Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and son of Detroit Eric David Hoegemeyer released the Elements 001 EP in July, the latest chapter in a thrillingly diverse musical journey that has included the bands Charm Farm and Gold Cash Gold. This is something else though--"Five cinematic tracks capture the surreal interplay of the traditional elements: earth, water, air, fire and aether."
"I had always been fascinated with drum machines and I learned to use them simultaneously along with learning drums," Hoegemeyer says. "My deep dive into producing electronic music came through a season of living in a bedroom in Detroit that doubled as Derrick May’s record storage unit. I spent months listening to white label techno records and remixes."
Hoegemeyer says that his sound, particularly on this new EP, is rooted in nature.
"I have become really inspired by the sounds of nature and the attempt to imitate those sounds though electronic and acoustic means…basically finding a balance between patterns and randomness. If you are listening to any given moment in nature you are hearing a snapshot, something that will never exist again in that particular way. Now if you capture that moment, loop it or repeat it, It becomes a pattern that then becomes a repeatable melody. That is how I try to create- quickly sound something out from intuition, record, then repeat that message until it forms into meaning."
Regarding Elementa 001, "I was given several prompts of the natural elements of earth, air, water and fire as this record is the first in a series from the Mishbaka label concerning that. I happen to be in Colombia making field recordings of a medicinal ceremony with Somos Sanctuary. I found that environment perfect to form these compositions as I was recording my synths into a device that was also recording the soundscape around me. This provided some very synchronistic moments as the sounds happening around me lined up with the ones I was creating. For instance, as I was recording a melody for Astronomy Mine in the malloca with headphones on, a friend named Jessi Londoño wandered into the vicinity singing a beautiful melody that fit what I was doing perfectly. Those little bits of magic happened a lot during the recording process. Then I took those recordings back to my studio in Brooklyn and finished the details."
As for gear: "The field recordings played a huge part, I also used a Teenage Engineering OP-1, Make Noise Strega, Soma Laboratory Pulsar 23, Moog Minitaur, glass marimba, piano, and drums."
Looking ahead, Hoegemeyer has plenty planned for the coming months.
"We will be releasing animations for the music over the next few weeks and months that were created by an artist named Sebastian Bravo Guerrero. I will be playing some sporadic live shows and am just putting the finishing touches on two new thematic records."
Photo by Dan Berg
