Interview to David Zuzelo (Black Market Brains) (2024)

 

David Zuzelo is a guy that loves weird cinema. Weird sounds. Strict EBM. And spooky ambiences in every form. He makes his own. Sometimes as himself. Sometimes as Black Market Brains, AtmosFEROX or Desecrator Of Dunwich. Soundtracks for the films in his head and sometimes the ones you can see as well... he doesn’t plan on stopping. Ever. 

https://soundcloud.com/blackmarketbrains

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

The name was a happy accident of reading through old pulp magazines and seeing the pitch for a market of stolen minds... it was a suitable phrase when I was starting out. Taking the bits of sounds and genres I loved and filtering through the constant risk of randomness to find my own black market brain. You might get a genius. Or a killer. Or a mix of both!

- What equipment do you use for creating music?

I started with a Volca Sample... a little 16 step sequencer that opened up my mind to the joy of limitations. I’ve added and subtracted gear over the last few years but my home base will always be an UnoDrum, Volcas (Sample, the amazing Drum and some of the others on occasion) and Arturia’s deceptively powerful Micro and Mini Freak machines. I’ve never used midi, only a sync pulse to keep things in line and only use onboard sequencers and features to keep those limits and challenge me every time I approach them. And those little Behringer micro synths are a load of fun with the keyboards smaller than a fingernail and janky sequencers. And Audacity... a lovely little free DAW that gets a lot of flack but I find it simple and flexible.

- Tell us a little biography about your project, when you started to make music?

I’ve been writing essays, comics and more for decades but music was a real love. For many years I was doing movie reviews and processing out my thoughts about the films I was obsessed with. I needed a challenge and music presented itself as an option. I decided I would do it every day in 2020 and just never stopped. Lots of film inspirations and my love of industrial and electronic music would become my pen and paper. I also dreamed of scoring a film and I now have even been able to see photos of my name on a drive-in screen as “music by” which is the thrill of a lifetime. 2300 tracks on soundcloud later, here we are. I never stop. It brings me joy be it in dark drones or karate kicking around making EBM, horror synth or just building up a drum pattern.

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

For music it ranges from the amazing Wax Trax! Catalog to European horror and action scores by artists such as Goblin or Fabio Frizzi and a healthy love of thrash metal stirred around with Italo Disco and of course EBM which I’d say is my favorite. I want to mix all that stuff up and make something that is mine from all the bones and gristle. And Skinny Puppy blew my mind in 1985. Never got it back. I’m deeply influenced by European exploitation films ranging from horror to post apocalyptic and New Wave / Punk porn of the 80s of course. The world needed my covers of various Dark Bros. theme songs, right?

Probably not but I have fun with them!

- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

I discovered a few via my soundcloud posting and doing open collaborations. Humanfobia is my favorite as they are accessible and experimental and gothic and horror and beautiful all at once. I’ve run into so many though! I love all the works coming from Brutal Forms and Synthicide and for individuals I’m always happy to see noxpox, Insatiable Void, Tea R. Sea and many many more.

- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

The US has been in a crazed flux for the last decade and how could any music not reflect the unease of it all?

- What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?

With so much to choose from and compounded by my rarely listening back I’d say the soundtrack to DREAMS OF THE DEAD is my proudest work and for scope and single minded achievement I’d say AND YOU WILL FACE THE SEA OF DARKNESS. It’s a six hour tribute to Lucio Fulci’s films and the artists that made them possible with over 130 tracks.

- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

For simplicity sake I only use soundcloud and have not monetized my work as I am anxious that I will begin to overthink the work. To become more interested in perfection than evolution is something I grapple with a lot. It does make one heck of a library though!

- Any funny anecdote in the composition of a track or an album?

On WORLD GOTH DAY this year I was reminded to celebrate by Tiffany Helm via her Facebook. Tiffany played Violet, the gothy dancer killed by Jason in FRIDAY THE 13th Part V! So, I did a little post punk piece using the microfreak’s voice synth to say “VIOLET” into the beat. That track ended up on a radioshow I could share with her! If you had told either of us that someone would be writing songs about her work in 1985 or that I’d be sharing them with her because I made it back in those days I bet we both would have laughed.

- Do you play live? How was the experience?

I have not though I’ve built up a custom batch of patches and patterns that I’d love to improv over some kind of interesting exhibition. I also enjoy improvisational live scoring over random weird regional horror films and gritty hardcore XXX loops of the 1970s... and that would be fun to share.

- Any news for 2025?

More music. Every day. Learning new techniques or just making up my own! And hopefully more movie scores to spook you!

- Do you want to say anything else to your listeners?

I know the robots of soundcloud like me and if you enjoy what I do I appreciate you more than you could possibly imagine. Make art yourself or reach out to me and we can do it together!!

Interview to The Implicit Order (2024)

The Implicit Order is an experimental composer from Kentucky, US.

https://theimplicitorder.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/theimplicitorder

https://www.instagram.com/theimplicitorder

https://www.facebook.com/implicitorder/

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

"Implicit" means implied or hidden. Not revealing all the facts or information. And

that's exactly what I love to do, keep people guessing.

- What equipment do you use for create music?

Analog tape recorder,digital audio recorder, mini Korg Univox synth,various cheap synths found at thrift stores, various DAWs.

- Tell us a little biography about your project, when you started to make music?

In 1989 I started cutting & splicing tapes. Late in 1989 I put out my 1st homemade tape "Rural Experiment". I got a 4track recorder in 1990 and started releasing more.

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

The early Musique Concrete composers, the Plunderphonics of People Like Us, the avant garde touch of Nurse With Wound, and mentor De Fabriek. The cut-up method is also a big influence.

- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

There are so many. I like A LOT of music and styles. The Witchhouse movement is really very interesting and Im watching to see what it turns into as it evolves quickly.

- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

I love the pop and rock music from the 1960s-1980s. All my work is just little pop songs pulled from another upside-down mirror universe.

- What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?

"A Good Lie" with Mary Shelly as it exposed my work to a lot of people. "Mountain Music" is my fav on my own. It really defines my "style".

- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

Bandcamp for its simplicity and Soundcloud for convenience.

- Any funny anecdote in the composition of a track or an album?

While recording "Cults" I had a lot of computer crashes, songs disappearing and other weirdness. I can't explain it.

- Do you play live? How was the experience?

No I don't but Im always open about it. I've had requests from local places and invites from Europe. All at the wrong time as I couldn't get away.

- Any news for 2025?

Im compiling the "Singles Four" album. A collection of new, unreleased recordings and remastering a rare album from the past.

- Do you want to say anything else to your listeners?

YES. I really, really do appreciate all of you that took time to listen to my work. Even if it was for 15 minutes, or for 15 years. I hope you found something interesting, heard an odd or familiar sound, or the work evoked some sort of emotional response. I sure have fun doing it and I can only hope it struck someone to start their own work in music, sound reproduction, production or ANY kind of Art they want to do. Art is a part of our lives, its NOT a hobby.

LATEST RELEASE: "Unbeknownst To Me":

https://theimplicitorder.bandcamp.com/album/unbeknownst-to-me

Interview to John Lithium (2024)

John Lithium is an experimental, industrial, noise artist from US.

https://lithiumindustries.bandcamp.com/

https://johnlithium.com/

https://argalirecordsnetlabel.com/

https://argalirecordsnetlabel.bandcamp.com/

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

To be completely honest, there isn't a really deep meaning behind "John Lithium", apart from being a (hopefully) catchy pseudonym. From what I can remember, I probably came up with the name about twenty years ago following the punk/industrial tradition of a 'regular' name and the last name being an object/concept/etc. Later on, I felt there was some significance in the fact that "Lithium" can be indicative of emotional and mental stability (though I should stress that I have never taken it myself, despite suffering from long-lasting depression and anxiety throughout much of my life).

- What equipment do you use for create music?

Currently I use FL Studio for the DAW. As far as soft synths, I mainly use about 95% soft synths, mostly Native Instruments these days, including the Kontakt Komplete suite (which features too many instruments to completely list, although Straylight/Ashlight frequently get a lot of usage in my music). Reaktor, Massive/Massive X, Absynth, and Battery 4 also gets used on a fairly regular basis. Other than that, I use Omnisphere 2 on occasion. I do still use freeware synths sometimes, although as the software gets older and older, more unexpected bugs and errors can pop up, and often the UI cannot be scaled up for modern computer screens, which can make them harder to use. 

I have been slowly getting into hardware recently, including getting a Sonicware Ambient0 ambient synth and the Blackbox Compact Sampling Studio unit recently, but it may be a while before I can integrate them into my workflow on a regular basis. 

-Tell us a little biography about your project, when you started to make music?

Like a lot of people, I have been musically active for most of my life, including piano lessons during grade school and middle school, and alto sax in high school in college. While I enjoyed those instruments, I probably never really thought I would pursue ac career with them or perform live. 

My parents got me Acid Music 2.0d around 2000 or so towards the end of high school. Despite it probably seeming somewhat primitive by today's standards, it was a good way to learn how to sequence song elements, mixing, FX, etc. I created a few albums under one or two project names, but these were mostly just for friends and interested people. I started using FL Studio around 2007 around the end of college and was instantly hooked. It could just be by virtue of it being the first, but I have yet to find a UI and workflow in other DAWS that works as well as FL Studio, at least for me (my choice of being a mostly dark ambient and soundscape/cinematic composer may have something to do with that). 

After a few small releases around 2007 that were never publicly released, I started recording 'professionally' around 2009 under the "John Lithium" title. Had one album released on a third-party label, but due to poor communication and other issues, I have basically self-released most of my material, apart from compilation appearances and the rare collab album.

Also, in 2009, I founded my netlabel Argali Records Netlabel with my friend Reon Moebius, partially as a response to the bad experiences I have had with other labels at the time, both with regard to full releases and compilation appearances. Thus, over the years I have had less time overall to focus on music but feel that when I can work on music it has turned out better over all. 

Over the last few years, I have been a bit more active, mainly because due to being much less depressed and, without getting too specific, having to constantly deal with curve balls being thrown constantly by life.

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

Quite a few, but some of the main ones include Bad Sector, Atrium Carceri, Lustmord, Nadja, Yellow Swans, IRM, Ulvtharm, Strapping Young Lad, Coil, Drew McDowall, Lead Into Gold/Paul Barker, Beyond Sensory Experience, K. Meizter, Horologium, Illusion Of Safety, Tim Hecker, Skinny Puppy, Controlled Bleeding, Scott Walker, Pan Sonic, Cyclobe, Bones Of Seabirds, Aphex Twin, Mika Vainio, Inade. Could probably go on but this sums up most of the direct influences. 

-What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

As a label head I try not to play favorites. John7 (aka John M Myres III) from Timetheory Netlabel was a HUGE influence in what Argali Records would become as well as how to make a good Archive.org album release. Other than that, I would be remiss if I did not also mention Cousin Silas and Neal D Retke have been hugely supportive over the years, which is always so appreciated given they are both respectively titans in the experimental music community.

Typing this reminds me that in the early 2000s, I was fairly active in the StillStream internet radio community. As far as I know, most of those people have gone their separate ways, as well as StillStream itself closing up shop late last year due to ongoing health issues with the owner.

-Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

Not in particular. As someone who lives in the USA, this is probably not too surprising, although the theme of "industrial society" shows up in my music every once in a while.

- What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?

This changes on a fairly frequent basis, but more often than not, the album "Insomnia" from 2010 tends to be the album that I have the most regard for, both on a compositional and content level. It comes as no surprise that I have had insomnia on a regular basis, and this album was basically my attempt to sort of capture the dark feelings that can come about when experiencing that state of mind. It is also one of the first albums I really focused on having a specific sound and aesthetic after mixing and mastering the tracks.

-What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

With regards to distribution, I mainly relied on Internet Archives for the first few years. To be honest, while I appreciated the platform to distribute both my work and that of others on there, it never struck me as particularly suited for musical works.

Bandcamp was a huge boon to the music scene, and in short basically addressed most of the issues I had with hosting on Internet Archive. I seem to recall that there were one or two platforms that preceded Bandcamp, but they fizzled out fairly quickly. One of them might have started with a 'C'.

When it comes to promotion, I really enjoyed Myspace in it's heyday. People forget but there really was a thriving experimental music scene there at the time, and while I do not know if algorithms were much of a thing at that point, but I feel people could get way more exposure for their music then they can now. These days, one has to utilize up to half a dozen platforms, with most of them punishing your reach one way or another for daring to include a link that directs off the platform. Quite frankly, it sucks and it's definitely anti-artistic, which is a huge shame given that these days, it is easier than ever to learn the basics of electronic music through DAW demo trial periods etc. At the end of the day, music promotion is a huge grind, but it is a burden one has to bear if one does not have the backing of a major music label that can shill your work on Spotify for a pittance.

-Any funny anecdote in the composition of a track or an album?

Not as many as I would like. The sad truth is, a lot of my earlier composition was directly connected to the amount of depression, insomnia, and life turmoil I was experiencing at the time. Throughout the 2010s, this gradually improved to the point where I am now, in a mostly good place. There was one time, back in 2009, where the noted experimental musician Frans de Waard trashed an album of my noise side-project Nihil Obstat in his long running music review zine "Vital Weekly". Honestly, I didn't mind the criticism as much as the fact that he mocked me and another project for being on a recent compilation. Thankfully, the label head at Twilight Luggage was a good chap at the time and included one of my tracks along with Waard's on a subsequently released compilation. The 'funny' result of this series of events is that it extended the lifetime of Nihil Obstat as a project for another year or two, as criticism and a desire to mock naysayers can be a potent catalyst for inspiration.

-Do you play live? How was the experience?

Never played live, for better or for worse. All of my projects are a strictly studio experience. I'll never say never, although it probably isn't on the radar for the foreseeable future. 

Any news for 2025?

As far as my own musical projects, I rarely plan them out in advance. There are always a few compilation appearances every few months or so. Would love to do another full length album in the near-future, but it may be a while before that happens. Also, over the last few years, a lot of my spare time has been spent on Argali, with compilations happening every quarter or so. Will let everyone know when inspiration strikes again.

Do you want to say anything else to your listeners? 

This isn't so much to my listeners, but anyone who read this, but a reminder that, more often than not, you (yes YOU) have more agency in your life than you may think. Yes, this isn't always the case, and yes I am speaking from personal experience. It's a bit of a sobering experience to realize that I wasted huge swaths of my life thinking I was being helplessly carried down the stream of life and fate, when I could have at least dodged the incoming obstacles and even attempted to move to safer shores. Thus, I am doing my best to spend my time in a more productive and creative manner, at least some of the time. Hope you are all doing well. Take care and stay safe out there. 

LATEST RELEASE: Sounds In Clouds:

https://lithiumindustries.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-in-clouds-2024-remaster

Interview to Cumsleg Borenail (2024)

Cumsleg Borenail is an experimental, IDM, Noise, vaporwave artist from UK. 

Also he is the founder of Borenail Records.

https://cumslegborenail.bandcamp.com/

https://borenailrecords.bandcamp.com/

https://linktr.ee/cumslegborenail

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Lkq6hB2nbtf3G4Bbg7R3A

https://archive.org/details/@borenail_entertainment

https://whatjoyisthereinliving.bandcamp.com/

https://frishprence.bandcamp.com/

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

Hey, the original name was Ploist Drencrom, but it just didn't sound right to me. Drencrom from Clockwork Orange?? I think? It lacked that punch I was looking for. I came up with Cumsleg Borenail and I think it has a better flow. I had a remix track on BBC Radio 6, they couldn’t bring themselves to say the word ‘Cumsleg’ so settled on ‘Seesleg”. Plus, Borenail; kind of reminds me of Withnail from that classic British film Withnail & I;. You know, the eccentric and alcoholic actor? It gives the name a bit of that same kind of quirky, unpredictable vibe. Most tracks I wrote jump from genre to merging with another genre.

- What equipment do you use for create music?

Gear4music Fretless bass, Eagleton electric bass, Akai MPC One, Elevation acoustics guitar, Violin, Serum vst, reaper, Tx16wx, mooer harmonic square, korg kaoscilltor, Donner electric guitar, Saxophone

Yamaha PSR-340 as midi keyboard. All of the above are sampled, chopped up, repitched into something new. The running theme of cheap hardware, the MPC an exception, runs through Cumsleg Borenail.

Cheap, British, Pay as you go, nasty.

- Tell us a little biography about your project, when you started to make music?

