style. Rhythm and base lines entrance you. Melodies stick in your head. Addictive stuff, truly. You'll find yourself asking why this can't be the soundtrack on your radio, but don't despair. Solheim's creativity has obviously kept him focused to a great level. Sample this from his dozen or so mp3 recordings of excellent songs that have yet to make it onto an album at currentmusik.com.

What is it about creating music that seems to hold your passion?

Through the years I have found out that it’s absolutely necessary for me to create music. It may sound strange but I’d probably go mental or addicted to something not so healthy if I decided to quit music and do something else. I always have music in my mind like a huge juke-box of my favorite songs trough the years. I remember the fascination by putting on a Beatles record or Moody Blues when I was like 3-4 years old; it was love at first sound. In your mind everything starts with an image which turns into a thought and then into words. Sometimes the image is so strange/ beautiful/scary that words cannot explain them. I guess that this is where I use my music, to try to explain something beyond words. If you want to torture me, take away my music.

Talk a bit about your latest studio album, Communion. What are some of the aspects of this album that stick out in your mind right now?

The inspiration: I had just read Whiley Stribers story about his abductions and was fascinated by his words and the pain and suffering he went through and yet at the end he missed his new “friends.” I noticed when composing most of the tracks on Communion I had this story in my mind, so the tracks became inspired by all he went trough. The funny thing is that he’s not 100 % sure it happened. Spain: When I moved here I felt like an alien myself trying to adjust into a completely different system and culture, for me this is also very clear in Communion. The sound: I love the sound on this new album. I always have a fear that people will put on one of my albums, but they can’t hear it because the sound is so bad (laughs), with today’s technology that’s almost impossible… At least I’m very satisfied.

The music of Current has the remarkable ability to sound fresh and, no pun intended, current without being in the least trendy. How do you mix influence in others' music you hear so organically into your own work?

Earlier I was a bit frustrated because I like so many different types of music, but lately I can hear and see that this is a good thing, a very good thing. Sometimes, maybe I’ve heard some lovely jazz on the radio just before going to my studio and the mood is reflected in the music, the next time maybe I’ve just heard some stunning electronica and this again is reflected in the same track, other times it’s just wine…. All my influences are reflected in my own compositions, not only music but also surroundings. I think, maybe, that’s the only answer I can give because sometimes I’m not sure how it happens.

Whom would you identify as some of your prime musical influences?

This is a difficult question because I've got so many. To mention a few: Moody Blues, Billie Holiday, David Sylvian, Kraftwerk, Led Zeppelin, Depeche Mode, John Coltrane, it’s an endless list, because, as I said earlier, all music gives me something. There are some great radio stations here in Spain and every day I hear a lot of new and wonderful music, especially electronic music. The problem is I forget they’re names if I don’t write them down immediately. And Frank Zappa…I’ve just come back from holiday at my parents place in Norway and I found some of my old cassettes and there was a lot of Frank Zappa and I realized that his music is a big influence, especially the stuff from the seventies. When I’m in Norway I visit all the second-hand stores in Oslo looking for LPs and this time I found an old one from Zappa, “We’re only in it for the money”, a strange thing from the late sixties I think.

Your second album Musik seems quieter and a bit more ambient than Enter the Dream. On the flip-side, many of your excellent unreleased tracks have a fair amount of groove and energy to them. Do you find it a creative challenge to write a mix of faster and slower material or is it just a natural thing?

I think I need both, but I find it harder to write total ambient music, because I love melody and I played drums and organ for several years. In a way the drums sticks with me and Communion has a lot of drums, maybe more then both Enter and Musik. At the same time I feel it’s more toned down on some tracks. A single has been released from Communion, its called "Ghost Trip," the second track from the album, and the radiomix became probably the most commercial track I’ve ever done, some people have even called it synth-pop and when I listen to it I think I have to agree. There are also some really ambient tracks on Communion but I think that the melody will always be there with me. I think it will be more groove and energy in the future.

What are your musical plans for the near future? Any other projects in the works?

