Traum V163 - Roel Hoogendoorn - Soundcastle
Video for the title track "Crimson" from his new release.
Mittwoch, 8. Mai 2013
Roel Hoogendoorn interview
We're very happy to have a full release with Roel - beautiful modern melodic techno on his "Soundcastle" (Traum V163) EP. We sent him a few questions to find out about a little bit more...
You did a remix for Minilogue on Traum a long time ago. What kind of feeling was it to release a remix for MInilogue at such an early stage. How young were you at that time?
The first time working with Traum for a remix of Minilogue's "The Leopard", I was only 18 years old and very much into the upcoming Border Community scene started by James Holden.
Traum was also a big part of this evolvement, being the label of many pioneering artists back then, and of course still going strong.
I remember having lots of trouble getting the sound of the remix right. Back then my main focus was really on refreshing concept and melody and less into sound design.
These days sound design has taken a big step into techno, with programs and vst's becoming stronger by the second. A track lacking wide and well balanced sound doesn't often come through anymore.
Meanwhile how do you create your sound, do you still work with Reason, if not, what are you using?
I was using Reason 3.0 for my productions back in the day, but has been abandoned in my studio for a couple years now.
I've tried a couple of programs until landing onto Ableton Live now. The workflow is more intuitive and the sound engine is much better and stable to begin with.
Although I love the 'instrument rack'layout of Reason, I ran into all sorts of sound problems I now rarely have anymore.
And of course not having any vst support is really old fashioned.
How would you describe your own sound, the nature of your music? You are a modern artist belonging to a new generation that do not cling to standards... so we experience a track of yours on TOUR de TRAUM changing tempo etc etc.
In my productions I'm always looking for some deeper emotional layer that is there to be found in techno music.
Of course I like the more energetic banging tracks as well, but I love it when it all goes a bit deeper and really grabs you and takes you into another dimension.
Also having surprising elements like rhythms changing, or throwing the listener/dancer off with different arrangements is part of what I love about music.
How do you see creativity and freedom of ideas entering the music of today... the clubs of today?
Luckily, living near Amsterdam, I'm very blessed with a lot of clubs like Trouw and Studio 80 that have loads of cool and different concept parties. But you have to know what you pick, you could easily end up with some boring dj playing the same beat all night.
How was your dj set and TRAUM night at The Grand Theatre in Groningen? What were the reactions?
Playing in Groningen before Mononoid, Ryan Davis and Max Cooper was really amazing. The setting was beautiful and it turned out to be a great night.
I opened up with some slow building tracks, to get the groove going and set up Mononoid to take their moment. I like to play in the flow of the night, in terms of energy.
After Max Cooper finished the party in spectacular fashion, I started on the after party in Subsonic. Really cool place with a real basement feel, and the audience was totally ready for some more dancing.
There I played far more energetic and got really good responses on my own tracks that I played, then Mononoid took over and the night ended up at 9.30 am.
Really loved the whole experience of that party. Traum should do more editions in Grand Theatre, spectacular location.
You made a video for your Traum release. This is new to you as you said. What are the ideas behind it … with what difficulties are you confronted if you do a video... and what do you suggest to people who do videos as beginners - what is important and different to music making?
We are just now finishing up making the video for 'Crimson'. We got this idea of a storyline where someone finds happiness, but then abuses it and gets punished for doing so.
The biggest issue we had making the video is making up for the fact that we have no budget. So a lot of the materials and scenes are improvised. Recording it was a lot of fun though, and hopefully that shows in the video. I'm happy with the result - it's the first video I've ever done myself so I didn't know what to expect.
It's a lot harder than I expected and takes a lot of time and work, but in the end you learn alot as well. I could name probably a hundred improvements that could be made already.
But at some point you just have to decide it's finished and move on to the next project with the lessons learnt.
What background do you have. University? Musical training? What gave you the idea to write music apart from the Holden influence we hear about?
I've studied music production for 2 years at the HKU in Hilversum. I quit the study after I got pfeiffer for a year, and after that started working for my money at some point and haven't got out of that (yet).
Next to that, I've always done music, in all types of directions. But now I finally returned to the electronic scene, and my plan is to stay there for a while now.
I've been making music since I was 14 years old. I started out with an uncle of mine, using a Sony program called Acid Pro. It intrigued me so much, I never let it go.
I picked up Reason not long after that, and there I was spending practically all my free time producing music.
