Tim Hecker @ Control Club, Bucharest 13.10.12

In my tour diary for the time I spent in Bucharest I briefly mentioned the fact a bit more than two weeks ago I was able to witness Tim Hecker live. In order to keep this memory forever and share it with those who feel intrigued, I wrote a short report for Rawk'n'Roll available HERE. It's in Bulgarian tho, so for those of  you who can't handle my native language here's a quick translation of what Hecker did to me/us in Bucharest. The lack of photos is due to the fact he plays in complete darkness which is always a bitch for photographers. However if you are into the visual part of things I recommend you checking the Environments live video below the text. I find it extremely valuable since I travelled over 13 hours from Belgrade to Bucharest for the show and I couldn't catch their set. Thankfully I watched them live the next day. So here we go.

Tim Hecker always plays in total darkness and this night was not different. However, few lights managed to survive and they were pretty enough to show there's a human being in front of you. And he was the person creating this very same powerful sound environment that we happened to be in. When you listen to ambient you have two options – to listen to it quietly or so loud that the sound deafens the rest of your senses. That night the sound was powerful and engulfing, the low frequencies were mostly monolithic and massive but sometimes they reached quite chaotic states. In all of their metamorphoses they were able to create a perfect foundation for the endless sounds that Hecker was layering over them. Our ribs were vibrating after each tiny change in the sound. The music was too rich and our brains often lost track of either our perceptions were real, associative or physical. In the crashing sound waves there were hundreds of threads that you could find and follow. This made me want to experience the show again even before it was over. I often closed my eyes because they were irrelevant. Everything that I had to witness reached me through my ears or hands. Our bodies felt like an amplifier and touch gave us a double dose of vibrations. A double dose of music via physical means.

On October 13th in 'Control' Tim Hecker gave us a new, smaller but more complex world. Over a week after, the sound is gone but had generated in us a pile of thoughts, ideas, landscapes, contact. We are forever inside his music. All we need is to close our eyes and it's unfloding in an explosion of thoughts, feelings and eternal neuronal connections.

Now experience a bit of Environments.

'DRONE THE BALKANS' Day 6 (Sofia, Bulgaria)

18/10/12 Sofia, Bulgaria @ Suspacious Art Space

w/ Abandoned Shelter, Shrine, Arkhitektur Noir

After the show in Greece got cancelled we got back in Sofia to chill a bit before the last show here. When I book shows and play I tend not to enjoy them at full because I'm overwhelmed with other stuff. However this night was so different. Since the first moment in the space, which our friends from 'Suspacious' let us use, I was sure it will be a different night. We set the sound, put the gear and the next hour we spent preparing the visuals. It was around 20 minutes before the announced beginning when I saw that there are actually people gathering outside. Quite a promising start. However, after few minor issues we were ready to go. People entered the place and found six panels for visuals from two projectors on the sides of the hall, good sound, lots of merch, photography from RUBBER Gallery and of course four ambient projects. I can't explain how much I enjoyed playing in front of people who were quietly enjoying the event. The atmosphere was unbeatable. All of us were so calm and played the best we could because the event deserved it. The place was full and a huge part of the audience I'd never seen before (but I hope I will see again). Many people came to ask questions about us, about the music and the event. A lot of people didn't know about the show but passed by accidentally and decided to stay. Such interest meant a lot of me. The whole night I was explaining everybody I'd been waiting for 5 years to book and play such an event. It was the perfect end of the tour and I hope it will happen again really soon. Now after I droned a tiny part of the Balkans I'm planning to lock myself in sounds and abstain from intensively playing or booking ambient shows. But of course after me and Wayab open for La Casa Fantom THIS Sunday.

 'DRONE THE BALKANS' was something I was dying to do for quite a long time and I really plan on doing again. I enjoyed each show I played and I'm glad I met so many awesome people on the road. Thanks to each person who helped me book a show, bought merch or supported me in any way. Massive hugs to Sanja, Marius, Sergei, Nemanja, Malina, Neff, Danail and all venues who gave my music a chance. See you again soon. Here are the other stories if you are too lazy to browse my archive. 