I’ve started working on the next Current album, and hopefully it will be released sometime next year. Then I probably will have some concerts presenting some of the old material, but mainly Communion and the new stuff. I usually don’t listen to my own music once it’s released, at that time I’m so into the new stuff that I don’t bother much about the old anymore. That’s the time to move on and that’s a lovely time. Putting up the unreleased stuff on my home-page was part of this process, to “release” it. I also have another project which is synth-pop with vocal; I’m not sure what’s gonna happen with that yet. At the moment Current is the most important project in my life.

Ron Boots Interview October 2002   

Over the past decade, Ron Boots has established himself as one of the foremost artists in new instrumental music.  As an artist, Boots was recognized early as a potential key player in the "second-wave" of progressive music.  Not simply following in the footsteps of early innovators such as Jean-Michel Jarre or Tangerine Dream, Boots has tirelessly worked to refine his own trademark styles and sounds.  As a business contributor in that time, Boots has evolved from private casette release of his music to co-running one of the fastest growing independent labels in progressive electronica, Groove Unlimited, who holds Boots, Frank van Bogaert, Rob Essers and Alpha Wave Movement within its roster.
    Boots discography includes several studio albums that set the standard for great instrumental music while remaining difficult to categorize stylistically.  Albums such as Detachment of Wordly Affairs, Current, and his latest, Liquid Structures in Solid Form, contain compositions that range from epic creations mixing wide soundstages and textures; booming rhythms; and interesting sequences that test your sound system to drifting, evolving and entrancing ambient pieces that test your imagination. One listen to a song such as "Tainted Bare Skin" (from the album of the same name) will show you just how serious he takes not only the notes played, but how you will hear those notes.  An excellent sound designer, Boots studio and live albums should be explored whatever your musical preferences may be.

How would you describe or categorize your music to someone who has never heard it?
That is a difficult one, I guess rhythmic bombastic synth music sometimes with an ambient touch and a melodic twist.

Over the past decade you have led a very fruitful musical career with several studio and live albums as well as  ontributions to various collections.  What are some the driving forces that keep you hungry creatively?
All kinds of things but mainly I love playing around with sounds and making music. Because of my normal life, I sometimes don't have the time to make music for more than a month and then it starts itching on all 10 fingers to play again.  Music is like a chronic sickness (but in a positive way).  It sometimes goes away but never leaves you.  Good focal points for my music are always the concerts that I do.  They force me to think of new music to write. You can't hash out old stuff during concerts all the time!

You have worked with a number of other notable progressive musicians including Ian Boddy and John Dyson.  How have you managed the composition process in these collaborative affairs?
Both where rather different.  The song I worked on with John Dyson started with him.  I then worked on it by chopping up in the studio into various bits and pieces and I started filling in the gaps I had made and adding stuff (really fun to do by the way).  With Ian it was the idea of a live concert which we worked out each at home and then added to it and enhanced it during the rehearsals.  With Vidna Obmana, I wrote a long slow track which he then chopped up and added to.  The best thing I’ve worked on until now has been with Rudy Adrian; he made some very nice ambient pieces that cried out to me for additions. So, I asked Rudy if I could change them and he said OK. So that's how the latest Ron Boots/Rudy Adrian CD came to be born.

Is the experience playing live a heightened affair when you're playing music that has never been heard before or do you prefer songs the audience may recognize?
I think [the best result] is a mixture but I always try to change even the known songs to an extent so they are a new experience for the listener.  That's why concerts are so important to me.  You could just do a 120 minutes “best of” show, but I think the audience deserves more than that.  That's why at least 40% is mostly new material, and 40% is changed known stuff.
I also love to sometimes shock the audience with a complete different style like ambient dance and trance music.  Most of the time the audience does like it in the context I place it.  I have one big advantage against many other live players, I have three musicians who love to play with me.  Harold van der Heijden plays real drums during my concerts adding a vibe and resonance to it no other has, I think.  He is one of the best EM drummers to date.  Also, Kees Aerts makes a difference in my music, filling in all these small but important details in my music like FX and Vocoder voices.   His way of playing supportive strings also gives my music a complete different feel at times. When Eric van der Heijden plays along the music gets a more symphonic character--very melodic and strong.  So, I am gald that I’m not alone in this and it is basically an interaction between us musicians.

