First say welcome to this written interview for Cian Orbe blog. Today we did an interview to the experimental, noise, core genres brazilian composer Juan Velter.
- What is the meaning of the Velter's Ward is the name of your music
label?
Some hospitals have different wards for each kind of patients;
the Velter’s Ward is nothing more than the ward where Los Velters are working –
in real life the Bandcamp’s page; in the alternative universe, a place inside
the big company Music Machine Records (founded by Ursula Noogard, a she friend
alias)
- Which are the differences musically and conceptually of your different
music projects?
Tell us shortly about each one. And which one is for you your most
important main project?
Each my moniker/alias works with a different “Type” of
music. They are 9 till the present date, together more 5 bands/duos between
they and 3 different B-sides projects with other friends. All they are all
parts of my own persona and my alter egos, which are represented through
different species of the imagination world.
“Gameplayer playing”
by Otávio Vert
Gameplayer is used to Minimalistic Bass music, genres like Minimal
Techno, Minimal Progressive/Brutal Bass (both created in Brazil around 2013-2017)
and Bass Techno. This is sure one of the most “mainstream” projects – and the
first one who was created in 2013. He’s human and has my own appearance;
“Obscuridad” by Juan
Velter
Obscuridad is the personification of the own darkness itself. Someday it
was bored of being just an energy and became a life form. The music genre is
all around Trance style, but leaving the “happy” vibes and going to the “dark
and occult” one. Almost all the tracks and albums have some satanic or infernal
thematic, and is one of the most hard-to-release aliases. Generally I take so
much time to compose only 1 Prog/Psy/Dark Trance song, so it have no much music
till now;
“DZKYIN” by
SantaMary
DZKYIN (pronounces “Dezekyin”) is a cyborg alien from the planet Dezek,
which had the own homeplace destroyed by an unknown extraterrestrial specie and
– for accident –, arrived to Earth more than 100 years ago. Is sure one of my
most actives monikers, had more than 30 released each year since was created,
being appearances in compilations, EPs, albums, split or remixes. Works with
all the kinds of Hard and Core music, from Hardstyle to Doomcore, Speedcore,
Terror and Extratone. Sometimes was used to make some Dark Ambient,
Experimental and Noise tracks, but it happens rarely times, with a very
specific release and no more like 2016-2019 (where the alias was used for
several Harsh Noise and HNW tracks);
“Anghustia” by
SantaMary
Anghustia is one of the most powerful Velters. He is a spirit of a dead
man who committed suicide and was helped by Obscuridad to keep “alive” and, for
exchange, help another people to don’t make the same thing than he done. Is too
the most variable and controversial persona when produce music. Don’t have a
specific genre, can work with New Age, Vaporwave, Black Metal, Celtic, Piano,
Classical, Synth-pop or any kind of music that can be gothic and emotional. The
albums usually have some concept of my personal life, being express my love, my
anguish, my fears and all my deep feelings. I’ve used 3 times this alias to
make tracks for my last boyfriend, for example – and today we aren’t together
anymore… What a thing…;
“Dantalion” by
SantaMary
Dantalion is my fursona. Like Anghustia, don’t have a specific genre,
but an area – the Furry one. The music generally goes around Drum & Bass,
Breaks or Reggaeton. Is a wolf, my favorite animal. The name “Dantalion” became
from the 71th spirit of Goecia’s art – and I know it’s used by a Black Metal
band too… I just don’t care, not even him. Just have 2 albums till now and some
appearances in compilations;
“Uruly” by SantaMary
Uruly… I was excited to arrive here… He is an archangel with black
wings, and sure you will not know any celestial like him. He is extremely anarchist,
selfish, rude and don’t give a fuck for what people thing about he. If you’re
asking yourself if he is my main alias and the most active, you’re 100% right.
The Uruly’s personality is hard to play, but doesn’t mean he is a bad person.
Truly he’s the most lovely, understanding and fond one you can find… if you
don’t annoy he. For all this reasons, the anti-music is him area. Harsh Noise,
Gorenoise, Noisecore, HNW (rarely) and even Drone is what he makes – and with
the worst quality as possible, cause in the Anti-Music world, trash is clash.
All the songs are recorded with my own cellphone and mixed in my FL Studio;
“Velter’s Founders”
by Chiptune Gray
Velter’s Founders are the trio between the first 3 Velters; Gameplayer,
Obscuridad and DZKYIN. I use them to make the most mainstream EDM music, like
Big Room, Tribal House, Progressive House and Festival Trap. How everyone may
know, I’m not so much into produce commercial music, and that’s the reason they
still don’t have more than 12 songs released since 2017;
“UP&DOWN” by
Chiptune Gray
⇧ & ⇩ (Up&Down) is the duo between Uruly and DZKYIN. The albums are
more conceptual and follow a similar line than Anghustia (about my deepest
feelings), but with the HNW genre. The songs keep on live records added mixing,
mastering and edition – even if sometimes the record used is looped;
“Aidan Vince” by…?
