Interview to Julien A. Lacroix (aka Moloch Conspiracy, α Ori, Ninurta)

 INTERVIEW TO Julien A. Lacroix 

(aka Moloch Conspiracy, α Ori, Ninurta)

https://apsu.neocities.org

 https://soundcloud.com/molochconspiracy

https://soundcloud.com/alpha-ori

https://soundcloud.com/julienalacroix2

This time we make an interview to the french electronic and dark ambient composer Julien A. Lacroix, who started in 2002 to compose under his own name, and later in 2017 under different monikers.

- Which are the concept behind your music, how you categorize your own music?  

First Say, hi Cian Orbe blog! Glad to talk about my musical projects. My music is really connected to the emotions inside of me. They obviously evolve according to the themes I want to evoke the context in which they are developed. These sounds are in the genre of the soundscape but I try to make it evolve towards more near to classic musical concepts. I also like to practice other genres such as electronica, ambient, experimentation.

-  What  are the differences between your different music project: Alpha Ori, Moloch Conspiracy and Ninurta?

- Moloch Conspiracy is oriented towards the dark ambient with instrumental and folk roots but turned towards the experimentation and the ambient. It is a project that is often conceptual and cinematic. I make music that is rather dark and ethereal, horrific and functional: it's accompanying music.

- α Ori is a more spontaneous kind of music, sometimes made in a hurry and directed towards the electronica, the experimentation, the aberances and the glitches. 

- Ninurta on the other hand is a horrific but completely spontaneous music project. It's Moloch Conspiracy wanting to stop thinking.

- In what year did you start making music? which was your first band/project?

 
I started recording with a pc around 2002 to make my first experimental music cds around 2004. I can remember having recorded casiotone sessions on a fisher price cassette recorder in the early 1990s!



- Which inspiration you have from the place where you live? There's some inspiration from your country in your music?

 
Nature and history imprint atmospheres that inspire me rigorously. I love to visit unusual places and historical places. I also feel completely trapped in a digital matrix. Video games and films also inspire me a lot.

- Which are your favorite music projects and visual/plastic artists who inspire your work?

 
Musicians with whom I have spoken on the internet inspire me. I am also interested in all music except jazz. I also try to detach myself from models or inspirations. I listen to a lot of French variety, old death metal, music from video games and movies. I admire Toru Takemitsu who I discovered recently. Yuka Kitamura inspires me a lot too.I'm an huge fan of Fromsoftware's games...

- Talking about Moloch Conspiracy, from where comes all the inspiration for create dark ambient music? why create dark ambient and not ambient, new age or space soundscape music?
 

Moloch Conspiracy seeks to define coherent atmospheres linked to places and characters. I feel free to create sound spaces in which very different sounds intervene. My brush is my cello, my brush is my computer mouse. I also like to use recordings made outdoors. I believe that dark ambient gives me a temporality, a format and themes in which my sensitivity flourishes.
 

 

- Talking about Alpha Ori, from where comes all the inspiration for create IDM, Glitch, dark electronic futuristic music? conceptually and musically talking.

α Ori emerges completely from reality. It's a project that feels suited to the artificial and an imaginary closely linked to digital culture, games, the internet ... That's why I turned to idm and a more futuristic aesthetic. in a way. The beauty of its sounds is to bring together cold and mechanical universes that can embody a form of human emotion. I love being confronted with these sounding voices. I rarely get the chance to make this type of association but I like “Transient”, a track I use the voice of Mist Spectra.

Link : https://archive.org/details/alpha-ori-interdimensional/08+-+Transient.wav

 

- How do you see the current Experimental and dark ambient music scene?

 
I often see it in a negative light. Many musicians make accompanying music without harshness and depth. If you paint a monochrome in large format you have to add subtleties that many artists ignore. There is also an interior dimension which is not limited to manipulating sound libraries invented by others at the risk of lacking originality.

- Do you play live performances?

 
Yes ! But only in my living room because I have the chance to practice the guitar with my partner. We play classic. This project is completely detached from what I record.

- Which is your favorite song and album created by yourself?