I've always done a very broad range of music, making songs and ambient works, and of course techno. But now I want to concentrate on just one genre for a while.
Roels latest release, "Soundcastle", is out now on Traum. Click for more info. -->
You did a remix for Minilogue on Traum a long time ago. What kind of feeling was it to release a remix for MInilogue at such an early stage. How young were you at that time?
The first time working with Traum for a remix of Minilogue's "The Leopard", I was only 18 years old and very much into the upcoming Border Community scene started by James Holden.
Traum was also a big part of this evolvement, being the label of many pioneering artists back then, and of course still going strong.
I remember having lots of trouble getting the sound of the remix right. Back then my main focus was really on refreshing concept and melody and less into sound design.
These days sound design has taken a big step into techno, with programs and vst's becoming stronger by the second. A track lacking wide and well balanced sound doesn't often come through anymore.
Meanwhile how do you create your sound, do you still work with Reason, if not, what are you using?
I was using Reason 3.0 for my productions back in the day, but has been abandoned in my studio for a couple years now.
I've tried a couple of programs until landing onto Ableton Live now. The workflow is more intuitive and the sound engine is much better and stable to begin with.
Although I love the 'instrument rack'layout of Reason, I ran into all sorts of sound problems I now rarely have anymore.
And of course not having any vst support is really old fashioned.
How would you describe your own sound, the nature of your music? You are a modern artist belonging to a new generation that do not cling to standards... so we experience a track of yours on TOUR de TRAUM changing tempo etc etc.
In my productions I'm always looking for some deeper emotional layer that is there to be found in techno music.
Of course I like the more energetic banging tracks as well, but I love it when it all goes a bit deeper and really grabs you and takes you into another dimension.
Also having surprising elements like rhythms changing, or throwing the listener/dancer off with different arrangements is part of what I love about music.
How do you see creativity and freedom of ideas entering the music of today... the clubs of today?
Luckily, living near Amsterdam, I'm very blessed with a lot of clubs like Trouw and Studio 80 that have loads of cool and different concept parties. But you have to know what you pick, you could easily end up with some boring dj playing the same beat all night. How was your dj set and TRAUM night at The Grand Theatre in Groningen? What were the reactions?
Playing in Groningen before Mononoid, Ryan Davis and Max Cooper was really amazing. The setting was beautiful and it turned out to be a great night.
I opened up with some slow building tracks, to get the groove going and set up Mononoid to take their moment. I like to play in the flow of the night, in terms of energy.
After Max Cooper finished the party in spectacular fashion, I started on the after party in Subsonic. Really cool place with a real basement feel, and the audience was totally ready for some more dancing.
There I played far more energetic and got really good responses on my own tracks that I played, then Mononoid took over and the night ended up at 9.30 am.
Really loved the whole experience of that party. Traum should do more editions in Grand Theatre, spectacular location.
You made a video for your Traum release. This is new to you as you said. What are the ideas behind it … with what difficulties are you confronted if you do a video... and what do you suggest to people who do videos as beginners - what is important and different to music making?
We are just now finishing up making the video for 'Crimson'. We got this idea of a storyline where someone finds happiness, but then abuses it and gets punished for doing so.
The biggest issue we had making the video is making up for the fact that we have no budget. So a lot of the materials and scenes are improvised. Recording it was a lot of fun though, and hopefully that shows in the video. I'm happy with the result - it's the first video I've ever done myself so I didn't know what to expect.
It's a lot harder than I expected and takes a lot of time and work, but in the end you learn alot as well. I could name probably a hundred improvements that could be made already.
But at some point you just have to decide it's finished and move on to the next project with the lessons learnt.
What background do you have. University? Musical training? What gave you the idea to write music apart from the Holden influence we hear about?
I've studied music production for 2 years at the HKU in Hilversum. I quit the study after I got pfeiffer for a year, and after that started working for my money at some point and haven't got out of that (yet).
Next to that, I've always done music, in all types of directions. But now I finally returned to the electronic scene, and my plan is to stay there for a while now.
I've been making music since I was 14 years old. I started out with an uncle of mine, using a Sony program called Acid Pro. It intrigued me so much, I never let it go.
I picked up Reason not long after that, and there I was spending practically all my free time producing music.
I've always done a very broad range of music, making songs and ambient works, and of course techno. But now I want to concentrate on just one genre for a while.
