When I listened to “Liberation”, the first single from Neon Electronics’ latest EP, I thought it felt like the zenith of that fusion between guitars and electronic music that Dirk Da Davo has been perfecting since his days leading the classics The Neon Judgement. First as a solo artist, Da Davo released a series of records in which he collaborated with other producers—until he found in Glenn Keteleer (also known as Radikal G) and Pieter-Jan Theunis the perfect battle partners. After two incredible albums, NE and Apollo, the trio announces—really unexpectedly—their true final chapter. Liberation, their musical testament, has now been released on vinyl by the Catalan label Oráculo—and you can listen to it here.
—Dirk, what was your idea when you started Neon Electronics? To move in a more electronic direction, as the name suggests?
—I released the first Neon Electronics’ album in 1999. The project started from a desire towards freedom, independence and change. During the first years the project was mainly electronic inspired, a few years later I started experimenting more with guitars. Over the years the project has known an evolution in music styles, setup and collaboration with some amazing musicians. This diversity is something I am proud off.
—The second LP, System Rivera, is a little less club-oriented—or at least you sing more on it. Could you tell us about it? It was a success, wasn’t it?
— System Riviera was released in 2003 on CD and on vinyl via the French label “Le Maquis”. Yes, the album was a success, also thanks to the collaboration with the distribution company “NAÏVE”. I even sold a reasonable number of copies in Russia, which might be a bit of a risky thing to say these days :-). Some songs have more vocals, indeed, but the song “Sept XL” brings you straight away to the techno clubs.
—Monkey Ever After is another strong Neon Electronics’ album, specially the collaboration with The Hacker on Better Way really stands out. How did that come about?
—I have met Michel (The Hacker) a couple of times before we decided to collaborate on “Better Way” (2007). We got and still get along very well, and we share the same passions. Michel came up with the idea of sending me a track he was working on, and for sure that I was enthusiastic and started writing some lyrics and recording the vocal arrangements. “Better Way” was recently re-released on red vinyl by Link Records, a label from Liege (Belgium). Almost 20 years later the track is still making people dance.
— On Keylogger you started working with Radikal G, who went on to become a full member on the following album. How did you two meet? You also released a couple of his albums on your label, DanceDelic-D, didn’t you?
—DDD: I met Glenn first at a cd distribution company in 2009, when he came to deliver his Radical-G album release for distribution. We had a short chat and felt a connection straight away. I immediately became a fan of his music, which is just like mine dark inspired with a modern touch. Soon after that we were spending time in the studio together to make our first recordings. I would say that our dark souls brought us together 🙂
—Glenn Yes correct, it’s been a while, it’s also that time when I remixed “We Are Confused” from The Neon judgement.
—Keylogger is a lot darker than your previous work. Was that down to the album’s themes, or simply your mood at the time?
Photo: Juan Francisco Camacho
—DDD: A keylogger is a dark object. I never made music with the intention to make you feel happy.
— On the album you included a cover of Luc Van Acker’s “The Fear In My Heart.” Luc produced some songs for Blood and Thunder, and you recently remixed his latest single. What’s your relationship with him like?
—DDD: I met Luc in the beginning of the 8os at a concert in a small punk bar (Arnoz) in our hometown Leuven (Belgium). Luc was performing there. It is was the same bar where we recorded The Neon Judgement`s NION live and on the spot, the recording which you can find on the album 1981-1984. It took some years before we made a closer connection. In fact, those days we did not talk much with colleagues-musicians, we just stayed uber-cool in these cold wave times. Later we invited Luc as a producer for some tracks on the TNJ album “Blood and Thunder”. He was also on stage with The Neon Judgement as a guest musician at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium (2015) and for our final show in Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium (2015).
Then everything went quiet, until 2 years ago I suddenly received a message from Luc if I would like to make remix of “It ̈s Been A While” , a new track he did. I felt honoured, and I excepted and I did the remix for him. So, Luc, he comes and he goes…
—Another of your great albums was NE with Radikal G, released by Unknown Pleasures. What was it like working with Glenn on it? In the previous interview you mentioned that some of the songs came out of jamming, right?
—DDD: Indeed, especially the track “157″ was like an insane ongoing jam session, I played bass guitar and improvised the vocals on the spot and Glenn provided a vibrating electronic groove.
—Glenn: Yes, we send a lot of time in the studio, at that time I was really on a roll. “Over and over” is still one of my favourite Neon Electronics songs we did over the years.
—Then came APOLLO, in which Pieter-Jan Theunis got introduced.
—DDD: On the album APOLLO Pieter-Jan joined us for the recordings and added some impressive basslines to the songs. It was another experiment into finding our representative sound. Especially in the live concerts we played afterwards PJ turned out not be only a very talented musician, but also a great performer on stage. Introducing him Neon Electronics was one of the best decisions ever.
