After several collaborations with the
Collectif, Ivonne Van Cleef comes back with an "Orchestra"
version of four heads. Always captivating, the Argentinian project
carries on with its musical experiments, in a vision of its own.
Ivonne Van Cleef, a rather enigmatic
project, can you tell us more about it ?
IVC was born as an intimate, ultra-personal project with the
only purpose of generating a log or collection of sounds, ideas,
songs that otherwise would have ended up in the trash. As I have
already done this before (and sometimes regretted it), one day I
decided to start compiling it on a Bandcamp page and publish the
productions of some period. The main idea was not only to make
backups, but also to generate a routine that allows me to use real
instruments, really improvise, record in one take and enjoy the
contact with the instruments, effects and tools, a definitly
analogical, concrete, tangible process, this is one of the main
engines of the IVC production.
How to define the universe of IVC ?
IVC
is located in a small town far from the urban center, almost in the
countryside, in the middle of marshlands, rivers, gauchos and
fishermen (the alluvial valley of the Paraná River). I think that
all this culture influences the universe in which IVC is involved and
could be summarized as rural psychedelia and all these related tags:
dusty, outdoors, old tapes, cassettes, marshes, analog gear, simple
drones, hypnotic, broken down, desert, western, folk, americana.
After this first step of publications, we receive an invitation to
co-organize a musical meeting and this is how IVC presents itself
live for the first time, in a duo format, with an ambient set list,
and without even being announced on the event's posters.
So
different meetings and gigs took place and later on, a third member
(a drummer) joined us, with whom we performed different gigs and
published 2 live albums. Now we are 4, an orchestra : guitar,
synths, drums, bass, studio rack and trumpet. Everyone has a defined
role and instrument, that can be possibly changed, depending on
tracks. At this point, we find ourselves with several
realities, in principle IVC has the ability to present itself as a
solo, duo, trio, orchestra and why not, one day a big band. The
initial project, more personal and focused primarily on recording, is
still alive and in constant production on a par with the work in
orchestra format.
How was born and what was the process
for this new album ?
This story is the starting point of the
creation of this new album. It corresponds to recordings made by the
orchestra in a live format : recorded live and mixed through an
old Portastudio Tascam 424 cassette. For some tracks it was necessary
to capture some overdub to reinforce some instruments lost in the
recording of only 4 tracks, this was also done with a Portastudio
(digital this time, tascam dp008ex) in an attempt to sustain the
method and freshness of the recording in one take and without
editing. The final mixdown was mastered at Woodbox Estudio in the
city of Santa Fe, Argentina.
About the more creative than technical
side, how did you proceed for the composition of this album (who
brings what, how each one of you is involved, how did the ideas
come...) ?
This album has a little bit of
everything, some of the tracks were composed, improvised and recorded
in the rehearsal room, with absolute freedom, while other ones were
born from the individual project and were adapted, declined
in different versions and interpreted freely by the orchestra.
There is an original guiding idea which is formed from the free
interpretation of the members and the use of the available
instruments. In general the ideas are based on the solo project and
worked on freely by the members to achieve a live performance and for
each one to spontaneously contribute to this new composition.
I
think there is a first idea, an initial thought, something like a
path to follow which is transformed as the track is produced and even
more when it is reinterpreted live. The technique is not alien to
this process but rather an inseparable part of the creative process,
by imposing limitations you necessarily have to adapt the idea so
that it can be performed in a single shot, you cannot edit, etc...
Those limits are sometimes the modeler of the idea, it seems to be
restrictive but it actually also works as inspiration.
With the current health crisis, how
things are going on in Argentina, and how do you organize yourselves
with the members of the orchestra to continue making music ?
What
is happening in my country is not different from other parts of the
world. In particular the region where I live is at its highest point
of contagion and continues on the path of growth. As I am writing
this, a new record of deaths and infections is being announced in the
country and especially in my region. This is really insane because a
strict quarantine is already impossible due to the emotional wear and
tear of people and that's why practically all activities continue
their normal course with the unfortunate exception of artistic
activities : bars, gyms, etc, are open while museums or theaters
are closed. At the beginning of this year, the rehearsals were
suspended because all movement of people was prohibited. Soon after
this, the recording and rehearsal rooms were authorized to operate
again and as our rehearsal room is located almost in the middle of a
field it was possible to continue with our activity in a wide and
semi-covered space, almost outside (the climate also allows it at
this time of year) with a lot of respect for security measures such
as distance, ventilated spaces, masks...
What are the main artists and albums
that have inspired IVC's music ?
In front of this
question you have to think that the path followed has to do with
absolutely all the music that has accompanied me as long as I can
remember. However, I think I can name a few: Morphine and Mark
Sandman, El hazmereir (Laughing Stock) by Talk Talk, the works of
Warren Ellis both in the Bad Seeds as in Dirty Three or as soloist,
also the works of Friends Of Dean Martinez to which I could add
psychedelic bands like Ramases, Love, Ultimate Spinach ... all this
mixed with Argentine classics such as Atahualpa Yupanqui, Eduardo
Falu or Los Fronterizos. Still I keep thinking of bands or projects
like the instrumental albums of "Los Iracundos" and many
others like that.
What are your musical projetcs for the
future, especially for 2021 ?
Today it is difficult or impossible for us
to plan and imagine a future, the new pattern, which will be the
outcome of this world history. The orchestra was talking about this
topic the last time we rehearsed and the question we asked ourselves
was: do we work for a live set considering that here (in South
America) the summer season is about to start and cultural activities
in the open air can be allowed or do we forget about this and start
with new compositions? We chose the second option: working on new
compositions, searching for sounds and improvisations that can be
performed by the orchestra and making a live recording of this
material although this time (perhaps to my regret) we would involve
computer tools for the recording. I think this is a project already
underway with a view to 2021. This path taken by the orchestra is
parallel to the soloist work which will surely go on, because it is a
constant personal need. We also got a reel-to-reel audio tape
recorder (for free) that was saved from the trash. I still don't know
how but I would like to include it in some future project. In our
plans there's always travelling to play in different places of our
country, it was our plan in 2020, it will still be in 2021 (although
quite improbable) and maybe we will have to plan it thinking of 2022.
Link : https://eaglestone.bandcamp.com/album/listen-to-the-hiss-talk-to-the-dust