'DRONE THE BALKANS' Days 4&5 (Varna, Plovdiv; Bulgaria)
'DRONE THE BALKANS' Days 2&3 (Bucharest, Romania)
'DRONE THE BALKANS' Day 1 (Belgrade)

'DRONE THE BALKANS' Days 4&5 (Varna, Plovdiv; Bulgaria)

16/10/12 Varna, Bulgaria @ Bolla Bar

w/ Mloski, Abandoned Shelter, Swamp Fire

October 16th, 2012 sucked for only one reasone - we had to leave Bucharest. So we really, really tried to make this as slow as possible. We got up so late, but still early enough for a cup of hot tea. And in the same time we thought Malina can't be nicer she cooked us such a tasty lunch that I barely ate something else until the evening so I can have its taste for as much time as possible. So around 14:00 we left her place, we buried ourselves in a pile of hugs and kisses and sadly we said goodbye. Half an hour later at the train station it was a time for another goodbye, so in general tough times. Around 16 we left Bucharest and we headed to Varna. The way was okay, the GPS took some weird decisions again which delayed us with an hour but we were okay. We got in the venue which proved to be quite a nice one and after an hour or so spent solving technical problems I finally started playing. The sound was really cool, I liked what came out of my set, but I was kinda more excited cus I was about to hear Abandoned Shelter after four years. And his set was great. So massive and deep and the coolest thing was that I was about to hear it in the next two days. I enjoyed the fact I was finally playing an ambient show in Varna with Mloski, who's spent so much time in this scene, and Swamp Fire, whose author pieces were really nice and I hope he sticks to making that type of music. So after I met some nice friends who showed up and made some new ones we left the bar and headed to our hosts who by chance had the craziest dog. I didn't think I mentioned Pica in Bucharest, well she was really nice but this guy here, called Roy was out of control. The craziest pug EVER, he was somewhere near 3, 4 months old and I'm sure he's meant to be the destroyer of worlds. After hanging out with him a bit we went for a cool decent sleep, cus you just gotta sleep people, it's awesome.

17/10/12 Plovdiv, Bulgaria @ Gramophone Club

w/ Deflax, Abandoned Shelter

So we woke up around 10, I mailed and messaged the world, wrote some stuff that I had to and after a cup of nice coffee with Roy all over the place we left the place of our hosts and went to the sea. Last night we didn't have the time and it was kinda sad cus few things in this world I find prettier than the sea at night. Maybe one of them is the sea during the day, so we had to check this out. Then we met the guy from Abandoned Shelter and his friend, and we headed to Plovdiv. It won't be a surprise if I say the GPS again took some pretty innovative routes but this time we weren't that delayed. We actually got in Plovdiv on time and we found ourselves in a venue that was so great that we were sure this night would be awesome. And it was. This time we set everything on time, we put visuals, we had really great and massive sound. However my set up got fucked up seconds before I started playing, but after a bunch of curses and quick change of software I got everything okay. Abandoned Shelter again destroyed everything, his new material and the visuals he's touring with... just a great combination. It's sad there weren't many people in the place, cus it was huge and looked kinda empty but still I guess those who were there felt the atmosphere and unlike the previous night in Varna there weren't so many of them talking shit and not listening to the music. The last treat for the night was Deflax, we played a huge set with quite diverse music, he had a cool sound, as usual did a great job. After the show we packed and left for Sofia, because our gig in Thessaloniki, Greece got cancelled. This means a day of chilling out and some final touches for the last show of my tour - in the beloved Sofia. I really want to thank Neff and Danail from Youngblood Booking who are hardcore kids but helped me big time by setting up this show for my boring ambient crap. They are the reason that something happens outside Sofia, not the ever growing scene of  bedroom musicians. Now I'm sleeping in my bed and you really can't go wrong with that, like ever.

Whoever needs words pt. 2

Again a show in Romania. This time a footage of a part of a set I played as Mytrip in Bucharest (14/10/12) during the Drone The Balkans tour. Big ups for Marius over Asiluum for making this happen!

