Voices #26
◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
here we got:
Cells Interlinked
answering some questions. We have already observed their electronic / berlin-school work here.
◦ [Maria and Albert speaking]
[1. IDEA]
■ The A. O.: The track from “Within (0045)” that we prefer is “Tree of Life”. Can you tell us how it came to light?
► Cells Interlinked: This album of our project Cells Interlinked became for us a kind of contemplative diary of internal states experienced during the war — the invasion of the Russian army into Ukraine. When the war started, it was a big shock for us. In the first months it was simply unbearable for the consciousness to be “outside”, in the flow of terrible external events — missile attacks, explosions, news from the front line… Working on this material, which we began to record partially a year before, became a kind of therapeutic practice, allowing the consciousness to focus and change direction, to turn “within”.
The beginning of work on this track seemed to push apart a narrow slot in the wall dividing our reality into “outside” and “within”. At first we recorded a viscous bass improvisation on a vintage analog monophonic dual-oscillator synthesizer Vermona Synthesizer. At the time, this instrument, released in a limited edition in 1981, was a slightly belated reaction of the East part of Germany, occupied by the Russian army, to the stormy evolution of Moog synthesizers. This layer describes quite well the thick darkness of the waters of the unconscious, into which we gradually sank, meeting with the archetypal flow of symbols of war that burst into our everyday life. Then a simple four-note sequence appeared, played on Virus Snow. With its leisurely looped movement, it reflected the movement of the mind, moving at random in the fog of obscurity and searching for the perspective of vision. And then came the moment when the concentration of this meditative work on the composition became an open door leading from the nightmarish absurdity of external reality — to “within”, to the feeling of true reality, to the hidden root of reality, covered with the husk of random external events. This moment became key for the writing of the entire album and this separate track. It was something that in Greek is called metanoia — a sudden illuminating change in vision, in the very way of looking, a fundamental change in consciousness. It was as if consciousness penetrated inside itself, and the problematic of external reality dissolved. The Virus sequence theme sped up, merging with a hand-played bass arpeggio. A vocal improvisation theme spontaneously emerged.
All of this reflected a deeply internal experience of having found the axis and foundation on which everything external was strung. It was a feeling of discovering an internal dynamic structure that is ever expanding, embracing with its branches, leaves and tendrils everything that appears, lives and disappears in the world of time and space. In the flow of this state, we completed work on this track, which opens the album, is invisibly present in each of its tracks, and ends with a short ambient piece, “Nightfall”.
[2. CREATION]
■ The A. O.: How do you usually approach composition? Do you start with a concept, a sound, a state of mind or what else? How do you generally proceed from the initial seed to the complete work?
► Cells Interlinked: The Cells Interlinked project consists of two people (Maria and Albert), so each of us has his own approach to creating music. The combination of these approaches creates a unity that turns into music.
Maria: My approach is more logical and rational. Most often, my idea for a new track already exists in my mind in the form of literal, specific melodic phrases. Or an idea, state or story arises that I want to tell without going into words. Then I try to reflect in reality as accurately as possible what has already taken place in my mind. For me, the melodic-rhythmic structure is primary, and all the sound production works just completes it. First, I formulate this theme on a clean piano sound, acoustic guitar or raw monophonic synthesizer (I like to use for this our K-ARP Odyssey), then a consistent journey of development of the arrangement and sound production begins. A typical example of this approach of mine on the album is “Constructions Dissolve”.
Albert: My natural approach is to begin a composition with an awareness of a misty and indistinct inner state. I am exploring this state by improvising with one small synth sequence. For the basic sequence I usually use one of our step sequencers (Doepfer Dark Time or Korg SQ-64) and a Behringer Pro-1 or ARP 2600. It’s like a meditative process, with the main sequence acting as a kind of mantra. Once this axial phrase is complete, bass lines, pads and other details grow out of it. The most characteristic track on the album for me is “River Song”.
[3. FEEDBACK]
■ The A. O.: What do you hope listeners feel or experience when engaging with your music?
► Cells Interlinked: The last thing we want our music to be associated with is any ideas or concepts, and the most we want it to lead the listener to the experience of touching a simple moment of reality and the depth that our attention can reveal in any thing. Considering that the Cells Interlinked project was born in a very dark place and during a very dark time of war (but it is not about war at all), let this music remind the listener that in the deepest darkness there is the brightest light.
[4. IDENTITY]
■ The A. O.: In a world saturated with digital music content, how do you try to keep your sound distinct and personally meaningful?
► Cells Interlinked: We live in times of great possibilities, but also of great distraction. Very often people, instead of using technology as a tool, become dependent on it, losing themselves and their connection with reality. Therefore, working with music for us is a practice similar to ancient meditative practices — that is, a practice of returning to the simplicity of what is. Working mainly with physical analog equipment is part of a certain “art yoga” (sanskrit word “yuj” means “to unite” — something that unite the seeker and reality). Each of us, as a whole being, consisting of a body, a psyche, and also the mystery that unites them. When we touch our instruments and give birth to their sound, modulate it… what is born as a result manifests the integrity and unity of our presence in this reality and our mastery of working with our favorite instruments. All this could be done with software. But there is also a chance that we will miss a whole dimension of our attention connected with the body and physical presence. Therefore, working with physical analog equipment is, in our opinion, an important practice of presence and paying attention.
[5. INFLUENCES]
■ The A. O.: Mention 3 albums that you consider relevant to your musical path and why.
► Cells Interlinked: ○ Klaus Schulze – Are You Sequenced?
○ Brian Eno – On Land
○ Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine
These three albums describe from different points of view the musical sound language with which we are comfortable expressing our inner states. “Are You Sequenced?” sums up the Berlin School art of sequence, connecting it with the electronic music of the 90s, from IDM to Trance. This is what serves as the rhythmic basis of our music. “On Land” is a classic and profound example of how to create an atmospheric and ambient component. In our opinion, this is the space that can expand and deepen any composition, not necessarily formally ambient music. And finally, “The Man-Machine” is an amazing classic album that has always inspired us to combine industrial-songful aesthetics with that subtle ambient atmosphere that permeates all tracks from this masterpiece.
[6. REGARDS]
■ The A. O.: Leave us with a quote you love.
► Cells Interlinked: “Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.”
(Tao te Ching)