Free Arts Lab EP update

After Jeroen, Petter and I made a lot of recordings during our improvisation sessions in Ouddorp, back in March, we decided to select some of this material to work on a conceptual Free Arts Lab EP: "Futuristic Ode At The Old Village To Miss Fernande".
The last couple of months we worked intensively to establish a representive release.

Our point of view for the EP was to make a selection of fully improvised parts we created during the Ouddorp sessions in the first place, and add and edit parts where required and where possible afterwards. In the end we wanted to create a good balance of improvised and studio elements.

However, the last couple of weeks, but especially recent days, we had a lot of discussion about the quality of our production. Judging various aspects of the material's current shape.
Although we fully support the concept and material, we simply think it's not good enough to release in its current form.

As a result of this, after many considerations, we decided that the cd will not be released.

With the absence of the EP, our planned release party at the Patronaat Café in Haarlem, December 20th is also being cancelled.

It's a real pity, when looking at the many, many hours and efforts we put into sculpting this project, but it is how it is.
So coming time we will just continue our activities and work on the future plans of Free Arts Lab, and where an eventual release should fit.

E-Live 2015

Last Thursday, October 22nd, I got a phone call from Ron Boots: Kjetil Ingebrigtsen - the act for the upper room at the E-Live Festival - cancelled due to illness. Just 2 days before the festival was to take place.
Ron asked me if I was able to perform instead. I instantly accepted the offer. Besides, he also contacted Hans van Kroonenburg (aka Skoulaman).

Soundcheck.
(Jeroen Hagen, Petter Janse, Hans van Kroonenburg,
Mario Schönwälder)

There were three slots in between the concerts on the main stage, which we could make use of. Within the first slot (13:30-14:30) Hans performed a one-hour solo set, which he also played last week at Awakenings, in the U.K.
We agreed to reserve the second slot (17:15-19:00) for the concept I had in mind.
And we could also have done something with the third slot (20:15-21:00), but in the end we decided to let this unused.

Recently, I discussed with Petter (guitar player from my band Free Arts Lab) about the excitement of doing a gig without preparing anything at all in advance. So this came in mind directly for the content of the thing I wanted to do at E-Live.
This was also the reason that I contacted Petter immediately after Ron Boots' phone call. And (indeed) he said yes to my question if he would like to join in an unprepared music session.
From this point I also asked Jeroen (drummer from Free Arts Lab), who also said yes without any hesitation, and even cancelled all his appointments for Saturday.
When I contacted some other fellow-musicians, most of them already had other things to do for October 24th. Mario Schönwälder actually always is present on the festival with his label Manikin, and confirmed with excitement (we already shared the same stage once before, back in 2010, during the Ricochet Gathering in Berlin). Only two hours or so in advance, David Wright (who is also present every year at E-Live and E-Day with his A.D. Music label) also confirmed. He also was very enthusiastic about the thing we were about to do.

Hans van Kroonenburg, me, David Wright,
Mario Schönwälder.
(Photo by Phil Booth)

Petter set in the first notes while the people started to enter the room. The ambient atmosphere he created with his guitar remained 10 minutes. In the meanwhile, respectively Hans and I set in filling the ambience. After this slow movement, the first sequence was introduced. Mario generated effects, and later on also lead sounds, with his i-Pad and i-Phone. Jeroen took place behind his drum kit when the sequence was on its way 5 minutes. David struck the first keys of my Yamaha EX5 at the 40 minutes mark, playing various parts with strings, piano, and a lead. From that point sequencing, rhythmic parts and intermezzos alternated. After approximately 80 minutes we finished our improvisational session.

According to how things sounded and felt to me during the performance, and the response and reactions from the audience, things seemed to have worked out rather well. Nevertheless I had some points for improvement for a certain kind of appearance in future. But this actually always it the case.
Although the program for the upper room seemed not to be clear to everyone, combined with the fact that our session was scheduled simultaneously with the dinner break (which I well-considered, so we had available all the time to create something and do the thing we wanted to do), didn't result in an entirely full house. But the main purpose was achieved: All musicians (including myself) really enjoyed ourselves, doing together what connects us all: making music!

Ash Ra Tempel.

As grand finale of the day, I visited the headlining concert by Ash Ra Tempel (Manuel Göttsching and Lutz Lüül Graf-Ulbrich). A great concert (the only one I witnessed, due to my own performance) which only got better as the concert progressed.

Many thanks to Ron Boots for giving me the opportunity again to perform at the E-Live Festival. Much appreciated, and as always it was a pleasure and honour to be part of the line-up. Which was my fifth time by the way.

Thanks a lot to all friends who joined on stage: my friends from Free Arts Lab (Petter Janse (guitar), Jeroen Hagen (drums)), Hans Kroonenburg (synths and sequencing), Mario Schönwälder (i-Pad and i-Phone), David Wright (synthesizer). None of them prepared anything, and none of them knew what to expect. Much respect for accepting my invitation for this very last-minute experience.

And last but not least, big thank you's to everyone who attended our session.


Now I am looking forward to the next gig, which will be a showcase with Free Arts Lab, accompanied with our debut EP release, at the Patronaat Cafe in Haarlem, on December 20th.
Support: chill-out ambient sets by C-Jay.
Entrance is free.
We hope to welcome you there!
Information: http://www.patronaat.nl/20-12-2015/free-arts-lab-ep-presentatie-%2B-c-jay

New studio album in 2016?

