Genre/Influences: Ambient-Electro, Cinematic, Experimental.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Belgian Ambient musician Didier Dewachtere released several noticeable works during the past years. This work -as the title indicates, reveals compositions he achieved in between 1984 and 2014 but which have never been released before. The songs remain unmastered.

Content: You clearly recognize the Ambient-Electro aspiration of the artist. From pure Ambient reminding  early pioneer Van Gelis to Cinematic experiments this work is diversified. Long, extended, compositions are now driven by slow rhythms and then driving the listener into a wafting sensation.

+ + + : This work is pure Ambient-Electro old-school. I’m more into the ‘dynamic’ cuts “In Minds We Trust” and “Instrument Flight Rules”. Both tracks are meticulously built up featuring irresistible analogue sound treatments and space-like effects. The slow cadence brings a cool -and even danceable-like, effect on top. 

– – – : Especially the opening cut sounds too simplistic and far below the true genius of this artist.

Conclusion: I’m not convinced by all featured tracks but it would have been a shame if the other great cuts wouldn’t have ever been released. 

Best songs: “In Mind We Trust”, “Instrument Flight Rules”, “Believe”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/BySenses.Didier

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

I already interviewed BySenses four years ago right after the release of the third album “People”. This Belgian solo-project driven by Didier Dewachtere took me by surprise dealing with an intelligent Electro-Ambient style which is clearly inspired by the ‘Berliner School’. The artist this year self-released his fifth opus “MonoCHROOM” on which he confirmed to have a talent for sophisticated Ambient music. This is an album appealing for fans of Tangerine Dream but more than simply an emulation BySenses is a project with an own approach and a fascinating sound.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Tell us a bit more about your musical background and roots? How did you finally come to set up BySenses? 

Didier:As a little boy, at home I was mainly brought into contact with French chansons, Charles Aznavour or American artists, such as Nat King Cole, Dean Martin or Orchestral melodic music. The time on the radio is still in my head today, and yes, I did like that. As a child, you develop naturally and you end up in your own world. A world of New-Wave, Front 242, The Neon Judgement, Simple Minds etc… New-Wave pubs were the place where a lot of my music started. In Ghent, there was no shortage of such nice bars either, The Fifty Five for instance. 

At one point I heard the opening tune “Equinoxe 5” by Jean-Michel Jarre on the “Musique de France” broadcast on the radio, presented by Zaki, father of, father of the Soulwax-brothers. It was a bit of a surprise, because the opening tune really didn’t match the French chansons that were presented, but it was a start. “Equinoxe 5” did catch my attention. I went looking for that music and finally bought the single. Later, the LP-version was added, so my parents were obliged to buy me a record player. But actually, my first distant contact with Electronic music was at the Bargee’s institute in Wetteren, where the catholic brother played Vangelis’ music at night, while the lights were off… very special, but I think that has stuck. He then played “To The Unknown Man”. It was only when I bought “Spiral” that I recognized it.

In Sluis (Holland) I came across an album with a purple background and a big X sign. I didn’t know what and who it was, but I had the album played on the turntable in that shop. I was overwhelmed. After a long time of sawing, my parents let me buy it… and then the purchase of many albums by Klaus Schulze.

Also the album “Live” came up and if it would just happen that the song “Sense” is on it and that’s how I came to the name BySenses. I thought it was a nice pun on one of my great examples

Q: Your work is clearly inspired by Ambient music. Does this label fit with what you’re doing and what means Ambient music to you? 

Didier: I can imagine that people place my music in that genre. Just putting together different sounds, looking for a setting, atmosphere is very important to me. Music has to be able to take you along, whether it’s Rock, Jazz, Hard-Rock or House or Classical music, if it takes you along, I think you’re on the right track. 

You can’t compare Klaus Schulze’s music with VANGELIS’ music. These are two different environments, two different atmospheres, two different worlds. Where Vangelis mainly feeds on his fantastic melodies, Klaus Schulze feeds more on his Soundscapes, composer of different tones, sounds. I find that an incredible thing. Am I influenced by it, certainly, and that’s no problem, they will have been influenced by other artists as well. “Le Grand Petit”, from the digital album “5 Jours De Liberté” tends much more towards the melodic, while on the same album there are pieces where I try to create an atmosphere with pure sounds. It’s the same on “MonoCHROOM”. The album “People” tends more towards sequencer work and more Techno-like rhythms. 

Q: You already mentioned Klaus Schulze and Vangelis who both passed away quite recently. You already talked about it but in which way do you feel connected with their work and what made both artists and their work that special? 

Didier: It is indeed terrible, Electronic music is losing its founding fathers. Let’s not forget Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream.

Both are absolute founding fathers of Electronic music, each in their style the synthesizer was used in a totally different way. 

Klaus Schulze in his own style took me into his environment, the build-up, his build-down, his sounds… “Dune” is the biggest example for me, a song that carries me away in all its facets. I feel the same way about Brian Eno’s “Dune”-melody. If you play Frank Herbert from the album “X”, you get sucked into his own way of sequencing. Tangerine Dream on “Rubicon” or “Stratosfear” and “Ricochet” give me that same feeling.

Vangelis, also in his own style, takes me into his melodic music. He manages to play every note in the right way, less experimental, more in the sense of ‘ Here I am, here I present you something to accompany me in my journey through this album’. For a man who hasn’t learned a note and wins an Oscar… hats off. “To The Unknown Man” is a great example of how he manages to change the melody in one song.

To me, both are pioneers of the highest level, both can be placed next to great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven…

Q: Over now to your own work and the newest opus “MonoCHROOM”. How did this work took shape and what kind of album did you want to achieve?

Didier: “MonoCHROOM” has a small history. When I was at boarding school in Wetteren, an educator told me: ‘There are people who only like one colour. White or black’. He gave it a name. I had forgotten that name and actually spent a long time looking for it. A friend of mine, I think it was Johan Depaepe from Owann, my friend in “The Tower Tree”, told me that it might be that word. “MonoCHROOM” was born.

At first I had in mind to make pieces that were separate from each other again, but more and more the album grew into one big whole. Had I been able to make one 60-minute song, I might have done so. But I still wanted to see the differences between black and white and other colors. That’s why the cover is black and white and the inside is colored balls of different sizes (an idea of Alain Wymeels of Midician by the way). 

When the album was OK for me… the music goes to the mastering man, Dries De Vreeze. A man who regularly puts me in my place, in the positive sense of course… but he gives it an extra dimension through his mixing and mastering. I can only be grateful to him for the additions he makes.

I wanted to release an album that pushed the monotony aside, and made it like a multi-color festival. There is more than one color in your life, and when you open the book (the CD cover), you see the diversity. It’s the same in everyday life. 

Q: Your albums are always composed around a theme or should I say conceptual theme, which is not that different for “MonoCHROOM”. Does the theme and/or concept become the main inspiration to compose your music or how does it happen? And how do you transpose ideas/concepts into notes and songs? 

Didier: I like to talk about one subject, because that is what I can focus on best. I then try to further develop the project, the idea. Maybe in the future I will try to make a story CD, spread over several CDs. 

In “Monos” (cf. the first track), I wanted to bring out the monotony of color by working very hard on a light build-up, repetitive song, which eventually ends in an uptempo. The Industrial beginning points to how hard it must be to enjoy only one color. “Monos” means one color. 

“Chroom” means more colors, which makes me start more rhythmically. I also wanted to add another instrument. I had seen Peter Moorkens playing his experimental guitar solos when we were in Ghent for the Sonic Emissions concert. At the Antenna Festival in Evergem I saw him working on his modular systems and thought, maybe we should do something together. Peter immediately liked the idea of playing guitar on “Chroom”. Because of this mixture, I think that the diversity has come out well. 

Most of the ideas grow bit by bit. The melody lines are sometimes done in one night. The rhythmic piece on “Monos”, the solo, was recorded in one take. I like that. You’re in the zone, and … then it comes anyway… 

Q: What did you try to express by live performances and how do you transpose the songs on stage?

Didier:I try to draw people into the story. Since live performances are a bit monotonous for EM musicians, we usually bring in some film, so that the movements are more pleasant than watching one person behind a battery of synthesizers. I find film very important in EM. Once I asked Johan De Paepe (Owann) at the concert in Ghent, Sonic Emission 1, when “People” came out, to take pictures of the people who were there. These were then incorporated into the film, directly, and put on the screen. That clicked well, because the CD “People” had just come out and you’re bringing people live. You can imagine that the people who suddenly saw their faces on the screen were shocked, and they liked that. Involving the audience, I find that very important.

I also try to adapt the songs, so that we don’t get the feeling that we are playing a play button. It goes without saying that I can’t manipulate all synthesizers with two hands. Some sequencers and samples are recorded beforehand… the PC is therefore the replacement of the old tape recorders that used to be on stage during live performances.

On Youtube, a 45-minute film called “45 Minutes De Liberté” is circulating, a precursor to the digital CD 5 “Jours De liberté”. There you can also see a film during my concert. 

I am very happy when people say to me after the concert, ‘we enjoyed it’. I think that is the intention of all artists.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Ambient-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Didier Dewachtere is a Belgian artist active under the BySenses moniker. In 2018 his album “People” was released by Wool-E Discs but he has now self-released his latest opus “MonoCHROOM”. It’s the fifth album by this Belgian project.

Content: The work features 2 cuts, each 30 minutes. Both tracks have been meticulously built up and reveal an impressive sound arsenal. Taking off with Industrial sound treatments the work progressively evolves into a pure Ambient featuring dark, minimal Electronics, low bass lines and sequences reminding me of Tangerine Dream. The next cut reveals a similar evolution featuring swiping noises, hard, droning kicks and psychedelic guitar play by guest musician Peter Moorkens (Onsturicheit).

+ + + : The work of BySenses is a kind of sonic painting. There’s so much to discover and so many details to analyze. The composition has been built up with a perfect twist between vintage sound treatments reminding me of Electronic pioneers -like Tangerine Dream, and a more personal and contemporary input. The constant progression of both tracks is pretty exciting and especially for the ultimate apotheosis which is reached.

– – – : I don’t have real minus points to mention but get the feeling this project is still able to do better.

Conclusion: BySenses is confirmed to be one of the greatest Belgian talents in Electro-Ambient music. This artist definitely deserves more recognition for his work.

Best songs: “CHROOM”, “Monos”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/BySenses-489962864349446

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, electro-ambient, cinematographic, experimental, minimal-electronics, gothic, EBM.

Background/Info: This album is a perfect opportunity to get more familiar with the Belgian label Wool-E-Discs featuring this label sampler with a real interesting title to analyze… The Belgian label is a rather eclectic company interested in talented (mainly) Belgian formations. The album features 18 bands. The main songs are taken from previously released material while a few ones will be released on upcoming productions.

Artists: Simi Nah, Factice Factory, Story Off, True Zebra, LiquidTrauma, The Breath Of Life, Lizard Smile, Der Klinke, Galactic Underground ft. Erik Wollo, Starseeds, BySenSeS, Club Mayz ao.

Content: This is the perfect compilation to discover the already impressive roster of Wool-E-Discs. This label which set up an interesting series about Belgian ambient music (cf. Belgian NeuMusik) reveals several artists from that series, but still totally different artists dealing with alluring electro-pop, dark-like and minimal electronics, gothic and experimental music.

+ + + : This sampler is a must have to realize the growing impact of Wool-E-Discs, but still the great music taste of the label owner Dimitri Idunno. He made me discover fascinating ambient projects such as BySEnSeS and Galactic Underground while other more familiar names such as Simi Nah and The Breath Of Life are great names from the electro-pop and gothic scene. But this is also an opportunity getting back to darker electro formats such as LiquidTrauma. I also have to mention Der Klinke, True Zebra and the French-Swiss band Factice Factory, which all are more gothic minded. I’m also looking forward to the album of electro-pop formation Starseeds.

– – – : The only regret about this album is the absence of Daniel B. (Prothèse) and Nothing But Noise (another Daniel B. project together with early Front 242 member Dirk Bergen).

Conclusion: In times where so many labels have disappeared a few ones such as Wool-E-Discs still have the motivation and ambition to move on. And the least I can say is that this a label, which definitely deserves more (international) recognition.

Best bands: Simi Nah, Factice Factory, LiquidTrauma, The Breath Of Life, Galactic Underground ft. Erik Wollo, Starseeds, BySenSeS, Der Klinke, True Zebra, Story Off.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.wool–e–shop.be / www.facebook.com/woolediscs

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Didier Dewachtere is a Belgian artist from 53 years old. He started to like electronic music at his 15th birthday. It was the good-old time of new-wave music, which still remains a source of inspiration. Later on he discovered artists such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze ao. The ‘Berliner School’ had a real great impact on Didier. It is very obvious, that BySenses was partly taken from a song from Schulze entitled “Sense”. BySenses now has released its third full length entitled “People” on the Belgian label Wool-E-Discs. It’s a beautiful and styled ambient release, which also brought me in touch with the artist.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: BySenSeS has been featured at the Wool-E-Discs series “Belgian NeuMusik”. How would you introduce the sound and approach of BySenSeS and what does it mean to you to be part of this label-series devoted to Belgian ambient music?

