Stoics seem to be one guiding light on Ancient Methods – his first solo record in almost two years. Standing unaffected by any zeitgeist offerings „The Third Siren“ is unswervingly refining the project’s distinctive sound.
True to the conviction „no one thing is foreign to each other“ this 4 track EP of Ancient Methods assembles from a wide range of influences a counter draft to conservative minimalism – a recurring approach, that became notably audible on his album „The Jericho Records“ and many of his genre-crossing remixes.
この4曲入りEPは、”No one thing is foreign to each other “という信念のもと、様々な影響から生まれた、保守的なミニマリズムに対するカウンタードラフトであり、彼のアルバム「The Jericho Records」やジャンルを超えた多くのリミックスで顕著に聴けるようになったアプローチである。
The opener „Sophia’s Silent Woe” is a heavy, yet unperturbed industrial funk roller, here traditional folk and minimal synth elements are being welded together at a cruising speed of 120 BPM. Almost fleet-footed by comparison, the percussions of „Sacrificed to Marketplace Idols“ are flapping over a drone, made of thousand nails, only interrupted by an obscure vocal hook and leaving subtle cross-references to the project’s most renowned track „Knights & Bishops“. Flip over to the B-Side and „Seers Turned to Voyeurs“ welcomes you in a mystical, international language. Orchestra swells and EBM-ish stabs are climaxing over incessant jackhammer subs into an anthem for melancholics.
The EP is closing with the ruthless stomper „Rot and Retaliate“.
Sparse in its instrumentation the sequencing undergoes countless surgical interventions, leaving not a single cycle like the bar before until a giant wave of brain-piercing needles is cascading over the listener. For those who can feel the adrenaline in the noise.
その楽器編成はまばらで、シーケンシングは無数の外科手術を受け、脳を刺すような針の大波がリスナーに流れ込むまで、前のバーのようなサイクルは1つもありません。ノイズの中にアドレナリンを感じることができる人へ。
Hey Micheal, great to talk with you again, how are you doing?
Thanks for having me back. I’m pretty ok.
戻ってきてくれてありがとう。私はかなり大丈夫です。
We could see a few great releases on Persephonic Sirens…How do you choose artists to be part of your project? If you could name a few values that the label brings to the music scene?
I’m not really intending to bring any other values but good music, which in the end is only a matter of taste.
There are quite a lot of fresh producers featured on the label and I hope the releases are helping them to get a little more attention – recognition based on their musical substance, and audibility instead of visibility, so to speak.
So far the label’s approach has been a very passive one, I don’t really dare to approach artists and ask for a release. Luckily I’m receiving a great amount of excellent music, many new, young talents among them, and I can hardly overestimate the value of it these days. However, while the output of the label might create the impression of a quite homogenous selection, this is rather the drawback of the passive approach. The vast majority of music I follow is actually not really techno or dance music and I would love to diversify the label’s output in the future.
良い音楽以外の価値観を持ち込むつもりはなく、結局は好みの問題でしかない。レーベルには多くのフレッシュなプロデューサーが参加していますが、このリリースが彼らの注目を集める手助けになればと思っています。これまでのところ、レーベルのアプローチは非常に受動的で、あえてアーティストにアプローチしてリリースをお願いするようなことはしていないんだ。幸いなことに、優れた音楽が大量に届いていて、その中には新しい若い才能も多く、最近ではその価値を過大評価することはできない。しかし、レーベルのアウトプットを見ると、かなり均質なセレクションという印象を受けるかもしれないが、これはむしろ受動的なアプローチの欠点である。私がフォローしている音楽の大半は、実はテクノやダンスミュージックとはあまり関係がなく、今後、レーベルのアウトプットを多様化させていきたいと考えています。
The EP comes with a “Sophia’s Silent Woe” track. It can be described as a heavy, yet unperturbed industrial funk roller, with traditional folk and minimal synth elements, being welded together at a cruising speed of 120 BPM. Personally, I feel a deep connection with the transformation in this EP, from each track, however, could you tell more about the beginning of the concept? Does it come intuitional from the first thought about the album? When it comes to production itself, what is your usual process of work?
Every production needs to have a specific idea at the beginning, which I try to carry out as close as possible to the draft I hold in my imagination. For my solo productions, I don’t really improvise or jam around with my gear until I pick up an idea from the machines. It would feel a bit too random and not really my own idea. I’m a bit of a control freak in this regard. As for the compilation of tracks, the EP does not have to follow a stricter concept like for an album. I try to present a selection that is coherent yet versatile enough to make it a short story, at best.
どのプロダクションでも、最初に具体的なアイデアが必要で、それを想像の中で持っているドラフトにできるだけ近い形で実行しようとします。ソロ作品の場合、機械からアイデアを拾ってくるまで、即興で機材をいじったりすることはあまりありません。そうすると、ランダムすぎて、自分のアイデアとは言えない気がするんです。この点では、私はコントロール・フリークなんです。楽曲のコンピレーションに関しては、EPはアルバムのような厳格なコンセプトに従う必要はないんだ。私は、首尾一貫していながら、せいぜい短編小説になるような多様性のあるセレクションを提示するよう心がけています。
Could you tell us a bit more about the name of the EP and the connection with the artwork? Does it symbolize the relationship between the sound that you present now and two – more years ago?
