Interviews

Red, Black and Cool: Tina Schnekenburger

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

Tina Schnekenburger has worn a number of guises over the years.

From the punk scene in Kraftwerk’s home town to the world of modern art, she is a card carrying member of the avant-garde.

Schnekenburger can be seen in the new Conny Plank documentary, operating backing tracks for DAF. In leather, with cropped hair, she is effortlessly cool: a Teutonic Siren behind Gabi Delgado’s beat-fuelled leaps.

A long-time friend of DAF, she is credited with typography on the liner notes for Die Kleinen und Die Bosen, the very first album on Mute (cat: STUMM 1).

As an early member of Die Krupps, her contributions to the rhythm section can be found on key recordings.

Recently, Schnekenburger held her first showing of modern art. A long-time painter, fans pushed her to present her dramatic artwork to a wider public.

It’s on the back of her Berlin show, Colors and States of Mind, that we took the chance to catch up with Schnekenburger from her base in Germany.

You were part of the German punk scene. What was it like in those days, and what inspired you to start making music?

When I moved from Spain to Düsseldorf, I had a heavy drug and drinking problem. For the first few weeks in Düsseldorf, I kept on drinking and using. Then, one day, I somehow ended up in Ratinger Hof, and the music just hit me!

Punk and me – that was love (or rather hearing) at first sight. From then on, I was in Ratinger Hof every single night. I stopped drinking, smoking and using all together, from one day to the next, because I finally had something that actually touched me inside and gave a meaning to my life. As clichéd as it may sound, you can truly say that punk rock saved my life.

As punk gave me the feeling that everything was possible, even when you were a girl (which was not normal at the time), I thought about getting into making music myself.

As it happened, one day there was a party at the house of Thomas Schwebel’s parents in Solingen.

First, we ruined the garden by kicking a ball around, and then later the guys started jamming (Thomas had all the equipment there). At some point, I just grabbed the bass guitar and joined in. That was that.

Next thing I played bass in Die Rächer, together with Eduardo and Olga Delgado (brother and sister of Gabi).

How did you originally connect with DAF?

Well, Ratinger Hof was the place to be, so naturally I met absolutely everybody there, including the guys of DAF.

I got to know Gabi at the pinball machine. Jürgen Engler, Gabi, Wolf-Dieter Lauenroth and I were the best pinball players around, and you would find us at the pinball machine quite often.

Did you ever have to sleep on the floor at Daniel Miller’s house in London?

Of course! For about six weeks, as far as I recall. That was so nice of Daniel – I will never forget that.

When DAF reduced to a duo, you joined them for live shows. Those were high energy but incredibly stylish events. What was it like for you being on stage with them?

I was incredibly nervous every single time!

First, just putting on the tapes was not as easy as it may sound. You had to wind them exactly to the beginning of the song, and you were always afraid of “Bandsalat”.

Second, it’s not easy at all to have nothing to do between the songs and still look cool. But apparently I managed quite well.

In Die Krupps, you had a role in production and songwriting. What kind of sound were you going for? Did you have specific influences?

That, in fact, is a bit too much credit. I know that in some place it says that I was involved in the production but that was Jürgen’s part.

When I joined, Volle Kraft voraus was nearly finished but it still needed lyrics. So, I wrote some of the lyrics, together with Jürgen.

In Entering the Arena, which still is my favorite, I wanted to go back to the roots – i.e., “Wahre Arbeit, Wahrer Lohn” – something more high-energy and danceable.

You might say that “Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn” was my influence at the time – a great song that is working live still.

When you left Die Krupps, were there musical ambitions you still wanted to fulfil? Will we see you return to stage?

After I left Die Krupps, Jürgen (Engler) and I founded the label Atom H. We released bands like Rumble Militia, a punk-/metal-crossover band from Bremen with a strong political message.

There was also, for instance, Protector, a Thrash Metal band that reminded one of Slayer.

At that time, New Metal was the thing, and there were lots of amazing new bands. It was a great time: we went to lots of gigs, almost every night. It was totally rock’n’roll.

After a while, I got tired of the music business – and especially the people in it – so I left Atom H. I moved to Berlin, just in time for the Wall to come down, where I took up photography again. I later returned to painting.

In London, I was in an all-girl reggae band where I played the drums, and it was always in the back of my head to go back to drumming; so, last year in May, I started taking drum lessons.

Whenever I can find the time in between painting and getting my next exhibition organized, I practice. I am dreaming of playing the drums in a rock band in the future – maybe in 2020.


You are also becoming known as a painter. When did you start? What do your paintings express?

I have been painting since I was a little kid and kept doing it until the age of 16, when I left school.

My mother took me to an art school in Stuttgart (at the time we were living in Heilbronn) to apply – successfully, but I never went. By that time, I already was heavily into booze and drugs, so I didn’t get anything together. Instead I hitchhiked to Torremolinos in Spain, where I lived until I moved to Düsseldorf.

Inspiration is coming to me in two different ways: One way is entirely from inside me, resulting in the darker paintings such as Suicide, the Tatort series and so on.

Those paintings are very much inspired by blood, which for me is the essence of life itself. Without blood we simply wouldn’t exist. Also, I very much adore the color of blood, which you can clearly see in my paintings. Red is dominant.

The other kind of inspiration comes from the outside world; solely driven by a specific color; inspired by something I see – for instance, a scene in a movie.

When I look at something, at first I notice the colors – always! Colors and the composition of colors. As Marie Pellicone (of Marie Pellicone Gallery in Soho/New York) said: I am truly a colorist.

You recently showed your paintings in Germany. Was the reaction encouraging?

Very much so! I even sold a painting weeks after the show, a lady bought one of my drawings for her husband as a birthday present.

Tina Schnekenburger's Colors and States of Mind shows in Hamburg from 7-10 September, 2018. Pop-Up Gallery BloodRedArt, Jungfrauenthal 3 in Hamburg (next to U Klosterstern).
All photos of Tina Schnekenburger by Krichan Wihlborg.

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Twice a Man

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

What do you do when you have a concert planned with New Order but the promoters think your name makes you sound like a progressive rock act? You change it.

For Cosmic Overdose, it was no problem. The Swedish experimentalists had dates supporting New Order in Gothenburg and Oslo, and the name belonged to a different era.

Thus, 1981 became year zero for one of the country’s most influential acts since ABBA.

Twice a Man weren’t ABBA. Like their fellow Swedes, they were also children of the 1960s, raised in a time of experimentation and generational conflict, but their music never ventured too close to mainstream chart pop. Cosmic Overdose had absorbed the energy of punk and Twice a Man discarded its membrane. What emerged was a force that was hard to bottle: at times new wave, sometimes theatrical, and often with a nod to the dance-floor.

It was a path closer to that followed by the industrial music pioneers than the writers of ”Waterloo”. Cabaret Voltaire might have started with tape and feedback experiments, but they knew a good groove when they wrote one. Throbbing Gristle could shake fillings from the teeth of their audience with sub-bass, but they could as happily score films or make what they called Tesco disco. Twice a Man never struggled to make accessible music, but neither did they sell their souls to MTV.

Throughout the 1980s, Twice a Man released a string of records and tapes that became hugely influential for a generation of electronic musicians. Their first album, 1982’s Music for Girls, introduced an electronic sound that was tasteful and refined. The Sound of a Goat in a Room and From a Northern Shore followed – and became instant classics. Their most recent album, Presence, topped our list of favourite albums in 2015. There is no sign of the band slowing down, even if their output has slowed from the three-albums-a-year pace they set in 1986.

We met Twice a Man in their natural habitat: a Gothenburg pub filled with ironically-named craft beers and the sounds of artists comparing notes. Dan Söderqvist, the band’s vocalist, grew his beard long before the local hipsters, and he cuts a distinctive figure in his Matrix-style duster. Next to him, Karl Gasleben, their visual effects specialist and instrumentalist, nurses something softer, accompanied by dark wave’s latest goddess, Anna Öberg. Their third member, Jocke Söderqvist, was not present, but his return to the band was one of their big changes in recent years.

We started by asking Söderqvist how he got into music.

My biggest influence to start making music was The Beatles. When I saw them on live television, as a ten year old, it was 1963. That was really something. From then on, I wanted to make music. After that, the development of music in the 60s was so fast. I really found my place when Pink Floyd came about – the psychedelic type of music.

My influences also included a lot of these minimalistic guys – La Monte Young, Terry Reilly, Steve Reich. This kind of electronic music.

Where I grew up, in working class suburbs, my parents were interested in normal music, so my musical training comes from normal things happening on the radio – from The Beatles, The Stones and The Who. In 1967, I heard The Mothers of Invention. At that time, there was a society that made modern music – contemporary, modern classical music. They played things like Cage – you could hear things like that live.

Within a short time, he was playing in Älgarnas Trädgård [EN: The Garden of the Elks], a progressive and experimental band that built a solid reputation. Meanwhile, Gasleben was playing in another local band, Anna Själv Tredje [EN: Anna Self Third]. Söderqvist reflects:

We met in high school. We were 15 or 16 and got to know each other. We had the same taste in music  and became friends. We made some experimental music that was quite good in 1972. By 1977, we were playing together in Cosmic Overdose.

At that time, there was no internet. The music press was mainly local or national, leaving music fans to find each other through networks expanded through shows and tape-sharing.

Television rarely showed interest outside of the commercial mainstream. How did Cosmic Overdose and Twice a Man find their audience?

With the sub-cultures that thrive. When Twice a Man started, or at the beginning of the 80s, we understood that we have a small audience who like what we do in Sweden, but these people are in Germany and Holland, too. We started to make international things. So there are sub-cultures everwhere.

It was a time of home taping and reputations built by word of mouth (or sharing of tape). Was it ever commercially viable?

We thought that it was enough in the 80s to make records to have some kind of living, but for the past  25 years we have not sold enough to make any profit. There still exist these kinds of channels, but the young audience would rather listen to streamed music. It will die – you cannot carry on professionally, if you do not get anything for it.

There is a danger with social media and streaming platforms that algorithms or ”influencers” decide what everyone sees. Söderqvist is sensitive to this risk:

I think we are quite brainwashed – especially young people. They get all their information through the screen, and they do not know what there is out there. It is a very big problem, of course; but, if you are interested in art or to be a human being, you need culture. You need to have things from the artist.

It is difficult, if you are young and your parents are not interested, to find your ways – to find this interesting stuff. You have to know how to do that.

Not so many people are interested in what we do. Or cultural things at all. Music has a social dimension, of course. That’s why we go to concerts somethings – we know that our friends are there. You meet them and it’s nice. You have a context. Apart from that, there are some people – not so many – who are interested in art, performance and music. Nowadays it has become commercial.

Gasleben quickly jumps in:

We are not commercial.

Söderqvist continues:

No, but it is these kind of people who are our audience, I am sure. And they will find their way to find the things that they like. It is very easy now. If you like a band, you have a link and you can very easily follow up. If you aren’t totally blank, it is possible. We have a terrible education system, and it is not a value that is respected in the Western capitalist world.

Twice a Man didn’t fit neatly into a package that could be marketed. Their interests were not confined to music, and their avant-garde work expanded into multimedia and computer graphics as rabidly as the technology allowed. Söderqvist reflects:

I think the club program we have, you can move to it. We tried it twenty-five years ago, when the acid house scene came up at the end of the 1980s. I thought it was a nice concept they had. We were into that thing: not to be at the centre but to be a part of it.

