In 2008 scene website GothTronic.com published an interview with Glaxclock and a review of two of the Glaxclock nights.
2 years of Glaxclock [2008]: Interview by Erik Willems
The Glaxclock collective from Nijmegen, Netherlands has been operating for two years now. Quite frequently an interesting night full of electronic music and ditto visuals is being executed throughout Holland by this diverse collective. In order to celebrate it on Gothtronic I have done a pretty in-depth interview with founder of Glaxclock; Marcus, also known from acts Bob Knutton and CausaliDox.
First of all, congratulations with your 2nd anniversary! How did you experience the last two years?
Thanks! The past two years went very fast when I look back on it. Especially the second year because we had almost every month a Glaxclock night. I think Glaxclock is a big success and we are very pleased with the very positive reactions from both audience and venues. It was and still is fun to do!
What was the start of Glaxclock? What are the main influences?
About three years ago I started making music again, after a pause of five years. A year later I had the urge to go back on stage with my music. Because I knew a few musicians in Nijmegen and admired their passion for music I thought it was cool to bring them together. This in the substance of a special night where we would be a collective of artists, presenting our tunes to the audience. Later, the Glaxclock ensemble got track of a few DJ’s and VJ’s who created the right atmosphere for the live music.
It is very hard to determine what actually influenced Glaxclock. For me the most important was the feeling of playing with respected artists and setting a special setting and atmosphere; a happening if it were. I think that by making music, art, and language you have the chance to really touch people, which is an important motivation behind Glaxclock. To be short; music is still the main influence …unorthodox electronic music with a lot of passion.
What do you try to accomplish with Glaxclock and what is your main audience?
The previous question already highlighted Glaxclock’s goal(s). I think this is the case of most, if not all, our artists. We want to share music and art with people and try to give our audience a pleasant experience. We also try to motivate each other as a group. People work together so you can say there’s a real concoction of music. Exploring music in a thorough way with the company of people which are as motivated as you are. Our audience is hard to define. We attract a mainly younger audience although also somewhat older also visit our nights. People are curious and think it’s very cool that we have a variety of styles and people with a combined atmosphere. People within the Glaxclock ensemble also have side-projects (not operating within the Glaxclock collective). This sometimes causes people to come towards a Glaxclock event because they know the work of one of these artists. For me the entire world could be the audience! There’s not one style but a multitude of diverse styles within Glaxclock which bind us. I think that is what makes Glaxclock unique.
The larger part of the Glaxclock collective come from Nijmegen, how come? How does an act come a part of this collective?
The answer is simple; I live in Nijmegen and the most of the people are friends of mine who also live in Nijmegen. I am also very proud of the fact that we also have a few members who are from Arnhem. We also have Glaxclock Guests; people we invite to do a project or a performance. Also people outside Holland may become a Guest. A new contribution to Glaxclock mostly is done via one of our members. During meetings we all listen to music (or images/art) and keep track of some background info. Especially the personality of a new act is important; does he/she share a large passion music, is he/she open minded? Normally the rest takes it course then.
Personally I like the diversity of the music within Glaxclock. Do you have any favourites next to Glaxclock acts?
Good to hear that! As mentioned before the Glaxclock collective thinks that diversity is very important. I am a huge fan of the other Glaxclclock acts but also outside of Glaxclock I have a diverse taste. The funny thing is that you can hear it in my music; it goes from ambient to pop and more “serious” music.
Some examples of what I like:
- FSOL – Everyone in the world is doing something without me
- AFX – I’m self employed
- Boards of Canada – Everything you do is a balloon
- Thom Yorke – And it rained all night
- TAGC – Burning Water
- The Sisters of Mercy – Afterhours
- The Cure – Carnage Visors
- Arvo Pärt – Festina lente for strings and harp ad lib
- Underworld – Dirty Epic
- Aphex Twin – Rhubarb
Just to name a few 🙂
I have a strong impression that the visual part of a performance is very important.
Absolutely, the integration of different media is very important. We are very happy that people within Glaxclock contribute with visuals and try to develop it in the future. By combining different media you get a total experience. They complete each other and the result can be used to give different subtle (or not) layers on what you are doing. Our artist normally give images to our VJ’s who use and review it with the music and performance. The result are interesting and unique approaches.
What can we expect within the near future?
There are two Glaxclock nights in 2008; on the 18th of October we are in Unitas Wageningen with a nice line-up divided in two areas. Guests Machinist & Industrial Passage will also perform this night. On the 22nd of November a second edition in the ACU, Utrecht will be organised. In 2009 we keep continuing our quest within Holland but we may even be abroad the upcoming year. We also like to play on festivals. One thing is sure; we are up for some challenges!!!
Is there a chance of an official release?
We are still talking about it, also with third parties. But we are considering options (own management or label). One of our members has a record deal on a Dutch label and the first release will be very short from now. We want everything to be perfect so it might take a while. But who knows; maybe in 2009?! 😉
Let’s hope that we hear a lot from Glaxclock in the near future; they deserve it!!!
Review of Glaxclock Night #5 & #7
Gothtronic.com Sunday 18 May 2008
With so much music being offered nowadays, it seems that I have become somewhat saturated. Not that there’s no quality music anymore, just that with the coming of Internet there’s a little of overkill.
And what’s better than turn off your PC and discover some new live acts? That is exactly what I did. I visited two of the organised Glaxclock nights in Kultuurhuis Bosch. Enjoying the music of this collective thoroughly I decided to dedicate, a well deserved, article on the Glaxclock collective so that some of our Gothtronic visitors also get a better chance to get acquainted with some really cool music.
Glaxclock is a collective of artists, musicians and dj’s based in Nijmegen, Holland consisting of DJ@MF, Bob Knutton, Causalidox, DJ Erik Grey, Grimm Limbo, Hadewych, NME33, Protocol Novikov, Ultrazeitgeist (Volksweerbaarheid wave-orientated side-project), d i s t e l, Mr. Botak and Xtort (consisting of former members from Hoer).
Sharing a passion for unorthodox, atmospheric music they decided to combine forces. The result is a well dosed mixture of ambient, EBM, Wave, Industrial and everything in between. While acts such as Bob Knutton, Grimm Limbo, Causalidox, Mr. Botak and NME.33 float between danceable electro and relaxed ambient, Protocol Novikov and d i s t e l have a more industrial/ambient approach.
I can spend hours explaining which music could or should have some references with Glaxclock but every act manages to have an own face and is very atmospheric and moody.
If you want to have a more detailed impression on what Glaxclock has to offer please visit their website; www.glaxclock.nl or myspace site: www.myspace.com/glaxclock.
Because there are no official releases of the Glaxclock label or individual members of this collective, I suggest to visit one of the Glaxclock nights (including really cool visuals) if you have the chance, together with the above mentioned website.
You won’t be disappointed! And for me; it’s worth waiting until I can play these tunes in my official cd or record player. Because Glaxclock celebrates its 2 year anniversary in July stay tuned for an in-depth interview with one of the protagonists!