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Babel Fish Translation Filter: English --> Dutch --> English.
Interview with MIRAI (Intelligentsia) |
| JVH: While preparing for this interview I searched for information about you on your web page and while doing so I wondered if your out-of-space image and behaviour wouldn’t be scary to people. So how would you introduce yourself to ordinary people? M: Hm… When I was interviewed in Japan, we were called a 'galactic coalition'. It’s a nickname given us because we're united spacey people. It a kind of joke that we've stuck with. Thus we don’t feel that we are part of any country - because we are global minded people. JVH: So all the members of Intelligentsia are from all different countries? M: Yeah. Well, I’m a Star Trek fan basically. That’s what I grew up with. So I wanted to make a band, in Star Trek style, with this global mixing. As I don’t feel 'British' at all. JVH: Indeed, you’re here with Naoshi and Tomoya from Japan, Ms. Hypnotique from the UK, and John van der Stap from the Netherlands. So an international party, indeed! |
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| JVH: Now don’t you think that this out-of-space image you uphold scares people away from your act? I mean, they might think you’re just a bunch of weirdo’s. M: Ha, I hope they all think we are weirdo’s-- I like that! In general, we really like dressing up anyway. I mean, in the electronic music scene, many artists haven’t actually got an image. For example, Kraftwerk began with a poor projected image, but when they switched to what they are now. They had a bigger impact. JVH: Indeed, Kraftwerk has a strong image, while the music is basically the same. M: The thing is, it’s not just image - we actually believe we’re a kind of space people. We may dress up to get the audience intersted, but we are really into the Star Trek ideology. JVH: So you think this image is more to do with the 'intelligentsia' among mankind or has this nothing to do with the name? M: Originally I didn’t know what the word meant. I saw it in a book about Japan. And I really liked the look of it and used that. Later I understood it. For me now, it represents a group of people on the vanguard. Sometimes it may be viewed with a snobbish connatation, but it also has a very good meaning for me- I wanted to go with that. JVH: I saw on your web page that you did a lot of work in Japan for video games, TV and radio performances. How did you end up there? I mean, it is not so common for someone from Britain to go to Japan and work over there. M: It was because of the 'Yellow Magic Orchestra'. As soon as I saw this band, I had to go to that country- I wanted to live in a kind of 'BladeRunner' society. I saw Tokyo and YMO, and I was hooked. JVH: So you just wanted to have that experience. M: (Laughs) Well, I also liked Japanese girls at the time. JVH: So that’s how you got there, but why did you want to work there as an artist? M: Because of Japanese people. They seem to have the ability to predict the future before any other culture.For example their ANIME. Their society is often very futuristic. That interested me a lot, so I wanted to live there. |
JVH: Now you’re back in Europe. Are you a full time musician, or do you still work for radio and TV? M: Yes, I still work as an audio engineer. JVH: Audio engineer is a quite general description. So does that mean you are composing for whoever wants your music? M: Yes, it’s freelance work I do. Actually, now I make Mobile phone ringtones for a German company. JVH: So chances are that when I buy a new mobile phone, there is a ringtone by you in it! JVH: How would you describe your style of music, in what category would you put it? M: There are so many genres of electronic music, that people try to pigeon hole you into one or another - but I think we fit under ALL of the headings. I really love electronic & classical music but don't care for other styles. Which might seem narrow minded, but I just follow my feeling. I don't relate to pop music at all- it doesn't make me feel anything. I think our music is more under the heading of 'Future Music'. JVH: I listened to “Civilizations” and “Federation” and they don’t really fit it in any defined category of electronic music, but you still consider your music electronic music without specifying any subgenre? M: Yeah, exactly. JVH: This answered three of my questions in one answer! Your definition of EM is thus very broad? M: I just like 'future music' and anything futuristic. Put simply; Futuristic Music!- I love it! |
JVH: You are active on the Jean-Michel Jarre mailing list and if I listen to your music, I feel a strong Jarre influence. M: Actually, I was the second person on that particular Jarre list, following the guy who created it. So yes, I am a Jarre fan, as this proves it! JVH: So your music is influenced by him? M: Totally, well, I’d say 70% of it is influenced by Jarre. I learnt music listening his work. JVH: Are there any other influences, from possibly less known artists? M: YMO is my second favourite band and many people in Europe don’t really know anything about them. They are the biggest EM band in the Far-East, after Kraftwerk. Saskia Giesbers, who was present in the dressing room where this interview was taken, joins in: "He even gets inspired by the zoo, not only music!" JVH: You said only you listen to Electronic Music and classical music... M: Yeah, if you mixed UFO’s, with 'The Matrix', with Jean-Michel Jarre, then basically what you get, is what I like. JVH: UFO’s + The Matrix + Jarre = Mirai..., an interesting equation! JVH: Did you have any formal training for playing instruments or composing? M: No,I was a computer programmer, and video game designer. That’s how I realised I could stop paying others for making the game music and do it myself- this is also when I discovered Jarre's music. It was a daily ritual to listen to his work, while I was programming - this went on for about three years. I would program all night long, with the headphones on - then one day I thought: "I want to try to do this!". JVH: Because there was no one else to do that for you? M: Well, computer programming for me was 90% mathematics and 10 % creativity. It was making me very tired mentally. |