We made songs – three albums – in this concept. The best is Fungus & Sponge. It has to do with this kind of interaction, and the theme and the concept is about what virtual reality will be. It was totally new.

As Wired magazine started to report on the explosion of the public internet, Twice a Man explored the technology that was moving from universities into living rooms. They created an interactive CD-ROM in 1995, joining artists like Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson in the use of new media.

Computers and the internet were new in the early 90s, so we tried to make an installation with computer graphics, but we stopped playing live for a while due to personal things. I don’t know if I want to do that kind of stuff again.

The Shamen was something I looked into. From the American side, it was more Wired. Brian Eno always said what would happen. As always, we were alone in Scandinavia to do this. There was quite a good rave scene in Gothenburg. Mixmaster Morris was associated with The Shamen – he was here and we had a meeting in 89, 90 or something like that. We did it not like you could expect – more like a performance.

Sometimes, they were too far ahead of their time. Söderqvist recalls:

We did a lot of multimedia in the 1980s. Do you know Driftwood? We made the soundtrack and the singing, but everything else was on tape.

Gasleben looks whistful:

We were touring with eight trees on stage.

Söderqvist nods:

It is about environmental things. No one understood what we did. We only did it in Sweden. You should look into it.

Gasleben looks reflective:

I met someone who said, I went to your Driftwood concert and understood nothing. But  thirty years later, I understand it.

Söderqvist chuckles:

In some ways, it was commercial suicide. It was at this time that we started to make soundtracks and music for theatre. So we learned to do things in a different way.

Gasleben comes back:

There was a lot of performance on stage. You were playing – I was doing more performance.

Twice a Man are currently working on a studio version of “Cocoon,” which is expected to end up as an hour-long suite. The sound has evolved since the Presence album – they describe it as “psybient.”

There aren’t many bands that have evolved as much and stayed together for so long. As the time comes to finish our beers and take some photographs, we ask Söderqvist how they have managed to do it:

We know each other so well. We have the same roots. We get along. We also have periods when we don’t meet so much. Since 25 years back, with the computer, it is possible to work alone, so we do stuff and come together.

We are afraid to repeat ourselves. We have a third member, which is important. We are like vampires – we take some blood from them.

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Fika with: FRKTL

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

A cold day in the run-up to Christmas finds Sarah Badr in the newest branch of a Finnish café in London’s Covent Garden. The place has just opened but is heaving with tourists, resting between credit card-facilitated dopamine fixes. It’s a nightmare of reverb, as the walls reflect the chatter of shoppers and the roar of a single-engine espresso machine, but Badr’s voice comes through clearly. A fitting metaphor, then, for FRKTL, her solo music project, which first cut through the background noise of Soundcloud with Atom.

An apple bun and coffee provide fuel for our conversation, but Badr is still up after a night of clubbing, riding a wave of energy that never seems to slacken. It will carry her to New York shortly, and then to the next node in her global network. A child of the internet, Badr is like a character from a Bruce Sterling novel, coding and communicating digitally while moving through the analogue world with a data packet’s disregard for borders.

In her FRKTL skin, Badr has just released Qualia, an album of processed electro-acoustic music that sits high up our list of 2016’s best releases. She also works in a world of graphics, interfaces and words that spans multiple disciplines and media. Our conversation occasionally takes a technical turn, but it is a relief that Badr consumes coffee as easily as machine code. Over a cup of Java, she tells the story of FRKTL.

In the fall or winter of 2010, I was loading everything on Soundcloud. People started getting in touch to see if it was available anywhere, so I took all those demos and put them in consecutive order – and that is that album. I didn’t sit down and make an album. It was more of a mixtape, in a way. And then what didn’t fit was the B-Sides [Ed: The companion album to Atom], and I just made that a free download. I was trying different things, different approaches.

Badr’s choice of instruments is very traditional, considering the level of processing that she subjects sounds to. A piano, violin or guitar are her tools of choice, rather than synths, and with Qualia she has added her voice to the mix. That leads to discussion about her musical training.

I did classical guitar as a kid, and then I started playing proper piano with recitals. I was living in New Jersey at the time, and there is a piano federation where you go and they mark you.

I played festivals and did marching band and jazz band. When I moved to Cairo to finish high school, I continued on with piano but independently; just learning songs that I liked.

Badr was born in London but moved around the world with her family. She speaks with a neutral American accent but is a polyglot. She champions obscure experimental music but grew up with classic pop. The conversation moves towards the evolution of her tastes.

The music I grew up with was classical Arabic music, which was more or less like pop music back then, and oriental, instrumental, modal music. I remember hearing The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” – my Dad had a huge tape collection that I still have in Cairo with me. It had Abba, jazz – I listened to all sorts. It was more about exposure – it wasn’t that I was actively listening.

The first tape that I bought was Ace of Base. My second was Janet by Janet Jackson, and I might have had a Michael Jackson, as well. That was before the Free Willy soundtrack came out, so there was a track on there, as well. The first CD I ever bought was Hootie and The Blowfish. That was around the time when everyone was into Nirvana, GooGoo Dolls – grunge, Metallica. I liked rock and hip hop and watched a lot of music videos on MTV, when they still played music videos.

Electronic music came much later. I started to like trip hop – Massive Attack, Portishead, Mandalay. I was into Radiohead, as well. I guess with Kid A they started to become more electronic, and with OK Computer. There is that one track, “Idioteque” – Thom Yorke’s solo albums started to sound more like those tracks.

I just like good music, and I tend to go for more things in minor keys or modal. I like dark music. I’m a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails. I used to listen to Marilyn Manson. I went through all the music phases. When I was working out in California in 2012, I went to a country music festival.

