Electronic music has always been a musical companion.
Jean Michael Jarre was my first musical hero and for a long time it was my favourite music. When I heard the music to Aliens, I became fascinated by the orchestra, and the music of Jarre seemed simple, even a bit dull in comparison.
As film music commercialised during the nineties it became too predictable for my taste. It was once again electronic music that sounded exciting as I heard LifeForms by The Future Sound of London.
Soon after hearing LifeForms, I bought a synthesizer; the Korg 05r/w and it has been in use since.
At this time of experimentation and looking more outward, than inward, a pseudonym; Liquid Morphine, was deemed necessary. For many years it was used on web sites, artist pages and albums.
Most of the music from this period has never been released but the better passages, theme's and ideas have re-surfaced ion later albums.
Morphine for the Mind 1996 ~ unreleased
The eleven tracks on this album are collected during a two year period (1995-1996). All the music was made using very simple equipment and tools. The Korg Synthesizer was used on all tracks and is still the primary source for the sound of current albums.
The two long "symphonic" tracks are mixed with very short "songs"
Dark Message 1996 ~ unreleased
Dark Message continuous with somewhat longer tracks, that are very much self contained. Each track builds around rythmic and more moody ambient passages, much like the LifeForms album by FSoL.
The music on this album tends to be quoting more from the music I was listening to at the time, than it is able to create a mood and style of it's own.
The introduction of samples in Shapes Rooms Environments, created new possibilities. All albums after would be made from working directly with samples but it there was still no distinct style.
Albums are mostly a collection of tracks and the music represents a technical process more than an expressionistic one.
The Korg remains the primary source of sounds, supplemented with field recordings and recorded instruments.
Shapes Rooms ... 1997 ~ unreleased
Halfway on Shapes Rooms Environments a step from midi (composed music) to manipulated, treated sampling is made. The last "midi-only" piece is called the The Valley of Shadows and I consider it one of my best works, for the mood it creates with almost nothing.
The second half of the album has an altogether different sound. Cars are passing by, crickets are no longer crude synthesized sound effects and the density and complexity of sounds increases.
*.wav 1998 ~ unreleased
*.wav has a dusty, granular tone which is not comparable to the music found on the albums before it. The switch from composing music in notes, to working with samples on *.wav is perhaps the most important step taken towards the music I still make today.
*.wav however, I compared to how a sculptor works. Much like a sculptors inability to bring back a piece of rock that has been removed, something that was mixed could no longer be entangled again.
Supplement 1999 ~ mp3.com release
The beats from the first two albums return in the form of The Moonlight Bar, a co-operative piece with a leading role from Maarten Welzen.
The rest of Supplement expands on the ideas and theme's explored in *.wav. The final passage, called Elementen, is based around the elements earth, wind, fire and water. Elementen was the first piece of music I made with a concept of where I wanted it to go.
Sprook 1999 ~ mp3.com release
Sprook again continuous where the previous album stopped and there where several leitmotif's (theme's) and a even a story before it was made. Musically, the albums was very much inspired by Jerry Goldsmith's The Haunting.
Sprook's background story is abstract; An unnamed darkness rules over eternity leading a bored and spoiled existence. It literally plays with fire as it creates light. As the majestical sun rises for the very first time, there is a great sense of loss and hate.
Long time collaborator Gene williams has created a master for this album in 2002, but a release has not yet been able.
Albums are no longer a collection of loosely connected tracks nor are they just an exercise in making music. Sprook was made with an outline and story in mind even before I started working on it.
Around this time I joined mp3.com and the music made was no longer played just to friends and family. Although liquid morphine was kept on for quite some time, the music I made was personal, people where listening to it and not using my own name felt like hiding behind a pseudonym.
Sprook - EP 2000 ~ mp3.com release
Sprook took a long time to complete. Unlike previous albums, the music created for Sprook had to tell a (musical) story. Some of it did not work in the sequence, or was simply not adding to the whole. That music was not used on Sprook.
Having joined a growing community on mp3.com, I met now long time collaborator and friend; Gene Williams. When working on GrijsGebied with him, he suggested releasing the "missing" tracks separately on this album.
At this time, I had grown comfortable enough with the music I created to no longer need a pseudonym.
The Tone T(h)ree 2000 ~ H/S Recordings (2004)
Spending so much time on Sprook, The Tone T(h)ree was finished relatively quickly. Partially an accident since the "the new album" was to be much more in line with the music found on Supplement. There was however a small passage in the new material that contained something unique, and it was this passage from which The Tone T(h)ree grew.
At the time, I was not very familiar with Brian Eno's music though with hindsight there are obvious similarities. H/S Recordings released a re mastered version of the album in 2004.
Improvisaties op D is the first of several collaborative works. Recorded live with Erik 't Sas in his appartement on the Molenstraat, in many ways it precedes the album Molenstraat though it is perhaps a bit bleaker and less melodic.
Improvisaties op D can be downloaded from Archive.org. Please visit the album page for more information.
If it hadn't been for meeting Darren Scott I would most likely not be releasing music on compact disc. GrijsGebied was the first album released on H/S Recordings.
I consider GrijsGebied to be the first matured album, with a structure, flow and sound that is typical for all the releases that followed it. Although on GrijsGebied I no longer looked outward for inspiration, it did reach out and features collaborations with Stan Linders, Tatiana Brainerd, Gene Williams, Erik 'T Sas and Ivo Selder adding to it.
Another collaborative project (three CDR's in total), openstage is music recorded at an outdoor location. Beaches, busy waterways, highway bridges and forests are the living backdrop in which synthesizers (powered by a car battery), drums and guitar react to their surroundings.
Ivo Selder's lucid drumming, Bill Brisette fluid guitar playing and Stan Linders' deep drones are the interactive ingredients. The set has sold out.
Another evening of improvised recordings in Erik 'T Sas' appartement on the Molenstraat. A microphone on the balcony capturing the moods of the street as night set in. The track titles are a reference to the time at which the recording was made.
First releases in 2001 as a CDr, the album was later re-released as a proper CD. It is the best selling releases I have ever worked on.
Tatiana Brainerd, Joris de Man and Erik 'T Sas performed the music heard on this album in an improvised session. Moody, dark, orchestral and melodic, the Electronic Forest is explored through two lengthy suites.
Three is about growing up, about certain feelings and moods that are associated with youth. But strong associations become more distant as time passes and yet certain smells, sounds and images can instantly rewind your entire being back to a time long gone, if even for just a moment.
Gene Williams and Tatiana Brainerd collaborated on several pieces of the album.
Niemandsland is in many ways the opposite to GrijsGebied and as such they have many things in common. When making Niemandsland I felt very alone and the world seemed like a much darker place than when GrijsGebied was made.
I find it very hard to say anything about this work because of the strong feelings from the time of creation it brings back. The creative process and my own personal growth walked hand in hand during the three years it took to write the music.
Almost immediately after Niemandsland I began working on Maalbeek, wanting to do an album without the meaning and luggage that Niemandsland and Three carried with them.
I simply choose a time (winter, spring and summer) and a place (Maalbeek, a forest on the Dutch/German border) and started making and made music keeping those in mind.
It's an album I must have played a thousand times, driving the daily route to work as slowly the seasons changed. Some of the music, spiegelend specifically, is a direct result from creating the ambient score for the computer game Spellborn.
