Bird Barks
Bird Barks: Gift
Bird Barks‘ debut EP mixes haunting, open compositions with hushed electronic music; each track is a short story with hazy sounds, floaty or dark vibes that are surrounded by a cinematic suction. Electrifying electronica from light to dark and back.
“I´m guided by a sound, smell, light or a person intuitively. I find myself in streets, backyards, gardens, suburbs, landscapes, mountains or interiors. There is always an interplay, impulse, sense of freedom and pleasure of not knowing. Those moments are a gift for me. I´m a minimalist. I´m a traveler. Wherever I am, a story will find me. “Gift” is about letting things happen, getting involved in the power of beauty, ease or tragedy* of moments, reacting by recording and thinking about them deeply while making music. Thank you for listening.”
*”Gift” in German = poison
Meeting the artist. An Interview.
ET: What is your debut release «Gift» about?
BB: For me, «Gift» is a new start in making music. I knew I would need time to be able to compose constantly again. So I put my work as a cameraman on hold for a few months and started the journey. Choreographic works by Sasha Waltz, Michaël Borremans‘ paintings, the experiences of my street photography trips, sound recordings and being a father were all inspirations and ultimately formed a topic: the human body – our framework – in constant transformation; vitality and susceptibility, ailments and strength. I used the music to celebrate («gift» in English = present) and deform («gift» in German = poison) the human body. The artwork alludes to the theme on a visual level.
ET: What was your instrumental approach for «Gift»?
BB: I did a lot of song sketches with a guitar or with a beat as a leitmotif. The guitar demos had a song structure and the beat demos consisted of loops. Some of the demos had developed their own dynamics. I kept those and supplemented them with bass and synthesizer sounds. Finally sound collages and field recordings formed the end of each song. The tracks Align, The Lid, Televise, Sun had a guitar as a leitmotif and Her Neck and Nowhere to go were created out of a beat.
ET: What are your main music related influences?
BB: As a teenager, I started making music as a guitarist in a band. I was inspired and driven by Grunge music and bands such as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana. Later bands like Radiohead, Deftones, Tool, Sublime, Mars Volta, Sigur Ros joined them. Then I fell in love with Trip Hop, particularly Massive Attack and Portishead. From there it got colorful with breakbeat, dub, jazz, “organic” hip hop and electronic music. Some artists from this period, DJ Krush, Björk, Mouse on Mars, Bonobo, Beastie Boys, The Roots, Chet Baker and Beans (Anti-Pop Consortium) are still on my playlists today.
ET: Best loved hardware vs. Best loved software?
BB: I love the world of «warm» sounds from Arturia: Prophet, Jupiter, Minimoog V, Arp 2600, the V-Collection. For «Gift» I also worked with the analog synthesizers Poly Brute and Prophet 6. Further on I used Machine+ (NI), Pro Tools (Avid) and Acid Pro (Magix).
ET: Thank you, Bird Barks. Cheers!