 
I don't know, I'm rarely happy with my music. When this is the case I owe it to others because I prefer pieces made with other musicians. When I have finished a project I turn to the next one. Impossible to turn around and listen to my music again even if it happens sometimes! Lately I enjoyed a piece of a project that I just finished that is completely different from the rest of all of my projects.

- Tell us about the concept & the creation process of your latest album as Moloch Conspiracy "The Inner Fear " released by Distorted Void label.

I collaborated for this project with a friend that I have IRL (In Real Life). He is in the difficult practice of Zen Buddhism and moreover a singer of metal. I asked him to make voices to give a soul to a story that is more dystopian and underground. This album evokes the reminiscence of cults in a destroyed society ... Distorted Void is a great label. I love the artists and albums on this little Russian label.

Link : https://distortedvoid.bandcamp.com/track/vertical-horizon-of-darkness

 

- Tell us about the underground music scene in France or in your zone. and which are your favorite artists from your country?

For me underground music is about computer keyboards. I very rarely go out to see concerts. I don't usually like it except when it comes to classical and acoustic music. In France, for a long time, so-called underground creators have been sponsored by the state. They are official artists who make outdated music. Fifteen years ago I loved seeing math rock and post rock concerts. There were often small, interesting groups performing in medium-sized metropolises and towns.

- Any anecdote that you want to share with us in the creation of some track?

Yes. I have sometimes had the chance to make music with musicians from the internet. I would like to pay tribute to them all because they sublimated these moments of solitude and creation. My music and my existence owe them a lot. I have met people with elusive personalities who were capable of artistic flashes while wanting to remain anonymous; sometimes by posting superb music and deleting it the next day.

- Any news for 2021 in your music project?

 
I'm focusing on a Moloch Conspiracy album in the same state of mind as the previous one but developing different sounds. I am experimenting with new techniques. I should also be working on "Elements 2". I plan to make a series of albums on this theme. The first is completed but not yet published. I should release this project under my real name ... I develop different atmospheres with a lot of cello and piano but also by keeping an experimental fiber and sound recordings. It is an ongoing tribute to the forces of nature. Also would be great make a new collaboration under alpha ori moniker with any of the projects of Sábila Orbe.

- Any other thing that you want to say to your listeners?

 
Thanks to Sabila and Mist Spectra for bringing this blog to life and giving voice to a musician in the shadows.  And thanks to any person who like and appreciate my music work.

Alpha Ori / Julien A. Lacroix / Ninurta in Cian Orbe.

https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22%CE%B1+Ori%22

https://archive.org/search.php?query=ninurta%20filmy%20ghost 

https://www.discogs.com/es/search/?q=Julien+A.+Lacroix+CIOR&type=all

Interview to Mebitek (2020)

Interview to Mebitek (2020)

 https://mebitek.bandcamp.com

http://music.mebitek.com/

 https://www.instagram.com/mebitek/

 https://soundcloud.com/mebitek

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyDARDK824sFtVpftfLpcdw

https://www.facebook.com/mebitek/

First say welcome to this written interview for Cian Orbe blog. Today in our blog we discover the thoughts and main inspirations of the dark ambient italian composer Mebitek.

- What is the meaning of Mebitek name?
 

Mebitek is the union of my native language surname “mebi” and the word teknology. It is with me since 2002.

- Do you release music only under Mebitek name? do you have other active or past music projects or monikers?

Yes, since last year I have a side project called “Where Orchids Goes To Die”. It’s an electro music duo with the female voice of the Mapuche artist Mariana Millapan.

- Which are the concept behind your music, how you categorize your own work?  
 

Mebitek’s music concept is inspired on cinematic art experimentation. Over all, darkness inconsicous philosophy, driving the music and visual structure in conjunction with some kind of old victorian romanticism and melancholy with the purpose of transform electronic music into a cinematic orchestra.

- Favorite music genres?

I haven’t a favorite music genre really, but I like to listen a lot of dark music from ambient to various electronic genres. Apart hip-hop, electro swing,  trip-hop, dark ambient and also black metal. And horror soundtracks too. I also like so much some kind of folk music from around the world, specially from those oppressed people who fight for independence.

- How you see the concept of the darkness, why you make dark ambient and not ambient or space drone music?

