Oppressum

Israël Quellet was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1972, and this is his first recorded release. At 16, he discovered on his own some different sound-worlds, such as Miles Davis' electric era, Sun Ra, dub, German cosmic music, Magma, Zappa and many more. In 1997, he stepped into the musical fray and, following the advice of a sound engineer friend, bought microphones, a digital mixing board, and studio monitors, turning part of his basement into a soundsmithing studio. That is when he started to create, out of his immediate surroundings, soundworks that have little to do with what is "normally" being done. Appreciated by Ecuadoran electro-acoustic composer Jorge E. Campos, Quellet is supported by the Centre Pierre Schaeffer in Paris. In 2003, he contacted Sub Rosa. Now, three years later, he is releasing his first public recording. Quellet's music is not really outsider sound art, but it shares strong similarities with it. It explores a debarred universe almost impossible to escape. Oppressum is a minute - albeit extreme - exploration of sound (particularly through saturation), mystical discourse and excesses. However, the composer is also pictured as a regular guy living in a Swiss town, a guy who likes to toy with the local church's organ, accompanied by his wife. Sound materials come from a number of sources: The local church's organ, rented or borrowed percussion instruments (bass-drum, timbales, gong, djembe), various objects being struck (his oil tank at home struck with hammers and iron rods), pipes, faucets, telephone touch pads, power tools, sound-producing toys, voice, mouth sounds, throat sounds, and wheelbarrows. You get the picture. Of his work Quellet says: "The diverse sounds and the diverse means used to capture them give each piece a different overall sound and stereo image. Therefore, the pieces are not standardized or calibrated systematically; they do not all sound the same."