LLUMEN Several people have pointed out the standout track ‘Harbour’, which again has serious lyrics. Can you explain the deeper meaning of it? Is there also a reason why you put this song as the penultimate track on your record? I actually put it as the last track on the CD.‘At Nadir’ is the first track on the second CD, but with streaming services that is not so clear of course. ‘Harbour’ came about somewhere during a discussion. It is about being part of the same whole, but still not finding a connection, about wanting the same thing, but not succeeding in reconciling it, about the ocean as a driving force for good or for evil. Can I say that your music evolved from classical and orchestral dark electro towards future pop in the years? I remember a time when future pop was often looked down upon – completely unfairly, by the way – even though it was hugely popular, or maybe just because of that. How do you look at this? I do think I have evolved more and more towards future pop, or at least more complex electro. That has mainly to do with the fact that I can’t identify with the minimal trend that is (or was) prevalent. I like chord progressions and melodies. In my opinion, they get lost a bit if you stay in the more classic electro. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it is not something I can express myself in. Future pop simply lends itself more to telling stories. It is sometimes looked down on, but then it is also good to note that bands like VNV Nation, Covenant or Diorama – to name but a few – still manage to have an identity and continue to produce a series of timeless classics. I also just make what I want and don’t have to justifywhat style that would or wouldn’t be. If you take the new Implant, or the latest from Haujobb, you know that pigeonholing is not necessary. ‘The Breaking Waves’ did well in the German Electronic WebCharts (GEWC). You were number 4 there for two weeks. Did you experience much of a consequence from that? We entered the GEWC at number 7 and a week later we were at number 4 with Diary of Dreams, Solar Fake and Funker Vogt above us. We also held out at number 4 for the entire period, something I am proud of.Unfortunately, I don’t really see any consequences of that. I have the impression that organizers are more concerned with Instagram likes and Facebook. You have a PhD in musicology. Now I am no longer www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 6 - surprised that people with a thorough knowledge of music also get involved with metal, rock, pop and even electro. But can you explain to us how these studies have influenced your work as an electro musician? It may sound counterintuitive, but it is mainly by writing my PhD that I started experimenting less in Llumen. When you do the craziest musical experiments every day at your job, you are sometimes glad that you can just focus on writing a song instead of doing a new kind of embodied sound experiment. Of course, that urge to experiment is still contained in Llumen songs and I love to keep looking for new ways to generate sounds and images. When I hear that you were able to play the Mechanismus Festival in Seattle twice, in the United States, and recently also performed in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, I wonder why you can’t performmore often in Belgium. I’m glad that it can happen on a Dark Entries Night, because I also expect that a lot of people want to see you here. How do you look at that? Well, I’m kind of giving up trying to find an explanation for that. I think Belgium is a difficult country to find gigs in. Abroad, however, it’s not much easier. It really takes effort to get gigs.Most of the time it’s all about likes and exposure on social media. It might be a joke, but all the time you put into your socials, you don’t put into your music. I’m looking forward to playing in my hometown. It’s been a long time, so we’ve made sure that October 12th will be something really special. Live, Llumen consists of three people. Can you introduce your band members and their role in the group? We are indeed back with three live, Joris is ‘back’ there, and he takes care of visuals and light. We also play this aspect live. Manu plays synths and makes sure that nothing goes wrong technically. It is more fun to perform with friends anyway. Xavier KRUTH https://www.llumen.be/CID.html alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/ the-breaking-waves-deluxe-edition www.facebook.com/people/Llumen-official/
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