Recent weeks I have been mixing for the upcoming Free Arts Lab EP, as well as my 2012 project "The Return of Planet X". Both should be released within the coming months, so detailed information on these releases is going to follow soon.

And in the meanwhile, I even found time and inspiration to record a nice amount of new music, which is very likely to become my next solo studio album.
Although there still need to be made minor adjustments to the tracks, most of it might already be considered as finished.

With the new REMY-album in the making, I am attempting a slightly different strategic approach.
As part of this, Concertzender's X-Rated* radio host Bob Rusche visited my studio yesterday, for an exclusive pre-listening session of the upcoming album.
And yes, indeed this was combined with delicious food and drinks, pleasant conversations, and more of these things.

While my most recent studio release "i-Dentity" (and after this there were also released a live registration ("The Great Church Trilogy"), as well as two collaborational projects (with Synth.nl and My Breath My Music) and the first episode of my archives recordings ("Archives 1")) already dates from 2011, I didn't have any urge to release another new album. Simply because I felt that the music I recorded since then, didn't add anything new (or at least insufficient) to my current catalog. In the years in between I did write and record a lot of new music for various occasions, and although I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with these established tracks, I didn't have the feeling that any of these tracks would lead to the base for a new long player, in a way I had in mind.
But then, with the recently recorded new material, this situation changed. Actually without being planned so.

The new REMY-album is likely to contain 7 tracks with a total duration in between 70 and 80 minutes, with a rather minimalistic and slightly sober approach.
A total of 7 tracks, which might sound quite different from each other, but are clearly connected.
Having in mind to have a physical release early 2016, I already hope to reveal some audio within the coming weeks / months!

The idea for this project evolved indirectly from the concept of "The Return of Planet X".
A intriguing subject which I have already planned to write about detailed as soon as the release date has been set.


In the meanwhile I will focus on publication opportunities and schedule for this new release.


* X-Rated is aired each Sunday from 21:00-23:00 (CET), and can be listened to via the audio player on the Concertzender's website.

Free Arts Lab photoshoot

This afternoon Jeroen, Petter and I had a photoshoot for Free Arts Lab. The shoot was done by Nausikäa de Blaauw, who already made some great live photos during our concert at the Pletterij, last year.
 

We were allowed to make photographs at "De Hallen", an arts gallery in the centre of Haarlem.
This location offered excellent opportunities for making some nice and surprising compositions.
Although the gallery is closed for public on Mondays, we were allowed to access all rooms, exposition areas, and also the roof.

So we had all freedom to pose.

We already got an impression from the results from the camera's display, but I am really excited and looking forward to see the full resolution final results. Photos will be shared as soon as there is made a selection.

Schallwelle Preisverleihung 2015

Yesterday, it was time again for the annual Schallwelle Preisverleihung, at the familiar location of the Zeiss Planetarium in Bochum, Germany. As part of the tradition, I went there again with Michel van Osenbruggen (Synth.nl).
Before, in between and after the ceremony, there always is enough opportunity to meet up with people, friends and fellow-musicians.

The evening consisted of three parts: the first part featured an excellent performance by Picture Palace music and the first part of the Awards ceremony. The second part consisted of a nice concert by René Splinter and friends and the distribution of the remaining Awards. And the third and final part was dedicated to the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was addressed to Edgar Froese. Due to Edgar's recent passing, this year's ceremony had emotional accents.

My band Free Arts Lab was on the pre-nomination list, but didn't reach the final selection of nominees, unfortunately.
See the entire list of winners and nominees here: http://www.schallwelle-preis.de/

I already did it in person yesterday, but again: Congratulations to all winners!

Then I also met up with Wolfram Spyra, and discussed about the "Planet of the Arps".
I wrote and recorded the first version of this ambient piece back in 2010, and performed it for the first time in 2012, as solo-concert on the same location as yesterday's Schallwelle Preisverleihung. From the very beginning of the evolution of this piece I had in mind that this should be a collaboration with Wolfram Spyra. Then, last year, at the Ruins of Brederode, Wolfram and his girlfriend (and half of Moon & Melody) Roksana Vikaluk, and me performed an excerpt of this piece, fully improvised, using elements from the original piece.
Although we made satisfying recordings of this performance, and this piece definitely might be worth sharing it with the world, I still feel the need to rework and release the entire original one-hour piece (instead of only the half of it, which we did so far). So hopefully there will finally be an opportunity to work on this somewhere this year!

Me, Thorsten Quaeschning and Eric van der Heijden.

And last but not least, we have a picture of three handsome long-haired men!

Free Arts Lab weekend sessions

Although we are having rehearsing sessions with Free Arts Lab on a very regular base, there was need to work on our music in a different ambiance, on a different location. So last weekend Jeroen, Petter and I moved our equipment to a cottage, and locked ourselves for three days to create new music and discuss and work on the content and setup of Free Arts Lab's performances.

Besides the serious stuff there also was enough time for good conversations, a lot of fun, nice dinners and the necessary relaxation.

We transformed the living room of the cottage into a rehearsing studio, and we tried to create the ultimate atmosphere in which we would be able to optimally create new music. The evenings / nights were most productive, so we actually started to play around 22:00 at earliest.

We improvised a lot, alternated with tracks from our current set.
During the improvisations, the first moment it was Petter who started / joined in with an arpeggio, loops, chords, effects or ambient sounds, and another moment I started / joined in a track with pads, effects or arpeggios / sequences. Jeroen joined in with various drums, percussive sounds and structures. Besides the new music that was created during improvisations, we also worked on new prepared material.