Roels latest release, "Soundcastle", is out now on Traum. Click for more info. -->
Donnerstag, 4. April 2013
Peet interview
Peet interview
Peet is the newest signing to Traum; his EP, "Half A Dozen Twins" (Traum V161) came out in March. He has a unique gift of blending emotion-fuelled electronica with a techno sensibility, a perfect fit to the "Traum Sound". We asked him a few questions, to find out what makes him tick.
How is the hungarian scene in terms of intelligent electronic music, if we use the term here to describe what you are doing? What are the clubs for the best music? Where are they? Where do you play?
Now in Hungary there are many nice parties for intelligent electronic music, but here the promoters prefer the beach-house/nu-disco/more overground tech-house artists and dj's. Real techno dj's are appearing in big venues and festivals. The more underground melodic techno and tech-house are totally out of the normal or smaller clubs here these days. That means I'm not a stable attendant of parties in Hungary at the moment.
I've appeared in the best clubs and almost every club in Budapest but after a realignment of power in the party scene the promotion agency that gave me occupation is out of the game and I have to build up things again from the beginning.
The best clubs are in Budapest I think. These are smaller clubs for maybe about 1000-1500 people and they have really rubbish sound system imo. The only club that is capable of a high standard party is the Studio but the owners of the club are using this venue for commercial hit music parties. There are some good clubs abroad like the club Corona in Kecel and Sing Sing in Szeged.
Is there a scene for abstract electronic music in Hungry only--a separate scene? How does this scene communicate with the techno scene? Separate scenes?
Yes, there's a small scene for this kind of music. There are very few parties or none for these people. I think the lovers of this music are also from the techno scene.
How would you describe yourself as an artist in your own words… what is important for you when you make music?
My importance is always the melody of a track. When I started to write something I've always started it with the melodies and the bassline. These are the base of the track for me. The other things like beats, drums and percs are acting upon this base. Effecting a track is a very long term process so I usually make this stuff at the very end of making a song. In some cases I don't even effect the track and leave it clean, letting only the melodies work.
As an artist, genres do not count for me. I just have to make good and unique tracks in my own style that are not overground. The goal is for this mixture to meet the people's taste.
What were your other aliases in the past, and why did you change to PEET? Peet obviously is the abbreviation for Peter ... is there more meaning to it?
My other alias (The Guitarist) is just a nickname stuck on me in a party somewhere, in a rock room, when I was playing the guitar. I've decided to leave this extension off my real dj name "Peet" because I thought it was a bit long and flippant. There isn't any more meaning of "Peet", that's what my friends call me for a long while now.
What do you see in electronic melodic music as interesting as a genre, in how far do you prefer or dedicate yourself to it rather then to harder techno or deep house?
I think my sounds are more closer to deep house than harder techno, however, I like the pumping and monotone beats to a track. I've produced some really deep stuff in the past and I will in the future. But as I said, genre is not an option for me. Always the melodies feelings leads the other components of my tracks.
What was your biggest hit in the past, Peet? How did the UK scene connect with you? Is it the typical UK relation in countries as it is in Spain, Italy?
My biggest hit is now with my EP on Traum. :) But in the past I've released music with John Digweed's label Black (closed sister-label of Bedrock). In 2000, that was a big thing. I think our (Eclectica - with Peter Kersak) early sounds from the grey and cold post-communist Budapest were matching the taste of the label's AR or John's, I don't know. We've planned it in our minds that this track will makes us great.. and for a while it worked. The track was also released here on a Hungarian label called Planetarium. The hard work of these guys have let it happen that our tracks have reached such a huge label like Black. I think there isn't a big relation between the UK and Hungary, however they say London is the fifth greatest Hungarian city because of the many Hungarian imigrants. :)
In what mode did you record the EP for TRAUM? We see there is a dedication to your father etc. Can you go into detail?
I'm using Ableton and vst instruments for recording my tracks. I'm planning to buy some real gear for myself for a better sound. When I was in the making of "Father & Son" and when I was playing up the free session melodies after the breakdown with my Icon Neuron3, and listened to the two main melodic hooks together, I've realised that it reminds me my beloved father. He loved jazz, solid rock, and also electronic stuff; full of emotions, always wih a bit of a bitter-sweet sad edge, and these free session plays with instruments. I've loved him much, there's no day without him in my mind, and i wanted to dedicate something undying to him.
The painter who made the art for your cover: can you tell us about the relation to her?
It's very simple. She's living in the house where I have a small mart and she is one of our returning costumers. After lots of conversations we found the "artist" in each other and when iIve asked her about using her picture that she gave me as a present back in the day as a cover of my new release she happily said yes.