'DRONE THE BALKANS' Days 2&3 (Bucharest, Romania)

13/10/12 Tim Hecker at Bucharest

Total madness, abandonment and desolation. That's how Northern Bulgaria pretty much looks like in the 21st century. I never imagined how do cities like Lom and Vidin look like (or the surrounding) but on Saturday I spent nearly 8 hours around them. My idea to play Bucharest after Belgrade looked so nice on the map, but when we weren't able to cross the Danube through the ferry in Vidin cus it was too expensive, it kinda changed in my head. So in order to cross a 300 m. wide river we travelled nearly 600 kms through the whole country. Okay the road was beautiful, but the GPS took some pretty curious decisions and threw us in the lowest class almost non-existent roads between villages. It looked as if we were in the Day of The Dead. The people we saw on the road were no more than 10. It quickly got dark and it didn't help to improve the feeling. Our first plan was to arrive in Bucharest around 18, what actually happened is that we arrived around 23 and something. I was kinda nervous and annoyed cus I made Iulia wait for me for over 5 hours, but pretty much nothing you can do. You travel in Bulgaria, says it all. However it's 23:30 we're in front of the Control club, she runs out of the venue saying Tim Hecker had just started playing. Yes, Tim Hecker live. I get into the venue, the bouncers are so nice they even want to give me change when I pay the entrance in euro. Few moments I'm in the hall. Hecker plays in total darkness and so does sound his music. Shattering basses, layers of drones, subtle melodies and relentless vibrations spread through our bodies. One of those gigs that feel like 5 minutes and they totally are not. After the show we go on a quick hunt for someone awesome enough to host 4 people cus our plans changed last minute. However like a gift from Satan appears Malina, an awesome girl who let us use her place the next two days. So we go to look for it. Bucharest is too complicated for us so it takes us some. However around 3 o'clock we're there. Showered, fed and with Tim Hecker in our ears. Sleep is awesome, especially with something that huggable.

14/10/12 Mytrip, Valerinne, Environments

After waking up at 12 the world looks way better. Today I'm supposed to play a show. After seeing Hecker I'm actually quite excited so we fool around for few hours at Malina's and Marius comes to pick us. The venue was changed in the last minute so we're playing this abandoned factory next to Gara Nord. It's the workshop of one of the Nava Spatiala guys and it's GREAT. We go there and wait for the people to gather. All guys from the playing acts come and they carry something. An amp or a head or parts of the drumkit. You're playing an ambient/exprimental gig and the hardcore punk diy ethics is everywhere. Soon it gets dark and the show starts. It's my second week in a row in Bucharest and third time I'm on an Environments gig. But this time I finally hear their set in full. And it's great. I'm so booking those guys in Bulgaria. After them are playing Valerinne. They're an instrumental trio with a girl making live visuals. They are really great to see live, their sound is great (maybe because of the DIY heads they are using) and you should download their last album right away! My set this night started quite well, really droning and massive, however at a point I chose to go more rhythmic which people enjoyed but I kinda felt I should have stayed in the drifting sound. However it was cool and diverse. It sucked that we couldn't stay longer after the show, cus this place was so awesome and the people were great. Actually all people I know in Romania are awesome. I don't know how they do it, it's just insane. So a quick drive to Radu's place cus we kinda missed sleeping there, a quick glimpse at his D&D map and then we're back to Malina for an awesome sleep and good things at all. Romania is always such a pleasure. It sucks I won't be there this week to. Big ups and kisses for Marius, Malina, Mihai oh yeah Iulia <3 and every single person we met!!

'DRONE THE BALKANS' Day 1 (Belgrade)

So after tons of mails and messages I kinda got this small October tour working and suddenly it was the 12th day of the month and we were supposed to head for our first show. I'm saying 'our' cus on this tour I'm travelling with my mates over RUBBER Gallery who'll be making the merch table way more beautiful with their author photographies, various prints and photo techniques. Besides them I was able to gather awesome local artists everywhere so they could share these shows with me. For the first day those mates were Sanja w/ her project Lebdi and Sergei Klein from Ukraine, who somehow happened to be in Serbia at this very same moment. However after a 5 hour long drive we're in Belgrade. We met Sanja, went to her place for tea and cinnamon cookies and I kinda got a really nice souvenir from her that was the reason I actually got to know her back in the day. So then we went to Jica, a place that was somehow illegal but remained alive for over 20 years. And it remained alive that night too. After a brief soundcheck we went for a walk in rainy Belgrade. It was a cool thing cus we actually got into Nemanja and Stefan's place, yes those very same guys I spent two weeks travelling and playing with during the 'Vultures Become Eagles' Tour. So we chatted, eat some fruits and went back for the show. We were the second part of the meal for tonight as there was one more show in the venue of two really, really weird bands. One of them was like the Balkan version of the Ramones with a girl doing vocals (more of woman actually, as they all were over 40 I guess) and the other one... well they said they were rocking in a free world, I hope they really are. So it's our turn, we set up quickly and off we go. I started this one while Sergei and Sanja were really quiet. There were a bunch of assholes that kept talking and this really pissed my friends so what was supposed to be an ambient collab turned really quickly into more of a powerviolence, spoken word piece. Then we made another one which was way more rhythmic, but despite it had that really mainstream and user friendly taste it also became quite weird, which is always nice. After the show we quickly pack our stuff and here we are again and the Eaglehaslanded lair. Now clean and well-fed I'm pulling the plug out cus tomorrow I'm going to Bucharest again to watch Tim Hecker with someone really special and play a show on Sunday with the almighty Environments. Cool times, ha?

