Interview with Rites Of Passage: ‘Work With Other Rules Or Boundaries’
Rites Of Passage
Rites Of Passage is an exciting new music project born from the collaboration between Guido van den Brink (Atiq) and Dennis Leick (Dreadmaul). Their self-titled debut album, released at the end of 2024 on Guido’s own label, Mindtrick Records, showcases a unique blend of evocative storytelling and genre-defying sounds. Fusing elements of Ritual, Trance, Industrial, and Ambient, the album embodies an atmosphere of transformation and growth. The sheer creativity and depth of this work took me by surprise, compelling me to reach out to both musicians to learn more about their brilliant collaboration and the inspiration behind this captivating release. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: How did the project Rites Of Passage come about? What brought you together, and what kind of music or production style did you initially have in mind?
Guido: The Rites Of passage project started as an idea in 2019, in that time I (Atiq) was heavily influenced by the more ‘occult’ sounding music which was mixed as less as possible with Electronic music.
I promoted a club night called “Dark Night Of The Soul” in Rotterdam, The Netherlands where I invited the throatsingers from Phurpa and The Nent/Vu also a project from Bong-Ra played there “The Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goatrave” and I wanted to showcase some tracks that I’ve made that night. Since I didn’t want to do this under my ‘Atiq’ alias. I came up with the Rites Of Passage name to actually play this show which I also did.
After that event I really liked performing with that very different kind of music and started dreaming of making an album with Rites Of Passage. Since it is not as easy just to open a sample library for this kind of music I started recording my own sounds and combined these with the samples I already had and started working more and more on the tracks. In the meantime I was also working on tracks for my Metal band and was also making music for Atiq and other artists so my focus was slowly fading away from the Rites Of Passage project.
During that time I was (and still am) a big fan of the more halftime and Tribal sounds of Drum & Bass and one of the artists I always liked for this sound was Dreadmaul from Germany. So initially I have hit him up to ask him if he would be interested in doing a remix for me or if he would be interested in a Drum and Bass collaboration. At that time I didn’t have much new ideas for tracks laying around and we started talking a little bit more about the music that we are interested in which was other than just Drum and Bass. And I’ve sent him the six tracks that I’ve had for Rites Of Passage. These tracks were far from completed but the ideas were there. Dreadmaul (Dennis) liked them and told me he was also into this kind of music and wanted to do more with it. This was something I kind of already knew because the elements are present in his music and we started working on the tracks really fast all of a sudden.
After a while we had completed most of the tracks but we needed more to have a full album. So we’ve met up a few times in Germany to work on the tracks and we finished the album in December 2023 together.
Dennis: As Guido said we initially started talking to each other about more D’n’B focused projects -but what stood out were the projects in different tempos. I was always a fan of more Ritualistic music, but tried to incorporate these influences into my 170 bpm productions. With the collaboration with Guido it just clicked and I am very happy about having found someone who has a similar creative vision, regardless of common genre-rules. That was really liberating and inspiring.
Q: When did you start working on the first song for the album, and how did the process unfold from there? How were the tasks divided, and what was your approach to collaboration?
Guido: The first song of the album that was made is actually the opening track of the album which is called “Covenant Of Conflagration” back then the melody was different and it had no name but that track is actually a good blueprint for the rest of the album and what to expect of it. It has all the ingredients so to say.
Like I said before, the approach for us was to work together but also work with other ‘rules’ or ‘boundaries’ since we were on the hunt for a specific sound for this project. It had to have something Tribal and Shamanic and wanted to use as many real sounds as possible instead of Electronic generated sounds. We were lucky that Dreadmaul had and played a few of these instruments which we incorporated into the music.
Dennis: After we traded projects and found the vision for Rites Of Passage we quickly arrived at a very certain sound we were going for. For my own music I was already exploring incorporating more actual recordings and experimentations with hardware-synths and instruments instead of only relying on samples and digital synths -so building these sounds came along easy. At the same time we talked a lot about influences for us personally, but also for this project. That included movies, books or other musicians and bands. We found that with our approach -being Electronic music producers incorporating and trying for a more human-esque world of sound we have a lot of possibilities. I think overall most music was produced on my computer, but only because we met up at my place instead of The Netherlands.
Q: In collaborations, I always find it interesting to learn what you discovered from each other and how you complemented one another. What inspired you during the creation of this album?
Guido: I learned from Dreadmaul to work together in a different way than I’m used to. Especially when laying out/sequencing the track from the material that you have. It felt to me that sometimes we were ‘painting’ the music and the mix which makes it more organic and that was something I really enjoyed in the creation process of the album.
