read this? from triphop.hu a interview with IUNO
Iuno - the dutch touch
Nowadays, emerging artists seem to be much more worth of interest, than the famous ones - while these are comfy with their previous ideas re-packaged again and again, unsigned talents are more worth the name "artists". That?s just how it is with Iuno from the Nederlands - we knew it immediately, when the first track's ("All in all") sequences began to pump from our cd-player.
Iuno, what? Well, in Roman mythology, Iuno was the protectress of women, renowned for her beauty. In this case, Iuno are singer Stella Bergsma, writer Steven de Munnik and the ?Iuno Laboratory?, consisting of accompanying artists, vj's and musicians. The dutch touch...
Triphop.hu: Forming a group nowadays is not the easiest thing. How did you guys find each other, and how did the Iuno Lab come to life?
Iuno: We first met at a party, six years ago, at about 5 am. We talked about music and things people talk about when they drink too much, and then we grabbed a guitar and sang some songs. We immediately fell in love with each others musical feel. Later we fell in love with each other. It was only a natural sequence of events that we would start a band together, two years later.
We didn?t have a name for the band at first, but we did have a name for the first child we would have: Iuno. Since it would still be a long time before we actually planned to have children, the name was given to the band.
At first, it was just the two of us, making music. We planned to keep it that way, since all the other bands we had played in all split up because of incompatibility of characters. We figured: keep the band as small as possible, and you won?t have these problems.
Eventually, when we had enough songs to perform live, we realized that we needed some extra show-elements on stage. We made a video-show, consisting of movie samples and computer-effects and we needed some people to mix the stuff live on stage. We asked some friends of ours to help us out, and thus the Iuno Laboratory was born. It worked so well that we decided to continue as an art collective, open to anyone who could contribute something worthwile. The collective has grown since to about twelve people. Bigger than any band we?ve played in before, but it still works very well, since everybody has their own specific area of expertise.
Triphop.hu: According to your website, not only the music, but the multimedia elements are important. What is the idea behind your audio-visual world?
Iuno: In movies, the function of a soundtrack is to create a certain atmosphere. This is also what we are trying to achieve with our music, so it only seemed logical to use movies to complement the live experience. It?s the movie-track to our sounds. Music is so universal, that you can combine it with anything you like, really. We?ve worked with authors, who read their stories to our music, with video-artists, and of course with other musicians. For the future, anything is possible. Dance, theatre, as long as it works well on stage.
Triphop.hu: As a webzine, we find the internet the best medium to catch up emerging artists. As iuno.nl is a well developed site, do you agree that the net provides you with a good possibility to spread your art?
Iuno: We?ve only recently started to deploy the webs resources. And it pays off! We?ve learned that sending your stuff to record label A&R?s is of absolutely no use, unless they?re sure that you will sell. With Iuno, there?s no telling what it will do. The reactions we got from labels were always a variation on the same theme: good but unsellable.
Our internet promotion (on forums and messageboards) has proven them wrong. People from England to China have started buying our cd (thanx guys!). The internet has not been around for a very long time, but already it is such a powerful medium that you can reach the entire world with a few mouse-clicks! Imagine what it can do for you in three years from now.
Triphop.hu: In our article's lead, we depreciate the well known artists, who just re-package their old ideas. You agree with us, that nowadays newcomers provide a much more interesting music?
Iuno: Not entirely. There are some artists that continue to re-invent themselves, although this is quite rare. And there are a lot of newcomers that just copy their idols. Generally speaking, though, new music is always more interesting. When it?s authentic music, it?s like a mirror of the time we live in. Music is like a centuries-long, abstract discussion between creative minds.
The greatest problem with the music industry,which is still the largest provider of music, is that it has become so standardized, that it seems to have forgotten what music is all about in the first place: creativity. You might argue that this is the case with every big branche of industry, but with music it means that the industry has stopped developing itself, which is very dangerous for its own existence. It?s just doing the same proven thing over and over again, which is, I think, also the reason it?s having such a hard time keeping up with the rest of the world. This is why labels are panicking over the whole mp3 sharing thing, which they could easily put to their advantage. Their role will have to change if they want to keep a position of any importance.
