Parametric Design _ Interview With Opuswerk
Hypnotic machine music from the Mariana Trench on subsekt 036..
We originally did an interview with Opuswerk / Hendrik Van Boetzelaer last year, which you can read HERE. It’s a pretty in-depth one with lots of chat about gear if that’s the way you are inclined. Our mix schedule was fairly full at the time, so it’s great that we finally managed to organise doing something with him again and get something down on digital from him.
In this chat, we catch up on what he’s been up to since we last spoke. His releases, his DJ’ing and the latest additions to his studio are all discussed and we find out more about his recent collaboration with François X on their Hiss: 1292 project. I’d definitely recommend checking it out.
Well Hendrik, how are you doing? Mad to think it’s been over a year since we did the old interview with you. Time goes by so quickly. Been enjoying listening to your music too.. What have you been up to since we last spoke. Anything interesting happened? haha
Hi John, last year has been quite crazy on my side, lots of stuff happened, mostly me building up my own family, which as you can imagine left not so much time for other things. But I somehow managed to work on my parametric design company Procedural Strategies and squeeze in some time for music. I was lucky to play some amazing gigs, organize some amazing parties with the Plak crew, get that release on Knotweed records out and also start a collab project with François X of Deeply Rooted and Dement3d records called HISS : 1292.
You seem to be busy enough DJ’ing too. Something every month and over the summer looks to be a weekly occurrence. You’ve managed to get from the Swiss gigs over to Belgrade, Paris AND back again haha. Are you getting busier?
I have been busier indeed gig-wise, but I can’t really tell why and how that happened. Last month was especially crazy as I was playing every weekend, sometimes twice a week. It gave me a glimpse of what it could be like gigging every weekend and made me realize I need to do some sports to get fitter . Most bookings happened through a network of friends of friends, and led to great encounters and hopefully people I’ll get to meet again soon. Things have somehow slowed down now, but I’m hoping it will pick up again as I really enjoyed it.
What was it like to go abroad like that? Are the people you are meeting afterwards in the club aware of your music?
Going abroad was ace, I’m used to travelling, but for gigs it’s a bit different as you get to meet people for a night only, and experience different clubs, crowds and tastes. For example I really regretted playing not hard enough in Belgrade. Surprisingly, some people were aware of the music which was really a bonus, as it’s a great surprise to know some music you made in your living room got to ears so far away.
Have you taken your summer holidays yet? Any plans to head off to anywhere else?
Being self-employed has its up and downs, one of them is I’m free to take time off work whenever I want, another is there’s never a good time to take time out. I will be in Montenegro for a week in September, so if a subsekt reader is interested in booking me in Croatia or close by, hit me up 😉
Music production and history are my biggest passions in life.
Though people often say that Techno is faceless and should be about the music blah, blah, blah.. I believe in the need to document the people and stories behind it. Techno is a very small world in reality and I think it needs a proper resource.
I hope that everyone who is interested in Techno finds this blog accessible in terms of the way that it is written. I personally prefer to hear the artists voice as loud as the music and never enjoy synopsised and pasteurised versions of old conversation; the sort that's peppered with the occasional quote here and there.