I listen to Depeche Mode and David Gahan’s solo material. It’s really good. I’m now revisiting Tangerine Dream and synthwave stuff. I’m a huge fan of Vangelis and John Carpenter. I love soundtracks. That’s why I’m applying to sound engineering school – I love both sound and visuals. I’m happy to do them both together or separately. That’s why I’m obsessed with music videos.

Badr’s phone vibrates throughout our chat. The world is calling. Certainly, there is recognition growing for her work: she was chosen to attend the Red Bull Music Academy in Paris as Egypt’s selection.

I got in, but I didn’t go. I might be the only person who didn’t go. Things got really hectic towards the end of last year and I took a break from the internet – regrouped – and had that not happened, I don’t think I would have made this album.

Part of the distraction came from Badr’s involvement in documentary film, a publishing channel she founded called Cairowire, and strings that wrapped around the world.

I’m trying to reel it all in and just focus on the audio and the visual – just make music and stick to sound and sight in different contexts.

So what about a FRKTL live show? Plans are in the works.

I want visuals. In terms of my set up, definitely much more than a laptop. My set up is quite low maintenance – I don’t have a modular synth. I have an Ableton controller and my guitar and violin. I have a pitch-shifting pedal and a microphone. I still don’t know – that’s what I have to work on next.

I leave Badr in the café, but it seems unlikely that she will sit still for long. Her plans include a move to Berlin to study sound engineering, and from there to jack into the media currents flowing through the city. Collaborations have been mooted, and the promise of live shows offers new possibilities, but first there is an apple bun to finish and a stack of texts to catch up on.

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TEC004: Bonfire of the Wannabes

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

TEC004 is coming up soon. On Saturday, 5 November 2016, the UK’s synthescenti will gather in Norwich to dance to artists hand-picked by The Electricity Club. We asked TEC’s Chi Ming Lai to give us a preview of the show and his views on the current UK scene.

What can visitors expect from TEC004?

DSC_4835Well, it’s an electronic music event curated by electronic music fans, for starters, and it’s perfect for people who love synthpop; i.e., pop music with synthesizers! The line-up is the most important thing, as opposed to the event itself.

It’ll be Marsheaux’s first UK gig since they played TEC002 in 2012, so that will be a nice welcome return. The live versions of tracks from their new album Ath.Lon sounded great in Düsseldorf at the Electri_City_Conference, a few weeks back; and, who knows, they might even sneak in a Depeche Mode cover.

There’s a great supporting bill from Kid Kasio and Rodney Cromwell, too; plus, for early arrivals, there’s a free Depeche Mode and Gary Numan memorabilia exhibition in the venue café at 3pm; so, if Dave Gahan’s jacket from The World We Live In and Live In Hamburg video and a Living Ornaments 80 gold disc are your thing, then this is for you.

Why did you choose Norwich as the site?

My TEC004 partner, Stephen Roper from The Touring Principle, lives there and knows the people who own Epic Studios, so it was a natural choice. It’s where Anglia Television used to be – they filmed Sale of the Century, presented by Nicholas Parsons, there. The facilities there are fantastic and the infrastructure suits a multi-band event, from the availability of things like dressing rooms for the acts and a café for pre-show activities to the staff handling the sound and the management of the evening. Okay, Norwich is not a natural place to hold a gig, but it’s a beautiful cathedral city which is perfect for a weekend break. People came out to see the Wolfgang Flür and Analog Angel gig which Stephen organised a few years ago, so let’s see how this one works out.

The show is on Bonfire Night. Which recent release would you throw onto the pyre and which would you light up the skies for?

I would throw a load of music that is just a bit too normal onto that pyre; however, Villa Nah’s Ultima is my favourite album of 2016, so far.

James Nice is DJing. Will there be an Anna Domino megamix?

Anything is possible! James has promised a Les Disques du Crépuscule set, so I’ll be happy if there’s some Paul Haig and Marnie lurking in there. Caroline Rose, who was born in Montpellier, is TEC004’s compere, so we also have someone who can pronounce “Les Disques du Crépuscule” properly, too.

Tell us about the CD curated by TEC. Will this be the first of a series?

The tracklisting was put together by myself and Undo Records to reflect the excellent music that has continued the synthpop tradition since The Electricity Club was founded in 2010. I’m so happy that veterans like Erasure and OMD are on it, while more recent acts like Sin Cos Tan, Night Club, Mesh, Tenek, Metroland, and all the acts performing at TEC004, are also on it. The running order of two CDs works really well, too. Think of it as a journey from the battlecry that is “Synthpop’s Alive” by Maison Vague to the artful eloquence of “Deep Red” by Vile Electrodes.

This has taken quite a few years to put together for a number of reasons. Since it was announced, quite a few tracks by artists that aren’t on this one have been offered, and there’s already enough for CD1 of a second compilation. Never say never, but don’t hold your breath, either!

In your view, what is going on with the UK synth scene at the moment?

As I said to Swedish blog synth.nu, I think the UK independent scene is alive but wounded. Unfortunately, those who shout loudest seem to be garnering a lot of undeserved attention. It’s suffering from “big fish in small bond” syndrome, but the crème does eventually rise to the top. There are plenty of talented people out there, conducting themselves in the correct manner – some go on about not wanting to “play the game,” but if not “playing the game” means slating the very media you want to be featured by, then that’s going to get you nowhere fast.

The people who are not actually into electronic music for the right reasons are the ones really ruining it, in my opinion, be they artists, promoters or journalists. With the latter, the electronic music press needs to snap out of this over-intellectualisation of Kraftwerk to validate the more backward forms of dance music and focus on the good electronic acts who are actually producing new quality material, as opposed to exploiting their legacy forever and a day.

tec004-flyer-may-2016

 

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Here Comes the Rein!

