The Brvtalist is pleased to premiere the new music video from Tomohiko Sagae. The Italian multidisciplinary platform FLUX presents its second release, Noise Ausstellung, a split EP from Huren and Tomohiko Sagae, with remixes from Imminent and Sirio Gry J. This release also features collaborations with Nullam Rem Natam, American video maker, graphic designer and fanzine writer Temple Ov Saturn, Italian video artist Eleonora Roaro and Erminio Granata (11xxx27, 1/2 of Hyperlacrimae, Infidel Bodies).
Today we present the music video for “Pile Driver #1”, a brvtal work of cacophonous, convulsing rhythmic noise from the Japanese artist combined with spine-chilling visuals from Temple Ov Saturn.
Noise Ausstellung is out May 10th on digital format + tape. Pick up the release on Bandcamp and you’ll also have access to Noise Ausstellung website.
We also had a chat with FLUX members Alessandro Violante and Davide Pappalardo, talking about FLUX’s philosophy, music recommendations, the new release and much more. Read the Q&A below.
-Melanie Havens
Melanie: Flux is not only a label, but a top-notch platform that every industrial, EBM, experimental, noise aficionado (& many more styles) should have knowledge of. I’d like to know when/why you started Flux and what is its concept and philosophy.
Alessandro: Thanks a lot for your appreciation! I’ll start with talking to you about when and why I’ve started FLUX. I created the website in 2012, it was conceived as a webzine. The reason why I’ve created it is the following: approximately two years before, in 2010, during university I started to write reviews on a website I’ve been involved into by other friends. This website was focused on electronic and rock music. During these years, when I moved away from my home, I started to be more interested in industrial music, EBM, noise and so on. When one of its founders left the project and it became more focused on rock music, I’ve had the feeling that website wasn’t the right place to publish my articles anymore and they didn’t reach the right audience, so I’ve started my own project, where I was free to express my vision and to publish my articles as soon as they were ready, being aware I was starting everything from scratch. Later on, I decided to leave the other webzine, to focus on FLUX. That was the beginning. During these nine years, a lot of things have happened. Some people left, some others joined, and progressively it has become what you can see today: a multidisciplinary project involving six people: Alessandro Violante, Davide Pappalardo, Melissa Lynne Strain, Countermeasures Electronics, Richard Fowler and Tzar.
The concept and the philosophy behind FLUX (be it FLUX Webzine or the label FLUX Musical Art) have been subject to a constant mutation and growth during these nine years, and I can say that’s the reason why we never thought to quit this project. During these years, music has changed a lot, and surely this has influenced our project. The concept and the philosophy behind it are quite articulated because it is the result of several personal influences and experiences (my studies during my university years, music, art, and so on), but it’s also rather simple to describe, as everything revolves around the concepts of communication and connection.
FLUX can be defined as “the will to create connections and a flow of communication in a metropolitan context characterized by the absence of communication which is typical of the age of information and of our society” which seemed to me the context I’ve been involved into when I moved to Milan, considered the economic capital of Italy. It was an autobiographical act of rebellion towards what I was watching around me. Later on, several things changed, but these key concepts of “communication” and “connection” are still at the basis of FLUX. I’ve chosen the word “FLUX” because I was inspired by the collective known as FLUXUS, active in the U.S.A. in the last century, which was a multidisciplinary collective in which different people with different backgrounds were involved. That’s the same thing I wanted to do, and I think that’s what we try to do and to be. The idea of “flow” goes back to Raymond Williams and to his studies on broadcasting.
Nowadays, the key concepts are always the same, but upon these years we have talked a lot about them and I personally started to focus on an objectification of our concept and a sort of “return to reality”. I’ve started to feel the limits of the World Wide Web and I’ve started focusing on creating true connections with other projects, with the readers and the writers and on the fanzine and, lately, through the label, with the buyers and supporters of our music. The Web has a lot of potentialities, but I think they are not well expressed.
Melanie: Besides running Flux, you’re also part of the acclaimed Facebook group UNTIL DEATH, alongside Italian crew from SHE LOST KONTROL. From this partnership Until Death Fanzine came to life. Can you tell us more about your collaboration with SLK crew?