I began with classical piano training from the age of seven to eleven. I eventually became obsessed with the electric guitar, from exposure to Nirvana and Guns ‘n’ Roses. Even though I was raised on Godley & Creme. Then finding myself in the derivative world of metal bands for the next decade. This period,while partly fulfilling, followed a secret history of 15 years, culminating in the birth of Cumsleg Borenail around 2022. I’m nearly old.

Initially, I experimented with popular genres like Vaporwave and Ambient, but found my attempts consistently sounding nowhere near the confines of these established styles. My work, though attempting unique, struggled to find its place within these existing frameworks. I couldn’t stay ambient for more than a single track and in vaporwave hated going through 80s city pop samples. 

Kept plugging away, I embraced a more balanced approach, seamlessly blending samples, analog and digital equipment, and even incorporating AI-generated sound effects. This layered approach allows me to explore uncharted sonic territories and cultivate a fairly distinctive sound. Not ambient!

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

Throbbing Gristle (The use of imagery and sound are inspirational and I always have an album on in the mix of everything else I consume. Albums like Mission Of Dead Souls are perfect. It is something I plan to do when playing live. All original and improvised), Coil (A Throbbing Gristle offshoot never fail to reach a new level with every release, even post mortem. I do think about the look of their corpses, not sure if they were cremated), Van Der Graaf Generator (mostly their 70’s output but the reform in the 2000’s was even more complex. Recently saw them in Bath forum. My back ached in the seats.), Nine Inch Nails (Only the downward spiral and broken. The rest is just nostalgia to those albums), Psychic Tv (First two albums are superb, the acid house and beyond not so much so), Giacinto Scelsi (The structure and space of all compositions are masterpieces).

- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

So pretty much anything off Irregular Patterns ( https://irregularpatterns.bandcamp.com/ ), just started getting into Mortality Tables (https://mortalitytables.bandcamp.com/) and Third Kind records (https://thirdkindrecords.bandcamp.com/ ) and finally Adventurous Music (https://adventurousmusic.bandcamp.com/ ) who don’t have a bad release. Underground work has waymore heart. More perceived meaning and context.

- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

The grey British skies crush my soul in a temporary body and I am fine with that until I am reborn in a future genealogical slant. An equivalent to Adonai operates a frequency that holds our body parts together. Hobbs leviathan provides me a system of worship and taxation.

- What is your favorite album/ep composed by yours? And why?

“An Occidental Felo-De-Se” due to the leaps in my confidence in vocals, production and the general “quality” of the work. Which, from my home studio, seems great to me. Granted me an assurance overall that I could produce a piece listenable to my ears if not anyone else’s. The earlier work on 60th listen seems a great task. Tiring. 

Occidental : “Is an adjective that means "of, relating to, or characteristic of the Occident or its natives and inhabitants"; The Occident refers to the western part of the world, especially the countries of Europe and America. The term occidental is often used in contrast to oriental, which refers to the eastern part of the world.”

I am here, raised here, stuck here.

Felo-De-Se: “Is an obsolete legal term derived from Latin, meaning "felon of oneself"; It referred to a person who had committed suicide. Under English common law, suicide was considered a felony and was punished by forfeiture of property and an ignominious burial. The concept of felo-de-se was abolished in England and Wales in 1961 with the passage of the Suicide Act 1961. However, the term is still sometimes used colloquially to refer to suicide.”

Humorous that post mortem your punishment still stands. That’s very British.

- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

All the music platforms and streaming sites bring someone from somewhere.

- Any news for 2025?

One definite live gig and my usual album a month.

LATEST RELEASE: "Birds With Vertigo"(with Sammy J Matthews):

https://cumslegborenail.bandcamp.com/album/birds-with-vertigo

Interview to Cosmic Disruption Orchestra (2024)

 

CDO (Cosmic Diruption Orchestra) is an experimental, dark noise, industrial, lovecraftian 

ritual dark ambient artist from UK. 

https://cosmicdisruptionorchestra.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CDOritual/

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

CDO (Cosmic Disruption Orchestra) started out as a response to my interest in the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. This changed into a Noise project (more of this in the next answer): the interaction between different noise elements such as rhythm and/or texture. Now it is about a more ‘traditional’ approach looking at different styles like Metal and Jungle. But next year may be different as I feel I’ve covered what I can so far this year.

- What equipment do you use for create music?

I started using Adobe Audition but it was limited (by bad programming) regarding the plugins it was able to accept which was limited. Since the start of this year, I have been using Tracktion Waveform. I am able to record with a couple of digital interfaces but that has been limited so far.

- Tell us a little biography about your project, when  you started to make music?

In 2016 I recorded my first EP experimenting with something close to Cold Wave and Minimal Electronica. A second EP followed in the next year showing that I had advanced my creativity (listening to it now feels strange but refreshing). A longer release ‘Awakening Through Dream’ appeared in 2018, where I start using glitch techniques as an integral part of the music creation process along with longer track times. ‘Unnameable Vistas’ was released in the same year showing an affinity for surrealism. ‘From The Stars’ in 2019 is unmistakably  (both visually and in music) a nod to Lovecraft and film soundtracks (including the use of lower frequencies) on top of the surrealist tone. Also in the same year, I released ‘The Longed For Journey’ continuing on from the previous album. And in 2020 before the hiatus ‘Beyond Dreams And Wastelands’ was released where noise was used as something to be imposed on the listener where frequencies clash amongst each other. In late 2023 ‘Caressed By Angel Wings’ appeared marking a new interest in making music by myself and the last album on which I would use Adobe Audition. In 2024 there were the albums ‘House of Curiosities’, ‘Aion’, ‘ Fall of the Digital Empire’ and ‘Ramshackle, misfits and malarkey’ (the last here being a collection of unused ideas and tracks which didn’t seem to fit). Closing the year was a compilation of remixes/interpretations ‘Shadows and Like Grains of Sand REMIXES’ where 2 tunes from ’Ramshackle..’ were used and abused.

