An introduction to Resonator

Resonator is a duo from Münster, Germany, who makes some of the most unique and creative music you can find. Kai typically writes music for theater and works on film soundtracks, while Anja is a formally trained musician who plays the accordion for the Resonator project. Ambient electronic music mixed with accordions is certainly not a common combination of sounds, but I can assure you it’s something very special when you hear it.

Enter the Red Room Diner

Red Room Diner is Resonator’s first full length album, originally released in 2003. It starts out with the mysterious sounding intro “Avis De Securite”. Coming in at under a minute in length, the song doesn’t really give you much of a clue about what you’re in for. This could be the introduction for anything, it’s very abstract. What’s to come? It might surprise you…

The first real song is “Theme From Morgana” which makes clever use of samples from the film Morgana. What you really notice, though, is the haunting combination of accordions and the otherwise minimalist electronic music. It is surely an unfamiliar sound and leaves you wondering how this happened and why nobody else thought of it before. You don’t really know what to think so you just sit there in a daze and take it all in. What a track it is.

Song number three is called “Pond” and its subdued mellowness is reminiscent of some music by Boards Of Canada. “Fjords” then continues the French atmosphere that the accordions inspire, while being brought into the future by the spectacular electronic instrumentation. This is the sound heard in the streets of Paris on a cold, wintry day in 2108. Just one lone accordionist out there. The ambient background is just in your head, the soundtrack of the city.

But then, all of a sudden, the muted sounds of chaos and destruction can be heard from afar on “No School Today, No Home Today”. You think back for a moment and realize that all of this music did have somewhat of a post-apocalyptic sound to it, like people in despair. Or maybe it’s a war of religions and ideologies? “Truce” seems to suggest just such a thing with the first real vocals on the album, some Arabic chanting provided by guest Mohammed Cheban. What is going on here? Whatever it is, you get the feeling that something has been happening for a long time already and nobody wants it. Everyone is just trying to cope with the war and move on with their lives, but they are continually interrupted by leaders who are disconnected from the people they are supposed to represent. It is a deeply emotional track and its story is all too common.

“Le Cinquieme Cavalier” is almost celebratory by comparison. That familiar French accordion sound has returned and is a bit more traditional this time, at least in the beginning. You could also imagine hearing something like this in Venice while riding in a gondola. Still in the future, and still somewhere out in space, of course. Maybe this is what you would hear while navigating the canali of Mars. The gondolier’s alien voice even thanks you for riding at the end of the song.

The next track, “Mole People” is a bit more calm and even features a few lyrics, something that isn’t too common on the album. Red Room Diner formally finishes up with “Collida”, pairing the accordions with some funky beats that seem to wax and wane until the end of the song. There’s almost the feeling of a breakbeat at times, making for yet another great track.

You would be forgiven for turning off your CD player now, but stick around a little longer and you get to experience the awe inspiring hidden track “Infinity”. Close your eyes and imagine yourself floating somewhere in the middle of the universe with nothing else around for billions of miles. The feeling is frighteningly awesome. It’s a very different track than anything else on this album, but definitely one worth listening to.

Resonator both inspires and confuses with Red Room Diner. The blending of instruments and sounds that don’t usually fit together is so unique and foreign that the overall feeling is even more dramatic than what other ambient musicians can conjure up. There is little to compare it to, so the music is that much more powerful. Overall, this is easily one of the most fantastic and truly creative albums in recent years.

Now that we taken an in-depth look into Resonator’s album Red Room Diner, it might be appropriate to think about the concepts behind all of this. Here’s where we take a moment to have an interview with our new musician friends…

An interview with Kai and Anja

Greg: First of all, I have to say that you music is really very unique and wonderful to listen to, I like it a lot. But your combination of electronica and accordions is something I think most people would never try, or even think of. So where did this idea come from?