—Glenn: It actually started at a BBQ at Dirk’s place in Leuven. 🙂
—We met the three of you just before that amazing concert at the Ombra Festival (Barcelona, Spain – 2025). How do you look back on the gig? The band had been inactive before that, hadn’t it?
—Glenn:It was a great weekend at Ombra, we played one of our best gigs ever, Technical and artist handling wise it was just outstanding. As I was playing as Radical G on the first day the entire trip was pretty exhausting, but a lifetime memory for sure. We even had our private doctor … 🙂
—DDD: It was an amazing experience for us, what a show! So much fun! We were out for a few years, like many other musicians involuntarily inactive due to the world situation at the time. In fact, it was Oraculo Records who convinced us to play the concert. We hadn’t played together for a few years, so there was some healthy stress involved. But sometimes the different elements fall together in the best possible way, and this happened at the Ombra Festival. The audience was amazing; the sound was superb and we had so much energy to release after not playing for a while.
Later that year we played 2 support shows for Front 242 in Ghent, Belgium during their Black Out tour and more, which was also an amazing experience, but the The Ombra Festival memory will always be a special memory for us.
Photo: Juan Francisco Camacho
—How did you start working with Oraculo? They released vinyl editions of a couple of your earlier albums.
—DDD: Via Unknown Pleasures Records (who produced the cd version NE) we got in touch with “Oraculo Records”. In 2015 they released a vinyl album with among other tracks “157” and “Road to Freedom.” Later they released the Mondriaan EP, and recently Liberation, our masterpiece.
—”Justification Unknown2, one of the tracks on the album Liberation, seems to be a song about NASA and astronauts –or what is it really about?
—DDD: The song is not that much about astronauts. Sometimes I just have visual ideas going around in my head, like little dreams: And for “Justification Unknown” it was space. I always was fascinated by space and NASA visually. I gave this idea to Jeroen Buytaert, our visual man who I have been working with for many years and he made a very nice video on the track. It simply serves the sound very well.
And what it´s about: I am a person that stands behind justification, but unfortunately in today’s world I do not experience this that much. So sometimes it’s a good idea to shout out your feelings about the world. It prevents you from becoming crazy. I am doing this since I have written “Tv Treated” in 1980. I never changed: Justification Unknown!!!
—I think “Nothing for Nothing” is one of the best tracks you’ve ever recorded—great sound and a great melody. What can you share with us about it?
—Glenn: “Nothing for Nothing” was written by Dirk in Spain, the demo was a roughly idea with an acoustic baseline. I just listened to the possibilities and kept the vocal part when adding the actual instruments to the songs. It turned out in one of the best songs indeed
—The EP features two remixes: one by Patrick Codeyns (whom I gather you know quite well) and another by Ancient Methods, a suggestion from Oraculo. What do you make of their remixes?
—Glenn:We did send out some more remix requests, but a lot of artists were very busy, and we had a strict schedule to deliver to produce the album. Having Patrick and Ancient Methods on the bill sounded like a matching ensemble to complete the package
—DDD:Patrick (Front 242) and I share a long history together. I like his mix a lot! It is not that much of a remix but more like a different and interesting interpretation of the track. I am happy that we finally had the opportunity for connecting musically after all these years of meeting in venues and obscure backstages.
Ancient Methods was indeed a suggestion of Oraculo Records, a very good one, we are very happy with their remixed track.
—And then the inevitable question: after such great live sets together and such a strong (final) EP, why are you bringing Neon Electronics to an end?
—Glenn: This one is harder to answer than expected. But yes, we believe that this album is the strongest message we wanted to share with people out there: Liberation!!!
—DDD: Because we felt that time had come. It was a mutual decision. And we decided to throw the towel with a strong release. In my opinion our strongest album ever, with an approved sound. Dark backgrounds with contemporary sound, what Glenn and I brought together years ago when we decided to collaborate, and it still fits as the perfect description of our final album.
—So, what’s next for Dirk Da Davo and Glenn Keteleer?
—DDD: I will love to say, chill…but the people close to me will never believe this. Music is my therapy! And the darker the world gets, the darker my music might become. Let’s see what comes next.
—Glenn:Let’s find out. I’ve been there when I decided to do the final Radical G album in 2021 The deserted kingdom and for some reason RG is still or has been an inspiration to many over the years. At this moment I’m spending time in my studio turning knobs and pressing keys, more like a therapy. Soundscapes, endless droning, building sequences and patterns on modular gear without any pressure. My life was a rush for about 35 years and in a need for some inner peace and calm. But for sure there’s plenty of recordings. I could have gone on forever.
The Techno in me will never die, and that has nothing to do with a 4 on the floor bass drum 😉
