Interview with The Soundchaser Project
Artemi = Artemi Pugachov
Soren = Soren Lemche
Renato = Renato Menezes
Artemi: How did you guys meet each other and what made you think about working together forming The Soundchaser Project?
SOREN: I used to work with Renato’s wife, and chatting she revealed that her
husband was a music-lover. Renato and I had just bought CD-writers, and the
official presentation took place at a barbecue lunch some Sunday morning back in
February 1999.
My wife and I arrived and to my surprise some cheap stereo machine was playing
“Ashes are Burning”.
I commented on this with Renato, and from there on we became friends.
Actually we copied each others CD collections and had daily conferences on the
reviewed audio files.
One day Renato had copied a CD with lots of different stuff (Tangerine
Dream, Sting, Seal and only God knows what, but a track caught my attention,
fake name and a “funny” title to a song that sounded really great. I asked him
about it
and he was very vague on the topic. A few days later at a party at his place,
once again I heard the tune and I again inquired him on the subject (LOL) .
He finally admitted that it was his tune, and opened a door to a fully packed
studio. From there on The
Soundchaser Project was born. ! Renato needed someone to drive him
towards the final recording process and also needed lyrics and vocals in
English. So I just filled in the form and was accepted…..
RENATO: Yes, his ROM is still functional... That Saturday by the pool, near the
lake and the forest, warm sun in the
afternoon, the girls, barbecue and cool beer,
a stereo blasting prog music... after a few moments Soren played a tape
with Schulze’s Timewind...Early on I noticed
Soren had a passion for EM, the likes of
Tangerine Dream,
Froese,
Franke,
Schulze,
Himekami Sensation,
Vangelis, and so forth... that is, a synth-oriented state of mind. And that
was a perfect match, cause I had a project studio packed with synths and sound
libraries with thousands of unusual patches, preferring “synthetic sounds” over
slick natural sounds.
We spent more than a year checking out each other’s preferences by exchanging
hundreds of cdrs, discussing it all, and easily found a vast common ground. In
fact musical discussions took thousands of hours, and we kept probing each
other’s minds for lost musical treasures, obscure trivia, bands and songs. We
reconstructed a whole musical past history, and web cd dealers were researched
for missing items. So we were always conspiring, talking of matters
normal people couldn’t really understand, like lunatics, to the dismay of
our wives...
Artemi:
How would you describe the process of working with each other? Do you create in
perfect harmony or is it sometimes like a musical dispute or even fight?
SOREN: Piece of cake, all decisions and programming are with Renato. He does,
although, consider opinions and changes. But since we have more or less the same
background concerning music and the same “taste”, things are easy to settle. You
see, this thing about TSP is about having fun, we do enjoy the project and do
have lots of fun with it, so I guess there isn’t place for fighting here.
A pressure-free environment for recording and mixing
leads to
the fact that you can work anytime you’re inspired, be it night or day, and I
have to confess that I never fail to come up with new ideas every time I turn on
the equipment. If I’m really tired and worn out then I don’t even bother to
enter the studio, so it just depends basically on the energy level that you’re
in at the time.
However, we do have lots of friendly arguments, not settled, concerning other
people’s work...over certain bands or albums there’s an endless ongoing
discussion, and over those fine points we’ll certainly reach no agreement....
:))
Artemi: I would like to ask you the most trivial question: what are your musical influences?
SOREN: They are HUGE, on our web site,
www.thesoundchaserproject.kit.net
we list some of the bigger influences in the different categories, but basically
we are “Prog-Rock” influenced to the roots of our souls….(LOL). We do,
nevertheless, listen to a lot of stuff within a multiple array of genres.
RENATO: Basically I’d say that when we started there was a fine blurred line
that separated our main influences... Although I had been working for years with
synths and guitar synths, when it boiled down to what we were actually listening
to in our cdplayers, I came to
realize that I had an unconscious favorable bias towards guitar-oriented
music, that is, bands that had guitar and keyboards/synths in their line-up,
over bands purely based on keyboards. Soren, on the other hand, was
listening to a 70/30 proportion of synth-oriented music...
I reached that conclusion while we were exchanging cdrs, and that sort of
surprised me, since
it was a subconscious trick, cause basically we liked the same bands from the
start, in various genres. That is to say that we agreed 99% on the
genres of music we liked, and within each genre’s we certainly agreed
which bands were the best, which albums and so on...
