Aiboforcen interview: ‘Transcending boundaries between noise and silence…’
Aiboforcen
The iconic Belgian dark electro/future pop act Aiboforcen recently returned with their 7th studio album, “Between Noise & Silence”. Led by Benoit Blanchart and featuring the enigmatic Patrice Synthea (REGENERATOR), this album merges melancholic dark synth/EBM anthems with thrilling collaborations! Notable appearances include EBM/industrial legends like Patrick Codenys of FRONT 242, POUPPEE FABRIKK & IMPLANT (in a duet), and NUMB. The album also features outstanding female vocalists from the pop wave scene, such as Mari Kattman (HELIX), Noemi Aurora (HELALYN FLOWERS), Emke (BLACK NAIL CABARET), and SORROW STORIES… Without forgetting the splendid collaboration with Jan Dieckmann of NORDERNEY who sings on several songs and strongly contributes to crafting the album’s magic through moving lyrics, catchy dark pop melodies, and upbeat EBM sequences that often evoke the melodic and emotional depth of VNV NATION! Benoit gave us more insights on his new album…
You can order the new album now on Bandcamp as download and on 2CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore. Note that the 3CD version was sold out immediately.
S. “Between Noise & Silence” is your 7th studio album and features an impressive 22 tracks. Can you share the journey of creating such a substantial body of work, and what inspired the album’s title?
B. I started working slowly on what would become this new album during the covid period. Like many bands, those very special times allowed me to concentrate and spend much mor time in the studio creating new sequences and sounds. After a few months, what was started with no clear objective became to take shape and I started gathering several demo tracks thinking I could use them for an EP or album. It was a very creative period and also (hopefully for me) the opportunity to learn/improve a bit more the mixing and production side of the aïboforcen sound… I thus also started thinking about the right vocalist for each track. The title track “between noise & silence” is actually a sentence coming from a demo track that Tina from SORROW STORIES was working on for me… it became the title for the track but also for the album. It’s a bit of a special track (a bit more complex) that I really wanted to be on the album but couldn’t find the right vocalist for it… Then Tina did a test and she nailed it down!! 😊 It also has a double meaning because since I’m not considering myself as a musician what I create in a studio probably lies in the grey area between noise and silence! 😉
S. On this album it seems that Patrice Synthea and Jan D. play a key role as vocalists? Tell us more about these collaborations?
B. Well, Patrice (REGENERATOR) has been the main vocalist with aïboforcen for quite a long time now and she helped creating some kind of a trademark for us. But I’m always interested in working for certain tracks with other vocalists, either male or female. Of course it can break a bit the cohesion of the album but for me it’s more like trying to avoid the monotony of the album. I see/hear the different voices as new instruments I can play with, and it can totally change the result of the tracks. I also appreciate the fact that I can offer a broader pallet of sounds and emotions. I was introduced to Jan while working on a remix for our label mates of ELEKTROSTAUB. I knew a bit of his project NORDERNEY that I also appreciated a lot and I thought he would be the right vocalist for a track I was working on at the time. I sent him a demo and after a few days he came up with something really brilliant for me. I was so pleased with the result that I asked him to do a second track and the result turned out to be even better… He has such an emotional voice that it really adds another dimension to the song and brings them to a next level. After a while we started swapping ideas but also sequences and sounds and he eventually became more and more involved in the whole process. He helped me a lot giving advises and also programmed several synth lines, what was totally new and unusual for me… it was surprising, challenging and it contributed in creating a more mature and developed sound. In the end he helped for a great bunch of the album in various forms… Therefore the album is also much more balanced between male and female vocals. He also made a duet with Patrice on the track “everything” and I’m pretty sure that it’s something we should try again in the future…
S. The album indeed boasts collaborations with a variety of other artists too, from EBM/industrial legends to outstanding female vocalists. How did these collaborations come about, and what unique contributions did each guest artist bring to the album specifically?
B. As I said, when a demo is finished I try to think about what would be the right vocalist and what it would add to the sound of it. Of course there are some people/singer I would dream of having on the album but sometimes I have to stick to reality. My choice is influenced by the music I listen to, people I met through remixing, bands I know and so on… I’ve been blessed in the past working with great artists such as Jean-Luc from FRONT 242 and this album also gathers some legend from the scene such as Henrikk from POUPPEE FABRIKK or yet Don Gordon from NUMB who both helped me deliver the most aggressive cuts from the album. Tina from SORROW STORIES was also really involved in the process, contributing to several tracks that we can find both on the EP and the album but also on the special 8cm cd available with the limited edition. I had met her through a remix I had done for PSY’AVIAH actually and I had been mesmerized by her rather delicate and otherworldly vocals. She is also a very passionate and nice person, and meeting and exchanging with people is another aspect of collaborating on tracks. Then there is also Noemi Aurora who helped us with her very characteristic and powerful voice and it helped adding the extra touch to “cycle of life” and “heaven knows” you can find on the album. It was a pleasure working with her and she’s a professional and also involved and more than passionate with music… Also doing a track with Emese from BLACK NAIL CABARET was really an honor for me. She has one of the most distinctive voice from the scene at the moment and the result is a very captivating cut with upbeat sequences. I really hope listeners will like this track as much as I do…
Mari Kattman also lends her voice on the opening track as well as on a remix of “In My Arms” (a track from the previous album) and she also has a very distinctive and beautiful voice. Last but not least I also worked with Len from Implant since he is a long time friend of us and I was glad to have him back in one form or another. With the lyrics of the track he did evoke, it’s like a celebration of a long-time relationship between us (including also Seba, Bernard, Stephan) and how it was when we started this all as students (the magazine, the label, the bands, the gigs).
