Angelos Liaros is an accomplished Sound designer (Native Instruments) and the man behind Mobthrow. His new sonic adventure is called Blakk Harbor (both a music project & a label) and tomorrow Friday 20th, will be one of the live acts for the 10-year anniversary of 33 Recordings at The Place. Since, September is bit too far for his debut full-length ‘Madares’, lets talk with him to throw some light and unbosom some info about BH. Hopefully, we will feel a bit better.
Hi Angelos & welcome to Last Day Deaf! Feel free to introduce Blakk Harbor to us…
Thanks for the opportunity Christos, Blakk Harbor is my new dark experimental electronics project and personal imprint label based in Berlin. I’ve been active in electronic music since 2007 under Mobthrow moniker releasing and performing in various highly acclaimed venues, fests and labels (Berghain, Norbergfest, Fusion, Maschinenfest, Ad Noiseam) did my circle with this project and wanted something new and fresh to inspire me artistically.
Blakk Harbor as a concept is both a label and act, a vehicle and platform exploring my underground electronic music vision planning a series of vinyl only releases with remixes from special guests & well established musicians starting with my debut album release on upcoming September 2018.
In what way does Blakk Harbor project differ from Mobthrow one?
BH is a live hardware based project with analog modular synths and hardware samplers as core elements. The set up is quite different but also the music itself is more techno and ambient drone oriented, very influenced from my surroundings and the local underground acts in Berlin. Still there is quite bit of “Mobthrowness” in there, it’s the same person.
Part of your bio reads “…Inspired by ancient mythology, dionysian mysteries, shamanic rituals and forward thinking modern electronics….” Would you like to tell us more about your inspiration then?
Rhythmic electronic music and the gathering of people in a nightclub to dance & express takes a whole new shift when I think of ancient rituals and mysteries of the past. The need of the people that drives them is somehow the same and can’t avoid to see the comparisons and link between past and present. There is definitely something dark and intriguing about ancient rituals involving music, ecstatic dance, orgies, blood and sacrifices. Part of that can still happen in a an electronic event and that’s what I want to communicate with the crowd, a cleansing modern music ritual finding oneself lost in thoughts, time & body movement.
‘Madares‘ which is the name of my upcoming debut album derives from the actual dune mountains of Crete. This moonlike landscape was a sacred land of ancient ceremonies and the main inspiration for this album as well as the cover and artwork, provoking me to sample acoustic folk instruments from Crete with a dark moody twist that nobody did before.
When will ‘Madares‘ see the light of day? Why should we get hold of this LP? Which artists have you been mostly influenced by for this one?
‘Madares‘ is coming this September co-released by the legendary Ant-Zen and BH (Blakk Harbor) as a 2xLP vinyl, CD and digital. This LP is a black wormhole in space time that sucks you in slowly. Worth mentioning that most of percussive samples and drones in this album are created from traditional custom Cretan instruments (lute, skin drums, lyra, tsabouna) & world (Tibetan bowls, gongs, dungchen horns) granulized to death through mymodular synth setup and hardware samplers.
In addition it shares the sealed approval of a respectful label whose aesthetics can’t go wrong with releases from artists like Lustmord, Merzbow, Muslimgauze, Scorn (Mick Harris), Orphx and Venetian Snares.
You are one of those few lucky chaps whose occupation relates to music, since you are a Sound designer for Native Instruments. How did this collaboration come about and how important is this for your art as Blakk Harbor?
I worked for them as an intern back in 2011 by just sending my portfolio directly. Now 7 years later I am a senior sound designer leading maschine groovebox but also designing presets, kits and sounds for Massive, Reaktor, Battery, Razor and many other well known Native Instruments‘ products. In a technical level this was great for my music spending 8 hours per day making beats and presets but in an inspirational and energy level it takes back something from you, totally drains you artistically. It’s hard to keep the balance and stay productive. This was one of the main reasons I turned to hardware synths and not looking back to software anymore.
Please name 3 albums, 3 books and 3 films that have been most influential for you…
So many let’s stick for my latest album specifically, I would say for artists: Ancestral Voices ‘Divination‘ , Muslimgauze ‘Return Of Black September‘, Tool ‘Lateralus‘.
Books: “Faust“, “Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc“, “The cosmic serpent: DNA And The Origins Of Knowledge“.
Movies: “Embrace Of The Serpent“, “Lost Highway“, “Apocalypse Now“.
What are you going to present on your 20th April live appearance at The Place, for the 10th anniversary of 33 Recordings? Will you also include Mobthrow’s tracks?
My new album and a pure hardware based liveact serving haunting drones and ritual experimental electronics for a starter, moving forward to my usual dance ’till you drop hardcore industrial set as a main dish. No mob tracks just pure darkness.
Close this interview the way you wish…
Thanks a lot and hope to see you all at The Place this Friday.
Christos Doukakis