Can you introduce the band to the readers?

Diskonnekted is an electro/industrial/dance project that gives the good old Belgian EBM-tradition a modern switch. Refusing to be pinholed in one direction, Diskonnekted is always looking for boundaries to cross, and laws to beat. But stuck in an environment where pretty much every sound is already invented, Diskonnekted in the first place wants to create something fun and interesting both for the listener and themselves.

You are playing for quite a while now, first ebm with Midreda, than synthpop with heyaeb. Can we see Diskonnekted as a mixture of these two?

Diskonnekted is definitely not a mixture of these two, as Heyaeb was just the project of a friend for whom I played live keys and did some production jobs. So Heyaeb has really nothing to do with Diskonnekted, or the way I make or create music myself. Mildreda though was indeed my personal start as a musician. Much darker and harder than Diskonnekted I made this typical Belgian cold electro sound often compared with The Klinik or yelworC. When I discovered new modern dance music later, I started Diskonnekted to create a fresh mixture of my old electro roots and my new influences.

What inspires you in making music and writing lyrics?

I guess it’s the typical melting pot of environment, personal stimuli, and the music I listen too.

I feel the music of Diskonnekted is always evolving. Can we see the frozen ep as a next step to some darker tunes?

I think it’s necessary as a band to keep evolving. Both to please yourself and the audience. Diskonnekted started with this fresh dance oriented style, but evolved to a much darker and harder sound. “Neon night” for example was already more electro oriented compared to “Jesus raves”. It had some industrial elements on it as well. With “Frozen” I moved further down the path of colder and harder electro/industrial music.

What causes the constant evolving in music, I think it’s not only a change of interest in music but also personal grows and interests?

Yes, indeed. When I started with Diskonnekted I was listening to lots of progressive techno and trance. This explains why “Jesus raves” sounded indeed quite dance oriented. During that time I had lost my interest in darker stuff, but throughout the years I rediscovered my love for industrial music and dark and hard EBM. So now I am absolutely ready and excited to make some noise again. But as a person I evolved too of course. I am sure this reflects itself in the music too.

How did you get in contact with Dirk Ivens of  Dive, what was is like to work together with him? How are the responses on the frozen ep?

Belgium is a small country, so all electro artist pretty much know each other, but the real adventure started when I asked Dirk to sing the words for Frozen. Asking him to sing some words was a wild guess of me, but it all turned out even greater than expected, as the result was a real “Dive vs Diskonnekted”-release. The responses were great. I am sure Diskonnekted reached a new level and new fans with it.

You recorded a track with Frank m. Spinath on vocals. How was this collaboration achieved?

There was some occasional mail contact before, but when I did this remix for Edge of Dawn the contact grew stronger. We met for the first time at the BIM-festival where we had some drinks and fun. We stayed tuned ever since and apparently at some point I must have asked him to do this collaboration. It’s both fun and interesting. Frank really has a great voice, so I am really happy he joins Diskonnekted on a song. Watch out for that song on the next Diskonnekted album!

Can we expect some more collaborations in the future? Is there anybody special you want to work with sometime?

I love to work with other artists. It’s a very common thing in dance and techno music, where artists are less album oriented but more track oriented. In that scene artists often work together to make that “very special track”. In the EBM scene, artists work much more on their own which is in my opinion a pity. Personally I also want to collaborate with different people to have this special magic happening when two souls meet. I recorded something with industrial hip hop artist SMP. Watch out for the next album for that one.

You are recording a new album, can you give some more info on it?

In general it will be harder and darker then the previous stuff. But I won’t let my fans down as you will recognise the well worked out sound design, the atmospheric vibe, and the tight production. I am working now on an EP as an appetizer for the album It will feature some hard clubtracks and some remixes from Northborne, This Morn Omina and Controlled Collapse. Yes, you’re the first to know that one!

You will play at this years edition of the dutch summer darkness festival, what can we expect from this show?

When Diskonnekted performs live, I want to be on stage as a ‘band’. I want us to sound energetic and strong. That’s why we show our harder side. Expect a nice selection of our finest tunes. I am sure we’ll play some new stuff as well! Be there! It will be fun!

Any last words for the readers?  

I hope to see you in Utrecht! Stay “konnekted”!

Website:
http://www.diskonnekted.com/