Darkness concept is something primordial in my productions, from music to videos. I think that from the inner depth of humanity, we can find some darkness that rules the whole game of life.  If you go deeply into that darkness you will find the real essence of yourself.

- In what year did you start making music? which was your first band/project?

I started making music in 1996.  First with a computer (an intel i486), with a project called “Count Mebi.” Was influenced by black metal (with screams included) mixed with electronic music. Later in the year 2000, i moved from my land Sardinia to Bologne (Italy). I met the undeground electronic scene of the tekno and the teknival culture with a whole of new music arsenal.

- Which inspiration you have from the place where you live? There's some inspiration from your country in your music?

Sardinia is my land and it is a place with glorious nature landscapes. It’s also very savage with hard winds violently blowing the island. Sardinia has an ancient culture that mixes some magical rituals that active nowadays. Facing nature and the natural connection between Sardinia ancient culture I find both physically and visually inspirations.

- Which are your favorite music projects and visual/plastic artists who inspire your work?

The first name that comes in my mind is the norwegian band “Ulver”. Lot of creativity and music fluid project. I also love so much Atrium Carceri with his dark ambient atmospheres. 

About visual artists that I love are for example: Mothmeister, Stefan Gesell , Darla Teagarden and Anton Semanov. Also I absolutely have to mention the director  David Lynch: he is my main inspiration in some particular visual concepts.

- How do you see the current Dark Ambient  / Drone Noise music scene? 

 
There are lot of dark ambient artists actually in the scene that create lot of original music. But happens in a lot of genres  - not only for dark ambient, there is some kind of saturation and not all the productions are good.

- Favorite dark ambient and electronic composers?

Atrium Carceri, Wordclock, Phonotek, Flowers of Bodysnatchers.

- Do you make live performances?

- yes I perform live since 2002. My latest live was postponed due pandemic, originally for august with my side project “Where Orchids Goes To Die.”

- We have seen that you produce  Videoclips for your music, tell us about the process and creation of it?

I’m a video producer too. I start making my own videos like 5 years ago, when decided add some  cinematic aspects to my work. I started making only video clips but nowadays. I produce also shortfilms that got some awards. My latest one “A story of Silence” won the Rome Art Week 2020 and it was projected in the Miami New Media Festival and will be projected in 13 countries around the world too.
 

- Which is your favorite song or composition and album created by yourself?

I want to mention “The Unconscous” track and also the videoclip. Because it’s the first of my new artistic life (after over 10 years making tekno) and it’s the first track of my triology based on Carl Jung inconsious theories. It was the first time that I make a videoclip for a track, so I like so much the creativity process involced into it.

https://mebitek.bandcamp.com/track/the-unconscious-cinematic-movement

- Tell us about the concept & the creation process of one of your latest works " "The Mourning Path" released by Mangoest records

https://mangoestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-mourning-path

The Mourning Path borns was a short film, made in collaboration with my friend Jele Raus. It tells about the story of the death of girl facing all her life monsters in the last times before she dies.

The soundtrack has be written after the shortfilm story so it tries to reflect all the short film feelings and situations.  It has been produced all with my maschine and in part with my modular synthetizer.
 

- Tell us about the underground music scene in Italy or in your zone, and which are your favorite artists from your country?

Italy and in specially Sardinia is not so much related with dark music, so I don't know artsists involved in that kind of sound and neither in their sub-genres. But, however Sardinia has a great variety of artists that make various qualitative music genres like Jazz, Rock, Folk, Electronic and hip hop.

 
- Any anecdote that you want to share with us in the creation of some track?

Music creation is a strange process talking very personally. I feel it with pain and alienation. So i can tell you that each track comes different and in special ways, from instumentation to the final result.

- Any news for 2021 in your music project or future collaborations?

In 2021 i just wanna release my new mebitek album that was forced to be postponed due to the pandemic. Also I’m preparing some video too for it. Totally apart i’m planning to release some new material for my side proejct “Where Orchids Goes To Die” and I’m actually working with Jele Raus at a web series called “A Story of Silence”.  I hope 2021 will be full of news from my side.
 