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

artworks-000130785275-83l73y-t500x500Fierce! There’s no other word to describe the music of Rein, who jumped from our speakers with her first release, “There Is No Authority But Yourself.” With its independent attitude and blistering beats, we were immediately converted and it became our Track of the Day. In the weeks that have followed, Rein has revealed additional material and appeared in a video for The Operating Tracks. We tracked her down ahead of Sweden’s Bodyfest event to find out a little more about this uncompromising new artist.

You’ll be performing soon at Bodyfest in Stockholm with The Operating Tracks. How did your collaboration with them come about?

A friend of mine knew The Operating Tracks’ manager. My friend mailed him a short presentation about me and my songs. This was just some days after I uploaded my demos on Soundcloud. Then we had a chat, and he had an idea for me to guest in one of their songs. They sent me “Testify” and I was recording my part at home in Reason. I actually first met Carl and Carolina when we recorded the music video. I really liked them immediately.

Your solo material is very old-school EBM. What bands inspire your sound?

Thanks! I do, of course, get very inspired by Nitzer Ebb, but not only them. I get inspired by crust punk, too, for example. I like short songs with short lyrics. But I am also very inspired by other music genres, like electro, where there is a lot of dynamic in the synths with effects and stuff. I like to take cool parts from genres that I like and make something cool with it all together.

You previously played drums in a band [The Blister Exists], but your voice is great and belongs in the lead position. Do you have a singing background?

I have been singing since I was four years old. I was raised in a family where everything was about music, because my whole family work with music, lyrics and performance. So, it has always been natural to me to sing, perform and create music. But I was self taught – I never made it to a music school. I was always singing to the radio in the car with my father and did some school shows. I really love to sing and always have.

We saw a picture of you using Reason. Do you do all of your own recording and production?

Yes, I do! I have created songs in Reason since I was thirteen years old, and there’s nothing strange about that! I get this question a lot because I am a woman, I guess. I guess a lot of men aren’t getting this question as much.

What is in your heart that still needs to come out through your music?

I want to make music for people who don’t have a voice and sing about injustices in society with some kick-ass beats.

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Swede Dreams Are Made of Synths: Hiltipop

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

12059148_10200849239228579_1621202358_oS.E.M. (Sven Erik Magnus) Hilti Johansson’s appearance at Electronic Summer 2015, Sweden’s premier festival of electronic music, provided many with an introduction to his project, Hiltipop. A one-man show, Hiltipop turned heads with warm poptronica infused with classic styles: from the Kraftwerk-influenced sequences of “The Pattern” to the dreamtronica of “In Loneliness,” Johansson’s solo turn was impressive.

Johansson has been on the Swedish synth scene for many years, as a member of numerous bands, including the well-regarded Alison (together with Karin Bolin Derne) and the legendary TopGun. His last album was in the guise of Anton Weber, a duo with Martin Sohlberg, which closed the circle on work they started back in the 1980s. The Love (Electric Fantastic Sound), Anton Weber’s sole CD release, included tracks that were three decades old and some that were bang up-to-date but maintained the 80s vibe. From the opening lines of “The Everyday Life that Hurts the Most,” which comes across in places like Throbbing Gristle’s “United” reinterpreted by A-Ha, the album is a set of knowingly subversive and subverted pop songs.

Hiltipop, by contrast, offers material that feels more direct and steps further outside of traditional pop structures with the dancefloor in mind. We took a break from listening to “The Firewall” on Soundcloud to ask Johansson to bring us up to date on his projects.

 

How did your journey in electronic music start?

I was thirteen. In late 1979, there was a record sale, back in my old hometown of Skara, and I bought The Beatles’ Blue Album 1967-70, Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Kraftwerk’s Trans Europa Express, Belgian edition. I was taken by the beauty of “Europe Endless”; but, other than that, I didn’t really get it. I thought it was weird. I just fell in love with The Wall. So, electronically, Kraftwerk didn’t do it to me until 1981; and, by then, I had already discovered Ultravox through the Vienna album. That was the turning point for me. It’s still one my all-time favourite albums. It opened up all the doors to the British independent and electronic scene in the beginning of the 1980s: The Human League, The Normal, Visage, Simple Minds, Fad Gadget, New Order, OMD and so on. I think I bought every record that Mute and Factory and all the independent labels released in the early 80s, no matter what. As long as there was a synthesizer used, it was good enough for me. Then, in 1983, I finally bought a Korg MS20 and the rest in history – for me, that is.

 

You have been linked to several electronic bands – Anton Weber, Uziel 33, TopGun and Alison. What was the impetus for the creation of each?

Let’s not forget 101 – my Depeche Mode tribute band. It was a superb collaboration with Alexander Hofman [S.P.O.C.K] and Johan Billing [S.P.O.C.K, Diskodiktator]. We’ve been around since the official release of Playing the Angel, and although we haven’t played since March 2013, we’re still active, if our services are ever needed. The idea was to make Depeche Mode sound like Vince was still a member of the band. We did okay in the beginning, but also ended up with a whole lot of Speak and Spell-covers, haha! But there is no better way to learn about electronic music than to try to cover early Vince Clarke stuff.

10005_4pages_Digipak_korrAnton Weber was my first electronic band. We celebrated thirty years this May by releasing a new album titled The Love. In the beginning, it was just a way to attract girls and skip school, and we succeeded well in doing both. I borrowed a Yamaha DX7, a Roland Juno-106, my brother’s Boss DR55 and a Tascam Porta Studio from one of the the music teachers from school and started doing basic 4-channel instrumental recordings, and since then I’ve been hooked. The first tape-release which was made in a professional Swedish ”dansbandsstudio” in 1985 has a bit of cult following, but I really think it sucks! We had a Casio CZ-5000 and a Roland Jupiter-6, and used the latter for ONE arpeggio-sound. Although some of the songs are pretty good as basic compositions, the production is like a daft, characterless, ultrasoft synthpopsicle dipped in a pool of Vaseline.

