Operating from their Swiss land house where each artist works from their own ‘DJ room’, the label members of Amenthia build on their characteristic refined sound. Here, gearheads Varuna manipulate their modular synthesisers, taking up all the space with their equipment, while co-founder Garçon and resident Timnah work on their radio show. Releases that find their way out of the land house are a captivating combination of organic and synthetic elements. In conversation, the crew shared grounded perspectives on the timelessness of music, audiovisual harmony, and developments within the industry.
Hey crew, thanks for talking to us! We know you have been friends for quite some time, after having met in retro internet times through Myspace and closely tied online communities (the good old forum days). How do you help to inspire and work with each other till today?
Garçon: We have indeed known each other for so long and consider ourselves best friends. The biggest inspiration is sharing life and music and exchanging it in any way. Two years ago we moved into a house where we have heaps of space. Varuna got their studio in the basement while Timnah and I got our DJ room in the backyard. It’s beautiful to work and be so close - like being able to listen to music together or check what the others are up to in their studio. It’s also the place where Timnah and I are doing our monthly radio show called ‘home’, which we started back in 2012.
What made you start with Amenthia? Was it an extension of this friendship?
Garçon: I guess, like many artists and labels, it was kind of a “next step” thing as Dominic and I had some music that we wanted to put out. Some sort of independence was, and still is, important to us. We wanted to release our music and do events in a way that gives us full control.
Agonis: I never really felt the need to send my productions around as promos. They were all just sitting on my hard disk for years and at some point we just wanted to take that step. Without a real goal in mind. In the beginning, the label was simply a vessel for productions by me and Varuna. In addition, we started our Amenthia club nights in clubs in Basel.
'It would be arrogant to call your own music futuristic'
How would you describe the Swiss music scene?
Garçon: I don’t really feel there’s a so-called “scene” to be honest, but I feel a bit of a change at the moment! There has been a shift of generations going out post-covid which is really nice and refreshing to see. It does have more of a community vibe and is definitely more open music wise. For years it felt like Switzerland was under the radar, but there’s so many amazing things happening that deserve to be seen.
What is your relationship with club Elysia in Basel? The rumour is they have one of the best sound systems in the world… We are planning on going there this year for the first time. Can you give us a sneak peek?
Garçon: Elysia was the club where we continued our Amenthia nights after starting them at Hinterhof (RIP). While Timnah and I stepped back from being residents at Elysia after several years, Dominic still is one. The sound system is amazing - it’s one of those systems where you are able to play certain tracks you’re not able to play at many other places. The dance floor is also super pleasant - not tiring at all which I find a very important aspect.
Agonis: Within my residency I play at Elysia about every two months. I really appreciate the place and feel very comfortable in the booth. The sound system is crystal clear and honest and the whole room sounds like a huge studio. It sounds so dry that after the club opened, they even experimented with using artificial reverb on the stereo sum. Just think about that. Most clubs struggle with reverb problems, while Elysia doesn't even know what reverb is supposed to be.
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We would like to know more about the characteristic sound of Amenthia, which to us is often hypnotic and ritualistic, both on the releases and in your sets. Where does this fascination come from and does it have a purpose?
Garçon: Hmm, that’s hard to say. I don’t think there is one answer to this. It's probably the result of our development; what we've done, where we’ve been and how we've been socialised within the music. Subconsciously you pick up so many things, filter them without realising it, and develop your senses. That is a process that never stops growing. But to come back to the question of ritualistic music, I feel like every person that listens to any kind of music has a hypnotic and ritualistic relationship to it.
There are some hints of futurism inside the Amenthia track names and descriptions, and to be fair: we are definitely encountering some new musical realms in your music. Would you call your music futuristic?
Garçon: I wouldn't call it futuristic.
Agonis: I am obsessed with futurism, technology, science and science fiction and certainly draw a lot of inspiration for my productions from these areas. However, I wouldn't call my music futuristic, even though I always strive to create something new in some way. It would be arrogant to call your own music futuristic anyway. Such definitions are in the eye of the beholder and are mostly subjective. I would find the aspect of timelessness in artistic creation much more important.
What does this timelessness mean to you? Your Fourth World inspired mix on Swim tells us you are a fan of Jon Hassell too. We could state that his music is timeless, right? How would one achieve that in your opinion?