- Any other thing that you want to say to your listeners?

thanks all that support indipendent musicians!

 

Mebitek's compilation appearances in Cian Orbe: 

https://archive.org/search.php?query=mebitek+cian+orbe

 

Interview to Zumaia (2020)

INTERVIEW TO Zumaia

First say welcome to this written interview for Cian Orbe blog.  Today we know more about the music world of the french composer Zumaia. Also founder & curator of the label: Kalamine Records.

https://kalaminerecords.com/
https://kalaminerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kalaminerecords/
https://twitter.com/zzumaia
https://soundcloud.com/kalamine-records
https://www.minds.com/ZUMAIA/
https://mewe.com/i/zumaiazu

- What is the meaning of the word "Zumaia"?  

Zumaia is a small seaside town in the north of Spain (Basque Country) where I used to go - made famous by the TV series Game of Thrones and unusual archaeological formations (the Flysch of Zumaia).

I like spending time alone in this location - I live in the south of France, it is not very far.
I also like the phonetics of this word and the fact that it has no « dark » meaning.

- Which are the concept behind your music project, how you categorize your own music?

Not easy for me to describe my own music.
I have no concept, I just try to express emotions or situations - I am instinctive - I work mainly from a gut feeling.

It can be dark ambient, industrial, electro, or experimental sometimes, a mix of several things – kind of personal music…   
I'm not trying to intellectualize my music - it's just noise, made by a logical animal.

- Do you release music only under Zumaia name? do you have other active or past music projects?

I also release music under Dada Scientists ( with guests/each album). I sometimes release some tracks under different names for compilations but I keep it secret (!).

https://kalaminerecords.com/dada-scientists-the-beat-opera/

- Favorite music genres?

Industrial music (Throbbing gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten, Laibach…) – new wave ( reminds me when I was young and hopeful and was listening to The Cure every day ) and Cumbia when I’m drunk.

- In what year did you start making music? which was your first band/project?

The first tracks composed by ZUMAIA were recorded in 1989 but my first recordings date back to 1987. 

I started my first band around 1986/87 (kind of new wave) and joined an industrial rock band in the early 90's. 

I then hosted two radio shows, one metal and the other industrial / gothic
Then I disappeared for over 20 years from the musical scene – no more desire nor inspiration.  and…life !

- Which inspiration you have from the place where you live? There's some inspiration from your country in your music?

I have no particular inspiration from Bordeaux or France – of course there are some good bands but no real independent music culture.

I now live near the atlantic ocean, next to a huge forest which inspired me a lot - nature fascinates me and inspired Inside/Beside 3 compilation - tracks composed with sounds of the nature.

“When we learn that in 50 years, 50% of the sounds of nature have disappeared, we say that we must hurry to record the song of the world before the music stops.”
https://kalaminerecords.bandcamp.com/album/inside-beside-3-2

 
- Which are your favorite music projects and visual/plastic artists who inspire your work?

Well, I’m 50 next year so many artists have had a big influence in my life – Asia and Buddhist culture also inspires me – but I am of course a "child" of the industrial scene of the 80s.
I really like the visual work of 404.zero and all the paintings of my beloved daughter.

http://www.404zero.com/

 
- How do you see the current Experimental / Ambient music scene?

Many very talented artists and not sufficiently well known - but this important scene is not very organized - there are also quite pretentious people – not easy to share something with these fools.
 

- Favorite ambient, dark ambient composers?

Steve Reich – Philip Glass – Laurie Spiegel - Sleep Chamber (Sirkle Zero) - Hybryds (Music for Rituals) – Psychick TV & White Stains (At Stockholm) – Residents (Eskimo) - Coil – Eno – Sakamoto – and many others…

   1 – Lauri Spiegel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD8hkveKmYQ
   2 – Psychick TV & White Stains  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUL-BmnV7mk
   3 - Hybryds  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eklDloUQonE

 

- Do you make live performances?

No more - I haven't played much live in my life and I only have bad memories - hard for me to put up with people watching me. 

But I must admit that I think about it anyway (a little) - maybe one day (in the dark), with other forms of artistic expression, performers, dancers ...

