Dirk Da Davo will be always linked to The Neon Judgement. Time goes by and…
Dirk Da Davo will be always linked to The
Neon Judgement. Time goes by and today The Neon Judgement are no longer
although they remain in the collective mind of EBM and related music styles.
But Dirk Da Davo remained active and released a new album with Neon
electronics. Originally set up as a solo-project, he however always have liked
to work with other musicians. Throughout the years Glenn Keteleer (Radical G,
The Juggernauts…-) joined in and for the new album the duo got joined by bass
guitarist Pieter-Jan Theunis (bass guitar).
“Apollo” has been originally released on Dirk’s label DanceDelic-D while the CD
format got released by Wool-E Discs. It’s definitely one of the most
open-minded productions from the band, which is moving from EBM to electro-wave
to electro-rock while sometimes reminding to The Neon Judgement… This is what
Dirk Da Davo had to say.
(Picture credits by Nele Breyne Photography; interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: I realized the first ever released work
by Neon Electronics was already 20 years ago! How do you perceive the evolution
of the project and the move from a solo-project towards a ‘band’ or at least a
trio for the new work?
DDD: Indeed, time flies! In the beginning
Neon Electronics was a solo-project with the ‘debut album’ release in 1999. But
over the years I’ve worked with several people on the project, mostly DJ’s and
producers as The Hacker, David Carretta, Chris Shape and many more. It was
never a target or a ‘must’ to be a solo-project. Working together with
different people can be inspiring. But now I work with Glenn since a long time.
Bass man PJ joined us around 2014/15. Before I was the bass player myself. But
I felt the need to add guitars to the project, so we went looking for an extra
band member to play the bass. The growth in the concept that we have now all
happened in a very natural and spontaneous way. With Neon Electronics
everything is possible, no limits, all freedom!
Q: Let’s talk about “Apollo”. How did the
work came through? What have been the main influences and what has been the
(extra) input of Glenn Keteleer and ‘new’ member Pieter Jan Theunis?
DDD: Well, to be honest I’ve never
expected a new Neon Electronics album after the ending of The Neon Judgement in
2015. It was also the year that I’ve moved to Spain. So I thought things might
become too difficult to keep the project alive in this concept. But suddenly
Glenn came up with some demo tracks in 2018 and I liked the work. They inspired
me to add guitars and vocals. So actually the whole album got put together with
file sharing, chatting and talking/discussing the final mixes over the
internet! As I said, at that point we were already a trio. PJ our bass player
had already joined.
The main influence on the album is just to
act as ourselves. Glenn is mainly responsible for the electronica on “Apollo”
and PJ became the bass player, being himself instead of me on the bass. And I
did guitars and vocals and the end-production with Glenn.
Q: “Apollo” clearly sounds as the most
eclectic work ever released by Neon Electronics; a real melting pot between
different styles and influences. What did you want to accomplish and tell us a
bit more about this diversity?
DDD: Eclectic, well maybe yes. It was also
the thing with many The Neon Judgement albums. We also went from industrial
over pop to country on the album “The Insult” for instance. I guess it’s a way
to keep it interesting for ourselves… Maybe it also has to do with the fact
that, after I received Glenn’s demos, I also started to write new material
using mainly the guitar to write songs; “Off Da Hook” for instance was
originally written as a ‘guitar punk’ song before Glenn came into it. That of
course is a different style and approach of music. Probably that is also a
reason: different instruments were used to compose the overall album. But I
don’t mind about diversity!
Q: Dirk, how easy or difficult is it to
leave The Neon Judgement behind as “Apollo” features two great hits of The Neon
Judgement?
DDD: The 2 The Neon Judgement reworks were
not specially recorded for the album. The “TV Treated”-rework we had lying
around in the Live-version that finally made it on the “Apollo” album. I liked
the recording a lot, so it would have been a sin not doing something with it.
“Schizofrenic Freddy” is there for the same reason. We had the new arrangement
for the track also available. First it was intended to be an instrumental remix
track. I added the vocals and the guitar and the rework was born. So why not
use it when it’s good material!? It doesn’t have anything to do with how
difficult, how easy or even not with nostalgia: it’s just about the quality of
the recordings.
Q: I get the impression there’s a kind of
chemistry between you and Glenn? What makes it working between you both and
what do you like in your respective work & skills as musicians?
DDD: We are not working together since
yesterday. We started working together in 2012 with a few tracks on the
“Keylogger”-album. So this chemistry between us also grew over the years. When
I first listened to Glenn’s music he reminded me to myself with his keyboard
sounds… so that felt comfortable for me. It created comfort zone 1. Glenn is
also specialized in computer programming to produce music: he is a wizard with
these things. Much more then I am. Except for that, there are Glenn’s DJ
qualities. I’ve always made/liked danceable music. He is a good rhythm
programming partner: it created comfort zone 2 for me. And he is not afraid of
guitars plus on double top, he has a very nice singing voice! And I, I am older
then him so my background and influences in music go much further in the past.
And this does it all ! 😉
Q: What’s the next step and further plans
for Neon Electronics and are there eventually other projects in the pipeline?
DDD: We are playing 3 Live shows; 2 in
Belgium and 1 in Holland at the end of September and we might release some
remixes from the “Apollo”-album. We are still thinking about that. Furthermore
I’ve finished 6 brand new recordings with Jean-Marie Aerts (ex-TC Matic and so
much more) that will probably become released digitally by the end of the year
on my label dancedelicd.com
. So
that’s what comes next!
September 28th: “De Nieuwe Nor” (Heerlen,
Holland)
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