Agonis: I think in general music is timeless if it has qualities that allow it to stand the test of time and remain relevant, resonating with listeners across generations. There is no recipe for this, otherwise making music would be far too easy. But it certainly helps to not always want to follow the latest trend. Trendy music rarely remains timeless.
Another very important factor is originality and innovation. Pieces that are groundbreaking are usually remembered. And, of course, the quality of the music is very important. I think that all this applies to Jon Hassell. He was an incredibly passionate artist who continued to write music almost until his death and influenced and inspired a whole generation of artists with the "Fourth World" aesthetic.
We would like to know more about the characteristic sound of Amenthia, which to us is often hypnotic and ritualistic, both on the releases and in your sets. Where does this fascination come from and does it have a purpose?
Garçon: Hmm, that’s hard to say. I don’t think there is one answer to this. It's probably the result of our development; what we've done, where we’ve been and how we've been socialised within the music. Subconsciously you pick up so many things, filter them without realising it, and develop your senses. That is a process that never stops growing. But to come back to the question of ritualistic music, I feel like every person that listens to any kind of music has a hypnotic and ritualistic relationship to it.
There are some hints of futurism inside the Amenthia track names and descriptions, and to be fair: we are definitely encountering some new musical realms in your music. Would you call your music futuristic?
Garçon: I wouldn't call it futuristic.
Agonis: I am obsessed with futurism, technology, science and science fiction and certainly draw a lot of inspiration for my productions from these areas. However, I wouldn't call my music futuristic, even though I always strive to create something new in some way. It would be arrogant to call your own music futuristic anyway. Such definitions are in the eye of the beholder and are mostly subjective. I would find the aspect of timelessness in artistic creation much more important.
What does this timelessness mean to you? Your Fourth World inspired mix on Swim tells us you are a fan of Jon Hassell too. We could state that his music is timeless, right? How would one achieve that in your opinion?
Agonis: I think in general music is timeless if it has qualities that allow it to stand the test of time and remain relevant, resonating with listeners across generations. There is no recipe for this, otherwise making music would be far too easy. But it certainly helps to not always want to follow the latest trend. Trendy music rarely remains timeless.
Another very important factor is originality and innovation. Pieces that are groundbreaking are usually remembered. And, of course, the quality of the music is very important. I think that all this applies to Jon Hassell. He was an incredibly passionate artist who continued to write music almost until his death and influenced and inspired a whole generation of artists with the "Fourth World" aesthetic.
The Neutropia release by you, Agonis, from 2021 carried the following description: ‘After having released an initial set of smoked-out grooves, Agonis shifts focus towards the nerve tingling aspects of his craft.’ Indeed, this album seems to entail a change towards halftime experiments. Where does this musical shift come from? How did the album come to life?
Agonis: My fascination for breaks and faster rhythms started when I discovered mid-90s jungle. I was completely amazed by this otherworldly music from the past. Raime's 2011 Fact Mix was also a revelation for me, but at that time I couldn't figure out how these producers came up with such complex rhythms.
A few years and techno EPs later, I gave drum & bass a try and found it to be quite fun. During that time I was booked for a live set at Organik Festival in 2018 and since I had a one-and-a-half-hour slot, I wanted to fill the last half hour with these faster, breaky productions. This part then went down pretty well with the organisation and I was booked again for the next year right away, but then full-on drum & bass. In 2020 I decided to put material from these sets into an album, what now is Neutropia.
The album covers of your releases emanate an artistic approach towards micro-organic, yet artificial-looking shapes, especially the latest album covers. Is this organic/artificial contradiction something you pursue here?
Agonis: Interesting that you bring that up. It's not that we were consciously looking for such designs, but it's certainly an aspect that I'm quite interested in. When I'm producing, that's exactly what I'm trying to achieve. I try to make a synth sound as organic and natural as possible. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t, but this contradiction of a fully synthetic instrument that should sound organic and alive fascinates me. Related to that, I have developed a real fetish for a specific timbre. I would also describe Garçon' and Timnah’s mixes or Varuna’s productions as organically synthetic.
Timnah: The two pillars organic and synthetic were already two important clues for the record and the cover in 2016 when I designed Enter The Void by Agonis. I paintend intensively with the sound image combined with Agonis’ interpretation of the album which resulted in that cover, and I proceeded like this from there.