- Which is your favorite song or composition and album created by yourself ?

Favourite song : probably Insekt – a track about my phobia of the crowd and the noise it makes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmeEfQNItYE

Favourite album : Oural – an album/soundtrack composed 5 or 6 years ago and not released yet.

 

- Tell us about the concept & the creation process of one of your llatest work"Meta / Vision " released by your label Kalamine Records. 

https://kalaminerecords.bandcamp.com/album/meta-vision

This album was prevoulsy released on my own bandcamp (Zumaia) 2 years ago – it’s a kind of post techno vision or “tribute” – techno has been an important movement for me, a libertarian revolution, an artistic and political declaration and then incredible parties, frequently prohibited and repressed.    

- Tell us about the underground music scene in France, and which are your favorite artists from your country?

France is a very good place for food and wine but not so much for underground music - but as in all countries, there are of course some good bands like Clair Obscur, Norma Loy, Anne Gillis, Brume, Bernard Szajner, DDAA, Trisomie 21, Die Form…

- What inspired you to create your own music label (Kalamine Records)?

I had a bad experience with a label and I decided to start one - quite simply. By participating in many international compilations I met very interesting artists and I invited them to join me. There is no business with Kalamine Records, it is a confidential label, which has no claim.
KR has allowed me to meet amazing musicians and artists, and some assholes too (that i prefer to forget).

- Any anecdote that you want to share with us in the creation of some track?

Well, Initially, Kalamine was a side project of Zumaia (collaborative), but it did not turn out quite as expected and became Kalamine Records in February 2019. There must be 3 tracks from Kalamine (as a band) on compilations released on Nostalgie de la boue, Shit Noise Records and PanPanPan { Avian Distress Call } {AN} Eel.

https://youtu.be/fDd2wojCzuk  

- Any news for 2021 in your music project or future collaborations?

I’m working on 6th Inside/Beside compilation – there will be Intent 2021 too, a compilation serie produced by Linn Friberg (Nova Beat Estate) and some discoveries…
I hope i can release a CD but nothing is done yet, and if I win the lottery I organize a Kalamine Records Festival in Bilbao 😉.
 
- Any other thing that you want to say to your listeners?

I hope you can understand my words (excuse my english).
I want to thank you for this interview and thank all KR supporters – Fuck everyone else.

ZUMAIA APPEARANCES IN CIAN ORBE COMPILATIONS: 

https://archive.org/search.php?query=zumaia%20cian%20orbe

Interview to Dedalos (2020)

Interview to Dedalos

 https://dedalosmusic.bandcamp.com/ 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/62GBfJrEUBdMRSiaVYAVxP

https://soundcloud.com/dedalosmusic

https://www.facebook.com/dedalosofficial/ 

https://www.instagram.com/dedalos_music/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz2GrHPZf8fOCc3cu5tK8ng 

 

First say welcome to this written interview for Cian Orbe blog. This time we did an interview to the dark electronic, witch house music composer Dedalos.

- What is the meaning of the word "Dedalos"?  

It comes from one of my favorite writers: James Joyce. In his book “The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” I was inspired by his protagonist Stephen Dedalus. I just changed one letter. Also I like the story about Dedalus and Ikraus from the greek mythology.

 

- Which are the concept behind your music project, how you categorize your own music?

My music is emotional and atmospheric. More than just sadness and melancholy. It’s not fair to limit my music to negative emotions. There is much more: you feeling so much more when you will be responsive for humanity. For sure you can’t feel anything if you’re not emphatic.

It’s hard to categorize my music. It has elements of different genres that you can’t categorize easily. My album “Love” and the EP “Lenity” I would catogorize it as my own sub-genre: Emotional Witch House.

 

  

- Do you release music only under Dedalos name? do you have other active or past music projects?

Yes, I have more projects but I prefer not mention them. Sometimes it’s better for the creativity to be anonymous.

- Favorite music genres?

Hard to say but my favorite maybe is  Witch House.

 

- In what year did you start making music? which was your first band/project?

Started  it 2017. Under the name “Dedalus”.  Later was renamed to “Dedalos”

And now, I never thought to give an interview for Cian Orbe. Thank you!

