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ELECTRONIC CIRCUS Festival for electronic music in Bielefeld, Germany - 12.09.2009 (www.electronic-circus.net) This year in September the second Electronic Circus festival was held in Germany; a true electronic party covering almost every part of the musical spectrum. A unique gathering of artists and a wide range of visitors who found their way to the Electronic Circus held in one of my favourite venues; the Movie in Bielefeld. Norwegian Wood Fourth act was reserved for mr. Erik Wøllo, Scandinavian multi-instrumentalist with a huge record of service and one of the most experienced musicians in this scene. While preparing my musical journey to Germany I played Wøllo's music and his compositions really struck me. The subtility in his music doesn't seem to have any borders. This gifted artist is "painting" music all over and for those who didn't see him before I can assure you that his live appearance was even better than the original recordings. The way he touches the guitar makes it feel like the instrument comes alive. For me the highlight of Electronic Circus 2009. A bonus was offered by the duo Erik Wøllo and Bernhard Wöstheinrich; another multi-instrumentalist who for this occasion played an ethnic instrument, the zyther. An interesting combination of acoustic and electronic music followed and left us with a sense of satisfaction. by Koos van Wijngaarden (www.planetorigo.com) Der nächste, der die Bühne betrat, war der aus Norwegen stammende Keyboarder und Gitarrist Erik Wøllo, für den der Auftritt in Bielefeld sein Deutschlanddebüt darstellte. Vor Jahren hatte ich Erik schon in den Niederlanden beim E-Day gesehen. Schon mit dem damaligen Auftritt hatte er mich komplett überzeugt und diese Meinung unterlegte er mit seinem Auftritt in Bielefeld aufs Neue. Erik war zunächst allein auf der Bühne und präsentierte seine sehr sphärische, melodische teils unter die Haut gehende Musik, in dem er einige Sounds, Rhythmen und Synthiestimmen aus seinen Computern und Synthies ablaufen ließ. Den Hauptteil, nämlich die hinreißenden Melodien seiner Stücke, spielte er dann auf seiner Gitarre, die an einen Synthie angeschlossen war und mit der er traumhafte Sounds zaubern konnte. Mit dieser Technik (er benutzt allerdings kein MIDI) ist es ihm möglich, seine Gitarre nicht so hart klingen zu lassen sondern aus ihr unglaublich weiche Klänge hervor zu holen. Ähnliche Sounds zaubert auch der amerikanische Musiker Mark Dwane aus seiner MIDI gesteuerten Gitarre. In seinem Programm standen ältere, bereits veröffentlichte Stücke sowie bisher unveröffentlichtes Material. Schon zu Beginn baute er eine dichte Atmosphäre auf, in der er sich selber zu verlieren schien, was man deutlich an seiner Mimik erkennen konnte. Die Gänsehäute, die so manchem Zuschauer über den Rücken lief, schienen auch bei Erik aufzukommen, so tief war er in seinen Stücken. Die Sounds aus den Synthies und seiner Gitarre gingen eine innige Symbiose miteinander ein. Dabei ergänzten sich beide Instrumente perfekt. Als visuelle Unterstützung hatte Erik im ersten Teil wunderbare Bilder (Filmmaterial), die unter anderem vorbeiziehende Wolken oder Berggipfel zeigten, auf eine Leinwand projiziert. Bildmaterial und Musik waren perfekt aufeinander abgestimmt, ohne dass die Bilder zu dominant wirkten. Als Erik dann einen Rhythmus aus dem Instrumentarium los ließ, der den meisten Besuchern bekannt war, wurde es unruhig im Saal, er hatte nämlich eine Coverversion eines bekannten deutschen Elektronikacts extra für dieses Festival mitgebracht. Es handelte sich um „The Model“ von der Düsseldorfer Elektroniklegende Kraftwerk. Das Stück ist nicht der erste Titel, den er von Kraftwerk gecovert hat. Auf seinem Album „Blue Sky, Red Guitars“ aus dem Jahr 2004 hat er bereits mit „Computerlove“ und „In The Hall Of Mirrors“ zwei Stücke der Düsseldorfer, die er damals mit Akustikgitarre eingespielt hat, veröffentlicht. Bei „The Model“ zauberte er aber mit seiner E-Gitarre über den Synthie eine tolle Version des bekannten Stückes. Im letzten Teil seines Auftrittes kam dann noch sein Special Guest mit auf die Bühne. Im letzten Jahr hatte Harald Großkopf zusammen mit Bernhard Wöstheinrich schon in Bielefeld auf der Bühne gestanden, nun gesellte sich Bernhard zu Erik Wøllo. Bernhard unterstützte Erik dabei an seinem 'Z-Tarr' und einer EMU XL7, stilistisch blieben die Stücke aber im bisher gehörten. Mit Erik’s Auftritt gab es eine weitere Steigerung des bis dahin schon guten Festivals. by Stephan Schelle (www.musikzirkus-magazin.de) |
 Electric Circus, Germany 2009. (photo by Stephan Schelle) |
 Bernhard Wöstheinrich and Erik Wøllo at Electric Circus (photo by Stephan Schelle) |
