From Wordplays to Studiogear
After 3 charting releases - "Pale" (1999), "Her liquid arm" (2001) and "The art of creating confus-ing spirits" (2002) - and a pause of 3 years, Diorama hits back with their 4th release, the introvert "Amaroid", out since April 2005 on Accession Records. For this release the band visited no
less than 5 studi-os in order to work with some specific equipment to create the best possible ambient. We had a very interest-ing and informative talk with songwriter Torben Wendt.
Sideline: Your newest output "Amaroid" is less Diorama sounding as I had expected although the press text says the release is in the tine of good old Diorama-values. This one is much more introvert sounding to me ? Does this make any sense to you ?
Torben: You're probably right, "Amaroid" accounts for the most introverted album ever since "Pale" in 1999. It's not as much a band effort as the previous works... in other words, I could work up a lot more personal issues of myself. Musically speaking, I don't see that much of a change, it sort of concludes our period of nascency by re-relating to some of the key elements of "Pale" and combining them with the more energetic, upfront and smooth sound impression of "Her liquid arm" and "The art of creating confusing spirits". Sometimes I have the feeling that we're on
the brink of a new musical development. I'm getting the itch again...
Sideline: There was quite some time in between your last release "The art of creating confusing spirits" and "Amaroid". What happened in between ?
Was the band in need for some fresh air and time?
Twn: Fresh air, that sounds reasonable. I was 6 months in Spain, off from everything, that's what I took, and would take again. In the meantime I finished my studies and worked in some bars too... well... yeah, also we had an almost 18-month recording session in which we produced "Amaroid" and a grand share of our next release.
Sideline: That is the remix-album featuring new versions of Diorama-classics, previously unreleased material, B-side-tracks and bonus pieces I presume?
This album shall also be released within this year, why so quick after this one ?
Twn: Most of the tracks are already produced, so why not step on the gas? However, an advance track List will be more of interest than with the previous albums, because people can relate to the songs... I Like surprises and being surprised. Hence, I'm not giving away anything now, sorry!
Sideline: Around 25 songs were completed, what tracks didn't make it in the end and why exactly they dropped out?
Twn: Some of the tracks that didn't make it are "World of ice", "Lean back", "Still still", "Amsterdam", "The night the girls have left forever" (extended version of "The girls"), "Ue", "Mountains" and "Hor-nissenkäfig". However, there's no defined policy on when or why tracks are dropped.
Sometimes we feel, the production sounds to progressive or commercial to give us the final kicks, sometimes the track wouldn't fit nowhere into the running order, sometimes it just doesn't want to turn out the desired way or it would constitute a musical development we're not yet feeling completely familiar with. Some of the dropped ones will surely be rearranged and used for our next projects or as sampler tracks.
Sideline: The word 'amaroid' is the anagram of Diorama, just watch out people don't think it means, 'hemorrhoids'...
Twn: Aaargggghhhh ! do you know the margarine label 'Rama'? after all these years there are still people who make up the 'Rama'-wordplays and think they're funny... which is my own fault for choosing such a stupid name. It is. It's true. Anyway, fuck it. If someone has a problem with hemorrhoids, doesn't bother me. The reason for the anagrammed title is the very reflexive character of the album. The music embodies the acoustic background to a trip under your own skin, into the intestines of your very inner emptiness and further back to where all those memories and naive feelings you once possessed were Lost or sold for bargain prices. It's Looking back over your shoulder and trying to pick out the silhouette of your long lost friend, brother or sister, the person you believe is still you while you've become something different, something alien.
Sideline: Production, recording and mixing was done in five different studio facilities, why such an extensive approach, or were you kicked out of every studio?
Twn: Our own studio, Hawaii Studio, is the creative cradle of all releases and the place we're recording and composing at. Basically, we're working in a classic 02R environment with a bunch of synthesizers, expanders and software-based sound generators. "Amaroid", we felt, had to be breathed new life into by using analogue material in the final production phase. The plan was to chase the music through a fat analogue desk and see what it would sound Like. The basement studio in Stuttgart for example, where four of the first Die Fantastischen Vier albums were produced, proved to be an absolute paradise for bass-junkies.
Sideline: You have been using a combination of tools from the 70s and current highend-material. Can you explain in what lay the differences in working and what results you have been able to obtain working so?
Twn: Working with a huge Neve mixer from the early seventies, which might be the best you can do for warmth, literally takes you back in time. For instance, you won't find any automation function or motor fader whatsoever. If you want to animate your mixdown you have to accurately do it yourself. But it's fun. At times, we sat there with ' 4 people in order to pull the right knobs at the right time. The comfort you're forfeiting is redeemed, though, by the direct, intimate and fat sound aesthetics. If you listen to the vocals on "Helmets down" or the beat arrangement on "Logic friends" you might realise a difference to the plugin-coloured sound we know from most of the current electro productions. The music comes to life on a more intense, organic level, whereas you might get less brilliance and flawlessness. "Two boats" is an example for such a living and breathing sound construction, a floating natural overdrive caused by extremely turning up a Urei Ia22 compressor.
interview: Bernard Van Isacker & diorama [torben wendt]
foto: silke jochum
quelle magazin-interview: side-line - april/juni 2005
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