 

- Which inspiration you have from the place where you live? There's some inspiration from your country in your music?

My country don’t give none inspiration. Maybe my main inspiration is  go away from here. I think that my inspiration is totally inside of me.

 

- Which are your favorite music projects and visual/plastic artists who inspire your work?

I find inspiration  from different artists and bands like: Archive, Anathema, Lil Peep, Veto, Gazpacho, IC3PEAK, Crystal Castles and much more. But at the end,  every time i think the same: none artist inspired me totally because my music can only exist if it’s unaffected or unalterable.

- How do you see the current Witch House / Dark Electronic music scene?

Now It gives many talented artists.

-Favorite dark electronic, witch house composers?

BLVCK CEILING, badass wolf shirt, ZOMBIERAVE, Crystal Castles, IC3PEAK, +d33b+ 

 

- How was the experience of play live performances. tell us about it.

I never played live in Germany but yes in Milano, Italy: I was very nervous but it’s incredible to share my music and emotions with the crowd. I meet many artists: Tying Tiffany aka Laurapalmer, RedHat aka Deyeying from Hooded Leaders, Arnak and the guys of the EK4T3 Collective: D3M0N, D4rk3r Side, PxL and more. Big thanks and much love to EK4T3 to organize this events. Thanks for all Davide!

- Which is your favorite song or composition and album created by yourself?

I like the song “Remedy”. It starts slow but with progressive sound. After the half of the track and  turns  more electronic as the first half.

The album “Love” is my saddest work and every track fits to the concept. Start like a circle with the end of a relationship and ends with love. I think that is crazy. A suffer episode is so hard and brings you to the limit to bear of pain but you have still have the courage to suffer again when you find someone new and it’s great. The circle begins again and again... Music to cry. 

 

- Tell us about the concept & the creation process of one of your latest work "Mantra" self-released

There is not much to say about it,  I answered this previously but about my album “Love.” And if i tlak about “Mantra” I don’t had really a concept for this one. I felt relieved after end the production of “Love” album and later, i  started with “Mantra” and that’s all.  I feel that is really easy work on something what you don’t need a strict concept. So I was free to work on “Mantra” without giving it much thought and I had fun with the production. 

 

- Tell us about the underground music scene in Germany, and which are your favorite artists from your country?

Well, one artist from Germany “Dazzling Malicious” tried this year to organize a Witch House event with FLESH, PEAKi, Noire Antidote and me. But sadly was canceled. But I hope we can play live together in the future. I can tell you that Witch House music events are very very rare in Germany.

 

- Any anecdote that you want to share with us in the creation of some track?

No, there was nothing.

- Any news for 2021 in your music project or future collaborations?

Yes,  me and +d33b+ (artist from Argentina) are working together on a next EP at the moment. I think we will finished it in 2021. Otherwise I will for sure realease an album. My collaborations in 2021 will be with great artists like: ElektroTerapi, +d33b+, Antares Grim and Space one. 

 

- Any other thing that you want to say to your listeners?

Yes, Check it out my bro Space one if you like space music genre: https://spaceonemusic.bandcamp.com/

Also support my friend +d33b+ from Argentina. He is very talented and one of my favorite artists: https://soundcloud.com/d33b_music

Thanks to everyone who support me and listen my music!

 

DEDALOS RELEASES IN CIAN ORBE/WITCH SPECTRA:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Dedalos%22

  

Interview to {AN} Eel (2020)

INTERVIEW TO {AN} Eel 

First say welcome to this written interview in Cian Orbe blog. In this time we know more about the experimental composer and sound artist: {AN} Eel

 

https://panpanpanaviandistresscall.bandcamp.com

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL88084EE8F88A505E 

https://soundcloud.com/nealretke 

https://www.facebook.com/-AN-Eel-Neal-D-Retke--499622230055214/

 

- {AN} Eel is your only moniker? or you release music under other alias? 

I have, in the past, been a part of bands & other projects using different names - The bands were Pavlov’s Industrial Sarong / The Good, The Bad, The Ugly & The Other Guy / Hippies with Guns / Pan Pan Pan ( Avian Distress Call ) as well as others - But yes, most of my sound output was created as {AN} EeL 

 

- In what year did you start making music? which was your first band?

