Sometimes in life things fall into a perfect circle. One such example is the project HIND by Sebastian Mullaert and Henrik Frendin, constituting the pinnacle of over 40 years of combined research and creative explorations in the space of contemporary electro-acoustic music. The first encounter between the artists took place back in 2006 at the Malmö Academy of Music. Following an illustrious decade-long career in the alternative electronic dance scene, Sebastian became interested in returning to his roots as a classically trained violist, seeking novel ways of integrating his acoustic viola into his electronic live shows.

Meanwhile Henrik was touring internationally promoting his solo album Viola con Forza, nominated for a Swedish Grammy in the category ” Classical solo”. This was a documentation of a series of collaborations with contemporary composers, who had written electro-acoustial pieces dedicated to Henrik. To meet his vision of expanding and developing the sound palette of an electro-acoustical string instrument, a new amplified string instrument called ”Electric Viola Grande” was constructed especially for him. This instrument was built and created by the innovative instrument maker Richard Rolf. This unique five-string viola sets a new standard of authentic sound and design in the field of electro-acoustical instrument making. Naturally, this sparked Sebastian’s interest, so he enrolled for private lessons with the viola professor Henrik Frendin.

THE STORY - PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
The encounter with Henrik made Sebastian discover the potential of mixing and processing the acoustical sound of his viola with live electronics, making its way back as a permanent component of Sebastian’s music making. The seed was planted and slowly started to grow deep in the soil of his work as an electronic composer. The first shoot to break out above ground was his widely admired modern classical album Natthall recorded together with the Zürich Philharmonic Orchestra which featured in the prestigious “Top 10 Post Classical Albums” list of BBC Music Magazine in 2020. Hearing this album, it was Henrik who caught wind of Sebastian’s deeply unique approach towards combining electronic and acoustic instruments and the two reconnected again in 2021. During a series of long walks in nature, with philosophical and creative talks, which took place deep in the woods of Sebastian’s home domaine Söderåsens National Park, yet another project called HIND germinated and grew. It was only a matter of time before two of the most accomplished Scandinavian musicians, both Swedish Grammy Nominated grandmasters of their own craft, were to come full circle and together evolve their individual creative practices, to a new level of technical and artistic achievement. All this comes together in their new album HIND.

COMPOSING & RECORDING - THE METHOD
For many years, improvisation has been the central core of both artists’ creative expressions in the studio as well as on stage. Over the course of a few months Henrik payed a number of visits to Sebastian’s recording studio with the purpose of creating both an outer and inner space, where the music could flow freely even from subconscious sources. In this first phase several musical ideas from the initial jamming were captured and served as extensive basic material in the creative process to follow. The process can be described as a sonic dialogue in a series of long takes, in which Henrik’s playing was processed, looped and warped in real time by Sebastian. The outcome of Sebastian’s composed complex soundscapes were then used as a basis. Henrik continued to build new real-time string layers through improvisation, with Sebastian interacting and performing multilayer looping. The result: a unique playful and mesmerising sonic stew. The aim of this creative work process was to dissolve all boundaries between acoustic and electronic music, capturing both musicians’ intuition and imagination.

Hind

Bandcamp

11 Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin -  Embrace

10 Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin - Another Form Of Wings

09 Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin - Off Course

08 Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin - The Fogs

07 Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin - Speaking Crystals

05 Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin - Starling Solitude

The songs are recorded with analog synthesizers, drum machine, guitar and some effects in cubase. I then transferred the songs on the cassette to get an older, warmer sound with noise and distortion.

This is Black Umbras first work, soon there will be more ...

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Vi tar sats mot rymden i en stabil resa mot kosmiska tongångar och framtidens musik. Vad har t.ex tamburmajor Tom, Gen Eric & förlorade DVDs gemensamt?
Laijka oss och sköt om er och glöm inte att stänga dörren till tjottan när du flyger ett plan.
Kaptener på färden är Erika Axmark, Viktor Zeidner & Robin Forsgren

Playlist:
Shook - You Were Bigger Than Life
Stellardrone - Comet Halley
Pete Tong, The Heritage Orchestra, Jules Buckley & Agent Sasco - Out of Space
Hoy - What about
Christian Alvarez - Intergalactic Voyager (StoneBridge Remix)
Folke Nikanor feat. Annika Norlin - Komet

Här finner du Spotifyplaylisten med tillgängliga låtar som sänds i programmet, listan fylls på med nya låtar efter varje program: goo.gl/CUnvtY

Lamour Podcast presenteras i ett folkbildande samarbete med Vuxenskolan.
Ansvarig utgivare är Viktor Zeidner.

Lamour Podcast

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Lamour Podcast #211 - Spaced out, Laijka & nytt skitbra från Gävle

Vi samlar ihop hela redaktionen för en redig skolavslutning med blommor i håret och drömmen om den perfekta sommarlåten. Vi avhandlar studsande ljud på venue, sommarcykler och ring Görgen.
Extra flamsigt och med skrikande måsar i bakgrunden tackar vi för vårens avsnitt och tar en semivälbehövligt sommarlov.
Glada i studion är Amanda Kujansuu, Robin Forsgren, Anna-Karin Berglund, Erika Axmark & Viktor Zeidner

Playlist:
Michael Cassette - Moonlight Runner
M1NT & STRNGE - Further
Herbie Hancock - Bring Down The Birds
Bosq & Kaleta - Meji Meji (Folamour Remix)
Görgen Antonsson & Dyur - Hårga
Lushworld - The Word

Här finner du Spotifyplaylisten med tillgängliga låtar som sänds i programmet, listan fylls på med nya låtar efter varje program: goo.gl/CUnvtY

Lamour Podcast presenteras i ett folkbildande samarbete med Vuxenskolan.
Ansvarig utgivare är Viktor Zeidner.

Lamour Podcast #212 - Lost tapes, carnival & italienska schlagers

Black Umbra:
A one man band making experimental music influenced by; industrial, ambient, drone, noise and black...


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Black Umbra

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