Yes indeed. .Hroptr. came into being in the autumn of 2004, on a typical September evening.
I just got new keyboards and I felt obliged to experiment with them, with the inspiration I had at that moment.
And the result of a few months 'messing about' with sound was 'Off-Key Interlude'.
If you don't include the typical garage-band past, .Hroptr. is indeed my first official music project. Even though before that I still made regularly electronical music as Hiver d'Obscure, but (happily!) I never did anything with it again.
.Hroptr. is one of Wodan's nicknames. Could you tell something more about it and what exactly is the reason why you chose this name?
.Hroptr. is indeed another designation for Wodan/Odin, but in the context of Odin
as the godlike entity of shamanism, magic and trance.The reason why I chose it is fairly straightforward. I've got a huge fondness of other cultures' religions and legends, and there is a wonderful mystical atmosphere about Norwegian history and legends that you can't deny.
That is why my first choice was also a project name that had something to do with Odin. And in the end, I chose .Hroptr. (besides it is very pronounceable).
On your website, you compare your music with Sephiroth, Arcana… Sephiroth, I can understand that, but I'm a bit confused about you referring to Arcana's music (but I must admit I know by far everything about it). Could you tell something more about this?
Oh well, that maybe was a bit inappropriate. I actually referred to the neoclassical songs like 'Path of the Chosen', 'Of Blood and Heresy' and 'Anomalies'. Purely musically speaking, you will indeed find little resemblance between Arcana and .Hroptr., but Arcana's melancholy atmosphere is just something I admire a lot, and it is also something I try to include in my music.
Maybe this will bring clarity.
Are these bands also your most important sources of inspiration? And which ones as well? And which other, whether inspiring or not, music do you listen to?
My most important source of inspiration is still Predominance. But Sephiroth, Arcana and especially the whole L.O.K.I. work have contributed to my musical evolution. Furthermore, I am a fervent enthusiast of the - whether experimental or not - noise/ambient and neo-folk genres. Think about Toshimaru Nakamura (one of my favourites), Daniel Menche, John Wiese, Troum (and of course Maeror Tri), Sonne Hagal, Sieben, Sol Invictus…
But I like free Jazz, Avant-Garde and Classic as well.
The titles and the website reveal that, for the music, you draw inspiration from
the darkest depths and morbid caverns of the human brains. To what extent do you
feel attracted to these topics? Do you think the music could be used as a guideline
to descend into the caverns yourself to get to know more about the self?Let's look at it like this: I think it is extremely interesting to see which effects these feelings have on us, humans, and how certain sound frequencies can bring about specific feelings. Psychological phenomena like insanity are part of a field in which I am extremely interested as well, what's on a serial killer's mind, for instance. This gruesome scenery is a very good breeding-ground to think about your own psyche: how and why a perfectly normal person could be capable of doing something like that. You could indeed call it a quest to yourself. Only when these feelings are fully experienced and when they can be renounced, will the way to self-discovery be much easier.
Do you have to be in a certain mood to make music or can you do it at any time? Are you able to make music everywhere or are there important extern factors (like a darkened room, or the opposite…)?
That depends, generally I start from a certain concept, and I let myself guide by the inspiration and the music. It happens a lot that I start from a specific purpose, but that I end up in a totally different atmosphere.
I think that is also very amusing about making music, because I myself never know where I will end up.
Generally I am capable of making music 'everywhere', but extern factors, like a dark room and variables like a direct scenery or frame of mind, certainly have influence on the process of creating music.
Do you have an idea beforehand about the atmosphere a song has to radiate when you start making music, or does it come along while being occupied with ideas and sounds?
As I already said before, I usually start from a certain objective; the atmosphere for example, or a storyline you have to find out by way of the music, etc.
But it happens more than often that, during the music making process, I suddenly get on another track than the original one, and I am led by the true music and inspiration; and not by a general objective.
Yet I try most of the time to include a brooding atmosphere of melancholy and beauty in the music.
Apart from the common synthesizers and the like, you also use all sorts of day-to-day objects to make sounds. Do these objects have a special meaning? Or is it just that, during the most daily activities, you think: "hey, this object has a nice sound"?