The coming time we will sort out the many material of last weekend's recording sessions. We soon hope to share new stuff with you, during our upcoming concerts, or on our upcoming EP-release (although no concrete date scheduled yet).

2014 / 2015

2014 Has already come to an end, so it's a good time to overview the year.A year in which a lot of bizarre things happened, like three major plane crashes, including the MH17, the ebola outbreak, unneccessary murdering by IS and the Taliban. Situations which are unrealistic and hard to believe and understand. And we also had the unbelievable statements of Geert Wilders, the release of Volkert van der Graaf, the Olympic Wintergames, World Championship Soccer, the first King's Day in the Netherlands. The passing of some musical heroes, like Bobby Womack and Joe Cocker.

And - probably with not quite as much impact as above mentioned facts - here also is an overview of my own (music-related) highlights of 2014:

January 10th
Concert at Theater De Wegwijzer.
The first performance I did together with the formation which resulted into the first version of Free Arts Lab, with Jeroen Hagen (drums and percussion) and Martijn Scholte (bowed guitar).

June 27th
"Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition".
An event I organised at the wonderful location of the Ruins of Brederode in Santpoort-Zuid.
Featuring the second performance by Free Arts Lab, Wolfram Spyra premiering his new album "Staub" and Planet of the Arps (my ambient project, together with Spyra and Roksana Vikaluk.

October
October 4th, Pletterij Debat- en Cultuurcentrum in Haarlem was the location for the first concert by Free Arts Lab version 2.0 (with guitar player Petter Janse, and custom-made visuals by Sietse Bruggeling), as preparation for our gig at the Awakenings All-Dayer, in the U.K., on October 11th. A video report about our trip should be put online early new year.

December
Free Arts Lab has been nominated for the annual Schallwelle Award, as 'Best act international'.
Voting has started and you can also bring out your vote for us on the Schallwelle website until January 31st, 2015.
If you don't have any idea what our music sounds like, you should check out Free Arts Lab's Soundcloud.

Plans for 2015

Free Arts Lab
Main focus will be on Free Arts Lab and performances with this band. If you have any suggestions or possibilities for us to perform, just drop me a mail. A 20-minute compilation of our October concerts can be listened to on Soundcloud.

Collaborations
Throughout the year I started some collaborations with Gert Emmens and C-Jay, and continued recordings for a large project which I mentioned before, but of which I still can't reveal much more at this moment. I really had a lack of time to work more than I wanted on these projects.

Archives
One of the first things to come in 2015 should be the first episode of the release of my archives, in January.
Since a couple of years I already discussed with my post-production and mastering engineer Wouter Bessels about the possibilities to do something with the huge amount of archive recordings.
Within the previous 15+ years of serious music recording, I recorded a lot of new music, experiments, jamsessions, rehearsals and concerts. Just a small selection appeared on the 10 regular albums, 2 released collaborations, and 5 special / limited editions, I released so far. And a nice amount lone tracks is to be found on various samplers / compilations.
Because most of the music is specific for a certain period there's a big chance that most of it will probably never be released. An artist should definitely not release everything that has been recorded.
Besides this, there already is too much crap around. So I won't bother you with those recordings which are not yet finished, tracks which doesn't add anything at all, or contain too much errors, for example. In short: everything that's not good enough in my opinion.

But I always felt the need to release more than I did until date. Even when making selections for official releases, I considered a lot of tracks, which also could easily have made it to these albums. If they had been chosen. But they hadn't, due to fitting with other tracks and the concept and feeling I had in mind for a specific album.

From this point I decided there should be released a large part of my archives. So I recently continued sorting out and digitalize my CD, MD and MC recordings. Financially it is impossible to release all these archives as manufactory pressed cd's. Therefor I decided to offer the
"Archives" series as digital download only. At least for the moment. Exclusively from my own Deserted Island Music webshop, as high quality FLAC and MP3.
The first release will be available from early 2015. From there on it is the intention to add a new episode approximately each 6 months.
At the moment I am working on my webshop to facilitate the downloads. Keep in touch with my social media and this blog for any updates.

And...
Last but not least, rest me to wish you a wonderful and prosperous 2015!

Awakenings All-Dayer

On the road.

Two and a half years after my debut at the Awakenings Festival, I was being asked to perform here again. This time as part of the All-Dayer. Which is the final edition of the season.
On the four evenings of this festival earlier this year, three acts entered the stage. The All-Dayer (as you might expect) is spread over the whole day. Offering three acts in the afternoon, and three in the evening.
In 2012 I performed solo, and because I am involved into Free Arts Lab at this moment, I decided to perform with Jeroen Hagen and Petter Janse at this edition, when I was being invited.

Arriving at Dover.

Friday, October 10th early in the morning we loaded our van with all equipment and headed to Calais to take the ferry to Dover. Before midnight we arrived at our hotel in Derby, and before going to sleep we had a drink at a local bar in the centre of Derby.

Saturday, October 11th, right after breakfast, we drove to Paget High School in Burton upon Trent where we unloaded our van and enjoyed the concerts throughout the day, which started around 13:00.
Six concerts varying in length in between 40 and 70 minutes, with intervals of 15 minutes in between each of them.

