- Is life an inspiration to make music or is music inspiration to live?
>Both, no? i doubt that the first sound i’ve produced has been very musical (except maybe to my parents’ ears), so, say life comes first, then comes the music, that brings back some more life to life, and that then brings some more music, and so on….< - What would you do if there wouldn’t be music, starting with tomorrow?
Take photos, write, or draw. i’ve always felt a need to channel my emotions into some form of content, be it sound, text, or picture. i cannot imagine myself stopping. - …and what if you had to produce in a different music genre? What would that be?
>I do this on a regular basis, but always retain a side of electronica to it. if i had to completely do this in a different genre, i’d be a different person altogether.< - The beauty of silence or the chaos of noises?
>Definitely both! There can never be silence, unless noises pause, and for a second it is seemingly quiet.< - What’s your favourite album ever?
>There isn’t just one, since because to get to that place is so incredibly difficult, naturally more than one artist/title has done it. Orblivion by The Orb. I am past caring about what they’ve sampled, and which bits of culture they’ve recycled to get there. Neither am I interested in how successful their later work is. The complexity of Orblivion still dazzles me. I am equally impressed by Autechre’s Chiastic Slide – in my view an underrated and often misunderstood album. But years before that – Violator by Depeche Mode. I didn’t realise it would hold up so well after all the years, or how much influence it would bring to my world. Even now.< - …and your favourite album cover?
>That’s even more difficult. I have a thing for music packaging. From the traditional picture stuff, it would have to be Violator again. But a step further – Autechre’s EP7 CD, Deathprod’s pitch-black 4-disc box-set, and possibly ten others..<
- Is there some music you like – but ashamed to admit it?
>No. I make a point of openly discussing any music I like, regardless of genre and culture. I grew up listening to heavy metal, then went through pop, synth-pop, hip-hop, then had a very focused electronica period, and then began exploring everything else. I can listen to U2 one day, and Huun Huur Tu the next.< - If you could be a rock star, who would you be?
>Don’t know… Prince?< - Do you have a role model?
>My friends are my role models. They don’t know this, but from a bit of each of them I construct this super-being that I secretly wish I could be, but am not. In the process I manage to make them feel unappreciated and come across as a self-centered idiot. How great is that?< - Who would you like to meet the most?
>A man called Walter Murch. I’ve been reading a lot about him.. The way he thinks seems familiar….< - What are your favourite movies?
>Oh no.< - If you had to direct your own movie, how would it look like?
>It would have all this material shot, and it would look boring and quite frankly pointless, until someone re-cut it into a sequence that makes sense.< - What’s your favourite food?
>Food for thought.< - Is there a band/music genre you can’t stand listening to?
>Shakira? Anything sex+cash+throwaway.< - What’s your (original) profession?
>I have no idea, quite honestly. I’ve always pushed for a creative position to do with sound, but it has always given place to something else because of money matters.< - What’s your next plan music-wise?
>It’s all very vague at the moment. I am moving towards a point that I cannot easily define. I know I’ll know when I get there. Hopefully very soon.< - Which language would you like to speak most and why?
>Oh this changes every day. One day it’s something Nordic – it sounds musical. The next day it’s Spanish – now they really sing. The third – Japanese…< - How would you describe yourself in 5 words?
>I would not. You try?< - What are your vices?
>I take things too seriously. I make too much effort. Or none at all.< - What is the most unusual comment anyone has ever made about you?
>I’ve been called an electronic stalwart once…< - The best moment in your life?
>That’s yet to come.< - What does beauty mean to you?
>Cue random Umberto Eco quote. I cannot even begin to express my thoughts on this..< - What would you do today if the world would end tomorrow?
>Panic?< - Which places you love the most?
>I like small places near big cities. I like the insides of giant buildings. And quiet rooms.< - Who’s your favourite superhero and why?
>Not sure about a superhero. If Nils Holgersson was a superhero, then maybe him.< - What’s your favourite flavour?
>Oh no.. baked bread, warm milk, custard, coffee, I could go on…< - Three things you could never get rid of?
>Music records. A computer. Chocolate.< - Your three favourite websites?
>Music of Sound, imdb, and the Gearslutz post-production forum< - What’s your favourite picture about yourself? (click on image for larger size)
- What’s your most favourite picture you made? (click on image for larger size)
- What is the question you always would have liked to be asked but nobody ever did?
>Help me out. I can’t think of any.<
Esem is Bulgarian music artist Georgi Marinov, born in 1979, previously known as “eesn” and “stereoman” during his early demoscene days at NOiSE.
He has so far released one single (Ikae, vinyl-only) and three full length albums: Enveloped (deFocus 2002), Serial Human (m3rck 2003), and Scateren (kahvi 2005). Scateren was released under a Creative Commons license and is available to download for free. Portions of Scateren were licensed for a Nintendo DS game – Theta, produced by Vitei inc.
Pretty much everything he does is electronic music, leaning heavy on the “intelligent electronica” side, and nothing you’re likely to listen to in a club or at a party.Esem is currently working on a new album, which is referred to as LP3, though technically it will be his 4th full-length release. Some of his music can be played on last.fm or downloaded from his website. Find out more details about him by checking out his discography or his soundcloud page.
- Is life an inspiration to make music or is music inspiration to live?
>Music is inspiration to live. Present reality seldom informs my music; I am a fantasist.< - What would you do if there wouldn’t be music, starting with tomorrow?
>Wither, paint…. Move to Tahiti. Grow a lions face…< - …and what if you had to produce in a different music genre? What would that be?