| JVH: While programming is more maths than creativity, creating music is the other way round. So it was also an escape for you? M: Yes, I stopped programming because creating music was a far better path. JVH: So you didn’t receive any special training in composing and playing and taught yourself? M: Well it came from computer programming; all to do with patterns. I was this so-called whiz kid at school and I didn’t have to study in computer class. They put me at the back and they let me do what I want. I just made games and stuff. That’s how I learned music listening to Jarre; just copying all these musical data patterns- I’m obsessed with patterns actually. But as for musical performance, I don’t really like it. That has been forced on me somewhat. I have discovered though I do like drumming and hitting things to rhythms. :-) JVH: That brings me to another subject: The BODY DRUM. What is it, and how does it work? M: Well, I can’t really drum like a professional drummer like John (van der Stap, the drummer of Intelligentsia, Ed.), so I wanted to build something that I could play on stage. After watching the BORGS on Star Trek, I thought to make a Borg suit - with drums on. JVH: Do you just use it as a gimmick? M: Nah, I really need it to perform on stage. JVH: On your website, I saw a picture of your equipment setup. It contains a lot of analogue and digital synthesizers. Are any of them special or rare? M: No, they are just old. I used to work for Yamaha in Japan and they gave me some new stuff. But mainly, it’s all old equipment from the seventies and eighties. JVH: What’s your opinion on using these retro machines; the old big analogues? M: I like them. I like them better than the new instruments. JVH: Why? Because of the sounds or the image of them? M: The sounds. They are stronger. |
JVH: That’s what many people say… M: yes, as its my job to make music for companies, I use digital and analogue instruments every day. For instance, when making music for mobile phones, I have to use DX7’s and FM synthesis 10 hours daily and that hurts my ears. When I use analogue instruments, you can feel the difference. Saying that though, most of my music is digital. I’m looking to make a new album for Eric Snelders which will be all-analogue, there will be no digital sounds in it. Just as a test to see what comes from it. JVH: I’m curious what comes from it! JVH: Have you ever used software synthesizers? M: I’ve have them but I've used perhaps, only one, in one whole album. I’m not really using them because I can’t actually stand them. I'm not a fan put it that way. JVH: Is it too limited? M: Also the interface. I don’t like using the computer, I need a tactile sense- I want to touch and feels things live. JVH: And the recording? Do you use tape recorders or hard disk recording? M: Recording is my weakest point. I think I have to use DAT again. I’m using hard disk recording but I’m not happy with that either. JVH: The good old DAT tape, but still digital… JVH: Back to the body drum, how does it work? M: Well, it’s like a 'Simmons'. JVH: The well-known drum manufacturer? M: Yes, most artists in the eighties had Simmons drums, and I have a Simmons kit as well. The very first kind. But when I called the company up, to ask how to get the drums to work, the boss himself 'Mr.Simmons' refused to talk to me - he was quite rude. That made me annoyed. So I opened up this Simmons drum and the design was so bad that I thought, "well I can make this". I do not know much about electronics but I just copied what was inside and I made them better for what I needed. |
JVH: You just re-engineered them. M: Yes, mainly because 'Mr.Simmons' annoyed me. Which sounds kind of funny: because they were rude and the bad design, I decided to make a better one. Although saying that, I still like Simmons drum kits. JVH: And the pads that you put on your body trigger drum sounds from the computer? M: Yes, it’s all microphones. JVH: Microphones? M: yeah, there is this special store in Japan where you can buy any little designer plastics and devices. I just went in there and bought some stuff and stuck it all together. With the help of my friends that is. JVH: The concerts and the pieces on your albums are in most cases performed by more than one person? M: Not really. What I do is go around recording people beforehand. For vocals I completely cut up and change everything, so its not actually as live as it sounds. But I will get to make more use of John’s live drumming ability. JVH: You do all the work, and you don’t meet up in a studio for recording, so do you still consider it as a group effort? M: I’m just the one who finally puts everything together, but it is still a group effort. JVH: Also the composing part? M: Well, sometimes I have a music partner around, 'ION'. He whistles tunes in my ear and says “put that one in”. And I do. JVH: Well, I’m at the end of my question list... M: Don’t forget to mention 'MEISAI'. JVH: MEISAI… Are you especially here for tonight’s performance? Naoshi and Tomoya of MEISAI: "Hai!". |
| M: The thing about MEISAI; it's a new trend in Japan, for people to dance to electronic music- not hip-hop, R&B, or whatever. This new trend is electronic music progressive dance. It looks like a rebirth of body popping, but it’s not. It’s a new generation and you’ll see it tonight. JVH: I’m curious about that! M: And these guys are the best out of the hundred of groups doing this in Japan. They just appeared in a PlayStation 2 commercial. SONY held a competition for all these dancers and MEISAI won. They run a Techno club aswell in Tokyo, for which I used to perform as VJ. I really feel good working with them - and they make electronic music far more visual. JVH: Indeed, on many concerts like this you just have an artist on stage with a few keyboards and a laptop. It sounds nice, but with a live drummer and dancers it becomes more of a spectacle. M: Yes,that’s the biggest problem in EM: performance. I’m still trying to discover the best way to do it. I think we'll keep changing the format until we're happy. |
JVH: Do you have any future plans except for working on the analogue album CD? M: Yes, I’m going to remix the music to make it more palatable for clubs in London. I will have to darken it up somewhat and make it more danceable. JVH: What do you mean by “darker”? Less like it sounds on the CD, which sounds quite happy and optimistic? M: Well unlike 10 years ago, there are a lot of people now into the dark or gothic side of music, who are wearing Cyber clothing. It’s really big in London; thousands of people frequenting such places, so I have to get into that area. JVH: We have big techno parties here aswell in The Netherlands, where a lot of young people go to… M: yes, I’ve been through the 'Techno' period in Japan, with my partner who was the number#1 British DJ over there at one point. But I used to get a headache at those weekly clubs. :-) I want to do a more live version of that style, which is perhaps darker. With people dressed up, and more into the Star Trek image and progressive ideology. JVH: Thanks to all for the interview and lots of success with the performance! John van Houtert, 2004-05-15 |
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