http://www.kindamuzik.net
ernaast
Onze laatste liverecensie.
Onze laatste albumrecensie.
Ons laatste interview.
Onze laatste video.
Arovane
With his debut album Atol Scrap, Berlin-based Arovane showed himself one of the most promising artists on the excellent German DIN label. In a scene that is dominated by names as Autechre and Funkstörung, Arovane caught everyone's attention with his melancholic and atmospheric electronica. For his second album Tides on the German imprint City Centre Offices, Uwe Zahn decided to take his music one step further, picked up a harpsichord and locked guitarist Christian Kleine up in his studio, the result being one of the most introvert and melancholic electronic releases in ages. Reason enough for us to hassle Arovane with a bunch of questions.
Tekst: Koen Mariën
Publicatiedatum: 20 september 2000
Where does the name Arovane come from?
"It's a word I created, just like the track titles on my productions for
the DIN-label. Arovane doesn't mean anything. It just sounds
good, it sounds very smooth."
How would you describe your music?
"It's difficult for me to describe my music, ... File under electronica. Melodies with
rhythmic elements, combined with deep atmospheres. The stuff on DIN is more
abstract. With Tides on CCO, I wanted to tell a story about the sea.
It is inspired by a holiday in France."
You live in Berlin. How does that influence your
music?
Berlin is a city that's rapidly changing, with all those building
projects. Is it an evolution for the good?
About your album Tides, what does the title refer to?
The artwork on the album breaths a completely other atmosphere
than the artwork on the DIN-album.
The music on your album sounds very melancholic. You worked together with a guitarist for Tides.
Was that easy for an electronic artist, who usually works alone a studio with
sequencers and samplers?
Most of the songs on Tides remind me of stuff like Dead Can Dance. Would you
agree that your music sounds a bit eigthies?
People compare your work with Autechre or, with this album, Boards of Canada.
How do you feel about that?
What can we expect in the future from Arovane? http://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/arovane/arovane/420/
"I think Berlin is a very complex and interesting city. The
contrast between the old Berlin in the eastern part of town, where I
live, and the new middle, western part, like the high-tech Potsdamer
Platz, is very interesting. It's all rapidly changing, in a very short
time. I like the old industrial parts of Berlin and the buildings there.
They inspire me a lot. The image I used for the cover of the Atol
Scrap-album was a picture I took in an old factory. The impressions I
had of those places influenced the music on Atol Scrap. Old
machines, buildings and so on. Iím also influenced by the Berlin scene,
with people like Christian Kleine, Thaddi, Skanfrom, Chain Reaction, ... Electronic dub.
I like that very deep, noisy sound."
"I like to make short visits to those places, like Potsdamer Platz, but I
wouldn't wanna live there. I think it's a good trend to renovate all the
beautiful houses and to build new parts in the city. But those building
projects should be for all people, not only for the rich."
"The up and down of the sea and the waves, like the ups and downs
in our lifes..."
The album sounds different than your earlier work on DIN. How would
you describe it?
"The sound on this record is semi-acoustical. I used samples of electric guitars,
played by Christian Kleine, samples of a harpsichord and field
recordings: waves, seabirds, noises. It's film music without a film. It's an
acoustic story of a holiday in France, at the sea. I remember a holiday in
France, driving to Deauville, Bayeaux, St. Malo, sitting at the sea,
breathing the fresh, salty air, and it looks like a storm is coming up. I
digested my impressions and feelings I had in the music of Tides. I wanted
to tell a story, an imaginary film about lonely, endless beaches, old houses with secrets, storms over the sea, sun and the easy way of living."
"Yes, the first image I had with the title Tides was a rollercoaster. The picture on the front of the album cover and on the backside
was taken at Coney Island. A rollercoaster means the same thing to me as
waves."
"I agree with you, but melancholy in a positive way. I want to make melodies that
move people."
"It's very interesting, because I made Atol Scrap with the same equipment as Tides,
but for Tides, I worked together with Christian. We did some recording
sessions, Christian playing his guitar, improvising melodies, and I sampled it
and used it for the album. And it works very good. I love to cooperate with
musicians who play acoustic instruments."
"I love the 4AD stuff, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil
And yes, the sound of Tides is influenced by that special
"eighties" sound."
"I think I've developed my own style. People need that as a reference
to describe the music. Mind you, I love the Boards, and ae too."
"Pop, clarinet music, high-tech glisters, tons of remixes and ambient."
Meer Arovane op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/arovane
Deel dit artikel: