Ivan Pavlov interview: ‘The book is the final Soisong release’
Soisong
Ivan Pavlov, who records as CoH, co-founded Soisong with the late Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson in Bangkok in 2007. The project produced the octagonal “Soisong EP” tour CDEP in 2008 and the full-length “xAj3z,” which documented two European tours. The project held its final concert at Hau 2 in Berlin on June 5, 2010 – without Christopherson, whose health had declined to the point that he could not fly. Christopherson died in Bangkok on November 25, 2010.
A 2012 event at Bar Bonobo in Tokyo, the venue where the project’s first concert had taken place, marked a symbolic close.
On May 22, 2026, Pavlov released “Soisong Book” – a 160-page faux-leather hardcover limited to 222 numbered copies – through the official Soisong store. The book draws on email correspondence, private photographs, official announcements, manifestos, and items Pavlov describes as “fake documents”: promotional materials created during the project’s active years. Two CDs are affixed inside the cover: a 2007 Tokyo concert recording pre-dating Soisong’s formation, and a new studio album by trumpet player Julio Ecclesiast, who contributed to “xAj3z.”
Side-Line spoke with Pavlov about the archive behind the book, the nature of some of Soisong’s listed performers, the night in Berlin, and what follows this release.
Soisong interview
SL: The book draws heavily on email exchanges between you and Sleazy. How large was that archive, and what guided your selection process? Were there exchanges you wanted to include but felt were too private?
Ivan Pavlov: I have about a thousand emails in my mailbox filed under ‘Sleazy’, but since it’s a Soisong book, only those that relate to the process have been included.
SL: You described upscaling late-2000s cellphone photos and low-res Myspace images using current technology. Where did you draw the line between restoring what was there and altering it? Did any images come out looking wrong once upscaled?
Ivan Pavlov: Good upscaling algorithms do not alter images to anything one would be able to notice in print, so no, the printed images look the same as their low-res originals.
SL: The book includes what you describe as “fake documents.” Can you give a specific example – were these created during the project’s active years, or produced later for the book?
Ivan Pavlov: You can see them in the book. For example, as part of the campaign for Soisong album called ‘xAj3z’ we had published a so-called Report from an, obviously non-existent, Investigating Committee. The report speculated on and promoted the shape of the CD package as an extraterrestrial object, with multiple illustrations. This was all made back in 2009.
SL: 222 copies is a precise figure. Is there a reason for that specific number, or was it determined by print-run economics?
Ivan Pavlov: You may find in the book a rather extensive dialogue about choosing the name for the project. I won’t expand too much on that, but ‘song’ is ‘two’ in Thai language. As for the economics for any kind of small editions – it is tough, indeed.
SL: The first CD captures the 2007 Tokyo concert where CoH and The Threshold House Boys Choir performed as separate acts – a pre-Soisong moment. Why that recording specifically? Was it already in the archive, or did it require sourcing?
Ivan Pavlov: Back then, a few days after the show I received 2 CDs from the sound engineer who was at the main desk during the concert. One with a room recording, i.e. including the sound of the audience, one with the clean signal. I now made a mix of the two and I see it as a document well related to Soisong – in the book you will find a mention of the show, and the subsequent discussion on playing live.
SL: The second CD contains a new studio album by Julio Ecclesiast, the trumpet player from “xAj3z.” How did that collaboration come about – did you approach him, or did the idea come from him? How much input did you have in the direction of his album?
Ivan Pavlov: Just like several other participants in Soisong, Julio mostly exists in domains of imagination, listener’s imagination included. Which already back in 2009 had become a rather typical, important part of Soisong’s approach to choosing the performers.
SL: Soisong’s packaging choices were consistently unusual – the octagonal CDEP, the warning on “xAj3z” that it could only play in CD players with a flat horizontal tray. How much of that approach came from Sleazy, and how much from you?
Ivan Pavlov: I would usually come up with rough geometrical design ideas, which we then perfected through a mutually encouraging dialogue.
SL: The final Soisong show took place at Hau 2 in Berlin on June 5, 2010, without Sleazy. What do you remember about that night, and what was the decision behind going ahead without him?