S. Your sound is often compared to iconic acts like VNV NATION, FRONT 242 or yet COVENANT. How do you approach honoring these influences while still maintaining your own distinct identity as AIBOFORCEN? “Between Noise & Silence” seamlessly weaves between oppressive industrial assaults and catchy synth-pop tunes. Can you discuss the creative process behind balancing these contrasting elements to create a cohesive listening experience?
B. Well, it’s sure that I’ve been listening to those bands a lot (one of my first vinyl was 242’s politics of pressure, along with Kraftwerk radioactivity’s 7”) but I am also influenced by other acts from inside and outside the scene. I listen to a lot of music from the EBM but also to darkwave, gothic, experimental, industrial or yet metal… All this is ingested and some parts/influences appear here and there in my music. Also I hope that with time I manage to create a bit of my own distinctive sound and style.
As far as VNV NATION is concerned, I have to admit that Ronan has a deep sense for great melodies and a very emotional voice and is an example of what soulful music is. So if we sound a bit like this it’s a good point for us! 😊 Remember he remixed one of our track at our respective very beginning! But I always try to balance catchier tracks/tunes with a rougher sound and more complex structures or experimentations. For me it’s kind of logical and it can create a cohesion because some sounds, fx, way of treating things are the same and reflects the different side of one same “machine”. Also I tend to focus on recording an album with highs and lows rather than a succession of single tracks… so this new album (especially the first disc) needs to be explored and listened as a whole, with the tracks kind of merging one into another. I spent hours / days / months working on sometimes very little details of mixing, samples, eq’s to find the best result I could. I like it when it takes several listening to really get all the details included in the tracks and hopefully surprise the listeners…
S. One of the tracks on the album is a cover of DEATH IN JUNE’s “Break The Black Ice.” What drew you to reinterpret this particular song, and how did you make it your own while staying true to the original?
B. We’ve always tried to include at least one cover song on any of our releases, either for fun or to show where our roots are… I was introduced to DEATH IN JUNE’s music more than thirty years ago and the album “The World That Summer” from 1986 has always been a favorite of mine. “Break the black ice” was an obvious choice because it is a rather simple, dark but catchy song, kind of desperate also and I really liked the version sung by Rose McDowall which is a fragile and delicate dark cut. I thought that Patrice could do it as well and recorded a demo. The first version was really slower and darker than the one on the album. We will feature it on a compilation from our label later this year actually. The final version has a stronger beat and an aggressive lead sound while the original one is softer. Both Patrice and I liked the version very much and what was a the beginning more like a “b-side” became one of the main important track from the album… I hope fans of DEATH IN JUNE and AIBOFORCEN will be pleased by this tribute… the structure is rather close to the original version from DEATH IN JUNE but of course it’s 100% electronics and there are some distortions here and there… 😊
S. The album is described as a high-tension dark elektro masterpiece. How did you approach crafting the sound production to achieve this level of intensity and maturity?
B. I always spend a long time editing, changing, mixing, adding details and I hope it can be reflected in the overall sound of the album. I never intend to choose the easiest way while producing the music and I hope I raised the level a bit more on this new release. I spent much more time on the vocals (cutting, eq’s , volumes, …) than on any other previous releases; there are lot of movie samples (hidden or not), lots of different synths and fx… I can sometimes leave a track for one month and then come back with new ideas and Jan also helped me developing as much as possible this new sound which is probably more focused than before. It still goes into any directions but with a common thread and overall atmosphere throughout the numerous tracks. It was exhausting (especially at the end) but it was worth (at least personally) and I really hope our fans will like it…
S. How important is the visual aspect of your music, and what role does it play in enhancing the overall experience for listeners?
B. It is important, not as much as the music, but it sets the tone for the whole album. We always tried to have eye-catching sleeve or at least mysterious ones that will give the envy to enter into the universe of aïboforcen… When I was a kid, I used to go to a place where you could rent vinyls and I would sometimes rent releases just because the sleeve would attract me in a way or another. On this release we obviously used AI to create the graphics but it was intended and assumed. It was our easiest way to express and get the closest to the images we had in mind while creating the music. And since our music relies on techniques, processors, synthetic soundscapes, it makes sense…
S. Lastly, the first 50 orders from the official Alfa Matrix e-shop received a signed version with an exclusive bonus mini-CD. Can you tell us more about the significance of this bonus content and what fans can expect from these exclusive tracks?
B. When the album was completed and sent to the mastering, I noticed that there were a few tracks left without vocals that couldn’t make it on the album but were a good insight of what it’s like being in the studio and working on new tracks. It is more like demo’s but also I had the feeling that they could stand on their own and give another view on our music. The first of those 4 tracks is called “eliza effect” and is a brand new one that maybe will give some infos of how the future sound of aïboforcen will be (or not). The track “pulsions” (with vocals by Tina from SORROW STORIES) arrived too late in the process of the album but was good enough as well. In the end it gives the opportunity to the die-hard fans to have some extra tracks (unreleased) and have a bit more “intimacy” with the band…
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