Soren and I have a theory
that maybe there are anywhere from 10 to 20 albums produced at that time that
you could (and still can) actually
listen from track 1 till the end and find no fillers, one good example
being “Hamburger Concerto” by Focus. Another is “Mirage” by Camel...”TDSOTM” by
Pink Floyd...you can fill in the rest...
Our dislikes are also similar, like throwing in a string quintet in the middle
of a
song to display erudition... that’s a cheap trick, and it became an
inside joke like
“uh, ok, that song of ours is not doing so great now, what if we put in
an arrangement for a string quintet in the middle break?” then we start
laughing...
That’s why you’ll never hear a string quintet in TSP’s records... Soren also
holds something against “woodblocks” percussion, maybe sometime he tripped on
one while barefoot...
SOREN: All the Synths and keyboards are listed at the web site. But our
preferential synths are
the Korg Trinity TR-Rack, Korg Wavestation SR, Korg M1R, Yamaha AN1X and
DX7IIFD,
Roland JV1080, D550 and Vintage Synth MSV1.
RENATO: There are certain properties about the Korg synths that make them really
interesting to generate “spacey” sounds, superb digital pads and odd but musical
electronic sounds. Korg synths also have a tendency to overdrive the frequency
spectrum.
Roland synths have the “classic” clean sounds, leads, pads and strings that are
inherent to
prog and EM, that is, they’re to be expected in that context and always do fit
in. Roland D50 still has a sound that “cuts in” any mix, if programmed with the
right patches.
Yamaha synths, on the other hand, sound thinner than the others, with few
exceptions like the AN1X, but, on the other hand, they do not override the
frequency spectrum, and are useful at that.
I do not subscribe to the theory of the supremacy of analog over digital synths.
In fact old analog synths, pre-midi era, although they are romantic and sound
good, are very hard beasts to tame, so I consciously avoid them and leave them
to purists. With the advent of virtual analog synths and modern analog synths
with full midi implementation, this matter should be put to a rest. But my
philosophy is : whatever sounds good sounds good, be it digital, virtual analog
or new/old analog.
Almost any synth that may fall into your hands may have some quality, and with
some judicious programming something fantastic could be just around the corner.
Also our libraries with thousands of patches for each synth are an asset, so we
can avoid known presets and explore other sonorities from each machine. Good
programming can lead to unheard of sounds even from overabused synths like the
DX7 or M1, that’s the beauty of synths. For example, the Fourier Series
algorithms of DX7 series are horrible for producing natural sounding instruments
like brass or strings, god forbid me,
but if you’re looking for purely electronic sounds then you may have some
good surprises.
Sampling is ok in my book, although I should say that in IGRS (Intergalactic
Radio Station) there are really no synth samples, the synth sounds and fx are
all “authentic”.
Artemi: There are many spoken word passages in your music. How would you
describe the role that lyrics play in your compositions?
SOREN: The voice is the “human” element in the electronic fireworks of sounds.
So if you take the Vangelis album “Direct” or for
that matter, Mike Oldfield's “Songs From a
Distant Earth”, you’ll get the feeling of what I’m saying. The voice is the
poetical thread that links the sounds to poetry and thus gives the music a
“human” element. You don’t have to worry about this because your brain is
configured to interpret this at this exact explanation. (LOL) Something called
“neurolinguistics”!
RENATO: Well said my friend... I’ll make these words mine...don’t forget “Ghost
Song” by Morrison/ The Doors, not electronic, but very poetic..
Artemi:
In the early days of Electronic Music some people hated synthesizers claiming
that synths were not musical instruments (and, subsequently, EM was not music in
their opinion) but just machines that made music by themselves as they thought.
Now that the synthesizer became more wide-spread, there are again people who
fight it and acoustic music is fashionable again. Why do you think this happens?
SOREN: Early days of electronic music? Well, I believe that nobody really
understood Stockhausen when he began to record. Any chord striking the brain can
be interpreted as harmonic or not.
If configured at 4 cycles per second – it’s harmonic, be it electronic or
not!, otherwise it’s not. What sounds good for you is not always good for me and
vice-versa. This discussion is pretty obsolete, because I have different
feelings listening to classical music, be it Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky or Mozart, or
electronic music; be it Tangerine Dream,
Klaus Schulze or Himekami Sensation.