Ivan Pavlov: There was no decision making as such, as far as I remember we were about to play a few shows in Europe, but then Sleazy’s health suddenly declined which didn’t let him fly. The show in Berlin was too late to cancel, so we went on with this kind of ‘remote version’. Sleazy recorded a video message to the audience, and a video stream for me to play during the show. I played the music. It felt quite lonely on the stage, I admit.
SL: Christopherson died in Bangkok on November 25, 2010 – the city where Soisong was based. How did you decide what to do with the project’s archive after that? Was there a point where you considered closing it entirely?
Ivan Pavlov: Soisong is pretty much closed ever since Sleazy’s departure. Whatever has been published afterwards – these are just echoes of the past on their way to the future. Soisong was only meant to last until 2012, so in 2012 we organised the symbolic final event at Bar Bonobo, in Tokyo. That’s where Soisong played the very first concert, commonly referred to as Test Run #7. During this final night at Bonobo in 2012, with the help of the bar’s owner Koichi Sei and a few other friends, the recording of Test Run #7 was released in a small edition of sealed Walkman CD players. Some years later, I also managed to put together the unfinished Soisong album ‘kAm1e’. Now comes the book, which is pretty much just a collection of artefacts. I believe we would have published this kind of the final statement if Sleazy was alive, too.
SL: Dais Records released a remastered deluxe 2LP of “xAj3z” in 2025, with one previously unreleased track, “Lom Tum Lai Kwee.” How did that reissue come about, and what was it like returning to that material?
Ivan Pavlov: Dais expressed interest in re-issuing the two Soisong releases on vinyl. I wouldn’t have been able to pull that off on my own, and the idea seemed attractive. So I agreed and we did it. As for coming back to Soisong material – be it email conversations, images or music – it always feels warm, feels like coming home.
SL: You said the book’s creation was fuelled by “the same joyful enthusiasm and sense of fun as every other publication.” How would you describe Soisong’s working method to someone who only knows the music?
Ivan Pavlov: Encouraging joyful enthusiasm in each other, and working with a sense of common fun – that is the only method we employed.
SL: Does “Soisong Book” function as a closing document, or is there still archive material that could surface in future releases?
Ivan Pavlov: The book is the final Soisong release. I might do a few more commemorative fake radio-broadcasts for soisong.bandcamp.com. I would also definitely like to work more with Julio Ecclesiast, which largely depends on how he feels about that… but officially as Soisong, there are no further releases planned.
About Soisong
Soisong was an experimental electronic music project formed in 2007 by Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and Ivan Pavlov (CoH), based in Bangkok, Thailand. Christopherson had previously worked with Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Coil, and The Threshold Houseboys Choir, while Pavlov released music under the CoH name. The project combined Pavlov’s computer-based composition with Christopherson’s work on artificial vocals and what the project described as “South Seas” instrumentation.
The first release, “Soisong EP,” was an octagonal tour CDEP issued in 2008 in disposable-design packaging, with the release title doubling as a password for additional material on the project’s website. The full-length “xAj3z” followed, in octagonal packaging and carrying a warning that the disc could only play in CD players with a flat horizontal tray. Live activity included the 2008 Test Run Tour – with dates in Tokyo, Rovereto, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Moscow, and Athens – and a 2009 reunion tour with shows in Linz, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Wroclaw, and Cologne. The final concert took place at Hau 2 in Berlin on June 5, 2010, performed without Christopherson.
Christopherson died in Bangkok on November 25, 2010. A 2012 event at Bar Bonobo in Tokyo, site of the project’s first concert, served as a symbolic close: the recording of that original Tokyo show, Test Run #7, was issued in a small edition of sealed Walkman CD players. Pavlov subsequently assembled the unfinished album “kAm1e.” Dais Records reissued “xAj3z” as a remastered deluxe 2LP in 2025, with the previously unreleased track “Lom Tum Lai Kwee” added to the Bandcamp edition released on May 30, 2025. “Soisong Book,” released May 22, 2026, is confirmed as the final Soisong release.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
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