John Sherwood opened this third edition of the Awakenings All-Dayer with his musical creations which could be categorized somewhere in between ambient and minimal. A nice ambient start, and later on sequencers. Unfortunately it lacked any progress within the tracks and musically and performance-wise it couldn't catch me.

The set by Jah Buddha (aka Bob Hedger) mainly consisted of strong and driven Berlin School sequencing, and from time to time typical solos. Excellent layering of sequences, great and well chosen sounds and very interesting progress during his set. Absolutely recommended and highly enjoyable for the ears.

Ion, a three-piece formation, headlined the afternoon session. Starting their set with soothing ambient, blended with elements of dreamy new age. After this, an uptempo track, more ambience and then another energetic and exotic eastern-influenced track featuring a belly dancer. Continued by a cheezy English folk song  featuring (out of tune) flute and violin. The following uptempo tracks luckily did forget its precedor.
Although the band's presentation was chaotic, they delivered a nice set. Accompanied with from time to time nice visuals.

Soundcheck.

Then a long break followed in which we setup our equipment and did our soundcheck.

Ashok Prema continued the programme at 19:00. Because we had to change clothes I missed a large part of it. The part I heard contained nice music, with a lot of Hindi influences. The trio played their tracks without intermissions in between, so it was a nice constant listen. Very melodic, clear themes and well chosen and characteristic sounds. Only the two younger keyboard players could have played slightly more accurate and convincing.

Free Arts Lab. (c) Phil Booth.

20:00 it was time for us.
Our second Free Arts Lab performance in this formation, and although we did a satisfying try-out last week, we were very excited to learn how our music was going to be received by the audience. As well sound- as performance-wise.
We were a bit overwhelmed by all positive vibes and reactions of the audience. Still I have some points of attention for our performance and setup, but I think the audience didn't notice most of that. We left the stage very satisfied.

Directly after our show, I was honoured to get officially accepted as part of the Awakenings-family, and was very surprised to receive a delicious birthday-cake. Complete with lighted candles. Thanks a lot!

Then it was time for Audiometria, who came over all the way from Tenerife to debut at Awakenings.

A couple of months ago Radio Massacre International should have headlined the festival, but due to health reasons of bandmember Gary, the Canary Island duo was invited in place.
Miguel and Javi performed a typical traditional electronic music set. With a lot of power sequencing.
Intermissed with some ambient pieces layered with virtuoso piano solos. It is always a pleasure to notice that there are schooled musicians around who are capable of doing just that little bit more. Really nice!
And then again... Deep and powerful sequencing which definitely should appeal everyone who is into electronic music. Excellent headliner!

My synthesizers setup.

My second Awakenings experience was again a very positive one. Musically seen there was offered a varied programme. The number of visitors was ok (somewhere in between 30 and 40), but could have been slightly higher. In any case it again was an absolute pleasure to perform at this event and venue.

The day after, we headed back home.

Rest to thank the organisation and crew (Phil Booth, Jez Creek and Dave Buxton), volunteer girls from the catering and all people who were present this day and/or supported by buying a virtual ticket.

The coming time we will focus on Free Arts Lab's future plans and activities. To be continued...

Free Arts Lab @ Pletterij

Friday, October 3rd, Jeroen Hagen, Petter Janse and I did a try-out at the Pletterij in Haarlem for Free Arts Lab's upcoming appearance at this year's final edition of the Awakenings concert series, taking place in Burton-on-Trent (U.K.). This specific edition is called the 'All-Dayer' and features 6 electronic music acts throughout the whole day, instead of 3 evening concerts during the previous editions of 2014.

Early in the afternoon we set up our equipment, did a soundcheck, and we had the time to already play the entire set. It was the first time we rehearsed our show accompanied with the final visuals, which were created exclusively for our show, by Sietse Bruggeling. And it was the first gig in our current line-up.

In the first case this try-out was meant to test and fine-tune our current (relativeley complex) setup. It worked quite well, also thanks to the professional assistance and advise of sound engineer Rob Brakel.

In the end there were made some slight adjustments to our setup.

We decided to create a setup which should make it as comfortable as possible for any PA and sound engineer at any thinkable venue we are performing our music.

Each of the musicians has his own mixer, from which the output is going directly to the PA. Normally any onstage monitoring is being sent from the PA. But we chose to do our own monitoring, via routing through our own mixers.

We prepared everything in such a way that it practically doesn't need any adjustments during our show. So only configuring the PA of the venue for the main mix is an issue.

When starting our afternoon sessions, I noticed that my Korg M1's pitch bend joystick was broken.

Quite frustrating, because I really use to use it a lot. In the meanwhile I replaced the joystick with a working one from one of my spare M1's, so I am glad the pitch-bend and modulation control it available again in time for next weekend's Awakenings All-Dayer.

Free Arts Lab. Seconds before the evening concert.

After our afternoon session, all sound settings seemed to be satisfying, so we had a very relaxing break while dinner was being served.

Around 20:00 the first people entered the venue. In the meanwhile we changed costumes, and 'prepared' for the evening part. In the end around 30 people attended our try-out. Not bad, because I had no expectations at all.

Slightly past 20:30 the sequencer started, and 72 minutes later we played our last note.

Except for some wrong notes and an improvisation that could have been slightly 'better' (hey, that's live), we left the stage very satisfied.

And we were glad to hear that most of the visitors enjoyed our music and experienced a nice evening too.

