by Abstrakt Reflections | August 7, 2010

AR: What goes through your head while you’re composing music?

Tijs: There are a couple of very different stages I go through when I’m writing a track. The first mode I go through is all about capturing the mood or feeling I want to get across. I work very intuitively at this stage while I’m creating sounds that pop into my head and I’m trying to make sense of the thoughts going through my mind. The inspiration for my music comes from both my personal life and all of the philosophical and scientific books and podcasts I like to follow. When I’m done having collected all these ideas I start to make a track out of it. I tend to be more to the point in this phase of the composition. So I’m mostly concerned that all of the sounds work as good as they can. And then the tracks themselves have to fit in an even bigger context of an e.p. or album. I guess what goes on in my head during all of this is some sort of madness… Something close to a mental breakdown… but very rewarding nonetheless.

AR: Are there any bands or projects that really influence you in the process of creating music?

Tijs: Some people that have definitely influenced me as an artist are Hecq, Chris Clark,
Meander and Aphex Twin. What I admire most about all of them is their continuing quest for new grounds to cover. With each album they have progressed into a new direction. Right now I’m very close to finishing my third album for Tympanik Audio. I’ve teamed up with Meander this time and I think we have both pushed the boundaries of the sounds we’ve been creating for the past ten years. Beside the artists I mentioned already I must say that I’m checking out new and inspiring music on a daily basis. I’ll listen to everything from post-rock to metal to contemporary electronic music to classical. there is so much amazing music out there…

AR: What can we find in Tapage’s studio?

Tijs: Anything I can use hahaha. I own a standup bass, a couple of guitars, and tons of weird little interments I sometimes come across at flea markets and such. I used to own a piano but I hooked that one up with microphones and wrecked it, resulting in a very interesting sound library. Most of my work gets done on my studio computer though. I mostly use Renoise but I’m constantly changing the way I work. Since starting a new study in sound design I’m also very much into programming my own music software using Pure Data and Super Collider.

AR: As for the studio, are you planning on getting any new gear/hardware?

Tijs: No real plans right now… I can’t afford to spend much money on equipment nowadays. Last purchase was a joystick for which I wrote a couple of interesting patches. I’ve used it on stage recently and really liked the result.I think I’ll be using it a lot more in the future.

AR: Now that your music is well known, what are you hoping for in the future?

Tijs: I’d really like to be able to do some sound design work for short videos. I also really like to film myself and I would love to release a dvd somewhere in the future. Other than that I would actually like my music to be ‘well known’. Some people know about my work in a very small circle now but if things stay this way I’m not sure how long I can continue to work like this.

AR: What are your thoughts on social networking and all the netlabels that have
popped up over the last couple of years?

Tijs: It’s a love and hate relationship in my case. Love the kinds of feedback and opportunities that are possible with social media but hate the time it consumes at the same time. Netlabels are a great way to get music out to a lot of people without all the hassle of a physical release but at the same time… digital audio files mean very little to me personally. There isn’t a single mp3 file that actually I care about while I do ‘connect’ to certain albums in my collection.
Anyways… as an audiophile I must say I’m really glad with the arrival of lossless formats these days.

AR: Has releasing with Tympanik Audio changed the way you view your own music?

Tijs: Yes it has. Quite profoundly actually. It feels like my music has a home now. It belongs somewhere. For years most of my stuff was just gathering dust so to speak. I really feel honored that I’m able to release through Tympanik Audio.

AR: Is there anything you would like to add?

Tijs: ‘Etched in Salt’ coming soon…