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Re:mote Induction Feature
Based in the former East Germany, Geroyche is a young artist who already has a string of releases and live performances under his belt. We catch up with him for an interview with him on more than a few aspects of his work.
Re:mote Induction : To begin with, can you tell us a little about the background of your music? What prompted you to start writing music and how has your music progressed since?
Geroyche: Starting to experiment with trackers was more of a technical thing. I've always
been a pc-gamer, and wanted a soundcard as an x-mas present in 93, because
I had a pc game that utilized it. Once I had the soundcard I wanted to explore
it's
possibilities. I can't really take for serious what I made until 96 though. It
was a
time of experimenting and getting basic skills. I loved the tracker-scene, crews
like
Orange, CNCD or Jormas. You could learn so much from their mods. People
don't release their 'source code' today, that of course is understandable.
Still, I do
it sometimes, there's this mailinglist for experimental music with buzz...
but now back to your question ;)
An Eradicator [Patric C. of Ec8or] 2-amiga 500-live-act in summer 96 was like a
kick-off experience for me in making 'better' music. I don't exactly know why -
I've listened to his music for quite a while already - but the next day I made
the first
song that made it on the initial demo-tape one year later.
On terms of progression, well today I am definitely closer to the sound I want
to
achieve.
The possibilities of a sample-based tracker in the pre-softsynth era without
owning
any hardware gear were pretty limited after all. I doubt that there's any type
of
linear progression in my songs, I still listen to both breakcore and plinker-pop
and
stuff within. All of this influences me and that's non-linear I think.
Re:mote Induction : You have numerous releases on both vinyl and cassette. Can you give us a little info on each of the releases? Do you have any particular favourites?
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Geroyche: well in chronological order we have:
'The Change' Orange Socks 11
Wintermute and I send away four copies of this first demo-tape we made, also to
Kool.pop recordings and Orange Socks (we'd read in newsletter they'd look
for acts). Joel Amaretto of Kool.pop responded with the plan of 12" release and
Tommy from Orange Socks asked if he could distribute this tape.
I know people that like this stuff better than everything that came afterwards.
That tape was a cool success for us. We sold copies at our schools and we heard
that it was even played at a local indie-radio station once...
I don't actually know how many copies Tommy sold, but Joel who also does
distribution said, he's seen it in several mail-order stocks...
cpderoos@zeelandnet.nl
'Letzte Zuflucht' Kool.Pop 12.003
We then send a second tape to Kool.pop, and Joel picked several tracks from both
tapes
to make up this 12".
Effectively still the only Geroyche vs. Wintermute EP...critically acclaimed ;)
A key experience to me was that there was a review saying "great except for a3"
and somebody else said a3 was one of his favorite tracks of 99...
800 copies were made, according to google.com some are still out there.
'Despairation' on Irritant 8
Andrew from Irritant heard our first demo-tape when visiting Joel in Berlin.
Joel told us that
Andrew was pretty interested in it and so we sent a copy to London. We were
really excited
when Andrew told us he'd include despairation to the tape for the next issue
(Irritant was a
magazine with included tape at that time). This track had been our first real
collaboration and
I still think it's outstanding.
That magazine #8 including the tape is still available at irritant.com
'You live an unnoticed life' on 'Out of step with the world' (Trash Tapes 15)
'The Thing' - " -
live session on 'Worried' (Trash Tapes)
As for the Trash Tape 15: the Society Suckers recorded some tracks on DAT for
AlexDee
and since there was space left on it, they included some of my stuff as well. A
compilation with
obscure names but solid stuff nevertheless.
The Worried 4-tape set was recorded during a party at Leipizig's Zoro. In
contains tracks from
the Society Suckers, Inu:dzini & Fastfoot (Ohm 52), Worlds Ab-art (Phantom Noise
Records)
and Geroyche vs. Wintermute in no particular order. We had 3 tables in corners
of the room and
would give each other signs when someone thought he had a track that fitted now.
I enjoyed that
party and the set was pretty homogenic.
Limited stuff, I don't know whether it is still available.
The best thing would be to ask alexdee@widerstand.org
We had 3 tables in corners
of the room and
would give each other signs when someone thought he had a track that fitted now.
I enjoyed that
party and the set was pretty homogenic.