Special thanks go out to Arno Duivestein (who offered us the opportunity for this try-out at this really nice and comfortable venue. Which was arranged on a very short term (only two weeks in advance). And Rob Brakel (sound engineer and video registration) from the Pletterij.

Both gentlemen were present, helpful and supportive the whole afternoon and evening.

Also many thank to Lionel Calvetti (assistant sound engineer), Angela Boogaard (video registration) and Roni Klinkhamer (cook). The Pletterij crew really made us feel at home.

Thank to Dennis van der Made for arranging the beamer, Jeroen Hagen and Petter Janse for getting involved into this musical journey, Paulien Bouw for her infinite support, and last but not least: big thank you's to all of you who attended our try-out and wished us luck for our upcoming concert in the U.K.

Free arts Lab in concert

Yesterday evening we did a very satisfying final session with Free Arts Lab before some upcoming gigs.
The last months we have been rehearsing really a lot, and since our first performance together (although this was meant as support to a REMY gig) at Theater De Wegwijzer in January, I think we are evolving into the right direction.
Within the last months, we decided to work on my music as the core of Free Art's Lab set (at least for the moment), and adjusted the setlist to create a stable basis, so all musicians have the opportunity to get comfortable with the music.
From here on it is the intention to extend all musician's individual input and influences, which might eventually lead to new musical creations. Which already is the case with our improvisational intermissions, which evolve into something completely different, each time we play through our set.

At this moment Jeroen, Petter and I prepared a 70-minute solid show, accompanied with exclusively created visuals by Sietse Bruggeling. The musical content was premiered at the Ruins of Brederode, during "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition", 3 months ago. and now, there are some more upcoming concerts, of which the first two have been confirmed:

October 3rd

Try-out concert @ Debat- en cultuurcentrum De Pletterij, Haarlem
Tickets: €5, reservation required
http://pletterij.nl/index.php?page=12

October 11th

Awakenings All-dayer @ Paget High School, Burton on Trent, U.K.
Tickets (includes VT with the complete recordings of all concerts): £30
http://www.awakenings-em.co.uk

It would be great to share our musical adventure with you at these or any of our future gigs!

Free Arts Lab update

It might have seemed rather silent around Free Arts Lab, but the last weeks we have been very busy making music in my studio.

In first instance Jeroen, Martijn and I rehearsed for recent "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition".

After this event it was decided that Martijn would go into an other direction after we discussed the band's future plans.

While preparing for the upcoming Awakenings gig in the U.K. (Burton-on-Trent, October 11th), as well as other future performances, Petter Janse joined Free Arts Lab, after a couple of try-out sessions.
Petter is an experienced and wide-oriented composer and guitar player.
According to me and Jeroen, the new collaboration feels like an excellent addition to Free Arts Lab and the musical output our band would like to achieve.

But there is more!
Besides the musical developments, Sietse Bruggeling did a great effort creating and customizing visuals for Free Arts Lab's current setlist.
Within the coming period this part will be fine-tuned, but for now you can already watch a preview of this part of our show: http://vimeo.com/103143972

The next weeks we will continue rehearsing and developping their set for the upcoming shows. Any media will be updated as soon as here is something to share with you. So stay tuned!

"Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition"

Last Friday "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition", at the Ruïne van Brederode (Santpoort-Zuid), took place.
In advance the weather circumstances were rather uncertain, at least for the amount of rain that eventually could fall. Something we absolutely had to keep an eye on because it concerned an outdoor-event.
During the morning and afternoon we built up all equipment and organised the stage.
It was quite a challenge to get everything to the ruins (and even more to get things back to the cars in the dark) because of the long sandy pathway and the small bridges, across which our stuff had to be transported.

'Master of ceremonies' Bob Rusche.

18:30 the first audience entered the venue. Around 19:45 the evening was kicked off by 'master of ceremonies' Bob Rusche. As soon as he finished his announcement for Free Arts Lab - the first act of the evening - I touched the first keys. While I did, a buzzard flew across the audience twice (as planned). The bird left the scenery and the actual concert started.

Already very early during the set it became clear that there was something wrong with the drummer's sound. Unexpectedly, because during the sound-check everything was fine-tuned.
It took a while before the main issues had been solved, but after this the rest of the gig went fine (as far as I could judge from our stage position).

Free Arts Lab.

Due to this issue it took some effort to get our concentration and the required vibe.
With the third track the issues seemed to be over for the largest part, and we finally could focus on our performance. Which actually was the second gig we ever did so far within the 6 months since the band's establishment. During our first improvisation another bird (this time an eagle-owl) flew over the audience. And two tracks later a screetch owl.

Free Arts Lab tracklist (approx. 70 minutes):
1. Awakenings - part 3; 2. E-Live 2013 - part 3-2; 3. Improvisation; 4. Zeequence 2; 5. The Great Escape; 6. Zeequence 3; 7. Improvisation; 8. MMIX a.D.

Then a break and time for another bird show, which was initiated by my wife Paulien, to give some extra over-all atmosphere.

Wolfram Spyra.

After the break the master of ceremonies announced Wolfram Spyra. The audience was told that Spyra's new release "Staub" was delayed until September, because of technical artwork issues.
This evenening we 'had to do it' with the integral live performance (which was improvised for a large part) of the entire album.
With "Staub" Wolfram returned to his roots and exposed minimal but very strong compositions which were being strengthened even more when the sun appeared behind the horizon. Shortly after Wolfram kicked off his set, the dusk allowed the lights to do their work and create maximum atmosphere. Within a short time the real magic was about to begin.

