r/n: A/S/L?
BIF: Born In Flamez is a geophobic collective of transatlantic argonauts. we feed on the future of music.
r/n: A big part of your presentation of your art is the idea of trans-humanism – what does this mean to you and how do you express it through your work?
BIF: Transhumanism is a lot of things. A lot of people would look towards that extremely bad movie “transcendence” or the ideas of Max Moore – extended personalities with technological features. The idea of the Cyborg. Donna Haraway. With the digital natives the idea already transforms into something else though. Based on a kind of flow of information rather than actual implantation of chips under skin. Although I am very fascinated by that and sometimes think it might be the only way out of our current situation. Make a chip that deactivates greed. Or another one that activates compassion.
But I think today it goes way deeper than that and is also much simpler. So let me get back to that flow of information:
The machines create BIF as a musical ob/sub-ject as much as i created the music. Its like the Hegelian master/slave discourse you can´t seperate one from the other in the process of making electronic music.
It is very much based on coincidence + a lot of it happens in the experiment. So everything is shaped as much by chance as it is by choice.
The computer is essential (as would be any other instrument). The only thing you can do to make music without using technology is your body.
Singing is an example of that. But if I feed my vocals into a computer they have already transgressed into zeros and ones – became transhuman. Chop them up and make them sing back to me. From the machine. What should we call them now?
r/n: As an electronic musician living in interesting times, how do you like to explore political ideas through your work?
BIF: The most direct way my politics go into my work is through the visuals I use. We are a very visually informed culture and what you can see on a BIF gig/stage represents very much the politics I want to put forward. I wear a mask. No Gender, No Nationality. But I also work a lot with lyrics, the titles of my songs etc. The traditional ways.
r/n: What do you want people to feel/ how do you want them to respond when they engage with your work?
BIF: As many others I would like to touch people with what i do. I feel like a lot of music these days just leaves you cold. I hope mine doesn’t. I hope it gives you shivers. Maybe even sometimes is unbearable to listen to. Cause I asks too much of you. Makes you feel, makes you think. And then makes you dance a bit. I recently read a criticque of a show of mine and somebody referred to me as “that Alien on stage”. I loved that.
r/n: What is exciting for you right now in the music world, and why (could be an artist or a record or a style)?
BIF: I really love that noise and experimental music is coming back. As a kid I loved IDM and one of my first records was a translucent record from WARP with Plaid,Squarepusher and Broadcast. I feel like its coming back transformed and exciting and new in the music of WWWings and the NON collective. The latter kind of fused it with punk and a very political message, this is brilliant. Finally the whole : “dance music cannot be political” bullshit is vanishing. I love that.
r/n interview with Born in Flamez by okpk