Do you foresee any further recordings in The X-Files-influenced "truth" series?
No, we have some ideas for the future regarding a new series but at this moment the rebuilding and organizing of Groove, resettlement in a new house, concerts, and soon a new baby will take up all the available energy.

Would you ever consider scoring motion pictures?
I would love to--would do it for free as a matter of fact (laughs).  In the first place, I see myself not just as a musician but as a sound sculptor and in that I know I could do that very well, especially something special like a documentary picture about sad moments in life. I did in fact make 10 minutes of music for a documentary on the concentration camps in the Netherlands where 76 trains left for Auschwitz.  It was not a pleasant documentary but very seriously made.  I would love to have done the music for Schindler’s List for instance, but a good sci-fi or action thriller would also be welcomed.

Do you have any interest including acoustic instrumentation for melody and texture in future music?
Yes, very much so. I already have used acoustic guitars and drums and the occasional
voice (more acoustic you can't get).  I am looking forward to working with a choir soon and even a violinist.

What are the top two or three things you would like to see in progressive instrumental music in the next few years?
I would love to get wider recognition for the EM [electronic music] genre in its whole perspective.  Since Germany's national broadcast station ditched a two hour weekly radio show focusing on EM, things have gotten somewhat difficult (even more so for starting musicians) and I would love to see that change.  Also, the standard of quality of the releasing music could be higher.  For many, it is now easy to release a simple CD-recordable with music that is far from bad but also far from good.  It can be released because the low cost makes it doable.  I think this swamps the market with substandard music and drives serious listeners away from the genre which is a pity because there is some very good music out there.  Try to listen to more then just some MP3s and you will discover a whole world of beautiful music out there.

Paul Haslinger Interview July 1999 

Paul Haslinger knows music. From studying at a European conservatory, to spending several years with the incredible group Tangerine Dream, to synthesizing everything from ethnic voices, mideastern tunings, and urban sounds into comprehensible structures, he's done it. Haslinger has released three studio albums: Future Primitive (1994), World Without Rules (1996) and Score (1999), an avant-garde side project named Coma Virus, scored a visual-music album with director Jan Nickman entitled Planetary Traveler (1997)and contributed to numerous U.S. motion picture soundtracks.

Score, your third solo studio album, contains a new diversity of styles including acid-jazz and ambient-jazz.  What aesthetic ideas brought you to jazz influences?
    The direct influences here were my rediscovery of Les Baxter and Eumir Deodato: both were fusionists who based a lot of their work on Jazz structures, actually more a Jazz 'feel' than a structure. Aesthetics for me ultimately always follow guts and circumstances, so lets just say my personal 'curve' got me to this place at this point in time.

How does the title of the album album relate to the urban environment present throughout much of the recording?
    It's one of those multi-meaning-conglomerate titles. In re to urban environments, it certainly indicates that music of this kind can and should be used as a soundtrack for life in the cities at the end of the 20th Century. Of course, since I live in L.A., you'll find this particular place most directly reflected in the music.

Did you have much say directing the very appropriate cover art?
    Yes.  Every art director and designer hates me ... I'm quite obsessed with it, since I believe that it is actually more important than the title. We went through 'several' versions on this one

Can you shed any light on the Delphian classifications "rare groove" or "cine-fi?"
    'Rare groove' is a term used in the UK for a new scene of artists and labels promoting a renaissance of 70s soul and funk structures mixed with current production methods. it has had a strong influence on me, and I'd like to make a connection as well as shed more light on the term by using it.   'Cine-Fi' comes from the label, speaks for itself ... needless to say, I'd be thrilled if one day I could really 'become' the future of film [music].

You have been exploring several directions over the past few years including your main solo work, neo-symphonic works (Planetary Traveler), and avant garde tinged projects (Lightwave, Coma Virus).  Which do you find the most musically challenging and/or rewarding?
    That's like asking which of your kids you like best ... they all are interesting and challenging enough to get me interested in doing them (the projects, not the kids 8-). I start mostly with intuitions and ideas, and at some point I need to find frames and context-situations to realize them in. The actual release is only the very last step in a very long process.