Didier: My first album came out on an independent label Multidisc. But when Dimitri Idunno told me he would start up a new label Wool- E Discs, pure Belgian music, I thought it would be nice to be part of it. So he said yes and now “People” and a lot of other albums have been released on his label. I’m thinking on Sensory++ , Venja or Galactic Underground, The Rosswell Incident, Rhea and a lot of other.

Mostly they say ‘Berlin School’ is the base of ‘Belgian Neu Music’, but that is not really right.. If you listen to Nothing But Noise, another Belgian group, I think there is no Berlin School in it. It is a great honor to be part of it. I think Belgian Electronic Music can be placed amongst the German School, or French School.

My sounds and my music is how I feel… how I think, how it is in my mind. Starting a song is searching for sounds and I use this bases to create songs. It can start with a melody or with a simple rhythm… or something that comes into mind while going home.

Q: What means music to you and what importance does it take in your daily life?

Didier: Music is very important to me. It has always been a part of my life. When I was a young boy, I spend all time at my bedroom listening to music, playing cards with headphones or going to sleep with music and getting up with music… I just came home in the weekends, because I was at a boarding school, but over there they played music as Vangelis.. At that time I didn’t pay any attention to it. I was nearly 9 years, but later on it got really an impact. I still think that I kept this music in my mind. When I was 20 years old, I started living on my own and the first thing I did was buying a Korg MS20 and MS50. In the beginning I made some tracks with the Korg MS20, but they are all lost. My parents didn’t believe in the music I wanted to make and certainly not in ‘the synthesizer’. Because my life at that time was a bit other than it is right now, all my money went to discotheques and going out.. Later on, when I came back from Afghanistan, I decided to buy more instruments, and my son Pieter did all the technical support. It was great to see him doing these things although he never made music (lol).

Q: The first BySenses production were released in 2014. How do you look back at the earlier work and what have been the main evolutions and steps forward towards “People” and is there a hidden message behind the front cover?

Didier: My first album “InSense”, which is only available at Bandcamp was not mastered. I made the music and put it on Bandcamp. It was only a bit later I got in touch with some people like Dries De Vreeze, who do some mastering. “Frigmants Fragments” is mastered by Dries and is a bit different, more experimental. It tells us the story of a part of my life, a moment where during a short time things were not so good… a story about good and bad things… “Slaap Stil Mijn Kind” can been considered as an example. The track is dedicated to a child I lost.

Next to Dries, Sarah Joos came into the picture. Sarah is incredibly good in what she’s doing. She makes really dreamy pictures and has her own style. I think there is a mutual respect for each of our work. In these times people are living so separated, living all alone without contacts etc… People are so tired of politics. People are scared and getting afraid while I think politicians should bring people together and help them. I don’t like populism and I don’t like Nationalism… not in that way… Using migration to get votes is abusing people. That’s a bit the hidden message. So quite progressively, the idea came to make an album for all people around the world. I asked Sarah if she would make some pictures of people; just their faces and all colors while I asked a friend to be on front. His  has a real expressive face.

Alain Kinet, who I already knew from earlier times, did the sleeve design. He listened to my story and so the artwork got created. I wanted to make an album from birth to death, from loneliness to happiness, from feelings to non-feelings, from things that happened in my life such as relations etc. So “People” was born.

I really think that music can feature a message. I want to put a message in it, but also maybe a message that people has to find listening to the music… that message is not necessarily the same as I want to give. Nothing around us reflects the open-mind of humanity. We are not chosen, we are people.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the global production process of this work; potential sources of inspiration, way of composing, addition of guest artists and how do you look back at the album right now?

Didier: To be honest, it has been a lot of work producing “People”. It took me 2- 3 years to have it all done. It is not a secret that I’ve been seriously impressed by Klaus Schulze, but also Vangelis, Roedelius, Tangerine Dream ao. So am I influenced about them? Maybe, but I really try to put my own ideas and feelings in the compositions. It’s always a pleasure when someone says that he can hear BySenses in my music.