Wolfram Spyra tracklist (approx. 65 minutes):
1. Dusk; 2. Staub; 3. Glacier; 4. Etude; 5. Ecce Homo; 6. Flur.

Planet of the Arps.

And then, contiguous: "Planet of the Arps".
An ambient piece I wrote more than 4 years ago, and since it had already been accomplished, I had the intention to let Spyra rework it.
Read my previous blog for details.
Due to both our busy schedules it took until last Friday that our first collaborational attempt on this project finally took place.
While we planned to prepare this piece a couple of days before the performance, it never came this far.
Last Friday our collaboration consisted of 100% improvisation around the basic tracks I provided Wolfram a while ago.
Finally these tracks were remixed in realtime live on stage by Spyra. On top of this we both added parts and solos. On the very last moment we decided that Roksana Vikaluk (Wolfram's girlfriend and half of 'Moon & Melody') should also participate with her sublime vocals on the 'grande finale'. It really was a great experience and a pleasure to create music together with Wolfram and Roksana in these circumstances.

The version of 'Planet of the Arps' which we performed consisted of a 22 minutes excerpt from the original one-hour piece.
"Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" ended slightly past 23:00.

In the end the weather gods had all the best with us, and eventual showers that could have struck us, moved into some places which were a couple of kilometres away from us. So we were blessed with a wonderful summer evening, which we shared together with around 100 visitors.

Paulien with eagle owl Ruud.

Thanks a lot to all the present (international) audience and everyone who contributed and supported.
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank some people in particular:
- In the first place: Dimitri Arpad for his co-operation and the opportunity to organise this evening at the wonderful and magic location of the Ruïne van Brederode.
- Marcel Sukel and Nathalie Nijman who arranged some very significant last-minute issues.
And not in the last place all other volunteers at the ruins.

Illuminated Ruïne van Brederode.

- The musicians: Jeroen Hagen, Martijn Scholte, Wolfram Spyra and Roksana Vikaluk.
- Sound, light and recording crew: Renato Cannavacciuolo, Rogier Gieske, Wouter Bessels, René Bussing and everyone at Showgroup.
- The birdshow: Mart Schrieken (assisted by Paulien Bouw).
- Paulien Bouw for her infinite support and assistance, as well as the initiative and cooperation for the birdshow.
- 'Master of ceremonies' Bob Rusche for announcing the individual concerts.
- Crew: Paulien Bouw, Ray Korsman.
- Film and photo crew: André Stooker, Selmar Koek, Mellanie Swart.
- Everyone who promoted and supported this event.
And indeed all of you who I forgot to mention!

Now it's time to work on other projects. Later this year we will look for the opportunities for an eventual continuation of "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition", in 2015.

The above featured photos have been taken by Phil Booth (1-4), Anke Betzler (5) and André Stooker (6).

"Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" - Planet of the Arps

Only 2 days to go to the concert evening I am organising at the Ruïne van Brederode, so recently I have written some blog items about this upcoming event and related activities.

Last time I already supplied all global details and information about the event, and last week I also wrote about the performing artists Free Arts Lab and Wolfram Spyra. Now it's time to light out the final act: Planet of the Arps.

The "Planet of the Arps" project actually started as an ambient music piece I composed and recorded back in 2010.
Because the music is slightly outside the REMY-tradition, I decided to use a pseudonym for this project.
As soon as the first version of the project was finished, I got in touch with Wolfram Spyra and asked him if he wanted to 'do something' with this 1-hour piece. Although the piece was actually finished, it missed something I couldn't add myself at that moment.
In 2012 I performed the new version of the original piece, during a solo-concert at the Zeiss Planetarium in Bochum (Germany).
Wolfram and I have both been too busy with our own activities and projects, so that it didn't come to work on this track together until date. After the four years that passed by, the first collaborational offend finally will be a fact in the form of a live rework of a large part of the latest version of "Planet of the Arps".

"Planet of the Arps" refers to the science fiction movie "Planet of the Apes", arps (galaxies) as collected by Dr. Halton C. Arp, synthesizer manufacturer Arp, and the musical term 'arpeggio'.
The concept artwork below, which is being used to represent "Planet of the Arps", is a digital creation which I also made in the period of the first version of the project.

From the "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" press information:

As the ‘grand finale’ of this evening at the ruin, Wolfram Spyra will join Remy Stroomer for a real-time rework of Remy’s one hour ambient piece “Planet of the Arps”.
This original composition dates from 2010 and has been performed live by Remy at the Zeiss Planetarium in Bochum (Germany) in September 2012.
From the time the musical piece was finished, Remy wanted Wolfram to rework this track.
Now, four years later, this project has finally brought both artists together and an excerpt of this piece will be created live at the ruin.

For all information about "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" and ticket sales:
www.desertedislandmusic.nl/brederode

"Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" - Wolfram Spyra

Only 5 days to go to the concert evening I am organising at the Ruïne van Brederode, so the coming
time I will write some blog items about this upcoming event and related activities.

Recently I already supplied all global details and information about the event, and last week I also wrote about the openings act: Free Arts Lab, so now it's time to light out Wolfram Spyra.

There are actually two main reasons that I chose for Spyra's appearance at "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition". The first is that it coincides perfectly with the project I have had already in mind for a couple of years: "Planet of the Arps". Details about this can be read in my next blog, somewhere later this week.
Secondly, I think Wolfram is a well-respected and one of the best and most innovating artists of electronic music around. By means of compositions as well as sound creation.
When I talked with him about the plans I had to organise this upcoming concert evening, he was very excited to perform at such a wonderful location.