Uziel 33 started out with my ex-wife back in 1998 and marks the birth of two of my favorite songs I’ve ever written, “Darling Demon Humanoid” and “Stupid”, and some decent ones, “Zero” and “Underground.” But, after that, I slowly ran of good musical ideas – for the time being.

TopGun came out as an electroclash-project late 2001 with the song “Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik.” Me and my former sister-in-law got totally drunk, had a blast of a good time just pretending to be FischerSpooner for one evening, and that initial behavior kind of set the tone for anything that ever happened with TopGun – way too much party, way too little rehearsing. It was always drama, drama, drama, so no thanks – never again. I don’t think I ever could remember one song, singing it live, until I did the three revival gigs back in 2013. But we did some nice show supporting Trans X in Malmö in April 2005, Nitzer Ebb back in June 2009 in Gothenburg and finishing off with our finest moment – or mine, since I was the only member left – as supporting act to S.P.O.C.K in May 2013 in Malmö.

Looking back on TopGun is bittersweet. It was such a waste of time and talent with band members who were only in it for the party and never did anything creative or helpful. The SAMA show [Tobbe Lander’s Swedish Alternative Music Awards] in 2005 really sums it all up: after the show, the others went partying and celebrating somewhere backstage; they just disappeared, as I had to clear the stage from synths, computers and cables; and that was the last I saw of them that evening. But I’m not bitter. I’m still doing what I think is the most fun thing in the world and they’re not.

Alison was originally Karin Bolin Derne’s idea. She got a gig supporting Sista Mannen på Jorden, back in 2005, making up a story that she had a Yazoo cover-band. So, she called me and six weeks later we were a complete success! It was so much fun! It still is, even though we mix things up with our own songs – they really fit well together, as anyone who gives Duality a listen probably recognizes. But now, I don’t know where we’re heading. The second album has been over a year in the making but we’re getting nowhere at the moment. Some of the songs on Anton Weber’s The Love were originally intended for Alison, as was one of the new Hiltipop songs. In the end, they didn’t fit the Alison formula, and I’m more then alright with that: I think Hiltipop is by far my best work yet. It will be getting even better.

With Hiltipop, I am finally satisfied with what I’m doing. I can stand up for every word, every sound, every beat – everything. It’s me, personified in electronic music. It all started out just as an idea to make a song that me and my youngest son Alfred could dance sideways to, like “Jungle Love” with Morris Day and the Time in Purple Rain. Simple as that!

 

You got a great reaction from the crowd at Electronic Summer 2015, but you rarely perform live. Is it something that you enjoy? Can we expect more?

If it was up to me, I would perform live every other weekend, wherever and whenever someone would book me. But that’s not the case, obviously.

I will never do another TopGun gig, that’s for sure. I’ve just cancelled the next Anton Weber gig, mainly because I want to focus on Hiltipop. 101 is still active, but we eagerly await the release of the next DM-album. As for Alison, I can’t even speculate how long it will take us to return. So, for the time being – and for quite some time I presume – it’s all Hiltipop, at least until I finished recording the album, which I hopefully will do during this Fall. Maybe then there’s someone, somewhere eager to book me and an audience wanting to see me play live – or, more correctly, sing live – again. I just love it, even though it’s nerve-wracking. And I say sing emphatically, because I won’t bring a synthesizer onstage until I can afford a row of Marshall-stacks to plug them into, just like Atari Teenage Riot. It’s the most amazing thing – delicate electronics and big guitar amps! Not that ATR is delicate in any way.

 

Which is your go-to synthesizer and why?

12048758_10200849237468535_1560659479_nThe Korg MS50, mainly for connection issues. It talks to and with everything I need to get my recording system working. I sync Reason and all the analogue gear via CV/gate and trigger, triggering everything from the SQ10s and the arpeggiator on the Juno-60 – or the other way around, from the Roland TR8 via the Volcabeats, thru the MS50 to the SQ10s and into Reason. I can even sync the whole set-up from my iPhone if I want to. I think it took me about six months to make it happen, but it works.

Soundwise, it totally depends on what I want to do in that given moment: for a hard-hitting sequence, the SQ10-MS20 combo; for dark pad-sounds, the Roland Juno-60 through the EHX Memory Man Delay; for PWM-synthbasses, the MS10; for the fattest analogue sounds ever, the Roland SH09; for auto-triggered early Front 242-bass sounds (which happens quite a lot, I can assure you) the Moog Rogue; for drum sounds and loops, I’ve sampled a lot of Nord Modular and ARP Axxe-sounds. For instant inspiration, I mainly use the iPad and the iSEM-app, the PPG Wavemapper and the iPolysix.

I’ve bought a lot of ”new” synthesizers during the last three-four years: the Dave Smith Mopho keyboard, the Arturia MicroBrute and MiniBrute, the Arturia Minilabs, the Korg Volca series, the Teenage Engineering OP-synths, the Minikorgs, the Monotribe, and so on. At the end of the day, all that they do is collect dust.

 

There is a trend for synthesizer manufacturers to package new keyboards as if they are new versions of vintage keyboards. Have you tried any out? Do you have any opinions about them?

