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What is a human body? It consists of cells. But inside the body live ten times as many bacteria as human cells & ten times as many viruses as bacteria. So, mathematically speaking our bodies are more than 90% bacterium and more than 99% virus.

About two years ago I went to a concert by Colin Stetson. He mentioned a story that had inspired him to compose a new song. It was about a whale who happened to sing in a different register than other whales. The result was that the other whales could never hear what he was saying.

Stetson’s music has had a huge effect on me the last two years. I used to play sax as a kid, but the music school and the adults managed to kill my inspiration for it. When I heard Stetson’s music I realized I just hadn’t found the experimental side of the instrument at all. No one ever told me to go crazy. Quite the opposite: I was told to play from the notes, practice the scales, learn the classics… But at least I have this story now.

One of the soundworks I’m working on now is in a way a reflection on these stories and events. The single bass tone that I’m working with might be too low for the speakers to fully reproduce it (reminds me of the whale). The panning patterns make me think of Stetson’s arpeggios. And the low, distorted bass sound has something to do with the memory of me being in Berlin and a friend introducing me to the music of Stetson from a record… through big and cool looking but crappy speakers, which added distortion to the elemental roar of the bass sax. Experimental electronic music blending in with free jazz, with elements of dub, minimalism and eastern mysticism.

A long time ago I saw a film… dreamy, weird… To be honest I can’t remember a lot about it. I think at one point I fell asleep. But somehow I remembered the title when designing my new busking flyers.

City is the main instrument of a busker. But like any instrument, it can be in or out of tune. If the architecture allows, a good busker can make the whole street resonate beautifully. This doesn’t mean they should be raising earthquakes. In fact, loud amps or drums usually just add tension to the city ambience… (Just couple of days ago I had to quit busking when an African ensemble started banging their drums 300 meters away from me. This time I was fine with it — they put up a good show with dancers and a lot of people enjoyed it — but there are some buskers who don’t realize how much acoustic space they claim for themselves.)

I see busking as a way to “retune” the city ambience. Retuning doesn’t happen by competing with its noises, but rather by playing together with them.