Kai: The accordeon is in fact something like the affordable preset synth is today — compared with a full fledged pipe organ it gives you amazing portability but still offers many different timbres of sound. To us it is the ancestor of modern keyboards and synthesizers. That is the technical side.

On the aesthetic side, we like to mix “real” instruments in with the electronics, because both sides have certain sonic qualities that the other can’t give you. A machine can play impossibly tight, fast and otherwise humanly impossible things. A real instrument is alive, chaotic and has many more ways of expression than most electronic sounds have to offer, especially when played by a proficient player. So we like to integrate the two for various reasons. Most of the time the accordeon lends itself to the melodic content whereas the electronics (and often an electronically treated accordeon) provide the mood, the beats and the harmonic background for our music.

Anja: Kai got it - but I want to add one idea: Our work is affected by a lot of contrasts and that is the charming thing of Resonator, I think. Resonator mixes electronic vs. real instruments like the accordion, subconcious vs. concious approaches, slow vs. rapid attitudes, straight vs. chaotic elements - even we two are contrasting charakcers. I think that is the juicy component which has made Resonator stick together for 12 years now.

Greg: Are you keeping a similar musical theme for the new album that’s coming out later this year?

Kai: Yes, certainly. We have many new tracks in the works, and we are trying to expand our world by trying out fresh new things, new approaches and interaction with other musicians (which is the best way to learn new things about music, I think). There might be vocals on the new album, we haven’t come to a conclusion on that, yet. But generally speaking, we are aiming for something pretty similar to Red Room Diner and most of the album will be instrumental again. Right now our working title is “green”, and even that shows our similar approach — centered around a color.

Greg: How did you meet your musical partner Anja?

Kai: we went to see a show of some electronic act a few years ago (1996). after the show we both had a geeky look at all their gear and started a conversation with the band (who were very nice people). We sat down for a chat and a beer with the band. After they had left to drive on home, we slowly realized how much both of us hated their music. We came to the understanding that we should certainly try to do better. I recently saw another gig with one of the performers of that concert and felt good about our trying…

Anja: Haha, yes - it happened exactly like this! The people from the band where really nice - but their sound and their way to work with all the funny equipment was definitely not our cup of tea. But honestly - I never imagined that something tangible would grow out of our very inspiring first meeting. I worked slow and dreamy as usual (Westfalia is sometimes a slow and dreamy area of Germany ) at my workplace in Münsters Acedemy of Fine Arts, when Kai surprised me with a rapid visit. Some tapes where swapped, some green teas where drunken and Resonator was born. Zap!

Greg: What connections do you have with film music? What have you done besides Morgana?

Kai: After we agreed to work together and jamming for the first times, we decided we should try out a few things for real. We took Nosferatu, the 1921 vampire silent film by FW Murnau and improvised a soundtrack. We did a series of gigs with that soundtrack in the metal shop of the Münster Academy of Fine Arts — a screen, an 16mm projector and all the metal shop machines with a strong oil smell. We had to change the reel halfway through the film and the rattle of the projector was sort of part of the soundtrack — all of that really added to the atmosphere.

Nosferatu was a success and we still play the soundtrack occasionally in movie theaters as well as a finish spy thriller (also silent) from 1929 called Korkein Voitto.

We met a few filmmakers over the years and made soundtracks for a few short films (the main other film besides Morgana would be “Flugversuch” (”Attempting to fly”), by Michael Spengler, an animation short about a cult that brainwashes its members until they are willing to lose their lives), others have asked (and received) permission to use material from our album Red Room Diner.

Anja: I studied at the Münster Academy of fine Arts when we first met. I was a student of Lutz Mommartz, an experimental film maker from Düsseldorf. He was Professor for experimental film at the Filmklasse there. He teached all about experimental film and the stuff around. Sound and sound installations where my main focus when I went to the Filmklasse. This as well as all the film-making around me taught me a lot about film music, about the association of sound and pictures. My work centers around film-like, narrative soundscapes and film music ever since.