What have been your contributions to the numerous soundtrack projects you have worked on with Graeme Revell?
    Everything a music programmer does these days in Hollywood... it comes down to a very hands-on experience with orchestras and musicians, all done under ridiculous time-pressure and insane production setups
    Graeme, in my view, is one of the most original and interesting composers working in Hollywood today, and my mission while working on his projects simply put is to make sure that 'his sound' will be as unique and inventive as possible.

How do you feel new instrument/electronic music is moving along as we near the end of the millennium?  Are there any specific compositional or technological avenues you would like see pursued?
    I think it's moving at a steady pace towards something that may, at some point in the future, have some significance again. At the moment everything is much too fragmented, too scattered to have any real impact. As for my own 'avenues', there's never a lack of ideas, and whether I'm going to find the right frames for them -- well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see ...

Any new word on possibly touring plans with Christopher Franke?
No plans at all.

Serge Blenner Interview June 1999   

Some musical artists gain recognition by riding the front wave of an emerging trend, developing a cult following, or adapting to whatever consumers seem to desire.  Serge Blenner has succeeded without resorting to any of these tactics.  He has created a reputation through vision, technically accomplished execution, and sonic variety.  Within a few years of his debut solo album Blenner was among the world's elite new instrumental artists.  He has successful melded the sounds and textures of a plenitude of traditions into a unique style documented on his incredible discography.  All this sonic exploration has been focused by a mind well-atuned to tools of melody, harmonics, rhythm, ambiance, and sampling. Ars Oratoria, his new solo album has just been released.

Your new studio album Art of Expression consists of a large number of shorter tracks as well as several 4-6 minute compositions.  What were some of the musical ideas and goals you had in writing the briefer, sometimes seemingly interrelated works?  Do you feel there is more of a classical  music influence on this album?
    My new studio album is Ars Oratoria (Art of Expression),  I have worked on it for two years.  The latin title Ars Oratoria means the art of personal Expression.  This is my last production of this century. So I followed my expressive ways wherever they led me without compromising. The inspiration accompanied me. 21 compositions merge into one work of art, wherein, from my personal point of view, I've done quite well.  Nowadays my influences are classical music and contemporary music from the early 20th century.

The album is being released on the MdeC label.  Is this a new label you have initiated?
    Yes, MdeC is my own label. It is the best for my independence.

Your music has frequently been recognized for its rich sonic tapestries.  Do you custom sample and sound-sculpt many of your synthesizer voices?
    Yes, most important for me is to find the right simulation (sampling), instrumenting with which to orchestrate.

Some of your albums have included an incredible amount of material (over 70 minutes) yet they maintain a very high production as well as aesthetic consistency.  Is this particularly challenging working as a solo artist?
    Yes, for me it is always a challenge working as a solo artist without compromising. I am not a musician, but a composer. I  have specific ideas of music and sounds. The first step for me is thinking the music, then I write the music.

Can you give any background to the aesthetic vision behind either of the two remarkable tracks "Earth of Ages" and "Capricorne" from the albums "Equator" and "Liberation" respectively?
    No, it's been too many years, I don't remember.  It is the nature of art to integrate life experience and  knowledge into ones work.

One of the major trends in new instrumental music in the mid to late 1990s has been a "retro" movement including lots of sequencing, improvisation, and analog gear.  Where would you like some sonic exploration in the field as we enter the third millennium?
    I don't know.  I'll continue working, I'll continue learning.  I'm not a prophet.  I do my work, I am an individual and I have my own way.

The United States of America is still "out of the loop" regarding much progressive instrumental music--sometimes even by local artists.  You were briefly signed to a U.S. label in the mid 1980s that later folded despite some success. What do you see as promising methods for the core of solid European artists to get their music to more North Americans?
    This is not important for me, we live in a global world, my music is for all of mankind. Perhaps the Internet is the method. . .

Stefan Erbe Interview June 1998   

Stefan Erbe may not be a name immediately familiar to many outside Europe, yet that may not be so for long.  As music seeks to evolve, to recombine in new formulations at the end of the millennium, a few artists stand out for their ability to speak to a given time.  Erbe's music does just this.  By incorporating a robust taste of techno and house music that has continued to evolve while much of traditional "top 40" rock sounds fundamentally the same as it did 30 years ago, Erbe has immediately put his compositions in a modernistic framework.  It is remarkable, however, because Erbe takes this technologic ambiance and paints melodic, ear catching, even moving melodic structures with it.