E-LIVE 2007 Eindhoven, Holland (www.e-live.groove.nl) 2007's electronic music festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, was my second visit to that festival, so this time I knew what to expect, and also had something to compare with. It's the only festival of its kind in Europe. E-Live has two main features; a stall area where record labels sell their products, and concerts in the auditorium. Some familiar labels were present, for example AD Music, Spheric Music, Manikin and Klangdesign, but also a couple of new labels; ModularWhite, and MellowJet (run by the well known artist Bernd Scholl, also present). Additionally, individual artists had their own stalls. The stall area seemed quite busy and I believe there might have been more stalls this year than last year, and also the audience seemed a little bigger, although Groove reports that around the same number of people turned up this year, around 300-350. Perhaps people were just concentrated more in the same areas. At the AKH Records stall there was always some buzz, as the French musician Francis Rimbert (of JM Jarre fame) was present to promote his new album, Snap Shots. Fans got autographs, pictures and could chat with Francis, who was very friendly and smiling, and seemed to appreciate the connection to the fans. There was no synthesizer room this year, which I guess was not missed much due to the tight schedule between concerts. Personally, I always find it fun to tinker with synths (although I don't play them for real) but perhaps this was just a priority by the organizers. As for the concerts, the first one was by Maxxess, whose style of electronic is quite unique as he uses the guitar in a heavier fashion that many other electronic artists. In fact, his main instruments are both the guitar and the synths, so the guitar is not just an exotic bonus in some tracks. After the first track, his main computer broke down and needed a reboot, which took several minutes, but the audience was relaxed and supportive, and laughed when Maxxess explained that he "needed to check my email before I play another track". The concert then went on, with mostly fast-paced, bombastic tracks, some rooted in the Berlin School tradition, and others of a more general melodic European style. On the screen behind the stage, abstract fractal graphics were projected in sync with the music. The concert was basically playback with live guitar and some live synth leads when the guitar was not played, but it struck me that the words of Jean Michel Jarre, "watching a man play synths is not sexy" held true because when Maxxess did his guitar thing, the whole performance was more fun to watch than if he had been just one man behind a bank of synths. While the concert had great sound and there were some nice songs, the diversity could have been greater, in order to show off more composition skills. As a musician, Maxxess is very talented but for my personal taste the compositions themselves could perhaps have more variation. The next concert was by Erik Wøllo, the Norwegian synthesist and guitarist. His music is much softer and more symphonically crafted than Maxxess, and sometimes touches on ambient structures, sometimes classic euro-space-pop with hints of Jarre and Vangelis. His performance style includes playing synth sounds on the guitar, like an arctic Mike Oldfield, but also playing themes on the keyboards. Wøllo had a custom made movie showing on the screen, depicting various mountains, plateaus, landscapes, flights above clouds, etc. Very simple and clean images that perfectly fit the relaxed energy of Wøllo's music. Towards the end of the concert he played his version of Kraftwerk's The Model, which was rewarded by intense cheering from the audience. In my opinion, Erik's personal and emotional music made for the best concert this evening. The third and last concert in the auditorium was by ARC, a UK duo with two legends, Mark Shreeve and Ian Boddy. These very skilled keyboard players were highly anticipated by the audience, and played a set of tracks that went from Berlin School-esque via semi-new age to melodic tunes. The tracks were interlinked, flowing from one to the next seamlessly. The two musicians, being the only keyboard duo on the main stage this night, were very well rehearsed and played as if their four hands were controlled by one brain! There were no visuals to accompany the music, and no performance gimmick either, so you could close your eyes and just listen to the music. The final song, an old Shreeve classic from the 80s, brought about a great reaction from the crowd, who demanded an encore, and got it! The ARC concert was very professional, and had the best single song of the day, but the overall concert was slightly predictable in terms of songs and styles. How about an improvisional section or going bonkers with an unexpected track, like Wøllo did? To sum up the concerts; Maxxess had the best live performance, Erik Wøllo had the overall best music and visuals, and ARC had the best keyboard playing and the best song of the day. All in all, the three acts complemented eachother and each offered something different than the others. (The fourth act, Suryia, was not possible to be seen or heard by me, due to meetings.) E-Live 2007 was another good day for fans of electronic music. It was perfectly organized, offered good concerts included in the admission ticket, and you get to stock up on lots and lots of music. If I should whish for a change in the festival for 2008, perhaps they could add some workshops or master speeches or Q&As with the artists. by Glenn Folkvord (Planet Origo) |