MTV’s “unplugged” sessions was to “feel” the talent, or not, of the various
popular bands and some did pretty good and others didn’t. So if your band’s
set-up relies on keyboards who gives a f*** ? It’s your music so if you expose
it, you have to take the credits and the critique. We make music and we DO touch
some hearts and that’s all that matters. Touching hearts and minds is all that
matters in the frame of culture, HOW you do it is interpretative.
RENATO: Yeah, I remember that Walter Carlos
album “Switched on Bach”, done purely on monophonic synthesizers... and all the
discussions on the press about the validity of synths. And before that, the
pioneers of EM like Stockhausen were frowned upon by the media, although there
were no synths at that early time.
What helped to spread the mystique of synths was undoubtedly Keith Emerson using
his early MiniMoogs, and I remember a concert by
Tangerine Dream, back in 74’, in London, all musicians hiding behind banks
of synths, blasting people’s minds with an electronic barrage of midi sequenced
compositions, very brave guys to do it all live. Also the commercial success of
Kraftwerk’s Autobahn broke some ground to bring synth music to the masses...
But I’d say that prog rock, once a very popular style, was the dividing line
where synths became
desirable and acceptable to the general public. From then on it became
fashionable in pop music and rock mainstream.
With the advent of digital synths, old analog synths, once very expensive
machines affordable only to the top acts, were thrown in the thrash can. Digital
synths were slicker sounding, had no intonation problems due to rising
temperatures and had full midi capabilities. Then digital synths were suddenly
out, off to the thrash bin with them...
old analog synths became “in” again...
But I’d say there’s a paradoxical ressurgence of synths in modern commercial
dance music. The advent of samplers brought it all in again, since starting acts
involved in house and techno music began looking back to old Juno 106s,
Prophets, Jupiters, ARPs, Moogs, since they were inexpensive, and as it all
became fashionable and profitable, old analog synth
prices began to rise again astronomically,
then the industries immediately caught on this market trend, beginning to
churn out the Novation Bass Stations, Nord Leads, Waldorf Microwaves, etc.., a
new wave of analog synths to the masses. That’s a smart move.
But these groups producing house, techno, drum’n’bass, trance, etc.. are not
really like the traditional bands of old that had careers spanning decades and
became household names.
They’re more like a small units of one or two individuals or producers, highly
volatile, producing music for clubs that’ll be the current trend for a few
months to be quickly substituted by a newer trend,
their life cycle is very short.
On the other hand, the “acoustic” wave you mentioned is valid for established
acts, that do operate in the traditional manner, and that’s an entirely
different market trend. You’ll listen to
“acoustic”
concerts by the likes of Clapton, Sting, REM, Nirvana...
One can coexist with the other, acoustic and modern electronic are completely
different market audiences. One is a mainstream phenomena
having industry household names as protagonists
and the other is an instant trend of the club/rave culture involving
“faceless” short-lived
acts.
EM players have benefited from this I think, as now you have dozens of new
synths to choose.
Artemi:
Do you often play guitar in the studio or live?
RENATO: guitar is my main instrument, and I’ve been addicted to guitar synths
since the advent of the first really viable one, the Roland GM70, back in the
80’s, and I’ve
never stopped using them since then.
Then in the late 80’s computers started to become
affordable and MIDI could be implemented to the max. Slaving a bank of
synths to a guitar synth is really fun, and in compositional terms produces
amazing results. A composition may be inspired by certain synth sound textures,
it’s like the sound itself begs to be played in certain ways, and asks for
certain chord progressions or lines, you only have to follow organically and
play along with it. Sound textures are the inspirational sources, and exploring
each synth’s bank of timbres and programming your own is a direct path to
instant inspiration.
On the other hand, keyboard compositions
differ from guitar compositions, and there you have an alternative way of
producing
songs.
But like everybody else I do like playing or listening to a
“regular” guitar setup, with
effects, overdrive, etc...
I’d say that Intergalactic Radio Station is about 60% guitar synth work and 40%
keyboards.
Artemi:
Is your music related to space exploration or space imagery?