I have already had the privilege to listen to the upcoming Spyra-album: "Staub" (which hopefully is available at "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition"). The result is a wonderful album where 6 rather minimalistic but powerful electronic music pieces are being exposed. Wolfram Spyra did a lot of raw sequencing and oscillating and went back in time and back to basic to re-invent himself.
This release might definitely appeal listeners of 'Berliner Schule', but is also in the likes of for example the music of Nils Frahm and Ölafur Arnalds.

From the "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" press information:

Wolfram Spyra (1964) is a composer of electronic music, sound artist born in Eschwege in Germany. Sound is his art form. He has worked for film, television, theatre, dance and as sound designer.
Spyra began his career in the early 1990s constructing soundscapes and installations around Germany. He has collaborated with a wide range of visual artists, musicians, producers and DJs and released several albums, starting in 1995 with “Homelistening Is Killing Clubs”.
Spyra’s focus is on electronic music. While sometimes experimental, most of his music has a certain acces-sibility in terms of the rhythmic and melodic components.
Spyra’s new album will be released in June 2014 and reveals the complexity and strangeness in analog synthesis. He calls his new found genre ‘post-electronic’. The record will have its world-wide live premiere at “Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition” at the Ruïns of Brederode on June 27th.

Within a couple of days the last blog will be dedicated to Planet of the Arps.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpyraMusic

For all information about "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" and ticket sales:
www.desertedislandmusic.nl/brederode

"Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" - Free Arts Lab

Only 9 days to go to the concert evening I am organising at the Ruïne van Brederode, so the coming days I will write some blog items about this upcoming event and related activities.
Last time I already supplied all global details and information about the event, so now it's time to light out the performing acts.

Starting with the opening act of "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition": Free Arts Lab.

Somewhere in 2013 I was being asked to do a concert in Theater De Wegwijzer in Zeeland (in the south-west of the Netherlands).
January 10th, 2014, this concert took place, and it opened new paths for future electronic music performances in this small theatre in near future.
When I constructed the show for this evening, I had various ideas about the performance.
In the first place the show should be more than just me playing synthesizers. Which might be rather boring to look at, especially at such a location.
So I decided to include visuals, which I compiled carefully to fit with the music to be performed.
Secondly the performance itself had to be dynamic, should sound more organic and must also be interesting to look at. To solve this issue, I invited two friends, who were capable of involving their musical skills and visions into my music.
Martijn Scholte (guitar/bowed guitar) and Jeroen Hagen (drums/percussion) joined the line-up, and after the concert we all decided to continue our collaboration. "Free Arts Lab" (which refers to the famous Zodiak Free Arts Lab) was born.

During the Theater De Wegwijzer concert, we performed around 90 minutes. Containing existing and released tracks, as well as new - especially for this ocassion - recorded music.
For "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" and for concerts later this year, we have been very busy rehearsing an adjusted setlist, which contains a selection from the Zeeland-concert, as well as some fresh new tracks and improvisations.

Here you can read the official press information for "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition", which covers the complete story and background information so far:

The group Free Arts Lab is founded in 2014 in Haarlem by Remy Stroomer (keyboards/ synthesizers), Martijn Scholte (guitar/bowed guitar) and Jeroen Hagen (drums/percussion). All three come from a different musical background.
With Remy’s electronic and ambient compositions, the name refers to the Zodiak Free Arts Lab or ‘Zodiak Club’. This club in Berlin once was a place where musicians were unlimited in developing their experimentation. From the same point of view and free state of mind of musical creativity, Free Arts Lab combines different art forms together in live performances and studio recordings.

Remy Stroomer (1979, keyboards/synthesizers/compositions) starts to take keyboard-lessons at the age of nine and around the same time, he creates his first compositions. At the end of 1999, Remy’s first album “Exhibition of Dreams” is released as a double-cdr on the independent AKH Records and that marks the start of a enduring career as an award winning solo-artist. Besides, Remy also collaborated with Ron Boots, Synth.nl (Michel van Osenbruggen), Gert Emmens and My Breath My Music. He has released thirteen solo-albums under his own name.

Martijn Scholte (1978, guitar/bowed guitar) has played and sang in various poprock and progressive rockbands, besides his singer-songwriting. His musical inspirations are mainly This will destroy you, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Helios, Sigur Rós, Hammock, Patrick Watson, Gravenhurst, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd and Radiohead. By combining and experimenting with a variety of styles, Scholte aims at a wide sound. His choice for bowed guitar stems from his affection for Sigur Rós’ music and his love for the cello. This results in an extra dimension and a soundscape from his guitar.

Jeroen Hagen (1970, drums/percussion) has a broad interest for music and art. His musical foundation is influenced by bands from the sixties, the early seventies and the nineties. He has been part of several bands, covering symphonic rock, rock, grunge and folk, mainly from the Rotterdam-area. His most important influences are The Beatles, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Yes, Bob Dylan, The Who, Neil Young, Stone Temple Pilots, Norman Cook, Pearl Jam, Weezer, Johnny Cash and The Black Crowes.




Official website: www.freeartslab.nl

Audio:



Next blog items will be about Wolfram Spyra and Planet of the Arps.