Due to my Korg addiction, I’ve tried all the new stuff they’ve released – the new MS-20, the ARP Odyssey and the iPad-versions of their old stuff – and I have to say i like the iPolysix the most. So, I’m just hoping for a hardware version of that one! In my ears, the new MS-20 sure initially ”sounds” like the old ones, but there’s something missing. There’s something gritty, something electronically alive inside the old ones, that’s just not there in the new, and that makes all the difference. I will probably end up buying one anyhow, just because they are quite good value for money nowadays. The ARP, I don’t understand – why attach a mini-keyboard to such a musical instrument? I can’t see Billy Currie switch back to an Odyssey as long as it has minikeys. Which is sad, because his Novation just doesn’t sound like his old ARP – stating the obvious.

I’m really looking forward to Roland’s forthcoming “boutique” range of synths, outlining three contemporary versions of the company’s classic Jupiter 8, Juno 106 and JX-3P models. Although I would have preferred a modern approach on the JP-4, I’ll probably go for the JP8 and the JX-3P.

 

Which are the Swedish electronic artists we should be keeping an eye on, in your opinion?

Swedish electronic artists? Apart from myself, It’s a short list. I adore Karin Park – she’s just absolutely amazing in every way! I really like Renate and i think Iamamiwhoami have some good tunes. The Exorcist is quite fun live. And I love Tove Lo – she’s so gorgeous (but lets keep that a secret for now)!

I mainly listen to definitely non-Swedish indiepop/rock like Big Deal, The Raveonettes, Metric, Chvrches, and so on. When I’m feeling nostalgic, which happens more or less every day, I always go back to the early Simple Minds from 1979-84, the early Human League from 1978-84 – okay, Hysteria is not a good album, but Betrayed is a fabulous song! – and Ultravox from 1980-84 (and Brilliant, which was a Brilliant comeback in my opinion…). And Fad Gadget. I hardly listen to Kraftwerk anymore. I don’t think I need to. They’re always with me somehow.

When it comes to modern electronic acts, it’s mostly dance music: Gesaffelstein, Helena Hauff, The Haxan Cloak, Gus Gus, Anthony Rother, and so on. And Phèdre – probably the coolest and weirdest band ever.

 

Who wrote the better songs for Yazoo – Alison or Vince?

Vince, as he did with Depeche Mode – most of the songs from Speak and Spell still sound more modern than modern electronic music anno 2015. The man is a frigging genius. I covered most of my favorite Yazoo songs, but “Don’t Go,” “Too Pieces” and “In My Room” stand out as the best in my opinion, and I still have a soft spot for “Happy People.” But then, again, I rank “Good Times” as one of the best songs ever and one of the best vocal performances ever to be recorded. Alison delivers so much raw emotion in that song that I get goosebumps all over, even down my legs.

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Electronic Summer: Sturm Café

by Jennifer Last
written by Jennifer Last

EBM stalwarts, Sturm Café, have kept the flame burning for the classic body style, but their sound has evolved since So Seelisch, So Schön. Their new album, Europa!, incorporates pop stylings that update and refresh the template. We stopped the beatbox long enough to get them to give us a hint about their show.

What can the audience expect from your concert at Electronic Summer 2015?

Two happy guys, a lot of movie samplings, synth carpets and with a glance at the past.

What do you expect from the audience?

We expect a pretty mixed crowd. Probably a lot of known faces from way back, but also some new, curious music souls.

Is there any band in this years line-up that you look forward to seeing live?

Not really, since we’re not familiar with any of the bands who plays on the Saturday. Maybe it’ll be a positive surprise.

From where do you get your strongest influences?

We used to listen a lot to bands like DAF, Liaisons Dangereuses, Keine Ahnung and Nitzer Ebb in our teens when we formed Sturm Café in 2001. Today, we mostly find our inspiration in Austrian youth movies from the 80s, analogical music productions, echoes from snare drums, FM synthesis, John Steiner and European history.

What are your previous experiences in playing live?

We only have positive experiences in playing live in Gothenburg. This will be our seventh show in the city, but the first one since 2009 so it’ll be great to see some old acquaintances and friends.

Is there anything you’re particularly nervous of?

Since we’re the first band who hit the stage, there’s always a fright that people hasn’t gotten in the right mode just yet. On the other hand, it’s quite nice to get the show over with so that we can mingle the rest of the evening.

When should people optimally see you on stage?

They should see us when we play an intimate club in Germany, which often delivers a good ambience. German people are generally dedicated and serious, which we highly appreciate.

When is it most suitable to listen your music?

Maybe in couch with a cognac hive after a hard work week. Or in the car when you’re crossing the Oresund bridge heading towards new adventures. Or at a disco, for that matter.

If Sturm Café were on a dating site, what would the profile say?

Precocious, from Gästrikland, chilly edges but with a warm core, with a sense for the rational. Not for everyone.

If you would do a cover, right here, right now, which song would you choose and why?

Most likely a song by Heino. Partly because it’s good, and partly because the German audience would like it.

Follow Sturm Cafe on Facebook.

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Electronic Summer: Karin Park

by Jennifer Last
written by Jennifer Last

Karin Park has won over audiences from the back-woods of Dalarna to London’s hipster districts with raw, emotional songs and dancefloor-friendly electronics. She co-wrote Norway’s popular Eurovision entry in 2013 and lures the lenses when working as a model, but it’s for her confident, compelling stage shows with brother David that she’s best known. We tracked down Karin on tour for a virtual fika.

What do you expect from the audience at Electronic Summer 2015?

I know that the audience at Electronic Summer is really interested in music and loyal towards the bands that they appreciate. So, I look forward to meeting those fans I already have but also to performing for those who have never heard my music.

What can the audience expect from you?

We love to play live and we have fun, so I believe the audience also is going to have it. People are often surprised by our show. One must really come and see for oneself…

You play live a lot abroad. Do these shows differ from when you play on Swedish soil?

All countries differ slightly depending on the culture. But it is also true that it is slightly the same type of people who come to my concerts, so sometimes one becomes amazed at how alike people are, wherever one is coming from. Music brings together people who think alike, in some way.

