{"id":13331,"date":"2019-11-25T16:20:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T15:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/?p=13331"},"modified":"2023-09-29T21:21:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T19:21:28","slug":"interview-enzo-kreft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/en\/interview-enzo-kreft\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Enzo Kreft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enzo Kreft recorded two minimal wave cassettes in the early 80s, whose fame have been increasing with time and that were later reedited in 2016. Since then, he has produced three more records, highly recommended for all electronic music lovers. <\/strong>He will be playing at the W-Fest, on the 22nd of May, Olivier Daout Stage. There is no way we are going to miss it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014How did you choose your name (I\u2019m sorry if I ask this question that you have answered a few times)? Were you ever afraid of being mistaken for an Italian singer-songwriter? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Coming up with a pseudonym was a symbolic starting point for my musical project. I wanted it to be a name that spoke to the imagination. Right from the start I had the name Enzo in my mind, don\u2019t ask me why… One of my former friends continuously used the dialect word \u201ckreften\u201d, which means nagging, and it always sounded very funny to me. Once after a night out, I suddenly knew it: Enzo Kreft<\/strong>! I liked it, it sounded good to me, a bit Italian-German krautrock-like. So I don\u2019t have to be afraid of being mistaken for an Italian singer-songwriter \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014About the cover of your first cassette, Me Is!, what can you tell us about it? It\u2019s really iconic. \"\"You were doing the artwork, right? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Yes, I did, I do this myself for all the albums. In that period, the early 1980s, you couldn\u2019t make selfies with the same ease with which you can do it now, so I asked a good friend of mine to come and take pictures, while I was directing the event. In that period I had bought a black coat in a second-hand store. I really wanted to wear it for the photo shoot. I had the idea of being photographed while lying on the floor like a deceased person. The photo was taken in the hallway of the apartment where I was living at the time. I still have that famous coat and I wear it during my shows!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What gear was used for that record? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I can assure you: it was quite primitive! I used a Yamaha CS01 (a small analog monosynth), a Sound Master SR-88 Rhythm machine, a Boss DM-100 Delay Machine, a cheap electric guitar, an old microphone, a Sound Master Mini Mixer and two cassette recorders. All played manually, no sequencers were used…<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014In this album, you made a cover of the Human League, what other electronic bands from the beginnings of the eighties were you listening to? Maybe Fad Gadget? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I listened to many bands and artists. To mention a few: Kraftwerk<\/strong>, David Bowie<\/strong>, Gary Numan<\/strong>, John Foxx,<\/strong> Dark Day,<\/strong> Jeff and Jane Hudson<\/strong>, Fad Gadget<\/strong>, Cabaret Voltaire<\/strong>…<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014Cicatrice<\/em> (1984) seems a bit more professional and have a tune that could have been a hit, \u201cSomething\u2019s Coming.\u201d How was it received back in the day? Was it more difficult to be reviewed in fanzines or music magazines? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014At the time I didn\u2019t even know if there were any fanzine or music magazines or not. I was just doing my stuff, it all happened on a small scale. My tapes were only known by few people, especially in the underground circuit and occasionally they were played by some DJ friends at dark parties. \u201cSomething\u2019s Coming\u201d was not really a well-known hit in that period. However, I didn\u2019t care much about it, I was particularly pleased that I could make music in my small home studio.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014This music is based on the overdubbing system says your second cassette, but which was your system for the overdubbing? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I recorded my tracks layer by layer. Each new layer was mixed together with the tape on which the previous layers were recorded, via a mixing table to a second tape. So it went on and on. Usually I ended with the recording of the vocals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Did you play live in the eighties? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Yes, I did, but not with the Enzo Kreft<\/strong> project. I participated as a keyboard player in a few eighties local bands and I did play live with some of these guys.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Why did you not release any more music in the eighties after these two records?\"\" <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014To be honest, I didn\u2019t feel the urge. I was just making fun with some bands and I also had a project with my cousin, we recorded a lot of tracks in my home studio, it sounded all quite experimental, but we never released our stuff… maybe later, you never know.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014In a few interviews you have said that some tracks were not elaborate enough, but don\u2019t you think that is part of the charm of these tracks? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Some of the old tracks could have been a bit more elaborate indeed, the imperfection was often due to a lack of technical possibilities. I understand, though, that this imperfection can be charming as well!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Were you interested in the Belgian electronic music of the 80s? Did you like EBM or New Beat? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I knew the EBM genre fairly well and I listened to a number of bands from the early period, such as Front 242<\/strong>, The Neon Judgement<\/strong>… New Beat has passed me by a bit. The obscure early New Beat could fascinate me, but when the genre became too commercial, I quit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How was your life after these years? You were still working in the music business, right? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014After the 1980s I was indeed still making music, but not with the Enzo Kreft<\/strong> project. It was mainly a period of experimenting, searching for new sounds. I was also fascinated by cinematographic aspects of music and I made a number of instrumental pieces. During those years I also expressed myself creatively through other channels: I drew a lot, painted, made prints, sculpted and made videos. Music, my first big passion, was never far away. I still hear music when I\u2019m creating images and I see images when I\u2019m making music.