For all information about "Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition" and ticket sales:
www.desertedislandmusic.nl/brederode

Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition

As you could have read in my previous blog post, I am organising an music evening at a very special location.
Here is all information:

On the evening of Friday June 27th, 2014, Deserted Island Music and Heerlijkheid Brederode present:

“CHILL AT THE CASTLE - ELECTRIC EDITION”

A magical evening at the historic location of the Ruïns of Brederode, situated in Santpoort-Zuid (just outside of Haarlem), featuring a wide range of live electronic music performed by the finest musicians in the electronic music scene around:

• Free Arts Lab (Remy Stroomer, Jeroen Hagen, Martijn Scholte)
• Wolfram Spyra
• Planet of the Arps (Remy Stroomer and Wolfram Spyra)

The Castle of Brederode was founded in the second half of the 13th century.
In between 1351 and 1573 the castle did undergo several attacks and pillages. And in the 19th century the remains were one of the first buildings to be restored by the government, and the became the first national monument of the Netherlands.

The concert site offers place for around 200 people, seated in front of the stage, which is situated in front of the large wall of what once was the kitchen.

Information and tickets: www.desertedislandmusic.nl/brederode

FREE ARTS LAB
The group Free Arts Lab is founded in 2014 in Haarlem by Remy Stroomer (keyboards/ synthesizers), Martijn Scholte (guitar/bowed guitar) and Jeroen Hagen (drums/percussion). All three come from a different musical background. With Remy’s electronic and ambient compositions, the name refers to the Zodiak Free Arts Lab or ‘Zodiak Club’. This club in Berlin once was a place where musicians were unlimited in developing their experimentation. From the same point of view and free state of mind of musical creativity, Free Arts Lab combines different art forms together in live perform-ances and studio recordings.

Remy Stroomer (1979, keyboards/synthesizers/compositions) starts to take keyboard-lessons at the age of nine and around the same time, he creates his first com-positions. At the end of 1999, Remy’s first album “Exhibition of Dreams” is released as a double-cdr on the independent AKH Records and that marks the start of a enduring career as an award winning solo-artist. Besides, Remy also collaborated with Ron Boots, Synth.nl (Michel van Osenbruggen), Gert Emmens and My Breath My Music. He has released thirteen solo-albums under his own name.

Martijn Scholte (1978, guitar/bowed guitar) has played and sang in various poprock and progressive rockbands, besides his singer-songwriting. His musical inspirations are mainly This will destroy you, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Helios, Sigur Rós, Hammock, Patrick Watson, Gravenhurst, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd and Radiohead. By combining and experimenting with a variety of styles, Scholte aims at a wide sound. His choice for bowed guitar stems from his affection for Sigur Rós’ music and his love for the cello. This results in an extra dimension and a soundscape from his guitar.

Jeroen Hagen (1970, drums/percussion) has a broad interest for music and art. His musical foundation is influenced by bands from the sixties, the early seventies and the nineties. He has been part of several bands, covering symphonic rock, rock, grunge and folk, mainly from the Rotterdam-area. His most important influences are The Beatles, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Yes, Bob Dylan, The Who, Neil Young, Stone Temple Pilots, Norman Cook, Pearl Jam, Weezer, Johnny Cash and The Black Crowes.

REMY discography
Exhibition of Dreams (1999), The Art of Imagination (2000), DisConnected (2003), Connected (2003), Different Shades of Dust (2004), Sense (2006), This is not the End (2008), EoD (2009), Exhibition of Dreams - 10th Anniversary (2010), i-Dentity (2011), The Great Church Trilogy (2011), PrimiTiveS (2013, met Synth.nl), Sessions 2012 (2013, with My Breath My Music).

WOLFRAM SPYRA
Wolfram Spyra (1964) is a composer of electronic music, sound artist born in Eschwege in Germany. Sound is his art form. He has worked for film, television, theatre, dance and as sound designer.
Spyra began his career in the early 1990s constructing soundscapes and installations around Germany. He has collaborated with a wide range of visual artists, musicians, producers and DJs and released several albums, starting in 1995 with “Homelistening Is Killing Clubs”.
Spyra’s focus is on electronic music. While sometimes experimental, most of his music has a certain acces-sibility in terms of the rhythmic and melodic components.
Spyra’s new album will be released in June 2014 and reveals the complexity and strangeness in analog synthesis. He calls his new found genre ‘post-electronic’. The record will have its world-wide live premiere at “Chill at the Castle - Electric Edition” at the Ruïns of Brederode on June 27th.

Spyra discography
Homelistening Is Killing Clubs (1995), Phonehead (1997), My Little Garden of Sounds (1997), Future of the Past (1997), Sferics (1998), Etherlands (1999), Elevator To Heaven (2001), Invisible Fields (2003), Meditationen (2005), Orphan Waves (2006), High Phidelity (2007), Gasoline - 91 Octane (2008), January in June (2009), No Beats For One Hour (2010), tba (2014).

PLANET OF THE ARPS
As the ‘grand finale’ of this evening at the ruin, Wolfram Spyra will join Remy Stroomer for a real-time rework of Remy’s one hour ambient piece “Planet of the Arps”.
This original composition dates from 2010 and has been performed live by Remy at the Zeiss Planetarium in Bochum (Germany) in September 2012.
From the time the musical piece was finished, Remy wanted Wolfram to rework this track.
Now, four years later, this project has finally brought both artists together and an excerpt of this piece will be created live at the ruin.