For my personal musical work, the two terms are a nice and fitting description. As a DJ, I deal a lot with how the sound/image harmony in a mix should work. First and foremost for me - and then for others.
How are these artworks in conversation with the music on the albums?
Agonis: As for my own releases on the label, I have pretty specific ideas and concepts for the artworks. However, I always leave the realisation to the artists. On the cover of AMEN005, for example, you can see a 3D model of a head.
Our graphic artist Ieva Zuklyte virtually modelled my own head, where she had to study portraits and profiles of me for hours. As for the cover for my album Neutropia, I started designing it myself and then showed it to my friend Dimitri Erhard, who provided great input and then finished the artwork professionally. We have also sent artists just the music and given them carte blanche. This is how the covers of AMEN008 by Fenna Fiction and AMEN010 by Julia Häller were created.
'This contradiction of a fully synthetic instrument that should sound organic fascinates me'
The latest Amenthia release by Konsudd (a merge of Konduku & Aa Sudd) ‘Glimmer’ is described as being created with a ‘back and forth ‘remote’ working approach’. What exactly is meant by this? This was also their debut appearance right? Do you know if we can expect more from the Konsudd duo?
Garçon: This was their debut, yes. They were sending each other the parts they were working on (stems) instead of being in a studio together. It’s like a division of tasks: one would be taking care of the sounds and the other of the arrangement or something like that!
Agonis: Yes exactly, they sent each other parts, tracks and samples and that's how the final tracks were created. Aa Sudd is an avid modular synthesist and I think you can hear a lot of that in the productions, whereas the polyrhythmic beat structures are Konduku's signature. A match made in heaven. Chef's kiss!
Garçon: I’m pretty sure you can expect more of them!
We also want to check what Varuna is up to in their studio - what does their set-up look like technically? Their mothership looks right out of space.
Garçon: They’re definitely addicted to modular synthesisers and got heaps of other gear as well.
Agonis: You'd almost have to call them gearheads.
Timnah: Yes, they take up all the space!
When is a release successful? And what do you feel like success means in this context?
Agonis: I don't think that a release should be “successful” or that you should try to quantify that in any way. Personally, it makes me happy when I see that the music is played at events or in podcasts and still resonates after a couple of years.
I also find it very interesting to discover that our music is decontextualized in some way. For example as a sample in a hip-hop track or as background music in a movie or something. Our first EP was once used by Swiss television (SRF) as background music for a review of waterproofing sprays. I find something like that hilarious. I don't take my own music that seriously anymore. But now I've drifted off again…
Please drift off, this sounds like an interesting topic. At what point did you stop to take your music all too seriously? And why?
Agonis: I think this is a development that has taken place in recent years. The COVID pandemic certainly played an important role. Suddenly, you become aware of how fragile the whole music and clubbing business actually is. But also that it can give you freedom if you have another mainstay and can take everything a bit more lightly. Then “success” with your own music is no longer so important.
In addition, developments in the scene have contributed to the fact that I can no longer take everything so seriously. An important factor among those is the increasing influence of social media. I'm not against Instagram or any other platforms, but it's quite absurd to see how certain people celebrate this "techno lifestyle" on social media. Techno, or at least a considerable part of it, became exactly what it never wanted to be: commercial, apolitical, and non-innovative. You kind of have to take it all with a sense of humour.
What does the future hold for Amenthia? Can you tell us anything about the releases or events lined up? Or, what are your boldest dreams for the label?
Garçon: The next release is a split EP we’re doing with ‘A Walking Contradiction’, the label Varuna is running with Lemont and Dead Space Electronics. Plus, there are some events coming up for sure.
Timnah: Yeah, and it would be nice to organise more outdoor raves again this year. We’ve been doing this for some years now!
Last one! Sit-down or dancefloor?
Garçon: Both, please?
Agonis: I don't mind chairs on the dance floor.
Timnah: Haha! Definitely both.
While the Amenthia crew get back into their DJ rooms, we patiently await their next split release with A Walking Contradiction. From what we know now, this will surely be intelligent music to be absorbed with body and mind, but, which shouldn’t be taken too seriously per se. Serious music for fun times. In the meantime, stay up to date about Amenthia events and releases here - rumour goes that another label night is coming up in Elysia. Bis bald in Basel-Stadt!