As with the music I always have a very specific artwork idea in my head, and first of all, I’d like to thank my dear friend Ruby for realizing them with accuracy. Certainly, we try to give things meaning but I believe I have a very pure perspective on music and therefore I would find it a bit too artsy and far-fetched to claim that there is an unmediated connection between the sound and the artwork.
But certainly, the artwork can be seen as a document or a reflection on concomitants and influences during the process of musical creation
The books which have been accompanying me in the course of that process clearly play a great role. During the creation of „The Second Siren“ the influence of existentialist literature was determinative, „The Third Siren“ is a reflection through the stoic lens.
There are several conceptual layers and statements towards the spirit of times I try to connect and house into the artwork frame, sometimes by hidden links, sometimes they come as obvious sampling.
The human zeal for harm is an ever-present topic. But I don’t want to overexplain things, that’s the beauty and the danger of art, it is open for interpretation.
音楽と同様に、私の頭の中にはいつも非常に具体的なアートワークのアイデアがあり、まず、それを正確に実現してくれる親愛なる友人ルビーに感謝したいと思います。確かに、私たちは物事に意味を与えようとしますが、私は音楽に対して非常に純粋な視点を持っていると思います。したがって、音とアートワークの間に無媒介なつながりがあると主張するのは、少し芸術的で遠回しに感じられるでしょう。しかし、アートワークは、音楽制作の過程における付随物や影響についての記録や考察として見ることができるのは確かです。その過程において、私の傍らにあった本が大きな役割を担っていることは明らかです。The Second Siren “の制作中、実存主義文学の影響は決定的であり、”The Third Siren “はストイックなレンズを通しての考察である。私が作品の枠に収めようとした時代の精神には、いくつかの概念的な層と声明があり、時には隠れたリンクによって、時には明らかなサンプリングとしてもたらされます。人間の危害に対する熱意は、常に存在するテーマです。しかし、私は物事を説明しすぎたくはありません。それがアートの美しさであり危険性でもあり、解釈は自由なのです。
What future will bring for Persephonic Sirens and you personally? Any chance to hear about some announcements?
I hope it will bring a lot of spare time and a lifetime. I have ideas, concepts, and plans for the next three lives in the drawer. I would love to resume all my collaborations and play live shows again and a lot more. But there are many changes of the recent past to revoke first. As for the label, I hope I will be able to keep it alive too. Running a vinyl label, in particular, demands a lot of different capacities and a lot of them. And while it became a mere idealist endeavor on the label’s/artist’s side, the overall cultural and economical development turned vinyl more and more into a luxury product. And I don’t think that’s a good thing.
たくさんの余暇と一期一会をもたらしてくれることを願っています。次の3つの人生のためのアイデア、コンセプト、プランが引き出しの中にあります。すべてのコラボレーションを再開し、再びライブを行いたいし、もっとたくさんのことをしたい。でも、まず取り消すべき直近の変化がたくさんある。レーベルに関しても、存続させたいと思っています。特にバイナルレーベルの運営は、様々な能力が要求されるし、その量も多い。そして、レーベルやアーティストの側では単なる理想主義的な努力になったが、文化や経済全体の発展により、レコードはどんどん高級品に変わっていった。そして、それは決して良いことではないと思うのです。
LISTEN TO TRACK PREMIERE HERE:
Ancient Methods is the project of Michael Wollenhaupt.
Since its emergence, the project has been often labeled as „pitch black techno war funk“ (quoted after an early Boomkat review) and closely associated with what later on would be tagged as the „industrial techno“ – movement. This is possibly due to the radical machine aesthetics Ancient Methods has developed into an unmistakable trademark sound, for more than a decade. However the mechanical framework is – no more, no less – a physical ambassador for deeper content, there is a profound human emotionality enclosed in the rhythmic shell.
The project is pictorially associated with „The Fall Of Jericho“-a picture, that adorned the first releases of the eponymous „Ancient Methods“ label. The wall-breaking image is metaphorical not only for the sound of the project. Bringing formerly rather dissociated musical subcultures closer to each other has been an integral and fertile part of Michael Wollenhaupt’s work. The results are not only well documented by releases on labels like aufnahme + wiedergabe, Hands, and Hospital Productions. As a prolific remixer, he worked among many others for the post-punkers of Soft Moon, synth-pop greats Wolfsheim, industrial-legends Bourbonese Qualk, synth-wave icon Beta Evers and beat-scientist Powell. The project has also been playing genre-crossing festivals like Maschinenfest, Wave-Gotik-Treffen, and Positive Education – to name a few.
The genre-crossing qualities of the projects not only become obvious in his productions or during the live shows (the latter supported by Wahiba Khadri on drums and guitar) but also during Ancient Methods’ DJ sets. Michael is dragging his obvious influences such as wave, EBM, industrial but also classical, liturgical, psychedelic and folk music into the techno frame to drop them on the dance floors and hereby delivering an intimate, rather introverted euphoria. Under the Room 506 moniker some of his DJ-edits (e.g. for Killian Camera or Deutsch Nepal) received vinyl releases due to public demand.
Throughout the years Wollenhaupt has been collaborating with Regis to form Ugandan Methods, with Orphx as Eschaton, with Cindytalk as In The Mouth Of The Wolf, and Prurient taking the project to new levels.
The border crossing is furthermore elaborated with a monthly radio show on Berlin Community Radio and the launch of a new label from Ancient Methods, Persephonic Sirens, which aim is to support new and like-minded artists.
Socials to follow:
Artist: Ancient Methods
Interview: Eyes Dice