What drives you when you make music? Who did the music, making change for you from the beginning to now? New idea? New equipment?
I always wants to write my feelings, my emotions, out of myself to a track. I always loved electronica; I mean real electronic sound stuff, not just that abstract sound with using real instruments. My new idea is to countinue combining these sounds with massive beats and techno/tech drums and percs. I want to go more into this. My goal is to make playable electronica where the top of the track is full with emotions and electronic elements, synths, pads and stuff, and the bottom is still groovy bouncy and rolling like the good techno tracks out there. I have to grab lots of new equipment for myself. Now I have only my keyboard and my pc device. I like to use Mac instead of pc, want to buy new studio controllers, a really good soundcard, and step by step some real synths for making the sound of my tracks more phat.
Who are producers you like, who release music at the moment?
Ryan Davis was always one of my favourites, as is Max Cooper too, however his sounds are sometimes a bit too hard for me. I'm always spellbounded by the sounds of Apparat. Applescal's too.
Also instructive is to listen to the productions of Guy J and Microtrauma. The professionality in their tracks. The ability to drive the crowd where and how they want to with every single sound or effect. And of course the sounding of their stuff is amazing. I'm loving Makson's productions much at the moment.
Who is another big talent in Hungary, maybe you support?
Not so many really good producers here imo, everyone's into this silly loopy flashback house that a producer can make in three hours. But the guy who deserves attention is Reelow. He is more on the house side of the things, but I think he's feeling it right.
Three personal questions:
Favorite movie of all time - favorite movie now
Favorite book of all time - favorite book now
Favorite designer/painter/fashion/
I have to say that my favourite film of all time is the original Star Wars trilogy. And in the last couple of years, Black Swan was the one that instructed me much. I think it's a masterpiece. My favourite book is Lunar Park from Bret Easton Ellis. And now i don't have time to read any... In fashion, I love Prada's shoes and clothes. Loving the technocratic new style of design of the German car makers Audi and Mercedes-Benz. My favourite painters are Picasso and Munkácsi.
Peet's latest release, "Half A Dozen Twins", is out now on Traum. Click for more info. -->
Peet is the newest signing to Traum; his EP, "Half A Dozen Twins" (Traum V161) came out in March. He has a unique gift of blending emotion-fuelled electronica with a techno sensibility, a perfect fit to the "Traum Sound". We asked him a few questions, to find out what makes him tick.
How is the hungarian scene in terms of intelligent electronic music, if we use the term here to describe what you are doing? What are the clubs for the best music? Where are they? Where do you play?
Now in Hungary there are many nice parties for intelligent electronic music, but here the promoters prefer the beach-house/nu-disco/more overground tech-house artists and dj's. Real techno dj's are appearing in big venues and festivals. The more underground melodic techno and tech-house are totally out of the normal or smaller clubs here these days. That means I'm not a stable attendant of parties in Hungary at the moment.
I've appeared in the best clubs and almost every club in Budapest but after a realignment of power in the party scene the promotion agency that gave me occupation is out of the game and I have to build up things again from the beginning.
The best clubs are in Budapest I think. These are smaller clubs for maybe about 1000-1500 people and they have really rubbish sound system imo. The only club that is capable of a high standard party is the Studio but the owners of the club are using this venue for commercial hit music parties. There are some good clubs abroad like the club Corona in Kecel and Sing Sing in Szeged.
Is there a scene for abstract electronic music in Hungry only--a separate scene? How does this scene communicate with the techno scene? Separate scenes?
Yes, there's a small scene for this kind of music. There are very few parties or none for these people. I think the lovers of this music are also from the techno scene.
How would you describe yourself as an artist in your own words… what is important for you when you make music?
My importance is always the melody of a track. When I started to write something I've always started it with the melodies and the bassline. These are the base of the track for me. The other things like beats, drums and percs are acting upon this base. Effecting a track is a very long term process so I usually make this stuff at the very end of making a song. In some cases I don't even effect the track and leave it clean, letting only the melodies work.
As an artist, genres do not count for me. I just have to make good and unique tracks in my own style that are not overground. The goal is for this mixture to meet the people's taste.
What were your other aliases in the past, and why did you change to PEET? Peet obviously is the abbreviation for Peter ... is there more meaning to it?
