ZAGREB

Sometimes when I think back, all my workshops seem to go by this fast…

The participants in Zagreb were great, super-motivated and highly imaginative. Each and every one of them made some incredibly special and unique SoundBox during the two days we had together, and even played them too… We also squeezed in an early morning trip to the local flea market to put the shop back into workshop. Big thanks to Deborah Hustic for organization and hospitality! Was also great to see some old friends around town, such as Ivan “Kliff” Marusic and Borut Savski.

I think my favorite SoundBox from this workshop was this one, crafted from the end of a trashed accordion:

TALLINN

Between 5-9 March, students of the EKA (Taavi Suisalu, Evi Pärn, Lilli Tölp, Aleksander Sprohgis) learned to make their own primitive noise synthesizers with me. Lilli made this short video capturing the essence of the final presentation plus a tiny bit of my solo set.

Evi also posted two videos, here and here.

Like the previous Neanderthal Electronics presentation, back when Ptarmigan was still located in Helsinki, this one was a complete success. Thanks to Raivo Kelomees and John Fail for organizing the workshop and presentation, respectively. Any account of my Estonian trip would be woefully incomplete without mentioning Timo Toots and Marika Agu and their Sunday-afternoon tour of the Architectural Wonders of Tartu. Aitäh!

RIGA

Derek Holzer vs Jelena Glazova live @Taka 16.03.12 pt3 by macumbista

Live set @ Taka, Riga, March 16th, 2012. Derek Holzer: analog synthesizer, soundbox, found objects. Jelena Glazova: voice, laptop.

Parts 1 and 2 plus some studio sessions can be found at Holzer vs Glazova.

Thanks to Sandis Baumanis [ULVE Agency] for organization and photos, Jēkabs Nīmanis for recording, Edgars Rubenis for the mixer and Olesja for the lovely smile.

Unfortunately, the only souvenir that RISEBA, the school I was teaching at, left me was a headache. Typical Latvian new-capitalist neoliberals, they seemed to delight in playing ridiculous games over even the smallest amount of money, making them little better than con-artists. The result: I worked twice as many hours this workshop as last year, for the same amount of pay. Count your fingers after you shake hands with people like these…

On that note…

People like these business-school asswipes make me sicker than ever of this constant freelancing life. I have been actively searching for more constant employment teaching at an art, music or design school lately. If any of my dear readers have tips, I would gladly hear them. In some ways, I am beyond caring where such a job might be at this point…

On the other hand, spring has arrived in Berlin and I have very little travel coming up. While that may make the coming months a bit lean and hungry, I hope to use the time to catch up on projects I have promised people, including two cassette releases and a film soundtrack, as well as building some new soundbox-type instruments for sale. Wish me luck!

Derek Holzer vs Jelena Glazova 19th session by Holzer vs Glazova

Derek Holzer vs Jelena Glazova 13th session by Holzer vs Glazova

Playing next Friday with Jelena Glazova in Riga. Had two really great sets, one in Zagreb last week and one last night in Tallinn, with the “new” setup: soundbox, found objects and analog mini-synth, discovering the possibilities of how they work together. Looking forward to mixing with Jelena’s amazing processed vocals.

At the Estonian gig, something in the PA starting smelling quite smokey, despite the fact that everything sounded fine, and afterward many people told me what kind of emotions that smell triggered for them. Interesting… but I don’t want to make a career out of smoking PAs!

In case anyone is curious, Holzer Sr.’s film project Kickstarter has 18 hours to go and has been a success. He flies to Marietta, Georgia on the 14th to have the film transferred to digital and after that I can get to work on the soundtrack. Should be an curious collaboration.

I have absolutely no work lined up for next month, which should make me a bit nervous. But I’ve decided to spend less time online, build some new soundbox-type instruments and get busy pushing them. Please get in contact if you would like something custom.

Somehow, I had it in my head that I was flying to Zagreb tomorrow. So today was a great day to assemble a new instrument! I was almost disappointed when I realized I have another day to spare still. This time, I set up the Macumbista Mini case with 2 x Thomas Henry VCOs, one CGS Digital Noise, one Serge Smooth/Stepped Generator and 2 x Analog Multipliers, as well as two built-in, padded line-outs and a new LED gooseneck mount. The first test-patch I made with it settled any doubts about the choice of modules. This one rocks. Incredible chaotic feedback possibilities from what I would like to (lovingly) think of as a cross-modulated-cluster-fuck. Roll that one in your textbooks of academic electronic music and smoke it…