zev died ochestra - I (2012)

zev died orchestra is a weird collective that was formed around numerous shows, which me and a bunch of friends made. We never rehearse, we play only live, but quite rarely. Some of us bail shows, but at a point we gather together again. We like found sounds, drones, contact mics, sub basses and super high frequencies. zev died orchestra is martin l. (gokkun), nikola m. (wayab) and angel s. (mytrip).

The cool news is we just put out our first release. 'I' features two zdo pieces and has just been published on Bandcamp, a small edition of 20 tapes is available on Amek. Huge thanks go to Valentina Gelso at Monochrome Art for the awesome artwork. We'll be glad to hear your feedback and hopefully see you during a live when we get back to doing this again.

bandcamp / bigcartel
'I' is a personal recollection for times spent away from reality. It incorporates three different views, but also everything unknown occurring in between. zev died orchestra is sometimes gently drifting, but sometimes it is raw. When we reach for the familiar, it is to deconstruct it beyound recognition. However, preparing, performing and releasing those pieces serves the sole purpose of sharing the state of freedom we reach only when exploring music.

Music for Theatre (2010-2012)

I've been considering this post for so long and finally I got the time to do it. I selected few highlights from my work in the endless field of theatre music, and here we go. The last three years I've been collaborating with Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV, a young Bulgarian director and actor, specialized in alternative & multimedia theatre. My first encounter with her work was in 2010, during her solo play 'Tuberculosis'. I was amazed by her presence on stage, by her scenography and by her intelligent use of digital technologies in such an ancient art as theatre. The strong social message that was implied in the play was also a reason that got me into the idea of working with her in the future. For the music I created for her I had total freedom, although at certain points I'd been given directions, ideas, concepts and whatever was coming out during the rehearsal process. My work in these three plays is basically a mixture of ambient / drone soundscapes, field recordings, spoken word and sound design. I've made excerpts that are representing the three soundtracks. They sound similar as the plays for me are following a common and a very unique concept and style. And now some history.

"Оранжерията" / 'The Glasshouse' (2010)

"Оранжерията" / 'The Glasshouse' (2010)

The play depicts life as a trap for the human soul, a sealed box in which our souls are put after its birth. A box, in which we are doomed to exist, a symbol of a life which we only appreciate when facing a terminal disease or the death itself. The script was written by TSV and is based on the original Helmut Peschina play, as well as on works by Herman Hesse, Jean-Paul Sartre and Rabindranath Tagore. The project struggles to wake the spiritual charge in the individual, vegetating in the somatic embrace of the 'greenhouse-body'. The play questions issues as sexism, homophobia, cultural and social norms, materialism etc.

As this was my first interaction with theatre, and especially in its quite alternative form (with multimedia, live camera and specific scenography) I was quite enthusiastic. I regularly attended rehearsals, felt the spirit of the play and this was my main inspiration. Sadly this play is not currently on stage, but I strongly hope it will be revived at a point. My soundscapes were not the only music used, there were also excerpts from classical pieces and contemporary ones.
"Оранжерията" / 'The Greenhouse' (2010) OST (excerpt) by Mytrip

Screenplay & directed by: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Music and ambience: Mytrip, Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Multimedia: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV, Ognian Kolev, Ilian Kyuchukov
Scenography and costumes: Zdravka Kantareva, Tsvetelina Stoyanova – TSV
Cast: Peter Meltev, Stanislav Peev, Iuliana Milanova, Elena Petkova, Eva Demireva, Denis Ivanov /in the multimedia/, Tsvetana Maneva /voice/

 "Трябва да се живее" / 'The Show Must Go On' (2011)

 "Трябва да се живее" / 'The Show Must Go On' (2011)

What happens when you choose to live in a virtual reality? How topics as suicide, loneliness, boredom, love and the meaning of our existence are distorted in the synthetic computer world? Isn't the real person a better choice? How can unexpected meeting in a chat-room can turn into the friendship of your life through the shared idea to committing a suicide?

These are some of the questions posed to the viewer in this play. Again an immense audio-visual work incorporated in theatre. This time a smaller cast, but the same strong social message and meaning. The music I created has a similar taste, but I was a bit more focused on getting closer to sound-design. The play is struggling to stay on stage and hopefully TSV will manage to keep performing it in Sofia. Besides my works few other pieces by various artists were used, below is an extract from my soundscapes.
"Трябва да се живее" / 'The Show Must Go On' (2011) OST (excerpt) by Mytrip

Directed by: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Screenplay by: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Music: Mytrip, Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Multimedia: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV, Ilian Kyuchukov, Stoyan Cholakov
Cast: Elian Aroyo, Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV

"Алкохол" / 'Alcohol' (2012)

"Алкохол" / 'Alcohol' (2012)

The latest product of my collaboration with TSV is called 'Alcohol'. This is a biographical play based on the novel by Kalin Terziiski and Diana Dragoeva. In my personal view this is the heaviest play she has ever made. It is complex as content, and complex for it is heavily filled with multimedia, sound, text, acting, message and atmosphere. So far it has been receiving great feedback from those who are willing to experiment with their taste for theatre. The interest from both the media and audience has been quite impressive and I sincerely hope this will remain the same way in the future. The topics here are again quite social, the main thread is alcoholism and addiction through the eyes of the individual struggling to fight it. My work is dark, creepy and escalates with the development of the play. It is again a mixture of ambient soundscapes, field recordings and a lot of recorded spoken word. As it is a biographical play, so if you see this live, besides my music you will hear a lot of popular tracks, which are connected to the time period depicted by the author. Hear a sample below. 
"Алкохол" / 'Alcohol' (2012) OST (excerpt) by Mytrip

Director: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Screenplay: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Multimedia: Georgi Vassilev, Ivelina Mineva, Damyan Nikolov, Ognyan Kostovski
Music: Mytrip, Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV
Scenography & Costumes: Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV, Ivelina Mineva
Cast: Kalin Terziiski, Svetoslav Terziiski, Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV

It hasn't been too much of reading, ha? However, theatre is certainly a field I'd like to keep exploring in the future, especially in its most alternative and experimental forms. This year I took part in a live improvisation which was accompanying a piece of contemporary performance and I found it quite enjoyable. Movies are a challenging field too, but the freedom I found in theatre is still unsurpassed.

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!!