Aidan Vince is my second archangel persona. Different from the first,
this one have white wings and is not half of the rebel Uruly is. In real, they
are brothers of the same father. Aidan is too a half-blood, what means he is
half human and half-archangel. Have the exactly same face of Gameplayer, but
totally different personality. The music around he is all about the
“underground house clubs”, that is the better expression I found to describe
places where Techno, Club House and Disco House was played in last decades. I
still don’t have so many works by Aidan, because he born in 2018 and Techno is
a kind of music that I’m not so much into. He was created more for a necessity
than spontaneity;
“dkzyin” by Juan
Velter
dkzyin is another of that aliases that don’t have specific genre, but
music kind, and this is the time of Chip and AI music. What I mean? Any kind of
Chiptune and sound made by apps and software (out my FL Studio) is under him
name. The similarity with DZKYIN’s name is not for nothing, dkzyin is from the
same planet and was constructed to be the mind of the own DZKYIN. What I mean?
dkzyin is an AI and don’t have physical form. It can control and speak through
radios, TVs, digital apparels and any kind of machine that can be connected
with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi;
“Storyteller666” by
Chiptune Gray
Storyteller666 was the nick I used since 2014 to write stories, texts
and as my Tumblr page name (I still use for this things), but in 2020 I
released the first audio album using him name. In true, he is the own
Anghustia, but using another name to produce Experimental Dark (and satanic)
Music. I try to make all the mastering like the old vinyl style 80/90’s,
because I’m a really fan of that kind of atmosphere. The music genre goes
around Drone, Dark Ambient, Black Ambient, Murderfolk and Speech with satanic
prayers – recorded by me with the voice I chosen to him.
“D³” by Chiptune
Gray
D³ is the one 2020’s original moniker. He have literally the appearance
of the devil itself – red skin, sharp teeth, horns, demon wings and etc. –, but
is truly another alien from the planet #3xD, that had the own specie murdered
by the hands of the same one who destroyed DZKYIN’s planet, making this way D³
the last survivor. The music by he is focused on Metal, Punk and Grind genres,
like Grindcore, Goregrind, Cybergrind, Gorenoise and Noisecore, but differently
of Uruly, I use the own FL Studio to make the tracks – not my own cellphone,
except for vocals. In case you’re questioning what means “D³”, it means
Different Dimension Demon;
“Se Mamem!” by
Chiptune Gray
“Se Mamem!” is the band between my alias Uruly; my friend SantaMary
alias, Smiley the Foxdoggo; and my other friend Chiptune Gray. We make
generally what we want to do, circling around the Noisecore, Speedcore, Harsh
Noise and Cybergrind genres. Our only limit is… Well, we don’t use to have
limits (hehe);
“Tô Duro” by
Chiptune Gray
Tô Duro is the band between Uruly and D³. The (anti)music genre is the
same of both, but made with both styles, vocals or production ways (mixing
cellphone recordings with FL sounds);
No Rest For Brazilians is the duo between Uruly and my friend Chiptune
Gray. With this duo, me and C.G. make many experiences with Noise Music,
working this way with Harsh Noise, HNW, Drone, Power Electronics and Sound
Collage;
Los Velters is the final band between almost all the members of Velter’s
Ward (depending of the album). Uruly is the main vocalist, Gameplayer on the
bass, Obscuridad on the synth, Dantalion on drums, D³ on guitars (or
second/back vocals), DZKYIN on digital drums, Aidan Vince as percussionist,
dkzyin as “digital vocals” or specific synths; and Anghustia on pads, organs
and keys.
- Which are the concept behind your music, how you categorize your own
work?
I really don’t know who to describe my music itself, but I can
sure say that it’s my purest expression. Like already said Madonna, “Express
yourself”, and I found the music to do it. That’s my concept and category.
“Dark Angel” by Juan Velter
- Favorite music genres?
Symphonic Metal, New Age, Classical Crossover, Hardstyle,
Euro Dance, Uplifting Trance, Tribal House, Goregrind, HNW, Witch House,
Dubstep… I’m really a hard person to define favorite genre, because I listen to
practically everything.
- In which year did you start making music? Which was your first
band/project?
2012 was the year I decided try to make music, but only in
2013 I could make something really listenable – even this way, my first album
was a collab between my first project DJ Gameplayer (in that years, I used the
“DJ” before the Gameplayer name. I don’t know why) and the Australian Jack
Dunne, titled “Unlimited Speedway”. I don’t think I can describe a genre for
this, but was the first real album I can remember of having release in my
musician life.