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Re:mote Induction : Also when browsing through your discography I see that you have made several collaborations with Wintermute. Can you tell us a little about Wintermute - how you got to know him/her/them, how the collaborations take place and such like?
Geroyche: I met Wintermute on my first live gig in November 96, Christian (Stilgar/Society
Suckers) introduced him
to me. He soon also started out the create music with the Impulse Tracker.
And what should I say, I had some songs and he had some, we felt like the moods
would fit together and so we decided to put out a 50 minutes demo-tape. Since
then it was
Geroyche vs. Wintermute.
As for real collaborations, well we made 5 songs together until today, these
came just naturally, we met very
often showing each other ideas, and sometimes you just say "I know how this
track should go on...".
The most funny collab so far was the thing (the mp3 is on my website). Made
during a one-week
holiday in his parents' garden. We had two pc running buzz and a mixer. We
started off to create loops each
one for himself but with the mixer channel open, and the suddenly we went like
"cool. your beat and my
synth-lines, that's it...".
Arranging this was fun to do, because we had to push the play button
synchronously and all that stuff.
Wintermute does not compose music right now, he focused on hiphop & turntableism
some years ago under
his alias Motorphader. He's gonna perform on August 31st in Berlin's famous club
Maria.
However, he promised to buy a new pc and go for creating music again pretty
soon.
Re:mote Induction : How does the creative process of writing music work for you? What inspires the form of the songs you write and how do your tracks evolve as the process progresses?
Geroyche: Well, inspiration comes of course from music I listen to, parties or places I visit. Sometimes I also set myself formal limits like the length of a beat or whatever. On the other hand, only very few of my tracks have been finished in a short period of time. Mostly I use fresh impressions to create an idea of 20 seconds or so and the arrangement can take place several weeks later. I hardly ever use the tracker to create something that has been in my mind before. It's rather hours of experimenting with buzz machine setups to create a unique sound. Track evolution in Buzz Tracker is very closely connected to using various effects. The vast amount of over 450 native plugins (+ dx and vst) is both chance and threat to a song-idea. I didn't finish nearly 30% of my ideas so far ...it's so easy to get lost. But that's surely also a way of quality control.
Real-time synthesis and effects allow a variety of sound-technical tricks. This however sometimes, to me at least, goes along with a loss of depth in the arrangement itself. There is the danger of covering dead songs with a plaid of moving effects rather than using effects to beautify a living piece of music.
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Re:mote Induction : You say on your webpage that you use Buzz Tracker. How do you feel the technology that you use effects the music you write? Do you ever find that other musicians you speak with react strangely because you don't use "traditional" sequencers?
Geroyche: The impact of buzz tracker is very essential to the music I write. Well, I guess
most people felt the growing influence
of softsynths and software effects in general. Compared to a plain sample
based-tracker the whole approach
changes. Real-time synthesis and effects allow a variety of sound-technical
tricks. This however sometimes, to me
at least, goes along with a loss of depth in the arrangement itself. There is
the danger of covering dead songs with
a plaid of moving effects rather than using effects to beautify a living piece
of music.
I didn't really get strange reactions so far. Of course, some people are
curious. Besides, in my opinion today's pc
are powerful enough to replace all gear and rather than smiling about Buzz or
Reaktor or whatever people should
trash their gear.
More than using a tracker it is not owning a notebook that raises attention, a
17" screen 'on stage' is a strange sight ;)
Re:mote Induction : In the past you have played live several times over the years. How do you approach playing live and what can be expected from a Geroyche gig?
Geroyche: Geroyche live is a strange issue. The only show you'll get is a nerd behind
a 17" screen. My approach on music includes working for hours on certain
soundscapes. So I don't really want to tweak all that live. It's rather an
opportunity to present my works as a whole, I mean count the songs that
are available out there, chances are that much of the stuff you'll hear at a
live-act will never be released. If you were at my last live act, knowing all
releases and mp3s then you knew 3 songs of 11, additional 2 were confirmed
future releases.
The other issue is buzz itself. Some machine combinations are very critical and
I have some songs I have to play from CD because otherwise I risk crashes or
noise-bursts. Maybe I'll get myself a Midi-Controller someday and start
tweaking live, but as of now my live acts are rather an audio-exhibition than
variations playground. Nevertheless, I got very positive feedback on my last
one.
