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Who's behind "InterZone Perceptible"?

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How does the combination of electronic and acoustic sound work and what does „flexible electroInstrumental HybridOrgan" mean?

We already started to integrate accordion and bass guitar during our university studies in order to create a single homogenous sound. Being played acoustically at the beginning, the accordion was increasingly modified electronically. Amplification caused the accordion sound to merge to a much higher degree with that of the bass guitar which had always been amplified. Continuing to experiment with various combinations of effects units and with ways of triggering them we discovered a vast and unfathomable cosmos of instruments, ever-changing hybrids of physical and electrical sound creation. Beyond our native instruments accordion and bass guitar, in a conjunction of human and technology, we formed a flexible electro-instrumental hybrid organ.
[translated by Jochen Brüse]

Music for silent film - how did it come to it and why is this field of work our main focus?

In 2000, we offered to play a concert at the Brotfabrik, Bonn performing the music CINEMA by Erik Satie in combination with the silent film Entr'acte by René Clair (1924). For some time we had considered arranging this music - originally composed for piano - for IP. Picking up on this idea, he Brotfabrik team asked us whether we could instead set music to THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI Robert Wiese (1920). We consented, and composed our first silent film music. After this intense experience, the idea of combining film and music captured our imaginations. In 2003 an invitation from the Goethe Institute in South Korea followed, leading to the composition of music for the movies VAMPYR (1932) and LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC (1927), both by Carl Theodor Dreyer. A work commissioned for the film PARIS QUI DORS by René Clair (1924) led us to France in the same year. In 2004 we started our monthly silent film concerts at the Filmkunsttheater Eulenspiegel, Essen. The now well-established series "Silent Film in Concert" moves to Essen CinemaxX in 2010 and continues at Casablanca cinema Krefeld from 2011. 2009-2010, there were additional performances at the Central Cinema Center Dorsten, since 2009, we regularly play at Film Forum, Duisburg and in the Black Box, a cinema at the Film Museum Düsseldorf. Invitations to national and international festivals follow: StummFilmMusikTage Erlangen,Karlsruher Stummfilmtage, Musica Nova in Finland, Science Fiction Film Festival "Utopiales" in Nantes / France, a tour through the Netherlands, an open-air silent film night at the Unesco World Heritage Site Zollverein. The elaboration of new film scores as well as maintenance and refinement of existing repertoire is a daily task.
[translated by Jochen Brüse]

Is there also music without film in IzP's repertoire?

Yes.
At the end of the nineties, when we started to experiment with accordion, bass guitar and electronics, we decided we had to build a repertoire for this specific combination. The first step was to arrange music by old masters, e.g. Henry Purcell, Erik Satie or John Cage. Advancing beyond that, we began to collaborate with composers of the avantgarde. Between 2000 and 2004, 34 pieces were composed. At the same time the discoveries from our own performances, conceptional improvisations, sound installations and soundscapes influenced our compositions for the band.
[translated by Jochen Brüse]

Why is "the fusion of visual and audio material" IzP's main topic?

We conjoin film and music. We develop sounds that interact with the film to bring about a brand new and differenciated overall effect. Sound enhances the pictures or energizes them to set free associations - always aiming to make the film more visible, to point to details. Thus the illusion is created that the characters interact verbally, that sounds appear to come from behind the silver screen. One basic condition for this is for the speaker systems to be placed carefully to accomodate each different cinema or concert hall. We are only satisfied if the audience cannot distinguish between the film and the music.
[translated by Jochen Brüse]

What does „InterZone Perceptible“ mean and how was it foundet?

InterZone Perceptible was founded in 2000. Our studies at Folkwang University in Essen/Germany were more or less finished. In 1999 Sven graduated as an accordionist and studied composition. In 2000 Matthias graduated with a degree in composition and studied electric bass privately. Our common ground was the double education and both of us where informed by our lecturers that we sooner or later would have to decide whether to establish ourselves as a composer or a performer. So we promptly decided to use this conflict brought to us from the outside and began to experiment with various kinds of playing our instruments. Actually, we already began in 1998 with the research of how to combine accordion and electric bass but not until 1999 we decided founding a solid formation. Until that moment we only knew what didn't want to do rather than what we wanted. Therefore, our bandname should refer to a flexible artisitc platform to start from. Finally, we discovered “Naked Lunch“, the famous novel by William S. Burroughs. In it the author describes “Interzone“, a fictional and not clearly defined place, which can’t be found on any map. If it exists in a parallel universe or is a visualization of a drug trip remains unsolved. We combined Interzone with the adjective “perceptible“ and thus opened an associative space, which was indeed between everything and only had the wordfield “sensual perception" as a basis. Over the years this openly defined field of work was filled with diverse artistic forms of expression.
[translated by Gordon Stephan]

What is the appeal - from the perspective of the 21 century - composing new scores for silent films of the years 1913-29?

Magic was emphasized through bleeping space music. War planes and warfare sound referred to plague alarm - the very link to recent objects revived and condensed this film experience, stressed surprising details and revealed fine nuances. The traditional whimpering of the violins […] and the horror plunking, however, blocked, concealed and blunted the old image, at least as it appears today. A new sound track always involves a rebirth of the actual film."
Auli Särkiö relating to our Finland 2011 tour with NOSFERATU/HISTOPLASMOSE
[translated by Gordon Stephan]

What kind of equipment does IzP use?

Matthias plays a custom made 6 string American Standart Sujet electric bass by Christof Kost (Aachen/Germany) with additional piezo pass (with pick-ups byLeFay and BassCulture). He also uses a 5 string ESH Sovereign tuned with pick-ups by Harry Häussel. Matthias amplifies with SWR Basic 350 and two 2x10 inch Goliath 3 cabinets.
Sven plays an Anatomic accordion by Armando Bugari (Castelfidardo/Italy), amplified with two Schoeps CCM 41 mics, a speaker system (2xASQ8,2xSUB15) by AER Recklinghausen/Germany) and an Allen & Heath mixing desk.
IzP uses effects and electronics by Lehle, Boss, Line 6, Digitech, MXR,DOD, Danelectro, TC electronics, Strymon, Eventide and Sommer cables.
Side-instruments: gongs, amplified roof slats, amplified thundersheet,lions's roar, Casio Keyboards, Yamaha DrumComputer, toay megaphone,toy glockenspiel, singing saw, voice (whispers, screams, death growls, speaking)
CD-playbacks were realized via DENON-units.