Alessandro: On Spring of 2018, my main collaborator Davide Pappalardo wrote me he was in contact with the guys from She Lost Kontrol. He wrote a review for the release of Aktion Mutante (the project of Unhuman and Veleno Viola), and told me they had created a group on Facebook named UNTIL DEATH, which had a very similar approach to what we were doing. They liked our contents and we liked their music, and we initially started to collaborate together on this group. Shortly after, this collaboration became a printed fanzine. We were – and we still are – very excited about this collaboration and its results. Basically the idea was to join our forces to create something new using an old medium, the fanzine. The first result of this collaboration, the first issue of the fanzine, printed in 2018, opened a lot of doors. It was exciting because we didn’t know which other articles were written there until we had the fanzine in our hands, but the result was great. I’ve started to connect with the other artists involved, and a lot of collaborations started thanks to the fanzine. One example is Nullam Rem Natam, who did the artwork for Noise Ausstellung.
On the subsequent issues of UNTIL DEATH, we tried (and we still try) new ways to talk about music. It can sound strange, but the use of paper allows for more possibilities and freedom than the World Wide Web does, which during the years adopted a sort of standard language. This fanzine made me think I should have concentrated instead on real objects, be them fanzines or music releases. Probably, if this collaboration didn’t start, I wouldn’t have started the label. For this reason, I feel to thank a lot my friends of She Lost Kontrol.
Melanie: You do an amazing job with your reviews and we would love to know which artists/labels/releases caught your attention lately.
Alessandro: I thank you again a lot for your appreciation. About the labels, I can tell you Infidel Bodies, VEYL, Strange Therapy, Monolith Records, Furanum Records, Instruments Of Discipline.
About the artists, some are Sirio Gry J, Maenad Veyl, Common Poetry, Years Of Denial, Shrouds, E.M.M.A., among others. Everyday I discover new music looking at what people listen to on Bandcamp and thanks to the suggestions my friends and promoters give me.
In the meanwhile, I always listen to the music made by my favourite artists which are those featured on the release “Connections”, Tomohiko Sagae, Huren, Imminent, and the HANDS and Ant-Zen rosters.
Among the more recent releases, actually my favourite is Shreds From The Netherworld by Sirio Gry J, released on Furanum Records.
Davide: I would like to add Hospital Productions and Cyclic Law to the list of labels, and acts like Sharplines and Chrome Corpse.
Melanie: Which other forms of art inspire you besides music?
Alessandro: New media art is a very important source of inspiration. I’m very passionate about the work done by Peter Weibel and, before him, by Jeffrey Shaw, at ZKM in Karlsruhe, and about Ars Electronica in Linz. I like to experience a lot of exhibitions and to visit museums and festivals and, as I wrote before, the FLUXUS collective, which George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Charlotte Moorman and many more belonged to, has strongly inspired FLUX. Also video art and contemporary art in its wider term have always had a strong influence on me. I make you some examples among others:
The first release by FLUX Musical Art, “Connections”, was dedicated to the memory of John Cage and to that of the aforementioned artists George Maciunas, Nam June Paik and Charlotte Moorman.
The new release “Noise Ausstellung” is dedicated to the multidisciplinary artist Bruce Nauman and to the memory of the sculptor Alberto Giacometti.
Davide: I'm a huge fan of graphic novels and the world of comic books, especially authors like Jack Kirby, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Alan Grant, Pat Mills, Mike Mignola and many others. I'm also into sci-fi and horror novels and movies since I was a child. Think of Terminator, Predator, Alien, books like Dune, authors like Barker, Dick and Lovecraft. I think these aesthetics have been a key factor in my instant interested in industrial and electronic-themed music.
Melanie: Now let’s talk about the new release. How was the curatorship done?
Alessandro: I’ve started to think about the release at the end of last September.
During the summer, I’ve listened to the new release by Hyperlacrimae (the project of 11xxx27 and of Carmine Laurenza) released on Infidel Bodies, which artwork was made by the project Nullam Rem Natam, and I liked a lot the artwork done, so I’ve talked with Erminio (11xxx27), who had already made the mastering for “Connections”, and he put me in contact with Thalia (a member of Nullam Rem Natam). This project made a long and complex selection of some pictures taken during some of their performances. At the end of this process, together we selected some pictures that became the artwork of the release.