Mytrip - 'DRONE THE BALKANS' Tour

About a month after I came back from the 'Vultures Became Eagles' tour w/ Expectations I'm hitting the road again. This time for a shorter tour w/ Mytrip. This is the second time I'm travelling around with my drones for this year and I hope it will be even more awesome, because this time I'm going to Serbia and Romania for shows with awesome friends and artists. I guess I'll be maintaining a tour diary again, so if you are interested how the droning of the Balkans is going keep an eye on this place! Below is the tour event that I'll update with details and news while on the road and each date from the tour with a separate event in case you are there and coming. See you somewhere!

DRONE THE BALKANS // mytrip october '12 tour @ facebook

12.10. Belgrade, SRB @ Panic Room Zica w/ Lebdi, Sergey Klein

http://www.facebook.com/events/530096137006211/

14.10. Bucharest, RO @ Fabrica Skatepark w/ Environments, Semiosis
http://www.facebook.com/events/284556598315310/

15.10. Varna, BG w/ Abandoned Shelter, Mloski, Swamp Fire
http://www.facebook.com/events/284384041671535/

16.10. Plovdiv, BG w/ Abandoned Shelter @ Bar Gramophone w/ Abandoned Shelter, Deflax
http://www.facebook.com/events/113152382175807/

17.10. Thessaloniki, GR w/ Abandoned Shelter @ tba

18.10. Sofia, BG @ Suspicious Art Space w/ Abandoned Shelter, Shrine, Arkhitektur Noir
http://www.facebook.com/events/374815329259746/

Amenra at Fabrica, Bucharest 06.10.12

I waited almost an year to see this band and experience their ritual. I wrote a review for the lovely Rawk'n'Roll. It's in Bulgarian though, so I translated the paragraphs describing my time in the Church of Ra. Read it below in English, and if you know Bulgarian click HERE for the full story. It was a total life-changer.

...the time in Fabrica suddenly starts to function in a different way. Darkness is getting thicker and is only interrupted by black and white visuals. In front of the stage bodies are gathering, and on it a blurry image appears. It is showing the insides of a church. The five men from Amenra are there. Mathiue is staring through our bodies and his guitar lets us all in the Church of Ra. I've seen tens of photos of their concerts, I've heard the stories of few dear friends. But this here is different. Amenra's music is thick and massive like a wall. It's dragging you to itself and wants to show you what is beyond. It swallows you in a space created by slow and heavy sounds, anxious and sick melodies and ritual rhythms. In front of you there are four people, staring in the very same space you are inhabiting. They are not playing but are pulsating in one with your senses. And among them you see Colin. Never looking at the audience during the whole show. With the mic cable around his hands, he's like trapped in his own pulsations in his own space. The Amenra poetry tears his throat and turns into the last missing texture of their sound environment. You oftenly feel your eyes are irrelevant. You share the blank stares of the other dark silhouettes and you are just listening. You hold her hand and think you are at least controlling this. Then you feel your bodies moving in an unison, engaged in the common pulse. During the whole show I see Colin's face twice. I see his lips moving even when he's not singing. And this helps you understand what are those people and what music means to them. It is their ritual, we are their ears and all together we are in the domains of Ra.

At a point the screen goes black. The worn out images are gone. Only the Amenra logo is still there. The five men are gone. The grip around your neck is loosened. Her hand is still here but the oxygen insufficiency remains for few more hours. Actually it is a pleasant reminder of where you were - the place where air was replaced by the black and thick substance which is actually Amenra's music.