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

In no particular order: Aphex Twin/AFX/Polygon Window/The Tuss, Nurse With Wound, Nine Inch Nails, Rock/Metal, Autechre, Kryztof Penderecki, early Jungle, there are many others.

- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

I listen to artists whenever I can although there’s nothing specific as I have either wanted to create music like that which I’ve heard or I’m amazed by the creativity of these artists and I feel that I could improve what I’m creating.

- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

Yes, as I mentioned earlier, there’s the music but also the social and political landscape which doesn’t look so stable as it should to me: I’ve never been a fan of authority figures who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near positions where they can negatively affect the majority.

- What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?

That’s a difficult question to answer as each release has paved the way for where I am at the current time.

- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

Bandcamp as it offers a free service but also a paid version. Also, they appear to like promoting artists who are less well known and they are not taking alot of money for themselves when it should go to the artists instead.

- Do you play live? How was the experience?

I had been in groups that played live before but even though it was fun and exciting I always felt like the songwriting process didn’t let ideas move the group forward. I prefer CDO as a studio only project.

- Any news for 2025?

I’m starting production on a new album trying to use a different approach but I’m not sure how it will turn out (I don’t work to a plan as such, just create what I feel at the time and it can be a very spontaneous way of making music or any type of art). 

I would like to make an actual collaboration album where ideas are exchanged and both or all musicians turn the others ideas into something away from the original idea. That would provide a different creative environment for me in that it would be a challenge and provoke a new and exciting way to work.

Interview to Paco Moreno (2024)

Paco Moreno is a vaporwave artist from US. Founder of PMP Label.-

https://pac0m0ren0.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/PAC0M0REN0

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

That is a funny story really. Back in the day I was invoved with a woman and online, particularly on Facebook I used my real name, and so, I would get a lot of messages in my DMs from...women of the past. It got me in trouble a few times so I decided to change my name. The first thing that came to mind was Paco Moreno, a character from a 1983 movie called Bad Boys with Sean Penn and Esai Morales (Paco). I always loved that movie and the Paco character so I changed my name to Paco Moreno. Years later.

When I decided to make vaporwave, I simply adapted that name because that is how I was known in the vaporwave forums. That was in 2019. Before that I made electronic "Death Noise" under the name Dying Face begining in 1994. That project can be found on ReverbNation.

- What equipment do you use for create music?

Oh that has varied over the years from a variety of guitars and keyboards in the beginning to my trusty  ENY dv6 laptop that I use now in which I have two of them.

- Tell us a little biography about your project, when you started to make music?

I am a creator, not a musician, let's start there.  I have been making mix tapes , field recordings and albums scince I was 8 years old in 1984. My frind and I

would throw a tape in the boombox and record ourselves, we would do skits as if we were a radio station. We would perform songs, act out commercials and do radio spots.

I was also big on field recordings as a kid . I always had a tape recording in the back of the room at get togthers and just randomly recorded sounds. I still have some of those tapes.

Fastforward to 1994 another friend and I recorded a noise album called Tunnel of Insanity and from that session I used left over bits to make my first solo noise album,

Divine Empire of Evil: Forever We Rot under the name Dying Face in '95. I continued with Dying Face into the 2000's . I released a song on Youtube under the name S.O.94

around 2015. (Summer of '94) Then in 2019 I made my first vaporwave album under the name HiBias Casstte. The album was called Good Vibes and it really made no waves at all.

in 2020 I made another vaporwave album,"No Problemo" under the name Paco Moreno and let my friend Dos Pinos of TVVIN PINEZ M4LL hear it. He offered to releas it on his label The Bogus Collective.

That was a big break for me into Vaporwave.

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

My main musical influence throughout my life has without a doubt been BLACK SABBATH, Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne being the most influentual.

I have such a wide and diverse taste in music I could go on and on from genre to genre naming names that have influenced me...for example just to name a few...

Cannibal Corpse, Poison Clan, Hank Williams,NIN, Johnny Cash, King Diamond... and on and on as I love all genres of music from rap to country heavy metal, black metal, death metal

and so on.

As far as vaporwave is concerned by far my main influence has been TVVIN PINEZ M4LL.

- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

being an owner of a Netlabel I have many favorites that I have listened to and worked with. After all vaporwave as a whole is really underground and most of us are on netlabels.

I enjoy, and I am gonna try to diversify this a bit, again TVVIN PINEZ M4LL (vaporwave) From Tokyo to Honolulu (chillwave) Humanfobia (witch house) Tony Fawkin Heal (future funk) CT57 (signalwave) and I could go on and on.

- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

Again i'd have to say TVVIN PINEZ M4LL has been the most influential on my vaporwave career. I should mention though my early career in extreme noise was predominantly

influenced by Italian artist Marco Corbelli of Atrax Morgue.

- What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?

That is a tough one becuase there are a few that I really love such as Miami Weather Report , Tom Selleck and Forever.EXE . All for different reasons. I'd say the one I listen to the most

is All Night Long , originally released as 밤​새​도​록 by 오후, because this album is so funky and just has an excellent vibe. I'd say the albums that I am most proud of would be my work with Itallian artist Tele+1 on the albums Fresco & Analog Ghost. These albums are incredibly tight and really showcase our craft.

- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

For me it is BandCamp for sure. I like the control I have there. I really dont venture outside of BC very much besides YouTube. Plus I have an extensive physichal collection that stems back

to the very first tape I ever owned which is David Lee Roth's Crazy from the Heat. So at least at home I have a huge library of music to listen to without the internet.