Well, It’s difficult to say when I started. I always enjoyed, and was fortunate enough to fail at formal training at a very young age. I think this served to ensure a love of music going forward. I don’t think I’d ever have stayed interested if I had to learn about musical theory or notes or shit like that I started playing around in “ Bands “ and with others in and around 1986, and was fairly active for a number of years before leaving the area. It was not until 2011 and a reunion show that I got back into being very active with performing / recording 

- Which inspiration you have from the place where you live? There's some inspiration from your country in your music? 

Well, being relatively new to where I am I don’t think it’s had too great of an effect, but I also travel a lot and have lived in a lot of places - I think we are always a product of our environments, but in particular I think the concept of this being an area of four seasons, with an emphasis on the last two ( I’m in Ontario, Canada ) is very much an influence on me - The still & quiet isolation of winter - The beauty & crispness of fall. These create environments that literally sound like nowhere else I’ve ever lived. 

 

- Which are your favorite music projects and visual/plastic artists who inspire your work? 

Well, over the year I’ve had lot of really big influences. But I think it’s different being a fan of music & a creator of sounds - For the most part, I think I’m really inspired by specific artists or projects I’m working on. While I do occasionally collaborate with unknown quantities ( Producing mixed results ) I usually prefer to collaborate with folks with whom I share some affection for their work and / or connection with as people . In this, I find much inspiration for the work itself.  

- How do you see the current Experimental music scene? 

Disorganized. Fractured by ridiculous infighting. Constantly struggling against mainstream prejudice & rejection. The best place to be. 

 

- What has been the experience of make live performances? 

I am, at the core, a live performer. While I enjoy the process of creating sounds in other contexts, I feel like I’m most productive / luminous when I have a live setting to interact with. 

- Most of your cover artworks are very funny, which are the main concepts that you use in all your visual art?

Well, Thank you ~! Above, I mentioned that I spent a long time away from making sounds - Well, I’ve never spent much time away from making visual arts - In fact, during that absence mentioned above I was a tattoo artist, as well as an active participant in the Mail Art Scene. So I think the visual art aspect of any creative project is one that’s always going to appeal or resonate with me. I have a sort of spin on it that’s heavily influenced by underground comics / drug culture as well as early animation - I think that might be where a lot of the humour in the images originates from.

 

- Which is your favorite song and album created by yourself? 

Going to have to go with Vials of CLEAN urine, a release from 2015 - Not that it’s particularly better than other albums but It was the first full length player that was just me. Prior to that, it would have to be the SASQUATCH series of comps where I collaborated with some amazing artists, such as KK NULL, Ralph White, Pillgrimess, Kazumoto Endo, G.X. Jupitter Larsen & others. It made me realize how cool doing this stuff could be.

Cyclopean (5 nov. 2020): https://panpanpanaviandistresscall.bandcamp.com/album/cyclopean

- Tell us about the concept & the creation process of your latest album "Cyclopean " self-released 

Well, it’s a matter of having had some fascination with cyclopean characters since a young age - The Odyssey , the old greek myth, really captured my imagination and the part about the Cyclops somehow stayed with me. Then you add the fantastic stopmotion of Ray Harryhausen, and it’s been a lingering image in the back of my eyes for a long time. - Regarding this specific release, it was a matter of creating a series of “ Sketches “ and sewing the together. I wanted to have some very bare bones songs as well, which there are.

 

- Tell us about the underground music scene in Toronto, Canada. and which are your favorite artists from your country?

Well there are certainly a lot of great ones - I would say, to name a few - GASTRIC FEMALE RELEX, THE BIM PRONGS, NOT THE WIND / NOT THE FLAG, KNURL, THE NIHILIST SPASM BAND, GARBAGEACE, FLESHTONE AURA, ect - Regarding the scene itself - Well, to be honest I find it a bit in the doldrums, which is honestly kind of unfair. I understand there’s a thriving scene in Montreal, and. I don’t think we can say anything about this year, but in recent years I’ve found it to be lacking an energy that should be there. But the underground / D.I.Y. scene I travel in has been under assault from various forces ( Mainstream / Government / Social, ect ) and I think that’s a big part of it. But another aspect is I came here from Austin, Texas which had an insanely lively music scene, and was in fact having something of a renaissance of underground ( Particularly noise ) stuff as I was leaving there - Not fair to compare anything to that special magic of the right place & time. But having said that, the scene here seems to me like it’s longing for “ Glory Days “ and somehow not appreciative of what seems to me like a pretty deep pool of talent here - But that’s how these things go, travelling in cycles.