I managed to create quite an organic playlist there and it got pretty loud.
Re:mote Induction : What can you tell us about what you have been consuming lately? Have there been any noteworthy records/cds, films or books that you've enjoyed?
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Geroyche: First of all, as consume defines (otherwise you wouldn't ask) I've put my
record,
CD and DVD-collection online, in the about section of my website.
As for books I can say I rarely ever read some.
What I read isn't very extravagant either.
Illuminatus, Dune and some more Frank Herbert stuff, Lord of the Rings...
Films definitely are very important to me. Last week I got Truffaut's
Fahrenheit 451
which is definitely worth watching - I don't know the book though.
Of the newer films I really like Memento. Snatch isn't bad entertainment either.
All-time favorites include stuff by Kubrick, Gilliam, Lynch, Carpenter,
Tarantino
and several animes.
Check my DVD-collection if you care. But DVDs are quite an expensive hobby
(one aspect why I do this is that in german TV films get dubbed) and I could
instantly
name 20 films I still need to get my hands on - including Dead Man, Dark Star,
Taxi Driver, Requiem for a dream, The Big Lebowski, Dr. Strangelove,
Koyanisqaatsi...
A very impressive film I've seen that is available only on VHS, and forbidden in
the US,
is Punishment Park by Peter Watkins. http://www.peterwatkins.lt/
In terms of music I can say that on the field of breakcore my close friends the
Society Suckers definitely made amazing stuff both on their new Kool.Pop and
Peace Off (with Slam) 12 inches.
On the field of calmer stuff - whatever, my current favorites include Denzel +
Huhn "filet"
(City Center Offices), To Rocco Rot + I-Sound "Music is a hungry ghost" (City
Slang),
and Zorn "The city's collapsing (but not tonight)" (Lux Nigra).
Re:mote Induction : Have there been any films, books or music releases that you would say have been key in changing your perspectives or that have been significant in making you who you are or your music what it is?
Geroyche: Books? Well I could name The big book of hell by Matt Groening. :)
Films and music for certain, but it's hard to nail them down.
As for films, I think I answered that above. With some few comedy exceptions I
don't call films favorites until they make me think.
Music always played a big role in my life [at the age of 8 one of my birthday
presents was Michael Jackson's Bad 12" rather
than some toys]. I don't really remember what were the first songs that made my
musical taste switch to what it is today -
when I was 13 about 30 of my tapes were stolen at the youth club were I used to
'dj'.
But Prodigy's Charly and Human Ressource's Dominator surely played their
parts here.
In short I could say Pop during my childhood, Dance & Tekk...kno, Hip Hop at
ages 11-14, and about then [1993/94] came Gabber,
Happy Breaks and Jungle, making me familiar with names such as Martin Damm
[Speedfreak, Biochip C.], Alec Empire,
Aphex Twin, Mike Ink, Khan, Patric Catani... and labels such as Monotone,
Shockwave, Force Inc. (including sublabels),
Warp and later DHR.
I don't want to name single records, I would forget too many and I can't really
tell if their subconscious influence was bigger
than Dirty Diana's. ;)
Re:mote Induction : Looking into the future now, do you have any forthcoming projects or releases that you can tell us a little about?
Geroyche: Well, as concrete releases in the near future there'll be split 12" with
fanny/aea from Canada on Suburban Trash Records.
It will contain the thing and body talk, which I consider to be the best
solo-track I made so far.
Then there's one track I made with Wintermute for an upcoming CFET compilation
, wicked beats with lots of noise,
and our contribution to the ELF99 project, but who knows if that will ever be
released.
In addition I got some unreleased stuff that doesn't really fit to the labels
I've worked with so far.
It's darker and more spherical. I'm curious myself what's gonna happen with it.
It's darker and more spherical. I'm curious myself what's gonna happen with it.
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Re:mote Induction : To finish with, I'd like to say thanks for taking the time to answer this interview, is there anything else you would like to say in closing?
Geroyche: It was my pleasure. Thanks you kept on reading, now go and listen to one of your favorite records from when you were 14.
NTVWR: j0hn
August 2001
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