Digital Entrance (1995), his third solo album, may have entered Erbe into a wider international audience with its mix of mid tempo and high tempo songs that can leave you smiling or contemplating, but his latest studio album Kunststoff (1997) takes the next step.  Erbe's sound is the perfect antidote for aesthetists who are ready to hear something fresh, yet not altogether unfamiliar.

What brought you to the field of instrumental and electronic-based music?  Was the strong German tradition from bands such as Tangerine Dream, Software, or Kraftwerk a guiding force?
No, not at all; I was more influenced by groups like Devo, Thomas Dolby, Data, Propaganda, Saga, etc.  Kraftwerk was only interesting between Menschmaschine and Electric Cafe--Tangerine Dream between Logos and Underwater Sunlight.  I´ve never liked music from Schulze, but he's doing his job very well to give electronic more popularity.  The real reason for making music was the installing of a Korg ms20 that my father bought in 1978.  This synth made it real interesting to find out what's possible.

Your latest studio album Kunststoff mentions human emotions, actions, and impressions being reflected in artificial substances.  Is this an underlying artistic manifesto to your composing?
Sometimes to be a musician is like any other artist.  Every art is a result of your own status of feeling, acting and thinking.
Kunststoff is my first "emotional production" and reflected the time between 1996 and 1997.

What types of music, if any, do you study for composition?
I didn´t study music. I spent more time mixing electronic tools like computing and synths to my own system. I was at a  loss to work with notes really early, so it is not helpful to arrange traditionally with notes. But it is important to feel music and to know how to compose with good results.

You have now released four studio albums in the last few years.  Have you been involved in any video/motion picture scoring efforts or live performances during that period?
I've done more than 20 concerts/live acts within the last five years--especially at the Observatory Hagen, also at the European festival "Tonart," at the "Schwingungen Preisverleihung 1997" and "Muschelsalat 95."  All of them were supported by big video presentations, produced especially for their acts. It's a great experience to do all that.

What was the inspiration behind the intriguing song "Meaning of a Word?"
. . . very difficult to explain. Every word that is spoken is received differently by different persons and produces different results of meaning.  So, it's possible that one person will ignore it but some react very emotionally.  I want to do the same with the song.

Kunststoff feels like the evolution of a style you have been working on for some time with its consistent exploration of synthetic sounds, melody, and dance/ambient hybrid rhythms.  Where do you see your music going in the next few years?
For all cd´s, I want to combine and mix different styles like dance, hip hop, techno and other new influences with traditional electronic music but at the same time be very harmonic and melodic. I'm working all the time on going forward with my music; that is, to find new ways to involve these in my music. And if there is a point I think that is a highlight of my producing  I will press it on cd.  Kunststoff was after two years working to achieve one of these points. I'm still working on the next production and hope to have it ready in August '98.  I will also close the work on Spaceworks this year.  This is the a compilation of five years working with the Observatory Hagen.  This means two cd´s this year!

Ian Boddy Interview May 1998 

Ian Boddy's discography reads like who's who in new instrumental music.  With ten studio and live albums, three album length collaborations, two library CDs, and an industry sound disc Boddy is no rookie to the industry.  His sense of melody, inventive bass lines, and wide range of emotion all make his music worthy of remark.  Not satisfied to follow trends or technology alone, Boddy's projects are consistently a mix of both analog and digital sounds flowing from orchestral to rock to ambient.

His most recent solo album at this time of this interview, The Deep (1994), is simply put, amazing.  Ranging from haunting choral textures and sonar sounds to sprightly infectious melodic structures, The Deep posses both a remarkable continuity between songs and a crafted production.  In the last few years Boddy has been trekking with some of the top composers in the business including Andy Pickford (Symbiont 1995), Ron Boots and Harold van der Heijden (Phase 3 1997), and Mark Shreeve (Octane 1998).  Through his own label, Something Else Records, Boddy is currently reissuing older LP and MC material on the CD format as well as releasing his new projects.