The things that inspired me the most for this album was actually reflecting on my life and what you think of yourself and want to do. I’ve become 40 during that time and it got me reflecting. Which is in itself a ‘rite of passage’ and the circle was complete for me.
Dennis: I like Guido’s way of being confident and clear about the creative vision and how to stand up for it. He doesn’t compromise for an easier or more accessible route -and this made me feel encouraged and safe with this experiment that Rites Of Passage is. He is very knowledgeable about influences and has supplied me with inspirations that were really up my alley. Also, on a more pragmatic perspective, I learnt what it means to run a label or to get a vinyl recording on the way -which is more work than I believe people realize.
Q: The name of the project, Rites Of Passage, is intriguing and also serves as the album’s title. What does it signify, and how does it tie into the special, mysterious, and slightly oriental atmosphere that pervades the songs?
Guido: If you look up the word Rite of passage on Wikipedia it comes up with something like this: ‘A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society.’
In itself it does not signify something dark or mysterious but if you see in how many different cultures these ‘rites’ occur and for how long they are being portrayed it clicked with me and stayed with me that you can do a lot of things with just this term in a musical way.
All the tracks can be seen as little rites in itself. We see the entire album as a rite of passage because it builds up to the ritual itself which is the track “Pulse Of The Timeless Wave” and ends with the track “Mystic Transcendence” which completed the cycle and is the end of the ritual (literally the last part as a sample). Where you as a listener gained the ‘Power over the material world with the ritual’.
Dennis: I feel like even modern societies are still very rooted with rituals, even if they are not as clearly distinguished as the images of more archaic, ‘classic’ rituals. The world we tried to build with the sounds is very much inspired by these more archaic fantasies. This includes things like flutes, shamanic drums and non-western scales. It’s interesting that it seems to be connected with ‘oriental’ atmospheres, which is a common theme in the media, for example in the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Q: The sound of Rites Of Passage isn’t something I would immediately associate with Mindtrick Records or your other projects. Did you step outside your usual style -your comfort zone, with this project? To what extent are you aiming to reach a ‘different’ audience?
Guido: The reason that Mindtrick Records is called that way has always been to ‘trick’ your mind. Our goal is to keep your ears and mind open to new frequencies from around the globe. The connection between all the releases 60 and counting is the vibe and mood of the tracks which can be enjoyed separated from the style of the music. I knew in the beginning when I started Mindtrick Records in 2007 that I never wanted to release just one style of music and wanted to create a platform which was free from these unwritten rules in the music Industry. It isn’t always easy but it is me, and a part of the musical me that is reflecting on the labels output.
I stepped outside of my comfort zone a little bit by using more real tones instead of Electronic pulses but in the end you can clearly hear that music is coming from me. But also from Dreadmaul and it just worked out really well in the end.
I have no idea who the audience is for this kind of music I think people who are into Dark-, Ritualistic-Ambient but Electronic music, and definitely Metalheads and people who are into Heilung…. You tell me (-;
Dennis: I have found a new comfort zone with Rites Of Passage! As I already said, it was very inspiring to be freed of catering to a certain style and scene. In the end we came up with a work of art that is much more than just a collection of songs. It is a story that is told with music. And this works perfectly as a vinyl release. Listening to a record is also a different commitment to the music and the concept. It requires you to be more open to the vision of the album. And I think people who are open to these experiences in any way are our audience.
Q: How do you reflect on the entire production process of “Rites Of Passage”? Are there plans for a follow-up, and what’s currently in the pipeline? Are you also considering live performances for this project?
Guido: I really enjoyed the creation process but in the end it took too long (from my side). I think that a follow up could be made a lot faster if we are into it. For now we don’t have any plans to start working on new music but I think that we could come up with another album or EP rather quickly if we want. It also depends on the reactions to the project. There is a remix on the way which will be released in January 2025 for the release from The Nent – “Medusa” on Vumantra Records.
We spoke about doing live shows and how we would like to go about that but no one booked us yet but we are open to this idea if the music would fit the venue and event. So yes! Please book Rites Of Passage for your Experimental Ritualistic Tribal wedding party!!!
Dennis: I am very open for a follow-up. I still need to get myself over to Rotterdam and visit Guido anyways. Speaking of live performances, Rites Of Passage was basically one of the starting blocks to do my own Dreadmaul Live PA with a modular synth and my Duduk (flute) that brought me to Berlin or London already. This could easily turned into a full Rites Of Passage Live Performance too.
Listen to “Burn The Sun”:
https://mindtrickrecords.bandcamp.com/track/burn-the-sun
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