- Any funny anecdote in the composition of a track or an album?

There are many. Lot's of funny things happen while making music. One thing I do is hide things in my albums, I have put my voice, the voice of my kids and small samples of those early

field recordings I mentioned earlier all throughout my music. My most recent album, which is unreleased as I say this but will be out real soon is a mallsoft album called

Christmas Mallsoft Medley of Melodies and I recorded all of the mall ambience while on a family outing to a local mall and so you can hear me and my family all troughout the recording.

- Do you play live? How was the experience?

I dont play live. I traveled throughout the south east for a decade with bands, filming and promoting shows in my early days and honestly I have no desire to play live.

- Any news for 2025?

2025 will be a big year for PMP. I have so many great acts lined up and much to share with you all. Stay Tuned...

- Do you want to say anything else to your listeners?

Thank you my friends.

I love you all.

Paco Moreno.

LATEST RELEASE: "Christmas Mallsoft Medley of Melodies":

https://pac0m0ren0.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-mallsoft-medley-of-melodies

Interview to Berg Stresser (Kosmische Clutharachán)(2024)

 

Kosmische Clutharachán / Bergstresser / Secluded Interval is multi genre composer. Mainly  Ambient, Post-Rock, Experimental, Indie, Postmodern Jazz, Avant Garde, Dub, Electronic, Noise & Improvisation genres. From California, US.

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

Thank you for inviting me to do this interview. I really appreciate it.

Currently, I have 3 projects: Kosmische Clutharachán (aka: Kosmik Leprechaun), Bergstresser and Secluded Interval. 

Since 1995, Kosmische Clutharachán has been the project I've worked with the most and it also has the most releases (43 albums as of the date of this interview). I'd somewhat loosly describe the sound as "experimental, psychedelic, electronic, indie, noise". The project's previous name (Kosmik Leprechaun) was inspired by the unofficial mid 1970's German krautrock supergroup, The Cosmic Jokers.

In 2021, I changed the name to Kosmische Clutharachán, intending to reflect a more mature side of the project, and with more thought put into the composition and production standards. I chose the German spelling of "kosmische" over "kosmik". And, the old English-Irish word "clutharachán" was chosen to distinguish it from the better-known word "leprechaun". Clutharacháns and leprechauns are similar, but not exactly the same. I relate more to the former, rather than the latter.

Kosmische Clutharachán / Kosmik Leprechaun (Bandcamp): 

https://kosmikleprechaun.bandcamp.com/

The 2nd project I have is a raw, lo-fi, heavy, guitar-driven, instrumental noise-metal thing called Bergstresser. I started that in 2022, and I've recorded 3 EP's available under that name. 

Officially, the word Bergstresser is an Americanized form of the German word "Bergsträsser", which is a topographic name for "someone who lives by a mountain road". But, for me, Bergstresser means something akin to "breaking a pathway through miles of solid bed rock, mountains and icebergs". The name also has an unintended psychologial edge to it that I enjoy, with "stresser" being part of the word. 

You might think that with all these German names and words that I, myself, am German! But, no. I'm not. I was born in the United States. I have no known German ancestry that I can account for. Nothing in my DNA shows anything specifically from that region of Europe. I just simply love Krautrock and Stockhausen, man. Both of those things are very very German!

Bergstresser (Bandcamp): 

https://bergstresser.bandcamp.com/

The 3rd project I have is a somewhat melancholy, instrumental, electronic pop-oriented thing called Secluded Interval, which I started in 2023, and I have 3 releases out under that name (all of which can be found at the Kosmische Clutharachán / Kosmik Leprechaun Bandcamp page). To me, the name Secluded Interval simply means "music made in isolation", which is essentially what it is, really.

Secluded Interval (Bandcamp): 

https://kosmikleprechaun.bandcamp.com/

Other than those 3 projects, I've also been involved with tons of other projects. I can't mention everything I've done in this interview, because it would go on for days. But, much of that material has been released, independently. But, a lot of it, especially my really early stuff, has been lost to time and will probably never be heard again, unless the unlikely happens and someone finds the actual cassettes and CD-r's that I released from 1993 to 2005 and gives them to me to re-release. I just don't have them anymore.

- What equipment do you use for create music?

My chief instruments are guitars, bass, drums, synthesizers, keyboards and computers. I used to sing. But, I don't do that anymore. I typically record using a Tascam DP-01 FX digital 8-track machine. And, I program and edit everything using Ableton Live on my laptop. For effects, I use a single multi-effect guitar pedal and whatever else is available, via software. For mastering, I use Audacity. For instrument amplification and studio monitering, I use a large JVC HX-GX7 stereo system with built-in subwoofers to get the job done. If it's late at night and I'm creating music, I use headphones.

- Tell us a little biography about your project, when you started to make music?

Started playing music in 1984 when my parents gave me an acoustic guitar for my 8th birthday. In 1985, they gave me a synthesizer. I didn't know how to play my instruments back then, so I just made noise, which drove my mother crazy. My grandmother gave me my first electric guitar and I started recording my earliest solo stuff on a couple of boomboxes in 1988. In 1989, I formed my first grindcore band while in middle school. Later, in high school, I released my first home-dubbed cassettes through my label Hot Damn! Tapes (which later became known as Completely Gone Recordings). In 1994, I got my first 4-track cassette recorder, prompting me to start taking my music a bit more seriously.