What are some of the largest influences in your musical background and/or education?
I'm completely self taught musically so my influences have been slow and gradual.  I suppose I could be glib and say everything I've ever done, seen heard etc. but I was certainly influenced by some of the early EM [electronic music] albums that I got into whilst in my teens - things like Rubycon, Phaedra & Ricochet by Tangerine Dream and Moondawn, Timewind and Mirage by [Klaus] Schulze.  I can't say that I've been particularly influenced by anyone musically since although I do like to try and combine idioms be they world, classical, ambient, dance etc.  I'm also inspired sometimes by literature or films so for example it's no big secret that The Deep was inspired by Cameron's The Abyss and much of the dark atmospheric stuff that I come up with comes from my love of authors such as Lovecraft, Ashton Smith, Poe etc.

You have been active in new instrumental/electronic music for over decade now.  What are some of the most profound changes in the industry you have seen as an artist?
The two biggest technological changes have to be the advent of MIDI and more recently of hard disc recording technology.  This is slightly strange in that initially I used to record to 4 and then 8 track reel to reels whereby most of the music was hand played.  Then MIDI came along and this technique was replaced by MIDI sequencing whereby stuff was still played by hand but not to tape but to a computer.  This has many advantages but often relies on you having enough synths so it will all play back off the computer 'live' when it comes to the mixing stage.  This certainly forces a more rigid way of working.  More recently I've got into hard disc recording where I'm effectively returning to those early multi track days although with far better quality and control. This has led to a more organic feel to my music as evidenced on Octane (as ARC with Mark Shreeve) and is the way I am currently working on a new album.

The Deep has been heralded as a very successful concept album by some reviewers.  Have any other projects you have worked on started as an overriding concept?
Not as focused over a whole album although the title track off The Climb has a definite image to me as indeed do many of my works.  I often feel that I paint pictures in sound.  However The Deep is definitely my most obvious 'concept' album.

Recently, you have been in an intense period of collaboration with artists such as Andy Pickford, Ron Boots, Harold van der Heijden, and now Mark Shreeve.  Has this been by design?  Are their marked differences in the composing processes depending on the collaborators?
This has been by design in that I know each of the three musicians well and also am friendly and comfortable with them.  This is important as it puts one at ease because in any collaboration compromises have to be made.  each of the projects was quite different.  With Andy we both came up with separate ideas which we then fine tuned together.  With Ron we were to play a gig together so I came up with all the sequenced stuff which Ron and Harold then improvised around.  With Mark we basically started from scratch and improvised together in the studio.  All three projects were great fun and very satisfying.  I think all three albums stand up in their own right and contain music that we would not individually have come up with.  I shall be looking at doing further collaborations in the future as they definitely give one a good tonic.

The Phase 3 song "Piledriver" sounds like an acoustic short story with a building, climax, and denouement.  Where there any specific atmospheres you were hoping to evoke?
I had one basic desire with "Piledriver" in that knowing it was going to be played live and that we would have a live drummer on stage to give it extra oomph I wanted to create a huge sequencer wall of sound that would run straight over the listener without resorting to the obvious early Berlin style of sequencing.  I think we achieved this, especially on the second rhythmic section although I think the track probably works better as a live piece than on CD - anyhow it was certainly fun to play - the false ending was our way of playing with the expectations of the audience (has it finished or not ?).

There has been much discussion in the last few years of artists who are getting "back to the roots" of electronic music e.g. longer, more improvisational sequencer based compositions and analogue technology. What do you think of this trend?
 I think it's a good trend but perhaps a bit self defeating if one purely tries to recreate the early TD sound or whatever.  I've been more interested in using all my analog gear (which I've never stopped using entirely over the years) in a new way which has elements of the early stuff but combines it with more modern rhythms and styles.  Thus Octane isn't as obviously TD influenced as Mark's Redshift stuff and Continuum is really out on a limb from most other stuff I've heard.  In a way a lot of the traditional EM fans have become very conservative in what they expect leading in my opinion to a lot of very bland EM. I feel it's important to be continuously striving to push the barriers back and to perhaps reach out to audiences from other genres who will almost certainly appreciate some aspects of the EM heritage that I come from.

What are your recording plans for the near future?
At the moment I'm working on a new studio album, amazingly enough the first solo studio CD since The Deep!  After that I may consider playing some more concerts and as I mentioned above I'm considering further collaborations.

