"I need chaos and complexity to express simplicity." - Interview with Luminance

by Stina Isabel Gavrilin

The last Beats From The Vault of the year looms up out of the frosty air, in a slightly different shape this time - in the garden house of Paavli, lands Krematoorium with its harsher rhythms. The main room is taken over by the softer waves of Kabel, which is where we welcome Luminance! The Belgo-French master of dark/cold wave, also active in the projects Soror Dolorosa and Emptiness among many others, presents his latest live set, starting right between Saturday and Sunday, at midnight. Read all about his creative catalysts, modern production pet peeves, associations with the black metal scene and more in this fresh interview!

As Luminance, you’ve managed to retain that raw old-school darkwave/synthpop sound. For the longest time, I really thought you were a 1980s artist... Is it important for you to stay true to the methods of that time?

Absolutely not! I mean, it’s not a principle I abide by on purpose. It’s just the way I work. Actually, I don’t really work with the old methods. I don’t record on tape, I don’t use analog synths (I prefer 90's/early 00' digital ones), I heavily rely on the computer… I guess it would be more linked to my tastes, which, undoubtedly, reside in the “vintage” realms. I’m not sure I really like overprocessed modern music. It feels to me, often, not all the time of course, that this overprocessing is there to hide a lack of intention, a lack of… vision? Heart? I’m not sure how to define it. What I know is that organic and simple (and often raw) sound canvases allow me to touch the emotion, unfiltered. And therefore, I guess this is what I tend to do when I produce my music.

In the process of composition, do you start from a blank slate or a specific subject of inspiration?

When I was younger I used to go out a lot to parties and nightclubs, mostly wave and EBM nights. And very often, I used to spend my Sundays “pursuing” the night making music that took inspiration from what I’d heard in the club. I mean this was one of my motors. The numerous gigs I attended to too, related to this wave/goth/electro/EBM scene. And this got mixed with my “heritage” of more occult and esoterical music that I owed to black metal and ritualistic music.

On the subject of composition and creation itself, a simple beat with an interesting melodic rhythmic line used to start me. Now I’ve become way more exigent and often those simple elements don’t work anymore to ignite my spirits. I need texture now, something magical that would happen after noodling with 3 synths or a delayed vocal loop at the same time making an inspirational sound carpet. Then I would build upon that. It’s becoming more and more difficult for me to compose beat-driven tracks, or simple pop tracks. I might go more and more towards the ambient/progressive realms. I need chaos and complexity to express simplicity.

You’ve been influenced by a pretty diverse array of artists, from Dead Can Dance to Led Zeppelin. Which style or musicians do you consider the chorus of your life – the thing you keep coming back to the most?

Oh, Led Zeppelin and DCD, brings back memories :). Maybe you read this in the latest interview I answered, something like 10 years ago? Haha, gives you and idea of how much I communicate. Both those bands remain immense in my education. The closest and most emotional music, the one that shared my existence during the most intense moments of existence, that are directly attached to the deepest part of my emotional guts are Manson, Mylène Farmer, Indochine, and Type O Negative. And they never left me, I come back to them all the time. “Dancetaria” by Indochine still remains the closest album to my heart.

All the styles and scenes I discovered after (goth, deathrock, elektro, wave, synthpunk, psych…) were always fitting a period of my life, kinda “contextually” and a lot remain in my inspirational chest. But those that never left me are the forementioned.

Having been active as a session musician, is there anything in playing other people’s creative output that you find more rewarding than playing your own?

Y-E-S. Playing under the creative banner of other people is so relaxing. I don’t have to fight with myself. I’m my worst pain in the ass. I love playing with other people, or for other people. Following their direction, find where we can go together. Having non-verbal conversations through music is one of the most powerful things ever. When the right people find each other.

A few years ago, you released an atmospheric black metal EP with the project Remah. What was the incentive for that and are there any further plans ahead?

We made this album with my oldest friend A.B.R, with whom we played BM since highschool. This association of spirits will always exist until we die and maybe beyond, and it’s totally possible that we do something together somewhere in the future, whatever shape it takes.

How much do your other projects, like Soror Dolorosa, Emptiness and the aforementioned, affect the creative process of Luminance?

They don’t really affect Luminance. I’d say that the humans in those bands affect me, which could affect Luminance. But not the music itself.

What’s a phenomenon in music production you think (or hope) will have totally faded away ten years from now?

Autotune. I pray for a lyrical comeback.

What’s your ideal live show environment? Do you have a specific favourite place to play in?

I’d say that the setting for next Saturday quite resembles my favorite live environment! Late in the night, in an underground club, once the party is already going for a while. At least for Luminance.

For anyone not familiar with Luminance, what can the crowd expect from your debut show in Tallinn?

A character playing with all his heart but who has no idea what to do with his body. A sensitive weirdo singing for sensitive weirdos. But what can I expect from Tallinn’s weirdos first time in Luminance’s dimension?

Come and show him on Saturday, right here!