 E-Live Festival at Eindhoven, Holland 2007 |
THE GATHERING 2002 Philadelphia, USA (www.thegatherings.org) As the doors opened my fear for the size of the turnout flew away. Why would I have doubted the Gatherings crowd to support the artists? What with the well know names that frequent St. Mary's altar, the attendance of this show and the standing ovation given to Erik Wollo at the end of the night should mean that much more. I must say that I was not that familiar with his sound but felt as thought I got to know the essence of Erik's work at the Gathering. Through what seemed to be two very well thought out sets, he was able to demonstrate his talents with synthesizers as well as his unique approach to the guitar. He gracefully moved the sound of his guitar in and out of synthesized and natural clean tones. A conservative approach to his art created a comfortable yet engaging night of music. John Diliberto open the show with remarks about fjords and big landscapes, but Erik seemed to have began there and took us to new places. The pieces selected were rather short in length and sometimes a little abrupt in the endings, but never boring or predictable - always turning corners and opening new doors. With minimal visual or lighting effects the audience was left to create there own visions. He returned for an encore that was like a third set packed into a brief period of time. All in all, two hours of invigorating music created a night to remember for all who were there. Thank you Erik. by Bill Forcier Soma611: A steady rain droned loudly on the pavement outdoors here, at home, at 2am last night, enhancing the sedative effect of another Star's End broadcast. I would not be long for the world. I also had my concerns for Chuck van Zyl. While leaving St. Mary's a few hours before, we passed by Chuck and, after sharing praise for Erik Wollo's splendid Gathering performance, he confessed that a long day at work combined with Gathering day preparations had left him longing for sleep. One could tell. Yet, only after helping empty out the cathedral, Chuck would soon be on-the-air delivering his five hour Star's End broadcast. This is why I nearly panicked during the first hour of his show last night. Fighting my own case of the sleepies, I was jarred back to my senses hearing the sound of heavy snoring filtering through my radio speakers. Alarmed, I thought, "Uh oh. Chuck's conked out on the air and he's left his microphone on. Somebody call the studio!" Good news, though. The snoring would soon filter into a strangely beautiful space/ambient piece and the show merely drifted on. Only to reassure, Chuck would soon reappear at the top of the hour, in fact sounding quite spiffy, and provided us with the introduction for yet another hour of live Erik Wollo. Make that another 'wonderful' hour. And therein rests the beauty of these Gathering evenings. More often than not, a Gathering performer is given the opportunity to pull a post concert rabbit out of his hat. A case in point, as I flash back now to another day, and another artist, when, after his own Gathering gig, he isolated himself in WXPN's studio and created live moments that would later become 'The Light Beyond.' The perfect afterglow; a dreamlike ending to a dreamlike night. This leads me back to when I lay last night, listening again, as Erik Wollo , black hat in hand, introspectively nightcaps his evening; and I make it through the hour in a dreamlike state of consciousness; rain intensifying, its sound mixing with Wollo's, of synth washes and his calmly incisive guitar. Half asleep, the music seems to reflect the city I had just removed myself from, its fading glow, and the wonderful concert performance; expertly, quietly, and sadly being laid to rest. I seek, when attending a Gathering, those 'moments of transcension', or those times when I find my own world transforming into the vision and soundworld of the artist's. Though I suspect that 'seek' may be the wrong word to use here. One can't search for and expect to find a euphoric surrendering. This just happens. Wollo's first set provided an introduction to his sound, his techniques; a diversified journey. Wollo proclaims himself to be a guitarist; and indeed he is. Creating diversified modes and moods, overlaying sequences patterns, often progressive, sometimes passive, the guitar is his star. Wollo takes you on a journey to many different places. It was during Wollo's calmly intense second set when he stole me away, transporting me from my world and taking me into his own. Visually, minimalist-in-motion effects were projected on a screen. Swiftly transported wisps of smoke; a single jet distantly streaming across an otherwise empty sky; a rain forest journey of pale greens and blue. A fine musical representation of Wollo's performance last night can be heard on his fine recent release, "Wind Journey." by soma611 As Posted to The Spacelist: Sun 28 April 2002 |
 The Gathering (USA), 2002 (photo by Chuck Van Zyl) |
