In
Conversation with
A little background:
Kontakte are a three piece group from London, UK
Who on their myspace.com are described as drawing
‘from all sides of the sonic spectrum fusing together
deep passions for Post - Drone - Space and Krautrock.’
The band also say their distorted beats, transience and
star-scraping melodies informs them on their quest to
create music of depth, space and intensity before
concluding by saying their’s is a unit off ‘three minds
pulling together to create challenging music and sounds
that leave an indelible, lasting impression on the listener.‘
I first spoke to the band by chance after stumbling onto
Their myspace.com through my friends ‘Laymar’
Who do a path not too dis-similar in glimpses!
For more information on the band – please go to
Hopefully I will be able to see you when you
Play Manchester!
Cheers
Andy N
Setting Sun:
How are things and what’s happening at the moment?
We started recording new material late last year so Jan see's us
finishing these off and rehearsing frantically for a run of shows we
have booked right up to April. The plan is to spread our wings a
little more this year and play more out of London - which we'd
never managed to achieve before.
We want to play to some new crowds and introduce them to
our sounds - having new tracks to play is also gonna be a
buzz.
Setting Sun:
Next, can you tell us a little bit about the
history of ‘Kontakte’ or as I like to say –
Who fired the starting pistol?
Kontakte:
Kontakte was started as a recording project by Ian
in 2005. The initial ideology remains to create passionate
sounds and music of space and texture. Soundscapes - but with a
coherent thread running through.
First putting some demo's onto myspace he realised there was
some genuine interest in what he was doing. Getting positive
feedback from like-minded musicians and promoters he pushed
it one step further and collected together a live line-up. This
has evolved over time and the now current line-up
(Ian, Ben, Paul) is definitely the winning formula. Not only for the
sound we're making but for the unit it has created. Its a balanced
unit, with all three minds pushing in the same direction and
being able to input equally. Were having fun and enjoying what
we're creating together.
Setting Sun:
What are your influences music-wise and what are
your influences?
Kontakte:
Without wanting to endlessly list the bands we listen to –
what influences us music-wise are heavily effect laden
guitars, hypnotic bass lines, driving beats and electronics
that have a life of their own. Our concept for making
music is to melt these elements together, then add more
of the same.
Other than music, life itself throws up enough inspiration
and influence to keep us focused and motivated.
Setting Sun:
I know you play gigs, how do these compare to your
recordings – is their one you prefer to the other?
Kontakte:
It would be wrong to suggest we prefer one over the
other, they really are very different things. Its easy to
get caught in an ideal that live you want to create
what you do in a studio, and in the studio you want to
recreate the power and intensity of your live show –
but its not that simple. Live music is something that
only exists momentarily - once the song has ended
its in the past, its a performance in the best sense
of the word, in front of an audience, and the way you
play can differ from one show to the next according to
so many different factors.
In the studio you have time and the technology to go
back and rewind the performance to either play it better,
add more layers, take things out, etc. The perfect balance
is to see them as two different things but be able to excell
and create both to the best of your means.
Setting Sun:
I have being enjoying all of your tunes on
myspace.com, but the one I have being enjoying the
most is ‘Ghosts of Electricity’ partly because I love
the title …. Can you tell us a little bit more about
this song?
Kontakte:
This track has been a major driving force for
this line-up.
Its about all the ways in which electricty manifests
itself - subtlety, serenity, power and intensity.
Electricity is an invisible force that surrounds us
constantly. We are dependant on this surreal energy
24 hrs a day. Although its a hidden, un-seeable energy
it has a distinctively sinister side - who hasn't had an
electric shock ?!
What seems so safe one minute can surprise you
and attempt to kill you the next. The title itself is taken
from a documentary on late night TV. But what it
evokes is that electricity has a life of its own. I (Ian)
used to have a tiny old transistor guitar amp that used
to pick up LW radio stations, it often seemed that
people were living in the wires and cables; though
the reception was so bad you couldn't decifer a word
that was said - it was as if Ghosts were in the airwaves.
Have you ever stood in an open field underneath
electricity pylons ? You can clearly hear the Ghosts
flying around above you.
Setting Sun:
What’s the inspiration behind your name ‘Kontakte’
out of interest too?
Kontakte:
Kontakte was 'the' original piece of electronic
music. Created by Karlheinz Stockhausen
(1928-2007) in 1960. He has been an inspiration
ever since to anyone who used electronic sounds
and electronic manipulation. Having seen him
perform this work in London in 2005 there wasn't a
need to look elsewhere for a moniker for this project.
Setting Sun:
What’s next for you all? Do you have any more
concerts planned etc?
Kontakte:
We aim to be gigging harder than ever this year. More gigs
coming through all the time - check www.myspace.com/kontakteuk
for updates.
Setting Sun:
I seem to recall you from London, what’s the music
scene like there nowadays? Have you being to any good
gigs recently etc?
Kontakte:
Between the three of us our favourite recent
shows we attended were :
MONO at The Scala.
SPIRITUALIZED at the Union Chapel.
GRAVENHURST at The Luminaire.
The music 'scene' in London is as vast as ever. It is a
mecca for every and any genre. But scenes within
in themselves are always fairly cliquey places to be,
seeing the same faces and playing to the same people.
Kontakte create music that isn't genre-definable, it fits
well in certain circles but we have many strings to
our bow, hence the need to spread our wings further
than the capital.
Setting Sun:
Couple of quick, fun questions to finish off with,
what would you like to be doing when you are 60?
Kontakte:
As little as possible, aslong as that involves having
seen the world and having played some good shows
and having a catalogue of recordings we're happy
with. Lying on a beach somewhere with an implant
chip in our brains playing the 'Greatest Hits
of Kontakte' is a nice enough image. Maybe
a few gigs in space...... ?
Setting Sun:
Lastly, what will you be doing when you are
60?
Kontakte:
The way this country is going difficult to tell - but
maybe playing that gig in space ?
Ian. Ben. Paul.
Kontakte. 2008.