Interesting music has always been around, but with the internet it?s waiting to be discovered by everyone. You just have to know how and where to find it.
Triphop.hu: Was there a specific melody, a sound or a complete song when you both said - yes, Iuno is going to rock!
Iuno: That would have been "All in all". That song came into life very naturally. We finished it in about three days, and still, when we listen to it, we remember why we?re making music together.
Triphop.hu: A catchy vocal melody is heared through "Blue". How did you come to it? Was Stella just trying out her voice, or was it sung from an instrumental idea?
Iuno: A little bit of both actually. We were jamming a little with guitar and vocals, when we just sort of stumbled into it. This is how half of our songs are written. The other half comes into being by working out ideas for lyrics or beats or chord progressions. Sometimes a simple loop is where we start. Blue is not entirely finished, by the way; we?re still looking for a few jazzy fender rhodes fills to wrap it up.
Triphop.hu: In "The Park", you are playing very interesting strings, similar to the ones used in some moody movies, e.g. "The Pledge" with Jack Nicholson. Did the soundtracks inspire you or did you come to that string-sequence in an own process?
Iuno: The string sequence in the Park is a sample taken from the first few seconds of a piece by Estonian composer Arvo P?rt. In the original you can hardly hear the strings play. We blew it up a little and now you can hear every crackle of the violins. It?s just something that came to life by cutting up sounds, experimenting.
We don?t use samples very often, but in this case it?s funny to see how a sequence like that can change meaning when you put it in such a different context as ?the Park?.
Triphop.hu: Your art of storytelling is very close to movie soundtracks, which reveals a passion for cinematography. Which are you favourite movies, that introduced you to the world of moving pictures?
Iuno: Our favourite genre in movies is the psychological thriller. The movie that made us want to create movie soundtracks, is the Philip Kaufman version of ?Invasion of the bodysnatchers?. Brilliant movie with a brilliant soundtrack. Especially the garden scene. For a long time you don?t hear anything but a heartbeat. Just the heartbeat. After a while you hardly notice it anymore; it has become the atmosphere. Very paranoid stuff.
Our favourite director is David Cronenberg. He is, without a doubt, the master of the genre. Movies like ?The fly?, ?Videodrome? and ?Naked lunch?, are unequaled. Shame about his latest movie ?Spider? though....
Triphop.hu: You are also interested in making movie scores. Any bids so far?
Iuno: There are two dutch filmmakers so far that have asked us to produce a soundtrack. In one of them Stella is the lead actress. We?re waiting for their movies to finish, to see if we can add anything to their work. Cronenberg hasn?t called us yet (if he is a reader of triphop.hu, sure he will, hehe - the ed.).
Triphop.hu: A video is planned to be produced for "Moving picture". How is that project going?
Iuno: Hm, yeah, well, not very fast, for sure. Since there are a lot of people involved in making a video, it requires a lot of planning. Ask us again in half a year...
Triphop.hu: Playing live electronic and half-electronic music is always a challenge, especially with a large band. What is your method?
Iuno: A live show should be an overwhelming experience, something that is larger than life. Therefore we try to add more and more things to the live show that will make it more intense than just repeating what we already did on the album. Our latest addition, the string quartet, greatly adds to the ?live feel? on stage, and also the electronic part has as many live elements as possible. But in the end it all comes down to Stella?s performance. She is the centre of the stage and she has to drag the audience into the music. And she does!
We learn from every live show we do. We discuss afterwards what elements worked and what did not work and we try to avoid the mistakes we made. We found out that live music works differently than recorded music. The audience wants climaxes, they want you to take them to the extremes. We can only hope our music will do that.
Triphop.hu: Iuno is now working in their studio. As a result, what will we hear from you in 2003-2004?
Iuno: Our latest song, ?Blue? is a bit of a new direction we?re taking. Somewhat easier on the listener, without compromising the music. You already said it: it has some catchy elements. On the other hand, the song ?Evolution? (the last song on the cd) is also relatively new. And it?s the most hermetic song we ever made, in my opinion. So what you can probably expect from the coming years, is an album of extremes. Experimental tracks and more ?easy? tunes living nicely together.