Completely Gone Recordings (Bandcamp): 

https://completelygonerecordings.bandcamp.com/

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

The list has changed over the years. As of today, I can say I am still influenced by Arnold Schoenberg, early Ash Ra Tempel, Can, early Blue Cheer, Cocteau Twins, David Axelrod, EPMD, Eric B. & Rakim, Erik Satie, Flying Saucer Attack, Frédéric Chopin, God, Godflesh, Gong, György Ligeti, Herbie Hancock, Iannis Xenakis, Jesu, John Coltrane, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk, Men I Trust, Merzbow, Meshuggah, Miles Davis, My Bloody Valentine, early Napalm Death, early Public Image Ltd., Rocketship, Slowdive, Slug, early Soft Machine, Stereolab, Sun Ra, early Swans, Syd Barrett, early Tangerine Dream, Techno Animal, The Velvet Underground, Third Eye Foundation, early WuTang Clan and stuff like that.

- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

There's a lot of them. Off the top of my head, I can definitely say that I like Anthony Osborne, Antoine Trauma, Antonella Eye Porcelluzzi, Barbara Brogi, Copperhead, Devin Sarno, EISENLAGER, Fernando Bocadillos, Filmy Ghost, Hell Seb, Humanfobia, I,Eternal, I.v. Martinez, Jaime Munárriz, James Hoehl, Kontrolled Demolition, Lefterna, LR Friberg, Martin MarK, Mean Flow, M.NOMIZED, Night Mode, nordBeck, Quint Baker, RDKPL, Sean Derrick Cooper Marquardt, Secant Prime, Sound_00, Thomas Park, V, Vulnerlogocentrism, WHΛLT THISИEY, Wilfried Hanrath, Yaka╧anima and etc.

- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

You know, if I'm honest, not too much. While I love a lot of the music from the 1950's until the mid 2000's, most of the current music from my country doesn't excite me. It seems like nearly all of the music I like comes from everywhere but the United States (except for jazz, which I still love). I don't know if it's because I've lived here my whole life, and therefore I've become jaded to music from my own country. But, for whatever reason, I just can't get into many artists from the states these days. I don't find a lot of the current culture in my country to be very interesting, sadly.

 - What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?

That's a good question. I don't know. I guess I would probably say my most recent material is usually my favourite. Some of what I've written over the years is exactly the kind of music I've always wanted to listen to. So, it's a success in that regard. But, there's some stuff I've recorded which is just dreadful for me to listen to, and I hesitate to even mention those albums. Lol.

- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

When I first began uploading my music online, I did it via the Internet Archive, where artist's can't really make any money for their work. After 10 years of doing that, someone suggested I release everything on Bandcamp. He was right. Bandcamp actually pays the artist's who earn via their platform a proper sum of money, while protecting their copyrights and dealing with shenanagans. There's nothing quite like Bandcamp at the moment. As for promotion, I just post links to my releases on Facebook. I also publish music videos on Completely Gone Recordings' YouTube site.

Completely Gone Recordings (YouTube):

https://www.youtube.com/@completelygonerecordings

- Any funny anecdote in the composition of a track or an album?

I know for a fact that many utterly ridiculous things have happened over the years, with regards to my music and label. One recent example I can share... A few months ago, I released an album on Completely Gone Recordings by an artist that I like who shall go unnamed in this interview. On his album was an unlicenced sample of a Carl Crack vocal from an Atari Teenage Riot track. Assuming the sample was cleared, I didn't think much about it at the time of releasing the album. But, maybe a month, or so after the album's release, Alec Empire (Atari Teenage Riot's mainman) himself emailed me, inquiring how the artist and label was granted permission to use Carl Crack's vocal sample. After realizing what had happened, I ended up apologizing to Alec Empire and the track with the sample was scrubbed from the album. Luckily, Alec was a gentleman, and he let it go without another word. It could've been a disaster, though. I gotta' watch it. I mean, the last person I wish to irk is Alec Empire!!

- Do you play live? How was the experience?

I've played gigs since 1994. Most of my experiences performing live has been generally positive. I would love to perform some gigs with a group right now. But, it's become quite unfeasible to play live music nowadays. Just the cost of setting up a simple 3 hour time slot for a band to run through their set a couple of times at a local rehearsal studio is so overpriced, many of the studios I used to frequent have closed down because few musicians can afford it anymore.

- Any news for 2025?

Just going to keep moving forward one day at a time and hopefully release some genuinely rad sounds along the way. That's the goal.

- Do you want to say anything else to your listeners?

Yeah, definitely. I want to say thank you for interviewing me. Thanks to everyone for checking out my music, really. Thanks for listening and showing all the support. Thanks to my friends, family, collaborators and everyone I've worked with in the past. And, obviously, thanks to the people for buying my music. You know? Really appreciated. 

Lastly, keep an open mind about everything. Don't be too hard on yourself. Be creative, if the spirit moves you. And, if you don't already know... be kind to animals and to vulnerable people in society, man. That's all I have to say. Peace.

LATEST RELEASE: "Moonrise":

https://musiquemoleculaire.bandcamp.com/album/moonrise

Interview to Mig Inc (2024)

 

Mig Inc is a french experimental, post-industrial, noise

composer. Owner of L'Abeille Cool label.

https://miginc.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063522939803&ref=bookmarks

https://www.youtube.com/@labeillecool363

Other projects of the same artist:

Saishō 最小 (lo-fi, synth drone, dreamwave):

https://saisho.bandcamp.com/

Ｔ０Ｐ_ＢＵＤＧ€Ｔ™  (vaporwave, chopped & screwed, eccojams):

https://t0pbudg3t.bandcamp.com/

- What is the meaning and the concept behind the name of your music project?