Greg: I don’t see much news about live performances on your site. Do you strictly only do recorded music and film music?

Kai: Certainly not! we used play out live quite a bit — right now we are concentrating on our album and other projects, so gigs will have more of a priority after that is finished and released. We have a few gigs scheduled though: a silent film soundtrack on the 23rd of may in Pforzheim Germany and the Creole festival for World music in Dortmund (also Germany) on the 5th of September.

Greg: You seem to be involved in a lot of different projects (Fact, Canine, Resonator…) and I see you are the head of WAF80 Music, is that right? Is your music how you make your living?

Kai: WAF80 is actually a DIY label. I am publishing our releases on WAF80 and it’s my means to get things into all the download shops as well. Anja and I both pursue other projects, right now she is involved in putting together a film festival for August as well as in another project of classy dark ambient (www.thuja.net), whereas my main source of income is music for theater. The projects you mentioned (canine, Fact) were things that I did a long time ago, material that needed a name, some of it even before Anja and I had first met. Recently I started working with other projects but those are still in very early stages of production. It is a very different style of music though.

Greg: I also noticed that you took the photos for the Red Room Diner artwork. Do you also take photography and make artwork for other purposes?

Kai: Not really. Photography is just a hobby I enjoy. I showed my pictures to Anja while we were in the planning stages of the Red Room Diner release and she sort of curated them into something that tells a story, that gives them meaning.

For the new tracks for our upcoming album we shot short videos that we edited just for ourselves. Then we started writing the tracks as soundtracks for the videos we made. In the past we used still photographs edited and distorted with vj-programs to look like films, as projections for our live-shows. Maybe in the future we will finally start to use real videos for that purpose.

Anja: For me all kind of visuals are like filmstills or clippings from the film in my head. The sounds are the center of our artistic work - but sometimes those nonstop movies drip out of our heads a little and accompany and support the music. They are a very important element!
I think music from a fine arts approach - so sounds and visuals interfuse each other in a certain manner.

Greg: One last question I just have to ask. What message are you trying to send with your “intelligence requires countermeasures” motto?

Kai: It’s a pretty old meme for us, something that goes back to the gig where we met and similar ones. Some people in the New Music scene and the experimental electronica scene as well, are trying to be so smart about how they compose, that sometimes it seems to us they forget to listen to what their music sounds like. We are aiming to make music that has depth and meaning, but that frontmost goes through your stomach, has an emotional, sensual approach. I feel that you should be able to relate to music by listening to it — not by hearing a lecture about it first. This is not to say that many pieces of music actually do gain a deeper meaning if you know more about their background. But music should be sexy, not just academic.

Anja: I absolutely agree with Kai’s statement and want to add: *everything* should be sexy, not just academic!

Greg: Thanks very much for taking a few minutes with us. Good luck with all your future projects and the new album!

Kai: Thanks a lot for the interview and for doing what you do for German music!

Download the exclusive “Theme From Morgana” mix

We worked very closely with Resonator to help you experience the band in the best way possible. This article wouldn’t be complete without some of their music, so we asked if it might be possible for us to offer you a song to download. Not only did Kai agree to this, but he exceeded our expectations with an exclusive remix of “Theme From Morgana” that he created especially for this article!

Download the MP3 now (256 kbps, 14.5 MB) to own a special piece of Resonator’s work. Feel free to share it with your friends as you like and bring the band’s music to new ears. You can also download the full size artwork here.

Continue your Resonator experience

You have come so far, don’t stop now. CD Baby has 2-minute clips of all the songs from Resonator’s album Red Room Diner just waiting for you to give them a listen. That’s over 18 minutes of aural pleasure. Go check it out. And if you like what you hear, please buy the album there to support Kai and Anja’s talent. They will greatly appreciate it and their new upcoming album just might be a little bit better because of it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 3:56 am and is filed under Ambient, Downloads, Electronic, Experimental, Interviews, Recommendations, Resonator, Reviews, Soundtrack. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.