>Metallic, highly synthesized, meditative music for Butoh.< - The beauty of silence or the chaos of noises?
>Silence< - What’s your favourite album ever?
>Karlheinz Stockhausen – “Stimmung”< - …and your favourite album cover?
>Karlheinz Stockhausen – “Stimmung”<
- Is there some music you like – but ashamed to admit it?
>No< - If you could be a rock star, who would you be?
>Juan Munoz< - Do you have a role model?
>No< - Who would you like to meet the most?
>Emily Dickinson< - What are your favourite movies?
>’The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes’ – Brothers Quay< - If you had to direct your own movie, how would it look like?
>I have a recurring vision of a girl kneading bread with her tears. I would work from this point to extrapolate the narrative in both directions.< - What’s your (original) profession?
>Artist< - What’s your next plan musicwise?
>To paint lust on air.< - How would you describe yourself in 5 words?
>Mercurial – artistic – focused – airborne – decisive< - What does beauty mean to you?
>Impenetrable surfaces.< - What would you do today if the world would end tomorrow?
>Live through it.< - Which places you love the most?
>Helix Branch, Highfield Grange, Moria, Tahiti< - Three things you could never get rid of?
>My need to create, my flaws; my destiny.< - Your three favourite websites?
- What’s your favourite picture about yourself? (photograph by Piero Roi)
Equal parts, composer, sound artist and storyteller; Rudi Arapahoe explores human spirituality as a series of glassy dreams slept in haunted internal worlds. His romantic compositions, crafted in the solipsistic confines of Helix Branch studios, frame classical instrumentation in magical realism. Beautiful musical passages, merge and dissolve as unconscious recollections, rendering the listener, a spellbound protagonist. Feel free to check out his website, his MySpace page and listen to his music on last.fm.
- Is life an inspiration to make music or is music inspiration to live?
>I like life, it’s very interesting for me.< - What would you do if there wouldn’t be music, starting with tomorrow?
>Games, drawing, making kids…< - …and what if you had to produce in a different music genre? What would that be?
>art rock< - The beauty of silence or the chaos of noises?
>I prefer chaos of silence or beauty of noises< - What’s your favourite album ever?
>Biosphere – Substrata<
- …and your favourite album cover?
>i don’t have one, in covers i like everything bright and full of colors< - Is there some music you like – but ashamed to admit it?
>No.< - If you could be a rock star, who would you be?
>Frank Zappa.< - Do you have a role model?
>yes, i am a calm tank< - Who would you like to meet the most?
>my father< - What are your favourite movies?
>Memento, Last days, Gerry, a lot of trippy dark ambient movies in general. But i like sci-fi too, District 9 was very good< - If you had to direct your own movie, how would it look like?
>Very slow and melancholic, with aliens and princesses and heroes< - What’s your favourite food?
>Porridge, cheese, mashed potato< - Is there a band/music genre you can’t stand listening to?
>Linkin Park< - What’s your (original) profession?
>designer, i do visuals for movies and ads< - What’s your next plan music-wise?
>orchestra collaboration, chorus. electronic preformance, music with beats and bass< - Which language would you like to speak most and why?
>i like english, i like how it sounds,and it’s pretty much simple< - How would you describe yourself in 5 words?
>discovering space and time< - What are your vices?
>i play too much games< - What is the most unusual comment anyone has ever made about you?
>i can’t remember anything like that< - The best moment in your life?
>childhood and winter times in siberia< - What does beauty mean to you?
>harmony and attraction< - What would you do today if the world would end tomorrow?
>i would be with my family and people that i love< - Which places you love the most?
>i love siberia and norway< - Who’s your favourite superhero and why?
>Chuck Norris, cuz he can count to infinity twice and is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.< - What’s your favourite flavour?
>the nature of thailand< - Three things you could never get rid of?
>creativity, games, laziness< - Your three favourite websites?
>ffffound.com, gametrailers.com, cookshop.wordpress.com< - What’s your favourite picture about yourself? (click on image for larger size)
- What’s your most favourite picture you made? (click on image for larger size)
- What is the question you always would have liked to be asked but nobody ever did?
>How did u like this interview?< - How did u like this interview?
>it was amazing, i like to answer such questions and discover forgotten sides of me and my past<
The core of Gultskra Artikler is Alexey Devyanin. GA is the author of the most memorable releases on brilliant Autoplate net-label, Gruppa Turistov and Gololed, self-released at Hyperboloid net-album Lusha, stunning album Moreprodukt at Nexsound net-labe, CD album Pofigistka at Lampse, and many other works (including, for example, “Razmer Nosa 46″ on Please Do Something), and his latest album Kasha Iz Topora, released on Miasmah, and his latest vinyl release Berezka/Monkey Lament on Other Electricities. His new vinyl album at OE will be released this year.
Gultskra Artikler was formed around 2002-2003, and worked with few different people, for example Dmitry Garin. Performed live at Abracadabra festival in Moscow, Detali Zvuka in Kiev, Full-Pull Festival in Sweden, Miasmah label night in Norway, and many other small live shows and performances, collaborating with different artists like Metro_NM, Mayhnaus. Gultskra’s music is always the unique mixture of brutal and honest vibes of mysterious Siberian soul and hi-tech technologies, some unpredictable electro-acoustical and avant-garde instrumental movements and precision electronical manipulations, strange field recordings. Each time he sounds completely different, but still and all each time you can feel the taste of real Gultskra Artikler.
You can find more info at www.gultskra-artikler.com and you can check out Alexey’s MySpace page as well. On last.fm and archive.org you can listen to his music (for free!) and for full discography feel free to check out his Discogs page.