“Jack Dunne &
DJ Gameplayer – Unlimited Speedway”
https://losvelters.blogspot.com/2014/06/jack-dunne-gameplayer-unlimited-speedway.html
- Which inspiration you have from the place where you live? There's some
inspiration from your country in your music?
Brazilian popular music is a real opinion divider. Some
people love, some people hate; I’m in the side of that ones who knows how to
separate the good ones from the bad ones. I love so much the pop music of the
80s, 90s and 2000s from Brazil, but I don’t know if I would say that they
inspire me to make my music actually. I like to take my inspirations from the
actual Brazilian noise/anti-music scene, from projects like God Pussy, Vítimas
do Crack, Pork Suicidal, Ascoroso or another band. For my most “musical”
monikers, my main Brazilian influences are DJs like Chapeleiro, Forcebeat,
Mister Jam and some random others that I can even remember the name. Sincerely
my mains inspirations are European artists.
- Which are your favorite music projects and visual/plastic artists who
inspire your work?
Man, have lot ones… I love the mask visual of artists like
Daft Punk, The Bloody Beetroots, Angerfist, Black Tiger Sex Machine and many
other ones, but I have a special fascination around the archangel aesthetic,
comic superheroes and the geek culture itself. DZKYIN is highly inspired by
Android 16 from Dragon Ball Z and Iron Man, for example. Uruly is inspired in
Lucifer, D³ by X-Man and this way the life goes on.
How do you see the current Experimental / Noise / Music scene?
I already walked around many places of Electronic Music. I
started on the mainstream, with festivals like Tomorrowland or Ultra Music, after
I came into the raves scene – with Minimal, Techno and Psy Trance events –, and
after I found some place into Hardcore Underground scene (Speedcore, Terror,
Extratone, Doomcore, Etc.). The main “problem” is that I’m so much curious, and
after to discover the music above 10000BPM, I wanted to know what could be more
bizarre than it – and if you look, you find. This way I found the Noise scene
that is sure my favorite one for one reason: Everything is allowed. Do you
remember the Madonna’s phrase? That’s it. Some day or another we face some
expressions of monstrous ideas like homophobia, Nazism, sexism and another shit
ideologies, but… What can we do? That’s the price of being part of a free
expression music scene.
“Noise Spiral” by Juan Velter
- Favorite noise and electronic composers?
Sure my best noise band is The Gerogerigegege. I think that
all in this band is perfect, mainly the fact that they are elected the world
band of the world (hahaha). Speaking about another electronic music artists, I
have much more examples that I can give, but I can say that Daft Punk,
Basshunter, Cascada, Blutengel, DANGER, D-Devils, Knife Party and NERO are
bands that I love so much and listened the full discography many and many
times.
- Do you make live performances?
Yes, just miss me opportunity. I made just 1 in video that
became the Uruly album “Vida Longa Obstinacy” and 0 in public, but if you call
improvised music “live performances”, I made so much more that I can remember.
“Uruly - Vida Longa Obstinacy”, the only one
album made 100% live. Cover was mad by my friend Chiptune Gray.
https://losvelters.bandcamp.com/album/vida-longa-obstinacy
Live video was transmitted on Don’t Stop Noise Fest 2 in YouTube
https://youtu.be/NlvIZMFdr08
- Which are your favorite song or composition and album created by
yourself?
Album I can say with no dude that is one of my last ones:
the first of the band Los Velters, Implements Of Anarchy. I always dreamed to
become a singer and this album was the main proof that I can sing at least for
a real music (not an anti-music song, like Grindcore or Noisecore). But
individual song is hard to say… My most worked track was “Shake The Ground” by
Velter’s Founders that I’ve taken 6 months to finish it, but the most creative
and amazing song I think I ever done was “Relatos de Pessoas Que Viram Um
Lobisomem” by DZKYIN. Sure are the most complex and have so many layers of
complexity to understand – the bad thing are that you practically must be
Brazilian to understand the real meaning of this song.
“Los Velters – Implements Of Anarchy”
https://losvelters.bandcamp.com/album/implements-of-anarchy
“DZKYIN - Relatos De Pessoas Que Viram Um Lobisomem”, from the album †
https://losvelters.bandcamp.com/track/relatos-de-pessoas-que-viram-um-lobisomem
- Tell us about the concept & the creation process of one of your
latest works "satan.exe " self-released.