Who are you looking forward to seeing on stage at this year’s ES?

When one plays at a festival, it is very difficult to pinpoint what one has the desire to see. But I intend to check out as much as is humanly possible. I hope that I have the time to see Me the Tiger. I have seen them before and it was great.

Where do your strongest influences come from?

It changes from record to record, because I listen to so many different ones. Everything from Whitney Houston to Miles Davis to Scott Walker. But The Cure, Depeche Mode and Fad Gadget have probably had a big impact on my sound these last years. And so has Kelis.

If you would make a cover here and now, which doesn’t need to be a synth track, which song by which band would you choose and why?

I listened to ”Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits the other day, and I thought that I should do a cover of this. It is such an awesome song with a very strange text, and I think that I could make a cool version of it.

Which band would you like to see make a cover of one your songs and which song would suit them best?

Wow! What a question. I have never thought about it. I have actually received many cover versions of my songs but never any which I liked especially much. If Tom Waits had done a cover of my song, “Bending Albert’s Law,” then I would have been in Heaven.

Is there anything that you are especially nervous about?

No, I don’t think so.

When is it best to see you on stage?

22:30 is the best. Then I am in my element.

When is it best to listen to your music?

Definitely in the car. I make car music, I think.

How does the future look?

Fortunately, I have no idea. One can of course die tomorrow. But I will build a good studio in the autumn, I have been thinking, so it will be good to nest there a while before we tour again. It will be in part of the USA, too, it seems. It will be exciting.

Do you have new material or tours coming?

I have not done anything but write songs and tour these last ten years, so in the summer shall I actually go to the USA as a keyboardist in the noise-rock band Årabrot for a month. It will be something totally different and it will be like my holiday. My first in nine years. But then I am coming to Electronic Summer and other festivals. Keep track of where I am playing on my Facebook page!

Karin Park’s official Facebook page.

 

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Electronic Summer: Project Pitchfork

by Jennifer Last
written by Jennifer Last

With sixteen studio albums to their credit, Project Pitchfork are seasoned veterans of the dark electro scene. The German band first hit the scene in 1990, marking their territory with innovative, hard electronics, and last year’s Blood album found them refining the stuff nightmares are made of. We asked Peter Spilles to come into the light ahead of their show.

What do you expect from the audience at Electronic Summer 2015?

I expect them to have a great time and to have a wonderful party with us.

What can the audience expect from you?

We will play a lot of Project Pitchfork songs. We’re going to start a journey through our musical universe of more than 20 years creating electro-industrial music.

Who are you looking forward to seeing on stage at this year’s ES?

They are all really worth seeing live.

Have you ever visited Sweden before?

We have played in Sweden more than once, and I have visited your beautiful country before.

If you would do a cover, like right here, right now, which song would you choose – and why?

I wouldn’t do any cover song right now; but, if you’d force me to, I’d choose “Born to Lie” by Mesh.

If you were to do a collaboration on your next album, which would be your dream artist to collaborate with?

I fulfilled my dream collaborations with my project, IMATEM. Just wait for the next IMATEM album!

From where do you get your strongest influences?

Everyday life, politics and all the other shit that’s going on.

Is there anything you’re particularly nervous of?

Gigs.

When should people optimally see you on stage?

Everytime.

When is it most suitable to listen your music?

Anytime.

If Project Pitchfork were on a dating site, what would the profile say?

Twenty-four years young; will show you universes you never dared to dream of.

Project Pitchfork’s official Web site: project-pitchfork.eu

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Electronic Summer: Solar Fake

by Jennifer Last
written by Jennifer Last
Berlin-based act, Solar Fake, have three albums behind them, crossing genres while maintaining an electronic style and
dark, romantic feel. The project of Sven Friedrich (Zeraphine, Dreadful Shadows), Solar Fake has supported VNV Nation
and Covenant at European shows. We asked Friedrich to let us in on his thoughts about coming to Electronic Summer for
the first time.

What do you expect from the audience at Electronic Summer 2015?

I really don’t know. We never played in Sweden, so I can’t expect anything. In the past, we have always been positively surprised when we played in country for the first time, so I really hope it will be great.

What can the audience expect from you?

We play a mix of all three albums. We’re just two guys on stage loving music. It’s always a very special party atmosphere when we play. We’ll try to transfer it to the audience as well as we can.

Are there any bands in this year’s line-up that you look forward to seeing live?

I will definitely try to see as many bands as I can. I’m always interested in discovering new acts, so I’m especially interested in the bands I don’t know. Of course, I’m looking forward to seeing Project Pitchfork and VNV Nation – both of them are always a great experience when playing live. If my flight arrives early enough, I hope to see Psyche, as well.

Have either of you ever visited Sweden before?

Not yet, unfortunately. My parents have friends near Norrtälje, and they used to visit them quite often, but I never had the time to go there. So, I’m really looking forward to go to Sweden for the first time in my life.

If you would do a cover, like right here, right now, which song would you choose – and why?

Oh, it’s still a secret – I just worked on a cover version ten minutes ago. It’s for our next album, but I can’t tell yet which one it will be. I’m sorry but it would ruin the surprise. But it’s a great song in its original version…

If you were to do a collaboration on your next album, which would be your dream artist to collaborate with?

I’m collaborating with a few artists who are doing remixes for us. I only contacted musicians whose music I really love, but of course I still don’t know if they all can participate. I will do remixes for them in return. I’m quite sure Project Pitchfork, Aesthetic Perfection, Desireless and Operation of the Sun, Rotersand, Lord of the Lost, Saprozoon and proxy_view will do remixes. I’ve asked some others, and I hope they find some time to do it as well.

Solar Fake’s official Web site: solarfake.de

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