Dominik Eulberg’s 11 wonders

Dominik Eulberg’s 11 wonders

20 May, 2011 | 6.45AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: dominik eulberg, traum

Plenty of producers can turn out functional floor-fillers, but it takes a special sensibility to do what Dominik Eulberg does. While no stranger to the peak-time, his music works simultaneously as a kind of conceptual art, folding in ideas borrowed from nature and biology—but, crucially, without ever losing its emotional center.

Eulberg’s latest album, Diorama, examines 11 natural phenomena—animals like the bat ("Echomaus") or eel ("Das Neunauge") that may seem mundane, but whose odd characteristics make them very exotic indeed. “It is not only in exotic parts of the world that one can find incredible innovations of nature,” writes Eulberg in the album’s press text. “They can also be found at your front door.
Their existence is concealed for many of us, and only by means of closer examination and a raised awareness for their secrets can we discover this world full of miracles.”

This isn’t the first time that Eulberg has turned his attentions to the natural world, of course. The former park ranger famously incorporated field recordings of birdsong into 2007’s Heimische Gefilde, while Bionik, for Cocoon, addressed the natural world’s most ingenious feats of engineering, like shark skin and dragonfly wings.

We spoke to Eulberg to get a clearer understanding of the phenomena underlying Diorama; read on for the interview.

It’s been four years since your last album—actually, two albums, Cocoon’s Bionik and Traum’s Heimische Gefilde. Why such a long time, and what motivated you to sit down and create Diorama?

I approach each album in a connectional way. For Diorama, I choose 11 wonders of nature that happen in front of our doors. For these wonders I developed a graphic diorama and also wrote a track for each one. The full concept and the sculpturing of clear emotions was a long-term process. As you say, good things demand time.

Previously, you have incorporated field recordings and other “natural” sounds in your work; how did you approach the sound design this time? Are there any special, “documentary” sounds in the mix?

I produced the album with much love for the detail, so after listening to the album again and again you will always discover something new. Technically, I used some analogue synths, such as the Jupiter 8, Prophet 5, Moog and the Roland 101. On top of this I also used digital synthesizers such as the Spectrasonics Omnisphere. Also, with this album, I used a lot of self-sampled sounds to add an acoustic side.

This time they weren’t nature sounds I used, but instead, the sound of a mouse pad I chucked against the wall, trunks I shut closed, or thick books about birds I hammered on the table.

Could you tell us a little more about the concept? What exactly are the 11 phenomena that the tracks refer to? For example, “Teddy Tausentod,” which translates as “Teddy Thousand Deaths”?

For Diorama I worked in cooperation with the German nature magazine NABU, who helped me choose the 11 biggest domestic wonders of nature. With these 11 wonders I intended to show people that fantastic wonders also exist in our domestic environment… that they do not necessarily have to come from exotic regions such as the rainforest of the Amazonas.

Amazing wonders exist in front of our own door, and their existence is often concealed. Only by looking closely and with the knowledge of their secrets will you discover their miraculous world.

For example, the tiny bear animalcule. They look like mini teddy bears… therefore this name. If their environmentsdries out, they do not flee, as other animals will do, but they stay there and dry out too. What is left is a medically dead shell, no pulse and no breathing going on. But after several years without any food, and in extreme temperatures, a simple drop of water will evoke them to life again. This is sheer insanity, that all our preconceptions of life and death are turned upside down. The mini teddies are controlling the wonder of resurrection; they can die many deaths. This lead to the title “Teddy Tausendtod.”

Regarding the creatures that you dedicate your songs to – I wondered if that’s primarily a fanciful reference, or do animals like the bat and ”Neunauge” actually influence the content of the music in some way?

I tried to compose for each wonder a single piece of music and to realize their characteristics with my emotions--as I have done with “Das Neunauge.” Here I depict a peculiar fish, which is referred to as a living fossil. Its history is very special, since it spends five years in a wormlike state and then, within three weeks, develops in to a complete fish.

That explains why the track runs till the halftime in an almost archaic, dubby state. Fragments of melodies are put together in the brain… as seven gills, nose hole, and eye eventually seem to resemble the seven gill holes of the fish. Suddenly the track makes an abrupt turn in a different direction, adapting a lively and ravy character very much in the sense of the development of the “Neuenauges” that completes into a fish.

I always try to draw a concrete, precise acoustic picture. Sure, the “dubbing” will always be subjective, and not everybody will be able to recognize the characteristics of the phenomenon. The visualization does help me to develop a clear acoustic vision, though.

The press release says this is the first album where you have “played music instead of manipulating it.” What does that mean, exactly? Was your compositional process different this time than on previous recordings?

With Diorama I dedicated more time to the beauty of the melodies, which here are often composed in an intricate way. I intended to pull the beauty of the melodies to the front. Also, technically, I have delved more into the depth of it. I have tried with all my possibilities to create an organic landscape of sound.

How long did each track take to make, generally speaking? To me, they don’t sound spontaneous, but rather, like complex organisms that evolved through many phases, over time—to extend the natural metaphor, they seem to resemble crystal formations, growing outward in dozens of directions at once.

Some, and really just a few, such as “Der Tanz Der Gluehwuermchen” or “Die 3 Millionen Musketiere” resulted out of a spontaneous and concrete feeling. Within a couple of hours I had the sound frame finished, but to really express more complex feelings, it demands more more complex music. For example, “Wenn Es Perlen Regnet” and “Echomaus” took me months. Like a sculptor, I carved out again and again and scraped until the complex organic structure was finally finished.

For that, it is important to let the tracks rest for a couple of weeks and to return with a clear head to be able to understand the entity to the full degree. Otherwise you create an emotional mash that no one understands anymore.

A few songs, like the melodic, breakbeat anthem “Die 3 Millionen Musketiere,” have a real ‘90s feel to them. Was that intentional? What is your impression of today’s electronic dance music, and what would you change, if you could?

I have produced my own music since 1993. At that time, records with wonderful composed melodies on EYE-Q or artists like Aphex Twin or C.J Bolland inspired me. Real emotions and real energy was involved then. Most of the techno music today is, for my taste, too shallow and bores me.

The music market has become too fast. In the digital age, the consumers download 1000 tracks that directly have to bang. There are very few tracks that have been written with love in the details, because you have to deliver new food every time to play the game. I deliberately withdrew myself from this “fast-food” music. I purposefully ignored trends and hypes and tried to write music that really touches me deep inside. Music that is timeless.

Finally, how will you be touring the album? Will you be performing it live, or doing DJ sets?

A live tour is not planned. The album was formed very personally, it is a real insight into my world. I don’t want to translate this into a club context and don’t want to expose myself on the stage with it. But I will be doing a big DJ tour. You can have a look at the tour flyer at the label Traum Schallplatten or at Cocoon booking agency.

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