Hehe, you could put it like that. Mostly I think "hey, this has a very great sound; would I be able to combine this with the current song?" But sometimes there's a special meaning behind it as well, under the guise of "the least conventional, the best", call me an elitist; but I think this could give a surplus value to the music.
What do you think about bands using for example ritualistic objects to make their music? Would you see any good in it?
I can't even come up with a reason why I would be against it.
I myself like ethnic - whether ritualistic or not - instruments like the bamboo flute, ocarina and so on. Although I still prefer to combine these instruments with other sound sources instead of only using these.
If I'm not mistaken, you already performed once. How was that and which reactions
did you get?
Are you going to perform again and have you already got special plans/ideas concerning
the presentation?Indeed, on the 9th of April 2005, I knocked about the Frontline in Gent, together with Troum and Tho-So-Aa, which gave me a lot of satisfaction. Just about all the audience's reactions were very positive, the organizer's reactions as well, and I surely would do it again.
There are plans for a future performance, with Fear Falls Burning and Daw. Again in the Frontline, on the 13th of May, I would say be there; because hopefully I'll make it a nice show.
How do you think your music has evolved between 'Off-Key Interlude' and 'Silent Depravation'?
As far as I am concerned, I think it is a very positive evolution, in the matter of sound as well as composition. The whole of 'Silent Depravation' is, in my eyes, much more coherent than 'Off-Key Interlude'.
I noticed as well that people who have both albums, think of 'Silent Depravation' as more professional, the album giving them an enduring impression.
In other words, a very successful evolution; and I can only hope that, in the future, it will only improve.
Your new album came out on NOTHingness REcords, what do you think about the other releases on the label? Are there things you can recommend?
What do you globally think about the Flemish/Belgian Ambient 'scene'?
As for the things on Nothingness I already heard, I can surely recommend Mannus and The No-Tone Project, as well as Methadrone.
On the whole, I think the Belgian ambient scene is a bit underestimated. There truly are a lot of good projects in our small country, but they hardly can set foot ashore because of the labels, who don't want to release their work because they're nearly unknown.
Of course there are still those labels who believe in 'the common man'.
'Silent Depravation' is nearly sold out at NOTHingness REcords. For those who are interested, where is the album still available?
As far as I as know, you can still get 'Silent Depravation' at Conspiracy Records and Carpe Noctem, there they aren't sold out yet. But you can't get any albums by me or at Nothingness anymore.
You're now working on a trilogy, the 'Structural Oddities'. Can you already tell us more about the theme? And what will the music sound like, compared with the previous works? Will this trilogy come out on NOTHingness REcords as well?
The theme of the three albums is still afoot, but the first album is almost finished. I hope to begin with the second album very soon.
But I can already tell you something about the narrative. The whole 'Structural Oddities' trilogy will deal with a post-nuclear world in which mankind has caused its own downfall. Each album deals with a certain psychic phase of one of the survivors. Thus, the first album will deal with dreaming and awaking in this new world.
In the music, there is a very clear difference with the previous albums. The songs are much longer (12-13 minutes on average) and they're more based on atmosphere and - whether experimental or not - soundscapes, where the rhythmical aspect has been pushed into the background, but yet it is present. I think it sounds much more mature, and I can only hope that those who buy the trilogy will have the same opinion.
Whoever goes to the Frontline on the 13th of May, can, by the way, expect two or three songs of this upcoming trilogy.
This trilogy will be released on NOTHingness REcords as well, but I can't exactly tell you when.
My last question: on Off-Key Interlude figures a 'logo' with on it the (beautiful)
sentence "Wanneer de drums des wraak luiden, zullen de wolven en diens kinderen
huilen" ("When the drums of vengeance beat, the wolves and their cubs will howl").
Where does it come from?It was a spontaneous bright idea of the undersigned. It thought it sounded nicely.
That's it. Any last remarks?
I would dare to say: keep an eye on www.hroptr.be, because there's going to be a new website, where users will have the opportunity to write reviews themselves and put them on the website.
Links of interest:
.Hroptr.
NOTHingness REcords
Slaughter Productions