Mig Inc is short for Migraine Inc, which was the name I started under in 2007, before shortening it in 2013. I am a big migraine sufferer. Especially at that time, I had extremely painful and frequent attacks. Making industrial noise was the way I found to express those very intense body sensations when I lacked words. It was partly intentional, but also unconscious. Looking back, listening to old recordings, I find the expression of very specific body states, evolving over time. This is still the case today, even if my ability to manage pain has evolved, Mig Inc remains a bodily and sensory project. I express states of the body in the broad sense, not just pain and illness. I put a lot of joy, pleasure and love in my music.

- What equipment do you use for create music?

Well I started over 17 years ago (fucking shit!) so I have had a lot of different setups. I use synths, acoustic instruments, vocals, extremely various recordings I take everywhere I can. But the central nervous system of this migraine machine is my laptop. This is where I regroup and arrange all these sounds, where I manipulate them and create beats, when there are beats. I often play live with just my computer + knobs midi controler.

- Tell us a little biography about your project, when  you started to make music?

Regarding Mig Inc I have already answered this question, so I can go back a little to tell you about my beginnings in music, which was an accident. I didn't want to make music. I had a glimpse of music theory and it seemed really boring and not fun. I was more interested in writing and visual arts. I must have been 13 or 14 when some friends who were starting a punk rock band asked me to write them some lyrics, which I happily did. One day, the bass player was not here and I was asked to replace him by playing bass on a keyboard. Then when the bass player came back, I stayed behind the keyboard. I didn't know how to play, it was really crap, but discovering that music wasn't just a place where you have to work and follow rules, but was something emancipating and joyful, did me a lot of good. It was exactly what I needed at that time. Today I still write but I've abandoned the visual arts. At least in appearance, because I think I make music more like a visual artist than like a musician. But I am self-taught in all these areas. School has never been an exciting place for me.

- Who are your main music and artistic influences?

I can name some artists and bands that literally changed my life. like Bérurier Noir, John Zorn, John Cage, Throbbing Gristle, The Residents... I think their music doesn't sound like mine because their influence was indirect. Listening to them changed my body, then my body changed my music. I’m really not good at imitating.

- What underground artists from the netlabel scene do you like?

So many ! If I stick to the industrial / noise / dark ambient scene, I listen a lot to Morbid Beauty these times. I also love the noise walls from This is what I hear when you talk. Also Rojinski and Sonnov (this last one is not dark, but minimalist and delighful ambient).

I like vaporwave, lofi and subgenres as well. I’m fascinated by b e g o t t e n 自杀 or Voyage Futur, for example.

- Do you have some influence from your country in your music?

Every experience I have influences my music, so yes, inevitably, I have influences from my country, especially since I don't travel very much. Talking about music with other artists, getting sick, getting over it, having a memorable party, having a new girlfriend or boyfriend, breaking up with them, taking drugs, stopping this or that drug, a police check in the street, a racist speech from a minister, a friend who tells me that she is being sexually harassed at work... all of this influences my music, and in my case, it happens in France.

https://miginc.bandcamp.com/album/b12

 - What is your favorite album/ep composed by you? And why?

Hehe, it depends on the day. I’m pretty satisfied with my last album « B12 ». It’s pretty hard to say why in a short answer, it’s such a non-verbal sensory experience. When I listen to an average recording of mine, I say « ok, that’s what I just played ». But when I listen to a good recording of mine, I’m more like « is that really me who just played that dope sound ?! ». B12 belongs to this second category.

- What are your preferred music platforms/websites? Why?

Definitely Bandcamp, even if there is much to criticize, starting with the fact that they were bought by the multinational Epic, which is not a detail. I like it because there’s no advertising and it is possible to make your music accessible to everyone, with the possibility for listeners to make donations. Also the streaming quality is better than some other platforms, like YouTube for example. The ideal platform would be entirely run by the artists themselves and funded by the public, without capitalist parasites to take money from us and decide how it works for us. All businesses should work like that, if you ask me.

- Any funny anecdote in the composition of a track or an album?

In spring 2023, I recorded a live improvised session using samples taken from protests and riots which were taking place at that time in France, while Macron’s government was passing its reform to raise the retirement age. It was one of the biggest social movements of the last fifty years, and between the ferocious police violence and the popular determination, it was a very intense period, and I needed to express myself on it. 

Listening back to it, I found this recording really ugly and confusing. I wanted to delete it at first, but then I thought that all this ugliness and confusion reflected my feelings about what was going on. So I made an ugly cover and released it on my Bandcamp page, as a short-lived release to cover the news, with the idea of deleting it after a few weeks. But it seems that listeners perceived it differently, since it is to date one of my most downloaded releases. So I didn’t delete it. The album is called "Bordélisation" which can be roughly translated as « disorderization ».

Ok, it’s not that funny, but it’s an anecdote. The thing is I’m alone working as Mig Inc, I think funny anecdotes happen more often with bands. 

- Do you play live? How was the experience?

Yes ! Well, the experience is each time a new one, so it depends. My last gigs were awesome moments shared with great artists and a lovely audience. In recent years I have played little live to focus on other things, like writing (short stories, novels, poetry). But this year I got back into it and it feels so good !

- Any news for 2025?

Hopefully more gigs ! I’ll be still releasing new recorded stuff, but there should be more splits and collab projects. I don't have a very specific schedule, but between my different solo projects, the bands I play in, and my label (l'Abeille Cool) 2025 will be a very, very productive year.

- Do you want to say anything else to your listeners?

Thanks for being curious and supporting the underground scene. Make noise, create a band, a label, a fanzine, a webradio, whatever. Do it yourself, without transforming your work into merchandise, and without seeking recognition from merchants. Do as little as possible for your boss. Go vegan. Fuck the police. Reject any hierarchy. Love yourself.

Thank you for the interview !