My other alias (The Guitarist) is just a nickname stuck on me in a party somewhere, in a rock room, when I was playing the guitar. I've decided to leave this extension off my real dj name "Peet" because I thought it was a bit long and flippant. There isn't any more meaning of "Peet", that's what my friends call me for a long while now.
What do you see in electronic melodic music as interesting as a genre, in how far do you prefer or dedicate yourself to it rather then to harder techno or deep house?
I think my sounds are more closer to deep house than harder techno, however, I like the pumping and monotone beats to a track. I've produced some really deep stuff in the past and I will in the future. But as I said, genre is not an option for me. Always the melodies feelings leads the other components of my tracks.
What was your biggest hit in the past, Peet? How did the UK scene connect with you? Is it the typical UK relation in countries as it is in Spain, Italy?
My biggest hit is now with my EP on Traum. :) But in the past I've released music with John Digweed's label Black (closed sister-label of Bedrock). In 2000, that was a big thing. I think our (Eclectica - with Peter Kersak) early sounds from the grey and cold post-communist Budapest were matching the taste of the label's AR or John's, I don't know. We've planned it in our minds that this track will makes us great.. and for a while it worked. The track was also released here on a Hungarian label called Planetarium. The hard work of these guys have let it happen that our tracks have reached such a huge label like Black. I think there isn't a big relation between the UK and Hungary, however they say London is the fifth greatest Hungarian city because of the many Hungarian imigrants. :)
In what mode did you record the EP for TRAUM? We see there is a dedication to your father etc. Can you go into detail?
I'm using Ableton and vst instruments for recording my tracks. I'm planning to buy some real gear for myself for a better sound. When I was in the making of "Father & Son" and when I was playing up the free session melodies after the breakdown with my Icon Neuron3, and listened to the two main melodic hooks together, I've realised that it reminds me my beloved father. He loved jazz, solid rock, and also electronic stuff; full of emotions, always wih a bit of a bitter-sweet sad edge, and these free session plays with instruments. I've loved him much, there's no day without him in my mind, and i wanted to dedicate something undying to him.The painter who made the art for your cover: can you tell us about the relation to her?
It's very simple. She's living in the house where I have a small mart and she is one of our returning costumers. After lots of conversations we found the "artist" in each other and when iIve asked her about using her picture that she gave me as a present back in the day as a cover of my new release she happily said yes.
What drives you when you make music? Who did the music, making change for you from the beginning to now? New idea? New equipment?
I always wants to write my feelings, my emotions, out of myself to a track. I always loved electronica; I mean real electronic sound stuff, not just that abstract sound with using real instruments. My new idea is to countinue combining these sounds with massive beats and techno/tech drums and percs. I want to go more into this. My goal is to make playable electronica where the top of the track is full with emotions and electronic elements, synths, pads and stuff, and the bottom is still groovy bouncy and rolling like the good techno tracks out there. I have to grab lots of new equipment for myself. Now I have only my keyboard and my pc device. I like to use Mac instead of pc, want to buy new studio controllers, a really good soundcard, and step by step some real synths for making the sound of my tracks more phat.
Who are producers you like, who release music at the moment?
Ryan Davis was always one of my favourites, as is Max Cooper too, however his sounds are sometimes a bit too hard for me. I'm always spellbounded by the sounds of Apparat. Applescal's too.
Also instructive is to listen to the productions of Guy J and Microtrauma. The professionality in their tracks. The ability to drive the crowd where and how they want to with every single sound or effect. And of course the sounding of their stuff is amazing. I'm loving Makson's productions much at the moment.
Who is another big talent in Hungary, maybe you support?
Not so many really good producers here imo, everyone's into this silly loopy flashback house that a producer can make in three hours. But the guy who deserves attention is Reelow. He is more on the house side of the things, but I think he's feeling it right.
Three personal questions:
Favorite movie of all time - favorite movie now
Favorite book of all time - favorite book now
Favorite designer/painter/fashion/
I have to say that my favourite film of all time is the original Star Wars trilogy. And in the last couple of years, Black Swan was the one that instructed me much. I think it's a masterpiece. My favourite book is Lunar Park from Bret Easton Ellis. And now i don't have time to read any... In fashion, I love Prada's shoes and clothes. Loving the technocratic new style of design of the German car makers Audi and Mercedes-Benz. My favourite painters are Picasso and Munkácsi.
Peet's latest release, "Half A Dozen Twins", is out now on Traum. Click for more info. -->
Donnerstag, 14. März 2013
Mittwoch, 13. März 2013
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