acte-vide-splantzia

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

Our name means “empty act” in French. It is drawn from a verse in a Stéphane Mallarmé poem, A throw of the dice will never abolish chance. We met and started going out in 1999 but it took us nearly seven years to start making music together. One of us is classically trained, the other is self-taught. We got into free improvisation as a way of establishing a common ground that we could both play on. This common ground turned out to be an ever expanding field of possibilities, so we’ve been exploring it ever since.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

As a duo, we mostly focus on making live improvised music, rather than recordings. Between 2006 and 2014 we were uploading some of our home sessions as self-contained releases on our blog. It gradually became clear that there is way too much online content around, and there’s little need for us to keep adding to it. In the future we might decide to do it again, or differently.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

Jean-Luc Godard, AMM, Henry Flynt, Group Ongaku, The Melvins, Blood Stereo, The Bohman Brothers, vacuum cleaners, metal springs, styrofoam, mosquitoes, kettles, oolong tea.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

Our sound is fully improvised. It is formed in real time, and it differs over time. You should listen to it if you feel like it. We mostly use electronics, inside piano and/or voice, to make music out of noise and silence.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Brigitte Fontaine – Comme À La Radio; Big Blood – Dead Songs; Robert Ashley – Automatic Writing

T. S. Eliot – Four Quartets; Alan Moore – From Hell; David Toop – Haunted Weather

Shane Carruth – Upstream Color; Charlie Kaufman – Synecdoche, New York; Chris Marker – Sans Soleil

acte-vide-deteriorate-2013

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

We like using the studio as a live setting, and the live stage as an electroacoustic studio.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

To this day, it appears almost no one has pronounced our name correctly.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

We believe in the uniqueness of real time. We do not like to think of music as a series of exceptional products, but as an everyday interplay of sonic moments.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

We have some informal concerts in Athens over the next couple of months. We will then take part at Irtijal Festival in Lebanon (March), and Borderline Festival in Athens (April).

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

What are some of your most memorable collaborations?

Angelos kyriou, Jack Wright, Vicki Bennett, Stefania Strouza, Tarek Atoui.

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

Recommended listening:

Connect with Acte Vide:

www.facebook.com/acte.vide

www.soundcloud.com/actevide

www.acte-vide.blogspot.gr