One day my old TV broken and showed some strange glitch
image on the screen. I’ve take a picture of that image and the idea brings to
my mind. The own album cover is the photo I shoot and the 2 songs was planned
to be pressed on some cassette tape (that’s why the songs are named as [A] and
[B]), but I’m working on it since 2019 and I don’t wanted more to wait to let
it public. The album itself was made with no other software than Piconica app
for Android (the free versions don’t record more than 3 minutes, so to the
tracks became +20 minutes, I needed to make short songs and unite all they in
FL).
“dkzyin – satan.exe”
https://losvelters.bandcamp.com/album/satan-exe
- Tell us about the underground music scene in Brazil or in your zone,
and which are your favorite artists from your country?
How I said before, some of the underground names I can
draft is God Pussy, Pork Suicidal, Noise Machine, Tiago Malta, Vítimas do Crack
and a bunch of other bands that have no space for citation here. I personally
love the Noise Brazilian scene, but the underground one in general is corrupted
with mainstream and competition ideology. Genres like Techno and Psy Trance supposed
to be “underground” here, but are just one of another commercial ways of act.
My favorite artists sure are – again – God Pussy, Chapeleiro, Das Projekt (a
perfect band of Gothic Rock), Bonde do Noisecore and why not myself? Hehe
- What inspired you to create your own music labels (Antropofagia
Records & Obstinacy)?
Which are the differences between that two music labels?
Antropofagia came first than Obstinacy, but was not my
first label. I already had the Wolfs Minimal’ Label (2015-2018) for Minimal and
Techno music, and Inverted Pentagram Records (2015-2017) for Trance. Both
labels were commercial ones (the songs still on Spotify, iTunes, Deezer,
Beatport and other digital stores) and the reason I created all they is just
one: I didn’t wanted to depend of anyone to release my songs. Of course, the
opportunity of help small artists to promote them songs is very gratifying – and
some of them still are my friends. Antropofagia was established in 2016 and
keeps alive till the present date; Obstinacy was created in 2017 and too is
open to releases. The difference is that ATP have the focus on extreme and dark
electronic music, like Speedcore, Hardstyle, Deathstep, Minatory, Industrial,
Extratone and genres like this; Obstinacy is for experimental and noise genres,
like Harsh Noise, Drone, Musique Concrete and HNW. Recently I open a new
subdivision called D/D/D Productions for Grind, Metal and Punk genres.
Unfortunately this last one just has 4 releases till now
https://wolfsminimal.bandcamp.com/
http://invertedpentagram.wixsite.com/iprecords/bonus-releases
https://antropofagiarecords666.bandcamp.com/
https://obstinacy.bandcamp.com/
https://antropofagiarecords.yolasite.com/ddd.php
- Any anecdote that you want to share with us in the creation of some
track?
Many of my tracks have different and exotic ways of creation,
but I would like to mention one special by the duo ⇧ & ⇩, the album V. The album
was released in same date of my own birthday in 2019, counts with 2 HNW with 1
hour each one and was released in 2xCD by myself (I still have some copies).
Why am I mentioning this release? Well, because each song is a full and
distorted record of 2 travels in a public bus, going and backing from my
ex-boyfriend home. I don’t think that have something really special in record
for 2 hours the bus trip, but the journey was long that times – and my
ex-boyfriend is someone I’ll sure never forget.
“⇧ & ⇩ - V”
https://losvelters.bandcamp.com/album/v
- Any news for 2021 in your music project or future collaborations?
Man, I don’t know… Most of my albums and collabs are not
planned, just happens, but if I can say something, I can sure tell you that new
aliases are coming on, and new music genres will start to be explored. I’m in
this moment working in a Black Metal album by Anghustia, with vocals by D³ and
Uruly. Some tracks already finished, but others will be finished around the
next months. That’s the best spoiler I can give to you xD
- Any other thing that you want to say to your listeners?
I don’t know if I have so many listeners that I could have
(or wanted to), but if you – for some unknown reason – listen to my music and
sounds, I just need to thank you. All my discography is expansive, complex and
have all the kinds of music. Understand my monikers is not easy, understand me
is practically impossible, so if you’re brave enough to listen at least some
part of my discography, you’re a warrior and have my full respect; and if
you’re an artist who already collaborated – or want to collaborate – with me at
some point of your life, you’re automatically my friend and a special part of
MY life. Real thanks do Sábila to give me this opportunity and many thanks to
you that read this full interview. I love you all <3
“Blue Engel” by Juan
Velter
*Special thanks to Chiptune Gray and
SantaMary, who drew many of my aliases and are 2 of the best friends I ever
could found*
JUAN VELTER RELEASES ON CIAN ORBE:
https://archive.org/details/alem-chiptune-chaos
https://archive.org/details/anghustia-your-life
