_ _ _ _ __ ___ ___ | (_) |_ _ _ __| | ___ / _|_ __ // \\____\ / __|/ _ \| | | __| | | |/ _` |/ _ \ | |_\ \/ / // // \\ // \__ \ (_) | | | |_| |_| | (_| | __/ | _|> < \\ \\___ \\___// |___/\___/|_|_|\__|\__,_|\__,_|\___| |_| /_/\_\ // / ___\ \____\ ______ \\ \\ ____ \\_____//___// \\ _______________ ___// // ____/ ___ _ ___/ ___/ // | ______ _____ | / __/ // / ____/ // \\ / \ || || || \\ \\ \\ // \\ //\ \_____ //|| || || // ___// //_______ \\ _______ || || || ________ \ \\ | |=====================================| | \\ | | --- - - | - | - - |- -| | - | _______| | - |- | --- - - | - - - | | | |_______ |_______| (|) | .. |- | - - - | - - - | | - | - |_______| | |______________________________________________________| | |====== | ____________________________________________________ | ======| |====== || | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ======| |====== ||| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | ======| |_______|||_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_||_|_______| \__________===================================================_________/ the yamaha psr6100 as used by solitude fx Its around the year 2002, I still live in my parents house and mostly spend the days drinking mint tea, eating cheese Cheetos and playing Silent Hill II on the XBOX I bought with my royalties from my Disco Rout song. One day I got an envelope in my mailbox containing a bunch of CDR's I would pleasantly listen to for years to come, I think I even made a remix or something but in the haze of the cheese cheetos MSG fermenting the brain the memories are vague... We return to 2020...almost 20 years later and I stumble upon solitude fx's bandcamp and every release is totally FREE. First let's do a sonic introduction to solitude fx. Here are a bunch of my favorite solitude fx tracks with audio links: ENDPHASE - SYNTHETIC MAN click here to listen https://solitudefx.bandcamp.com/track/synthetic-man This is proto solitude fx, recorded under the endphase name. It sounds like the lyrics are 'All I am is a satanic man' instead of synthetic man which makes the lyrics even more awesome. Absolute &@#*&*@& ANTHEM for complete club control. COMPUTERSPIELE (Featuring Newclear Waves) click here to listen https://solitudefx.bandcamp.com/track/computerspiele-demo-2009-feat-newclear-waves Meandering but also extremely catchy, above mediocre in the first few minutes - but then the breakdown melody comes in, and it hits perfection in all its simplicity. Also cool vocoder sound! KLEINES ASTRONAUTENMÄDCHEN click here to listen https://solitudefx.bandcamp.com/track/kleines-astronautenm-dchen-2 Creamy thick synthbasing and a 'Tränental of Leidenschaft'only the Germans can cry out. VALPARAISO VINA DEL MAR click here to listen https://solitudefx.bandcamp.com/track/valparaiso-vina-del-mar Majestic almost Memphis rap style slow burner with exstatic waves of buzzing synth goo...also notice that cool beat with exotic snares. There are lots more cool tracks on their bandcamp! I also wrote Marc Schaffer, one half of solitude fx, a few questions via email: Who is in Solitude FX? solitude fx (it is written in small letters only) was founded by Marc Schaffer (synths, drum machines) and Orpheo Weidelt-Baur (lyrics, vocals). Orpheo also played synths on the sessions. We had two short-time female singers but it was always basically just the two of us. What are they doing in 'normal' life? I (Marc) studied biology and work in the field of microbiology / molecular biology. Also I run the record labels Anna Logue Records and Nadanna. I plan to set up my studio soon and record music again. I watch my health by doing lots of sports and a vegan diet. Orpheo studied art education and is working with pupils and lives a rather quiet life now together with his wife. When did solitude fx start, where are you based? Probably somewhere around the year 2000. We were already trying a few things earlier with school mates and friends, but with acoustic and electric guitar, recorder, flute, keyboard, etc. A rather Current 93-influenced sound. I had started working with synths earlier and recorded some stuff as Endphase. Our first gig in 2002 in then my living room was showing the transition where we had a first set based on an acoustic instrumentation and a second set based on electronics only. We were based in Würzburg, Germany, where Orpheo still resides. I moved away in 2007, to Greifswald, Germany. What gear do you use? Endphase and early solitude fx material was mostly just a Yamaha PSR-6100 keyboard (which had a sequencer though and drum programming possibilities, "Synthetic Man" was done mainly on this one!), Korg Poly-61, Kawai K-1, Casio VL-1 and Roland TR-808. I had acquired a lot of stuff over the years, so you can hear all those classic drum machines like the Boss DR-55, Roland TR-606, Roland CR-78, Korg KR-55/55B on some recordings, as well as switching to Roland CSQ-100 and SH-2 combo later then along with some other classic synths like the Korg MS-20 or Yamaha CS01 and strings synths like the Crumar Performer. Whats the current situation of the band, Is there new material coming out? We've been dormant and not recording for years. My studio's been down for years now. But I have a new space now and will set up a studio this year. Just for reference how would you describe the style yourself? (Minimal synth, minimal wave, synth pop etc.?) Probably minimal synth pop. In fact in addition mostly with a huge demo character. Most of our songs are just recorded ideas with vocals put on top. There are only a few tracks that were really thought through, structured and multi-tracked. But we -and also some people out there- seemed to enjoy the minimalistic and honest nature of those recordingss, so we just kept them as the were. Thank you Marc, looking forward to your musical adventures in the future!!! SW