I’ve written to Tomohiko Sagae and Huren to ask them if they would have been available to make a split release. Then, I contacted Sirio Gry J and Imminent to make two remixes. All these artists released one song on “Connections”. Sirio Gry J decided to make a re-mash of the two songs made by Huren.
Erminio (11xxx27) made the mastering of the release, except for $UPERVI$ED DONATION BOX (Sirio Gry J RE-Mash), made by Dominik Müller, the founder of Furanum Records.
For the layout of the artwork and for the video clip of Pile Driver #1 by Tomohiko Sagae, I’ve contacted the American multidisciplinary visionary artist Joan Pope, better known for her project Temple Ov Saturn. She’s a great artist, making videoclips, layouts, artworks and fanzines. I’ve known her through Instagram, she has made some fanzines, some of them made with Augmented Reality, and she was searching for people to review them. She’s found her multidisciplinary concept very well suited with what we were doing with FLUX, so I’ve reviewed them, and that’s how this collaboration started. Joan is a very serious, kind and professional artist. The video of Pile Driver #1 is partially based on the artwork provided by Nullam Rem Natam, and the interesting thing is that her American culture coexists with the European culture of the aforementioned project.
In the meantime, I’ve worked on the website of Noise Ausstellung, which is a special content I give to those who buy the release. It features some extra content that can’t be found elsewhere, it’s a sort of “expansion pack”. The website was made by me in PHP, as this is my day job.
I’ve contacted again the multidisciplinary artist Eleonora Roaro, based in Milan, who will take pictures of the release, as soon as it will be available in her hands. Eleonora has already taken some pictures of our previous release “Connections”.
The tape was done by the English company Golding Products, located in Telford. It’s the same company which made our previous tape. I thank again Alex Knoblauch of VEYL for this suggestion he’s given me.
Melanie: What does Noise Ausstellung stand for? What’s the concept behind it?
Alessandro: The concept behind Noise Ausstellung dates back to 2018, when we and SLK started working on the second issue of the UNTIL DEATH fanzine. We were talking with them about how it could have been interesting using the fanzine to speak about music in a different way than that used on our website, and then I’ve thought about a column named Noise Ausstellung, which you can find in the last three issues of the fanzine.
In each issue, one topic is selected, and it becomes the focus for comparing three releases, labels and so on, according to the topic selected.
The idea behind Noise Ausstellung was inspired by an exhibition held at Schirn Kunsthalle between 2016 and 2017 named “GIACOMETTI-NAUMAN”, which put in relation different yet similar artists. The practice of curating this kind of exhibitions is quite common in the art world, and it offers several possibilities to the curators.
When I had to find a name for our new release, Noise Ausstellung was the best I have found. Ausstellung means “exhibition” in German, so the title means “Noise Exhibition”. I’ve thought that it suited well with a multimedia release comprised of the music of the musicians involved (Huren, Tomohiko Sagae, Imminent and Sirio Gry J), of the visual elements of Joan Pope, Nullam Rem Natam and the website, then I asked to our friends of SLK if they agreed with this choice, and they agreed, so that’s it.
The main concepts around Noise Ausstellung are “multimedia'' and “connection”. Basically, it’s just another way of expressing the concept of connections, enriched with the use of other media, following the aim to make every time a step forward.
Melanie: What’s your advice for those willing to release on your label? And what advice would you give to emerging artists that are trying to break into the music business?
Alessandro: My advice is to write to us and to make us listen to something, we’re always open to listen to everything. We like uncommon music.
Giving advice is always difficult, considering we consider emerging artists ourselves and we’ll always do, but talking as a reviewer, I can suggest to try to do something you like and to try to follow your way.
Davide: I would advise people to never force oneself to follow trends looking for success and focus instead on what one really wants and needs to express with their music.
Melanie: What’s coming up next for Flux?
Alessandro: At the moment I have some ideas, such as that of releasing a full length, but actually I’m only concentrating on Noise Ausstellung. Actually, I still like to make one thing at a time.
With FLUX Webzine we’ll keep on writing articles, mainly reviews and interviews. We’ll keep on collaborating with our friends of SLK.
We like to work in the dark, it’s always been our trademark.