Mind~Flux Interview August 1997

[An exclusive interview with Thomas Fanger and Michael Kersten of the group Mind~Flux.] The duo burst onto the international scene with their ground-breaking debut album on Innovative Communications Trancefloor in 1994. Trancefloor sounds like the well managed hybrid of different ages. While listeners are surrounded by sequences and older analog synthesizers, they are also swept, and even bombarded, by very contemporary beats and bass lines.

Body-Beat-Box (1995), Source & Destination (1995) and Collision (1996) have only increased their reputation for mixing the sounds and textures of 70s electronic pioneers with 90s technology and dance attitude. In September 1997, the group's newest studio album Konception of Space debuted in Europe featuring over 74 minutes of pulsating electronic music. From first listen, this album appears peaked to thrill both devotees to the classic space music of the "Berlin school," and those looking for something a cut above those simply revisiting the past.

What was the origin of the group name "Mind~Flux?"
Always try to keep your mind in a state of flux, permanently reflect your patterns of thinking and behaving. In terms of music we wanted a name that expresses the constant flow and the psychedelic element in our music as well. Let your mind flux!

The influence of the more sequence based electronic music, particularly of the 1970s and early 80s, is prevalent in your music. Who would you say are some of the major influences on the group's style?
Our main influences are the mid seventies electronic and psychedelic innovators as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Ash Ra Temple, Can. . . (to name but a few) and the pulsating club energy of the 90's. There's not much influence from the 80's. Remember the 80's? In the 70's we learned how to control synthesizers and sequencers, in the 90's we learned how to control bass drums.

Is live performance in your interest?
We did a lot of live performances in the 70s and 80s. In the 90s we focused more on producing and experimenting in our studio, but we still like the live spirit very much. Live work comes also very close to the way we work in our studios. We always improvise a lot in the studio and take the best parts out of this work process and enhance the material by adjusting, editing and mixing. On August 18, 1997, we did a live session on German radio station "Fritz". In one part of the show we interacted with the listeners of the radio show "Blue Moon". The listeners transmitted various sound bytes through the telephone and we played along with these sounds. One guy sang a Beatles song, accompanied by Mind~Flux's psychedelic grooves. It was very experimental but also a lot of fun.

Have you, or are you planning, any video, CD-ROM, or DVD productions?
There are two videos yet: "Analogue Fields" (Source & Destination) and "Sector 7" (Collision). Unfortunately they are not shown very often due the mainstream rock and pop oriented program of most TV channels. There are no current plans for DVD releases. We think it will last a while until DVD will become popular in the audio segment. We cooperate with Berlin based video artists "Labor fuer Intervision" who did the video for "Sector 7" and we are planning to release a CD-ROM together with them in 1998.

As a member of the Innovative Communications (IC) roster, you are label mates of some very talented new instrumental artists. Do you have any artistic contact with any of them?
No co-work with other IC artists has been established by now, but we would appreciate this experience very much. In the meantime we work together with techno and electronic artists in Berlin.

The liner notes for Collision speak of the album being about "sound voyagers." How is it the group's goal to transport listeners?
Put in the CD. Close your eyes and decide where to go. The titles of the tracks and the additional lyrics in the booklet are ideas about what our music is. Take a trip to outer space or inner space. Relax on Mars in the year 2500 or travel inside the cell system of an ancient fantasy bird. And even if the CD stops, your voyage continues, it's up to the listener to determine the end of the trip. And don't forget to dance if you are addicted to any kind of body treatment.

Talk a bit about some of you side projects such as the Manikin Records release this fall and Synoptic Music Plant.
"Fanger & Kersten" at Manikin Records will be out this fall. We have just finished the work on this album. It will be a bit different from the Mind~Flux stuff, just check it out and let us know if you like it. Synoptic Music Plant is one of Thomas' side projects together with Jan Siebert. This co-work is more beat oriented and is closer to the techno scene. There is also "Fanger & Siebert" at Pete Namlook's FAX label, which could be described as beat-oriented electro ambient. Last but not least there is the techno/house project AMORPH on Formaldehyd Records.

                                                                                                    

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