Avant-Garde Techno Album by
Rutger Muller Ensemble
Protokols is an exploration of contemporary mysticism: it aims to find catharsis in the dark energy between anxiety and spirituality. Elements of deep club music are superimposed on the acoustic drones of 20th century spectral/drone music, resulting in various avant-garde mutations of ambient-techno.
Drone and ambient sounds reach beyond typical emotions, they submerge us in an abstract, spiritual domain. But Protokols isn’t only about tranquility. Meditative elements are contrasted with dissonance, distortion, instability and atonality, to confront the stress and complexity of contemporary culture, technology and life.
Techno’s patterns and rhythms are continuously pulsating and shifting, similar to how spectral/drone music constantly morphs its intricately layered textures. Both genres convey a sense of ‘ancient futurism’, they allow us to experience time and culture in an ambiguous, universal way.
Concert halls can sound like churches (or caves), clubs can feel like ancient temples, festivals can offer a sense of social ritualism. We need these safe havens to engage in modern mystical experiences. Only through freedom and anonymity can we (temporarily) step outside of society’s hierarchical control structures.
To really travel back in time and tap into the origins of mystic music, Rutger Muller worked with classical musicians who were interested in both ancient and contemporary music. Through improvisation (an art inherent to many kinds of ancient spiritual music), Josephine Bode (recorders, vocals), Wen Chin Fu (cello) and Christian Tan (double bass) added elements of contemporary classical music, baroque music, early music, and more.
CDM (Peter Kirn):
“Miles away from even a lot of the post-classical music you hear these days, this is driving, jazz-inflected experimental electronic music deeply rooted in classical instrumentation and form.”
Murcof:
“Beautiful, elegant and mysterious.” (about our demo)
Rewire Festival:
“We were blown away by this ensemble.” (about our show)
European Space Agency:
“Fascinating!” (about the Cynquery video)
RUTGER MULLER ENSEMBLE
Josephine Bode, Wen Chin Fu, and Rutger Muller roam around in the mystic grey zone between meditative and uncanny sound. By using improvisation, live sound processing, unorthodox instrumental techniques, historical references, and theatrical elements, the ensemble’s compositions and performances are ever evolving, and thus a continuous opposition to time-space duality.
Josephine Bode (Mazamet, France / Born: 1982, Oldenburg, Germany) plays a wide range of recorders (woodwinds), the EWI (electronic wind instrument) and the Bulgarian Kaval. She founded Axolot, a recorder trio that mixes authentic Renaissance music, contemporary classical music and music theatre. Furthermore, Bode plays in progressive pop band Jerboah and electronic duo The Kewis. She also’s a dancer, singer and a music theatre director. Bode holds a BA in Classical Recorder (Conservatorium van Amsterdam, 2008) and an MA in Modern Music Theatre (Royal Conservatoire The Hague, 2012).
Wen Chin Fu (Leiden, Netherlands / Born 1982, Kaohsiung, Taiwan) is a cellist, pianist, and technological performance artist. She focuses on the human body, movement, space and concentration. Her designs include e-textile costumes with reactive sound and light, breakable percussion instruments made out of sugar, and the “body cello” through which her own body becomes the instrument. Fu is a part of the iii instrument inventors collective, and holds a BA in Cello (Shih-Chien University, Taipei, 2006), an MA in Art Science (Royal Academy of Art The Hague, 2010) and an MA in Modern Music Theatre (Royal Conservatoire The Hague, 2018).
Rutger Muller (Maastricht, Netherlands / Born: 1984, Geleen, Netherlands) is an electro-acoustic composer who uses technology to explore sound and culture from a spectral (timbral) perspective. Besides composing contemporary music (alone or with classical instrumentalists), he makes chiptune music and is active in digital design and translation. He reviewed modern classical music for Bachtrack, organised concert series The Instrument Room, and collaborated with game designers, animators, fashion designers, choreographers, dancers, among others. Muller holds a BA in Multimedia Design (Avans University of Applied Sciences, Breda, 2008), and a BA + MA in Adaptive Sound Design and Composition (Utrecht University of the Arts, 2012).