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014You created your own label ZAK in the 80s to release your music and Enzo Kreft Music in the 2010s. How has the self-edition changed in these years? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I\u2019ve always preferred a DIY approach. I want to stay independent and keep artistic control on my recordings and songs. That ZAK label wasn\u2019t an official label, it was just a funny name I invented and to me it rather felt like a statement for the fact it was a self-released album. With the Enzo Kreft Music label in the 2010s, things really have changed a lot, the internet has made things much easier! As a DIY artist you have the possibility of distributing and selling on the Internet, you can inform people about new projects and events, this was unthinkable in the 1980s!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014You made a come back, partly thanks to the Dark Matter<\/em> compilation. Who selected the tracks? Are we going to have a release with both full albums? (The cover of Human League from Me Is!<\/em> is missing, I suppose that’s for copyright reasons.) <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I selected the tracks together with Lieven De Ridder, the owner of the famous Walhalla Records label, on which Dark Matter<\/em> was released. I don\u2019t know if there will be a re-release of the two cassette albums, I have been asked that question several times, I still have to think about that. \u201cBeing Boiled\u201d has been skipped indeed for copyright reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Regarding the dark future you describe in your music, do you think it\u2019s closer now than it was in the 80s? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Definitely! We\u2019re living in strange times… things have become even worse. I feel the need to express my dissatisfaction with the way leaders speak in the name of democracy but abuse their power and become extremely dangerous. I want to write songs about the way the masses are misguided, as if mankind didn\u2019t learn anything from history. We have to deal with climate changes, with the fear of annihilation, with the prospect of a dystopian world in which mankind has become the slave of technology, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How did you get the idea of doing a new album in 2016 and how was working on it?\"\" <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014In 2015 Walhalla Records owner Lieven De Ridder proposed re-releasing my 1980s music on the Dark Matter<\/em> vinyl record. At that moment I got triggered to restart the Enzo Kreft<\/strong> project. It didn\u2019t take that long before I started writing new songs. For that reason Turning Point<\/em> was completed soon after the appearance of Dark Matter<\/em>. Working on this new album was a quest and a challenge for me. On the one hand, I was musically and thematically looking for a connection with my 1980s albums, on the other hand, I wanted it to be a current album, relevant with the present time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Wasteland<\/em> from 2017 with its environment awareness is a kind of concept album. How did you work in this case? Did you search a topic first and then compose the music accordingly, or first the music? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014From the beginning I had the idea to make a concept album about this theme. I don\u2019t have a fixed system or a script to write my tracks. Usually things happen in a very intuitive way. Some tracks are preceded by a period of thinking things over, sometimes I have a concrete idea of a sudden. There are lyrics that serve as the basis for the music and there are pieces of music as a starting point for lyrics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014Contro<\/em>l, your last album from this 2019, is really interesting both in music and lyrics. <\/b><\/span>In one of the songs, you speak about the Milgram Experiment, which was also referred to in a Peter Gabriel\u2019s song. Do you like the tune by the ex-Genesis? How did you have the idea of writing about a thing like this? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I know this Peter Gabriel<\/strong> song, I like it a lot and I feel the connection with the topic. Control<\/em> is an album about the way people are controlled and manipulated. I try to look into the future, I\u2019m observing the present, but I\u2019m going back to the past as well to understand the mechanisms. In my opinion, the Milgram Experiment fits in perfectly with this Control theme. Psychologist Stanley Milgram\u2019s experiment dates from the early 1960s. Milgram wanted to investigate how it was possible the Nazis had ignored their moral convictions in order to kill millions of people. In the experiment, test subjects were encouraged to give electrical shocks to others and they just did it. It\u2019s that kind of experiment you think: I would never do that myself! The experiment has been repeated over the years and it turns out: mankind has not even changed a little in 50 years, it still follows orders careless and doesn\u2019t feel responsible for its actions…<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Nowadays, there are a lot of bands who find their inspirations in the 80s, which bands do you think are similar to what you were doing? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014I don\u2019t think this is a simple question, because every band has its own identity and every story is written differently. The technical possibilities and the current context in which new bands are formed are different than in the early eighties. There are many new bands that I find interesting, but I don\u2019t know if their story is similar to mine. For example, one of the interesting projects from Belgium is the one-man-band HerrNia<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How different is your way of composing tracks now, if you compare it with the 80s? I mean with the new tools and possibilities of technology? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Incredibly different! I work with a computer to record my songs, with this home studio I have infinitely more options than I used to. In the past it was impossible to modify tracks once they were recorded. Now I have lots of tracks available and I can refine, mix and produce my recordings down to the smallest details. I\u2019m sure that if I had had the current technical possibilities in the 1980s, I would certainly have used them at that time!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What can you tell us of your future concert at W-Fest? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014It seems a bit early to tell a lot about it. People who have already seen my live performances know that besides the music I also attach great importance to my visuals. For my concert at W-Fest I\u2019m also working on it, I\u2019m going to try to make it an intense and exciting show. I\u2019m really looking forward to it!<\/span><\/p>\n