Schmuck, Ragnar
Ellen Allien and Apparat
Issue #28
The Berlin-based buddies burst their individual bubbles to unite on one spectacular record
By Amber Drea
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 12:00am
What happens when two of Berlin’s foremost electronic musicians collaborate to create a sound that’s both the sum of their combined efforts and an entirely new experience? You get Orchestra Of Bubbles, a full-length album from longtime friends and professional colleagues Ellen Allien and Apparat (a.k.a. Sascha Ring), featuring soothing vocals, pulsing and textured rhythms, and melodic synths, cellos, and guitars. IDM, electro, ambient, and techno collide on a danceable auditory journey that fits its title to a T.
Allien and Ring’s relationship began five years ago at a Berlin-based label showcase, which included artists from both of their labels — BPitch Control and Shitkatapult, respectively — sparking a mutual admiration. After remixing each other’s tracks, Allien suggested they produce music together, but at the time, Ring preferred to work alone. “I just always thought I wasn’t able to sit in the studio full time, working on an album with someone,” he says. “[In 2005] I did a lot of band things and learned a lot. At some point I felt ready for a collaboration and called Ellen.” Allien adds, “He’s really a nerd, a programmer!”
Before beginning, Allien wrote down a list of genres they could integrate, and the duo discussed what kinds of tracks they wanted to create, though the songs didn’t always end up the way they envisioned. “We wanted to make something ‘musical,’ not just a stupid dance record,” Ring says. He calls their process “focused jam sessions,” during which Ring sat at the computer and Allien at the keyboard, recording straight to disk without rearranging the parts. Ring had recently started editing less and adding fewer effects in his solo projects, working in a more “rocknroll” style. “[It] makes everything a little bit more ‘alive,’” he explains.
Sometimes they used loops and tunes that each artist had already written, and Allien says bass lines became their main theme. “I’m absolutely addicted to the bass like a freak,” she admits. Allien was mostly responsible for writing the lyrics and she sings on two of the three tracks with vocals — “Way Out” and “Bubbles.” The third, “Leave Me Alone,” marks Ring’s vocal debut, which came about because the melody he’d written was too low for Allien to sing, so she convinced Ring to do it himself. “I have always been a bit of afraid of singing,” Ring says. “But now, since I noticed it’s quite easy, I’m making songs with my voice every day. I guess a lot of people can sing or [do] other exciting things and they just don’t know ’cause they never try.”
The collaboration was a completely different experience for both musicians, mostly due to their friendship. Having worked with producers like Holger Zielske on previous recordings, Allien felt that the process with Ring was more like sharing. “I had to feel Sascha’s ideas becoming materialized and not only [know] how to translate my thoughts into music,” she says. “[And] when one of us got tired, the other decided what to do.”
Ring, who had never produced a full album with another person, found that there’s a lot more communication involved, which helps in figuring out if you’re going in the right direction. “You also can’t spend so much time on effects and details,” he adds. “Music becomes a little more ‘rough.’ That’s good ’cause pretty often I tend to destroy songs by doing too much.”
The atmosphere in the studio was very relaxed, and they had an amazing view of the city. “Outside it was snowing, and we sat in the warmth with open minds and ears,” Allien says. “We watched over the roofs of Berlin, and the winter raged, but we laughed.” However, their friendship goes beyond the studio’s walls. Together, the two musicians have toured the U.S., have crossed the rivers of Iceland in a Jeep, and share common interests such as watching movies or walking the countryside. “We also talk a lot about our lives as artists,” Ring adds. “Both of us have labels, and we exchange experiences. I think only this made it possible to make music together. We have nothing to hide so we can just do whatever we want without thinking about how the other one could react.”
Allien agrees that the friendship is an advantage. “For me, Orchestra Of Bubbles is definitely more than the sum of the single pieces — it’s not 50% Sascha or 50% Ellen, it became some kind of Apparallien.”
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more