Footprints in Snow

Inizia un nuovo anno, e prima di perdermi nei meandri dei club italiani con i miei giardini di miro, voglio condividere con voi alcune scoperti interessanti.
nell'attesa della pubblicazione dei prossimi due lavori su lunga distanza (uno in collaborazione con jasper tx, ed uno per rootstrata di jefre cantu ledesma di tarentel) ecco a seguire una breve intervista a machienfabriek ovvero rutger zuydervelt. perche' proprio questo artista: fa della bella musica, forse non pop, ma cmq in alcuni momenti decisamente godibile e sempre di alta qualità, ma soprattutto perche' dietro potete vedere un progetto ed una visione ben precisa. rutger e' uno che gestisce le sue cose la sua musica. se andate a vedere dalle parti di boomkat.com troverete un bel po' dei suoi dischetti nella classifica di fine anno e magari ascoltatevi qualche sua visione musicale sul suo myspace.com/machinefabriek


Machinefriek is Rutger solo project. we could call it drone music? and what is drone music...or you don't need any etiquette?
I guess what i do mostly nowadays is drone-based music indeed, but i also do other, more song-based stuff or more noisy cut-up pieces. I try do do many different styles, 'cause i listen to alot of different stuff myself. Why limit myself?


Is Machinefabriek your primary activities?
No, it's still a hobby. I'm a professional graphic designer. I don't think i'll be able to live form the music. I just don't earn enough for that. There's not much money going around in the dutch experimental music scene. Maybe i should write hit-songs.


machinefabriek is a solo project, did you were involved previously in any band things? and why work solo...couse you have more space for your idea or what?
Of course working alone is just very convenient, time-wise and idea-like-wise. Nobody tells me what to do and i can work on it whenever i want to. That's a great thing.
I did play in a doom-metal band for three months when i was 18, but now i play in a singer-songwriter-like trio, influenced my acts like Smog and Will Oldham. The band is called Dagpauwoog, which is dutch for a butterfly species.
Also i play alot with other artists, improvising on stage.


Is live set an important things for you? what kind of attitude you have when approach a live set? a laptop things or a real live set?
Live gigs consist out of improvising on guitar and alot of effect-pedals. Since this year i'm able to really be confident about what i do on stage and it works pretty well. I really try to make a performance a hypnotising experience for the audience. The sound should be everywhere, overwhelming. The times that this works are beautiful, transcending moments.


i was interested in your stuff couse i saw a sort of diy ethos in your work...the 3 inch self released series...what move you on producing that kind of little jewel?
Somehow the length of time that fits on such a 3-inch (between 20 and 25 minutes) seems perfect for what i do. My performances are also not much longer than 25 minutes. But i think it's the perfect duration to tell a story and keep things sharps without getting boring. Despite the short length i also see those 3-inches as true albums.
The size of those 3-inches are also very nice. They look very cute, which makes them accesible and collectable. They became my trademark.


also you have more than one 3 inch dedicated to sound of the city...what are the ideas behind that releases?
I just get inspired easely and it happened that i went to a city for the first time (like Manchester) and got so enthousiastic by the people and the things i saw that i couldn't do any different than to use this energy to make music and dedicate it to that city. When i do something like that i also use field-recordings made in that particular place.


is there around any project or musiscian with a similar spirit? some name and suggestion for us?
I think i have alot in common with Tarentel, and (to be more specific) their guitarist Jefre Cantu Ledesma. He also does alot of loop-based guitar-drone-stuff. The same counts for Stars of the Lid. Music like that tought me how useful a guitar can be and that you can do more with it than play rock-music.



what's the best netherland best music keep secret?
That's Soccer Committe without a doubt. It's a girl named Mariska Baars that plays very minimalistic songs. Just guitar and voice, but more intimate and intens than you'll ever hear. Her voice sometimes resembles Cat Power. She released two demos and still doesn't have a recordcontract but that will change soon, i'm sure about it. Soccer Committee has a MySpace page, check that out.
And if you're already on MySpace, go look for the page of The Julie Mittens, a brilliant guitar-bass-drums trio that make the most furious combination of free-jazz and noise-rock. Very intens indeed.



do you still prefer cd-r to netlabel?
I must say i don't know what a netlabel is. If that's a label that releases mp3's or something i'd defenitly prefer cd-r's, cause i like to have my music physical, with nice packaging and whole. That's just part of the music. It isn't finished till it's packaged in a nice sleeve.


could you drop here your playlist?
If you mean an automated one: i don't listen music on the computer so i don't have it.... But the three records i listen to the most nowadays are:
Aaron Martin, Soccer Committee and Dream/Aktion Unit.


where italian customers could buy your records?
The official cd can be purchased at the site of the label (www.lampse.com), I made a 7-inch for Type Records, that can be ordered at their site (www.typerecords.com) and the same goes for the new cd on Root Strata (www.rootstrata.com).
The 3-inch cd-r's can be purchased through my site (www.machinefabriek,nu, in Dutch) or by e-mailing me (post@machinefabriek.nu)