German/Belgian trio Dictaphone have released a new album called Goats & Distortions 5 which which is out now via Denovali Records. According to the press release, After their last highly acclaimed album “APR70” Oliver Doerell is surrounded again by his longterm bandmembers Roger Döring (clarinet & saxophone) & Alex Stolze (violins). In the last 3 years they dived even deeper in their “morbid instruments” concept. An old tape machine, which Doerell found in a hidden room in his house in Berlin served as soundsource, ghostly sounds could be heard and the machine died soon after being sampled. For the first time Roger Döring played a bass clarinet on this album and after the recordings lost it in the subway on his way home…
They improved their skills to use rustle as a instrument and are supported by the voice of Helga Raimondi in the track “your reign is over”. The result is an ungraspable, ghostly, spooky album consisting of ten different journeys into the experimental sound world of these unique compositions.
Check the full streaming below and read our chat with the band who detail the new album, the story behind the artwork, their roots and much more.
“Goat and Distortion 5” is your new album. What are the first vivid memories of this album when you started to compose the music? What was the main focus? Everything is started with an old tape machine, which you find in a hidden room in your house in Berlin, right?
The process of a new album can be very long . Over a period of 3 to 4 years i produce tracks for theatre and contemporary dance productions . Then i choose the ones that could speak the dictaphone language and invite my friends Roger Döring and Alexander Stolze to my studio . They improvise on the basis tracks and we develop the tracks further together . At some point it is clear which direction the whole album is going . I don´t start an album with a general idea , but the general idea becomes obvious in the working process . The tape machine, which i found was just one part of the narrative , which made sense to me .
Improvisation and experimentation are two important sides of your music. What is your definition of experimentation in music?
I like to find alternative forms of playing instruments , for example to control electronic instruments in unusual ways , like self build percussions ,which control via contact microphones the synthesizers . Nothing new obviously ,it has been done by thousands of artists, but always inspiring , if you find out things for yourself.
Also i enjoy the decline of instruments , broken synths , which make strange sounds or a worn out guitar with 2 strings and again old tape machines which make lots of background noise and rustle .
I like the Artwork of the album. How did you choose it? How important is the visual part for your albums?
The cover photo is by Julie Calbert , a Belgian photographer . She invited me in the beginning of the pandemic to a photo / audio project and i fell in love with her work . So it happened .
Our label Denovali reissued all our old albums and we decided to use old polaroids , which have been shot by my father showing mostly my mother in the 70ties , this artwork was obviously very important to me .
You have released different albums with Denovali Records. How important is the work of this labels for your way of thinking music and for the contemporary music scene?
We found a very good partner in Denovali to release our music . For the artwork we have a similar approach and everything is going quite natural and uncomplicated . Musicwise we are on our own planet and the label respects this and trusts us ,which is necessary for good results . I don´t feel very connected to any contemporary music scene .
You are from Germany. I’m really interested in the connection between the places we live over the years, our roots and the art. How do you feel these themes connect to your music and your way of thinking music? What are your favourite places which have inspired you the most?
Actually i´m from Belgium . I was born end of the 60ties in Brussels , my parents moved from Germany to Belgium in the beginning of the 60ties. Obviously the place where you grow up and where you have your formative years is very important . In my case , i was lucky to experience the vivid 80ties Brussels music scene and afterwards i moved to Berlin in the beginning of the 90ties , which was a paradise for art and music and a perfect place to find your own artistic way , without any financial pressure …
Let’s talk about the current situation. How are you living these strange times and what are the main concerns as a band?
I have been lucky , that i could continue to work on theatre pieces with Modjgan Hashemian and at the moment i compose music for a movie by Massimo Ali Mohammad . So i have interesting work and an income . More complicated and depressing is the concert situation of course . It feels strange and a bit cold to release an album and not being able to play concerts . On the other hand as an introverted person i don’t miss the traveling and the concert stress too much .
When the pandemic will be over and there will be live shows again, how would you like to introduce this new album on the stage?
In the last years we developed an audio /visual show to present our music . It mostly based on the collage art of Helga Raimondi .
During and after the lockdown time, Bandcamp was the only online platform which tried to help musicians, waiving their fees on the site on the very first Friday of the month. What do you think of this kind of initiative and how what is your idea about the rights of artist connected to streaming platforms?
I think it was mainly a cheap self promotion for the Bandcamp platform . Nearly nobody earned anything worth mentioning with this or enough to make something like a living . The same with the other platforms . The income of the sales and streamings are so minimal in most cases , that only concerts , music licensing and work in other disciplines like theatre or film can enable to survive as an musician . But , it has always been like that ..so it´s not because of the Internet or that Spotify is not giving enough to the artists . Their share is not fair , but if it was it would´t change a lot for most musicians .
The development of the big cities is a much bigger problem for art and creation of non mainstream music . I would never move nowadays to Berlin .
I guess the future of creative people of my taste will be more on the countryside and small cities .
Ritual question. Have you seen or heard anything good recently?
I rewatched ” The Conversation ” by Francis Ford Coppola . Fantastic movie on public surveillance with a great Jazz soundtrack !