 

- We have always seen that you love collaborations, which have been your favorites? 

It’s always particularly thrilling to collaborate with artists whose works you’ve long admired - I am fortunate enough to have collaborated with K K NULL & Mitsuru Tabata, both of whom were in Zeni Geva, one of the mightiest bands to have ever existed. Similarly, it was thrilling to collaborate with Frank Pahl, and G.X. Jupiter Larsen. But an entirely different thing is when you have a nice working flow with your collaborator - In this sense, I would have to say that while I’ve come close to this with my sonic amigos Alwin Van Der Linde, Lezet & Wilfried Hanrath, all regular collaborations, I think working with {RE}:Tkus would fit that description. I think it’s because Petkus & myself were IRL amigos in Texas, and that personal connection always sort of touches the work.  

- Any anecdote that you want to share with us in the creation of some track? 

Not really honestly ~ ! Nothing particularly noteworthy has happened doing so, other than my ongoing struggle with technology. I am not a “ Tech “ guy, and while I’d like to blame other things, I’m also an old dude who just doesn’t “ Get “ a lot of tech shit - As a result I tend to use the simplest resources involved, and use Audacity for my audio editing needs. I guess I have had a laugh on the handful of occasions where I thought I was recording something but wasn’t a particularly persistent but frustratingly irregular & unpredictable occurrence. Yeah, Let’s go with that.

- Which is the motivation to create v/a compilations, can you tell us the process for compile the albums? 

With compilations it’s often very easy to create sounds, either the theme of the album dictates the ideas - I think my main motivation for doing these is to find new sounds, to build or reinforce relationships with labels, and am usually really happy to participate in them. There are a lot of lacklustre comps out there, and I’ve been on my share of these ( Hell, I’m sure I’ve contributed my share ) and I’m fortunate in that I don’t find myself on very many of those. I think though, in general, I can speak to what is my overall process. I am most interested in improvisation & spontaneity - I feel like “ Happy Accidents “ are responsible for more sublime moments in my sonic enjoyment than any amount of technical prowess or engineering gloss can provide - In general, I’ll gravitate to an interesting but poorly recording / mastered sound work before I’ll be enjoying a more slick & polished end result if it’s less complex & engaging. I strive for these intersections where ideas hit oxygen / random reality & everything goes delightfully sideways - Of course, you can’t make bank on it and I like to think that I do some interesting things in the meanwhile while I’m waiting for this stuff to happen, but it’s all really about those moments that can only occur randomly.

 

- Any news for 2021 in your music project? 

I have an album that is likely to be the largest profile one I’ve ever created coming out early in 2021 - Not a lot I can say about that one as yet. I also hope I might be able to play a few shows in 2021, but who knows what’s going to happen with that.  

- Any other thing that you want to say to your listeners?

I am very grateful for the support & interest that I’ve encountered doing this stuff. It’s great - To people reading this who want to try music stuff, get out there- Do it. We’re in a golden era - To my fellow sonic travellers - Keep doing what you’re doing, even if it’s in a style that’s not for me . I Love that so many artists are taking their own destiny in their hands, and creating their own sonic worlds & identities. I look forward to a day when we can just have artists & musicians create art. And also, I really want to say this - Fuck Spotify. Support the artists you enjoy directly. Go to Bandcamp or Internet Archive, or anything but corporate pimps. We can do better. 

 

RELEASES ON CIAN ORBE NETLABEL:

- Alien Neighbors (EP) (2018) (with Yaka-anima):  

https://cianorbenetlabel.bandcamp.com/album/alien-neighbors-ep-cior-219

https://archive.org/details/yaka-25-alien-neighbors-ep