SOREN: Sure, our first project was designed to be somewhat like a concept album,
of a dude stuck in space having only the “intergalactic radio station” to listen
to.
RENATO: Yes, totally... Space is the unknown, and sci-fi lends itself to endless
speculations about “what if ”... it’s the modern fairy tale, and technology is
the magic wand. Besides, space is about nature’s most pyrotechnic visual
effects, just look at the Hubble telescope pictures, and that leads to all kind
of sound experimentation when you try to transpose the visuals to music.
Also I should confess that at some point in my life I was into wildly
speculative sci-fi like the “Rama” trilogy by Arthur Clarke,
“Childhood’s End”, and other works like “Solaris”, “Definitely Maybe”,
Asimov’s tales of the Foundation, the silly Robots stories, the “laws of
robotics” are serious cornerstones of cybernetics, not to mention UFO’s and
space exploration by US and Russia in the 70’s...
All in all, they have everything to do with synths and EM.
Artemi:
The name of your project is the same as the name of one of
Vangelis' compositions. Are you familiar with
Vangelis' work?
SOREN:
Vangelis is the greatest musician of our times and
his work is eternal. People will listen to Vangelis
forever no matter what happens to mankind. I do consider myself as one HUGE
Vangelis
fan. Beaubourg, Soil Festivities and Mask are albums that I don’t understand
quite well, but beside these albums, his music is perfect. (personally I don’t
believe that Vangelis is human, but an entity!)
Vangelis
is on the same level as the Dalai Lama and some other 10-15 souls in our era,
just to show us simple humans that if we search hard enough, we’ll find the
harmony and beauty in our souls. Yes, the title is from the “Direct” album, and
the main inspiration too…..
RENATO: Enough said...his cocker spaniel dog is named “Vangelis”... rest my
case...
Artemi: What is your most hated direction in music?
SOREN: Funk, Rap and Teen-Bands, ok, the kids have to have an identity with
music and we do have to preserve the kids rights to dream and have their own
identities, BUT the junk-culture is far too big, and we are creating monsters.
The record companies invest in no-talent bands and empty culture. But thanks to
the great God, the PC and the Internet is putting a stop to this.
RENATO: Good point...another aspect of this is that in the last ten years we
have seen the increased financial accessibility of music recording technology
with the advent of digital recording in computer workstations, software
plug-ins, digital hardware, etc...I’d expected that the democratization of
digital recording would lead to a new direction in music, outside of the all
powerful music industry stream, and that happened to some extent even more with
the means at our disposal over the Internet... but
I still feel a little disappointed. With all technology at our disposal,
the music being produced in the last 15 years, be it by the industry
establishment or by the new alternative music producers is lacking in quality.
I still find that in the 70/80’s, in retrospect, we witnessed some kind of
musical Renaissance, where technology was not so dominant but inspiration was
abundant. There was a profusion of groups producing ground-breaking musical
ideas, lots of
legendary musicians in action, be it guitar, keyboard or bass players or
drummers. Then the industry and general public opinion took new turns, those
guys were billed as “dinosaurs” and the level dropped increasingly over the
years. Ok, somewhere along the line
the musical self-indulgence of that generation took its toll... and
most of the original inspiration may have dried out. But I still wonder
how certain albums that were produced in that era still sound fresh in terms of
ideas and sound, like they were recorded this year ...
Today, some millionaire acts spend millions of dollars in high end studios to
come up with mediocre releases, and the public buys it!! All kind of
technologies are
available, sound quality increased exponentially, but the end result is
lacking...that is definitely my most hated direction in music...
SOREN: We hope to stay around long enough to make more CD’s and to “touch more
hearts”.
RENATO: There are plans for new TSP releases, unexpected twists in our personal
lives have prevented this from happening earlier on as originally planned, but
lots of exciting stuff have been already recorded pending some final arrangement
decisions and mixes. We have 20-30 new compositions in our archives ready to be
finalized, it’s just a matter of time till they see the light of day, but we’re
not really in a hurry... Another thing that is getting our attention is
5:1surround... I’d love to do our mixes in surround, that would be exciting, but
we’ll wait till the technology is mature and till all different standards have
settled in...
Well, that’s it, and thanks for tuning in at Intergalactic Radio Station...
Go to The Sounchaser Project entry
This interview is © 2003 Artemi Pugachov