Howling was never meant to be a long term thing.
Combining the talents of Ry X and Frank Weidemann, the pair initially decided to place just one track online, to test out the reaction.
The reaction was, to put it mildly, overwhelming. Matching Weidemann's production with the stunning vocals of Ry X, the pair were emboldened and immediately went back into the studio.
Debut album 'Sacred Ground' emerge earlier this year on Ninja Tune, and – with the duo set to play the Clash x SoundCrash arena at Lovebox this weekend – we decided a quick catch up was in order.
Ry X answers the questions…
– – –
– – –
How did the pair of you first meet?
We met as friends, or friends of friends, and started to share music with each other soon after, not knowing much about each other's backgrounds in arts or life, but I think both feeling already a sense of growing trust and understanding.
What prompted you to start working together? Was there an inherent chemistry there, or was it more just an experiment, initially?
We were both in a time of shift and growth in our lives and these things connected us. We lived emotionally in a place of new and gentle exploration at the time, and we found a listening post and mirror in each other. From there trust grew and with trust so much is possible, musically and otherwise.
'Howling' became an accidental online smash – what lay behind this track?
Rawness. Emotion. Maybe it was a new thing, to hear so much naked expression on a dance floor or in a club. A combination of worlds connecting. Honesty seems to speak to peoples hearts, and I think this track naturally held a lot of energy from all the experiences and growth that we were both moving through.
Did the success of 'Howling' push the pair of you to continue, or had work already been underway? Did its success propel you on, or serve as a distraction?
We were both so honoured to have the deep reception of this track, in clubs, and outside of them. But what led us to create more was the natural inspired process we felt when we were working together. Every time we are in a place with instruments together we write and create. It's very free in that way.
Debut album 'Sacred Ground' emerged earlier this year. I've read it was largely written and recorded between shows, touring – did this lend a sense of urgency to sessions?
We didn't hold pressure to finish an album, or to 'follow up' "howling", we just created whenever we were together and a lot of that time naturally coincides with touring and playing together. That is how sacred ground came to be. And we both love the pureness of that expression. Having said that, next time, who knows.. I think we may focus energies together in a more concise space and go deep into the sonics of our next releases.
What was the dynamic like in the studio? You have different backgrounds, was there an easy exchange of ideas?
It is all flow. Most of our songs come from inspired moments and bouncing ideas back and forth in the moment. That often happens in strange places.. Sound checks and brunches, in my home in the mountains and franks farm in south Germany… No rules.. If we have an idea try to capture the essence of it, record with what we can and use those recordings in building the song, or sometimes that first solo recording becomes the final mastered version on this album too. We love to capture the moment of inspiration and allow that to speak through.
'Signs' opened with a minimalist sound, but the album contains some lush moments. Were you conscious of focussing on the way that the material sounds, as an end in itself?
There was not too much logical brain interaction until the arrangement process.. It was always about capturing the sound the way we heard it, or imagined it, rather than as a perfectly engineered recording, and that gives character to the whole. We don't care too much if what we are doing isn't 'traditional' I guess. if we want to run whole mixes through old analog reverb racks, instead of single tracks, we try it… hit tables and wood to use as drum sounds, or record us walking around rooms to lay behind tracks.. It's really a lot about following our intuitions and we both have that trust, and have deepened it as we have made more work together.
Howling has its own sound, its own approach – were you conscious of moving somewhere independent, or does this simply happen of its own accord?
It happens naturally in the process described above. We create for creations sake and that leads. Sometimes to strange places, but it is a good process to explore.
You're working with Children Of The Light on your live set up, what can we expect? How did this hook up come about?
We are friends with them from their work at the now closed club Trouw in Amsterdam. They did a lot of really interesting art installation work there with lights, and we loved the dramatic simplicity of the show they designed for Nicholas jaar in Darkside. Felt like a good match. We have hand crafted and designed a very unique live visual set up with lights.. Working with perspective, vectors, analog and progressive all at once.. And helping to keep the music as focus as opposed to us.. We are still growing and evolving in our ways to use it.
You're playing Lovebox this weekend, is that a festival you're familiar with? Is it exciting to come back to London? And do you have anything special planned for the set?
We love coming back to London and have felt a lot of support there for what we are doing. We are constantly working in a range of ways to make the live experience grow and change forms. lovebox will be a new approach, as always, and a continued deepening of our understanding of the project as a whole.
– – –
Catch Howling at Lovebox in Victoria Park, London this weekend (July 17th – 18th).