As I said I start with some sounds, looking for some nice patterns and work on it. Sometimes the melody comes, like on “Nightdancer”, where I played the melody in one night. I surely can not replay it again, I was in ‘The Zone’ and when you are there, you can do a lot of things. So ‘Frakke’ came in for drumming on “Nightdancer”, as he already did on “OGF” on “Frigments Fragments”. I know Frank De Coster (‘Frakke’) as a collegue and he’s really rock and roll.

Next came Thomas Betsens. I saw him live at a little festival in Drongen (Belgium), where I played live with my other project The Tower Tree (collaboration between BySenses and Owann). I asked him if he was interested for singing on “People”. So he came over and had a listen. The music was already composed and then it happened… It blew me away. He never heard the song which I wanted him to sing. And he also sung on “Sensitivity”, which I think is the best song I ever made. There’re so much feelings in it, which doesn’t mean that the other songs are less important. The song “Birth” was made when my son told me he was becoming father himself and I became grand-father. So all feelings are in it. I like to work with other musicians and I like to give them enough space to do their own thing. So did Thomas and Frank.

When I look back, I think it is a step forward comparing to “InSense” and “Frigmants”; technically and musically I think all albums have their a different sound.

Q: When I hear ambient music I often think to concepts featuring diversified forms of arts like films, documentaries, pictures, paintings, sculptures, theatre etc… What’s your perception about it and what are your further plans?

Didier: The 80’s music of Klaus Schulze, Vangelis, J.M. Jarre was played on the radio. I even heard Tangerine Dream on ‘Studio Brussel’ (national broadcasting). Later on I discovered other programs late at night. I remember I was 15 years old and asked my teacher if I could listen to these programs. As he was fan of Vangelis he let me listen to it, but It was forbidden to say it to my friends. Nowadays there is a totally different way of making radio.. It all is about how many listeners you can reach, money etc. So nowadays our music is played on internet radio, even Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream. I really respect that, but it’s a pity that national broadcasting is not giving time to this kind of music. There is a lot of beautiful- and modern electronic music.

When people ask me what ‘ambient music’ is all about, I often say that they can listen to the music of a documentary etc.. but it’s much more than that.

Nowadays I take some rest and simply enjoy spending some time with my little daughter Eleonora. I’m still searching for new sounds and there’ll maybe a new album from The Tower Tree. I really would like to see “People” getting released on vinyl format. I remixed some songs, made them a bit different and now they’ll be mixed by Alain Wymeels. I’m just waiting what Wool-E-Discs will say.  Don’t expect a new BySenses-album within one year.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electronic, rhythmic-ambient.

Background/Info: BySenSes is a Belgian solo-project driven by Didier Dewachtere. He self-released a debut full length in 2014 and now joined Wool-E Discs for a new chapter in the Belgian NeuMusik series devoted to ambient music from Belgium.  

Content: “People” is totally ambient-like for the imaginary invitation to embark on a long sonic trip through countries that don’t exist. It’s a voyage on, which you’ll cross deep resonating bass lines, slow tempo rhythms, evasive string parts and even spoken vocal passages. There also is an experimental touch emerging from a few cuts, on which the artist must have used field recordings (or samplings). There also is a part of mystery emerging from some songs, like a spooky flavor joining this electronic prosperity.

The 2^nd disc features 4 extra songs, which are in a similar vein although you here will discover a remix, an extended version of another track and 2 more cuts.

+ + + : “People” brings us back in time. Some of the electronic treatments and the global sound atmosphere are evoking early ambient pioneers, but I also noticed a kind of early Front 242 sound experiment merged with pure ambient music. The slow cadence makes the songs more accessible and still more captivating. This is ambient music to dream away on while sometimes getting close to IDM. I like the sophisticated sound treatments revealing great astral atmospheres and a few transcendental passages. The use of a few vocal lines makes the global production more accessible. Last, but not least I also like the artwork of this album featuring numerous little pictures of people faces. It reminds me a bit to the famous Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani.

– – – : After the “Intro” we get two long and somewhat endless during pieces. I like them both, but they’re maybe a little less too long while other tracks from this disc are maybe a little less too short. It’s all about personal taste of course, but I don’t have real criticism about the content properly speaking.

Conclusion: This “Belgian NeuMusik” series has already revealed a few cool artists and BySenSeS is just one more we can add to the list. If you like electro-ambient with attitude you better can try “People”.

Best songs: “Nightdancer”, “Short Memo”, “Before Birth”, “People – Remix Guy Tallo”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/BySenses-489962864349446

Label: www.wool–e–shop.be / www.facebook.com/woolediscs

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com