Heyall, it’s been quite a while since I posted nu stuff here – now time has come more than ever: Ladies & Gents, please welcome the very first full album by LOG4N 5!
8 years ago the idea of a full-length LOG4N 5 album started – and it took him a while. Who ist LOG4N, what drives him and what are his thoughts? Discover it all in the following interview:
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Hey LOG4N, how are you ?
LOG4N 5: Hey, I’m fine thanks and thank you for having me! How are you?
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: I’m fine too, thank you. 🙂 I’ve got some questions for you – first I want to know: Whats the story behind the name ‚LOG4N 5‘ ? I have a dark idea…
LOG4N 5: Haha, well let’s see if you’re right. As a young boy, I was allowed to watch TV to excess at my grandmother’s house – something my parents always restricted at home. And then one evening, there was this film that would change me forever: Logan’s Run – an American science fiction film from 1976 that, of course, was far too mature for me at that age. It captivated me from the very first second and wouldn’t let me go, both fascinating and disturbing me. For years, images and scenes from the movie kept appearing in my dreams, along with fragments of its eerily haunting soundtrack, composed by Jerry Goldsmith. Around 13 years ago, the inspiration finally came: I wanted – and needed – to process these impressions in my own musical project. This project was given the name of the main character from the film: LOG4N 5.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Cool, I know the movie! Nice reference – I think it’s somehow a genre-defining sci-fi-movie. And the score by Goldsmith is mindbending, too! Lot’s of movies were inspired by ‚Logans Run‘ later, like f.e. Blade Runner, Gattaca, etc.
LOG4N 5: You name it! Funny that G4TT4C4 is also a track on my album.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Thats awesome! But what is this number-as-letters-thing going on with you?
LOG4N 5: I was always fascinated with numbers and numerology in general – thats why I use it inflational as a kind of personal trademark somehow. There is also this kind of hacker slang named LEET – very similar.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: So, you make music for 13 years now? Thats quite a long time already. Tell me bit about your influences.
LOG4N 5: First – No, I’m 13 years having LOG4N 5 as a musical project. But I’m making music in general and different bands & projects for nearly most of my life now, which is exactly something like around 45 years.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Woohoo, thats crazy! I assume that you are older than I thought?
LOG4N 5: It’s a secret. 😉 But as you know: LOG4N 5 normally can’t get older than 30 – then comes the renewal! 😉
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: That’s true. Only insiders get that hint. 😉
LOG4N 5: Yeah, time to watch the movie ‚Logan’s Run‘ y’all!
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Truth to be told!! So, with this age I’m very excited hearing about your musical influences?
LOG4N 5: I still remember quite vividly when I first heard Kraftwerk as a young boy in my father’s car radio. Autobahn was playing, and we were driving – the perfect soundtrack for it. I was fascinated by the undefinable soundscapes of bands like Kraftwerk, NEU!, and La Düsseldorf (my uncle had them all in his record collection), sounding both artificial and cool, with a hint of menace, yet also expansive, naive, and catchy. I think that sparked something in me, which later influenced my own way of making music. The combination of electronics and emotions remains, to this day, both my biggest drive and my greatest challenge in all my musical projects – I want to convey that specific feeling I experience in the moment of composing. Stylistically, I’ve always been something of a boundary-crosser – I find musical genres limiting, especially since I listen to a wide range of music myself. I don’t necessarily make music for the dancefloor, but rather for immersion – though if people want to dance to it anyway, I think that’s fantastic.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Very interesting! Can you describe it anyway? Which music styles are you into?
LOG4N 5: Well, during that Kraftwerk/La Düsseldorf phase in my childhood I was also very much listening to records from my dads and uncles collection, which ranged from rock over pop to jazz. In my teenage years I was very much into the darker stuff like wave, gothic and industrial – but one other thing I remember very well was the beginning of Acid House in the 80s. That was some crazy ass sound and I loved it a lot. So the transition into 90s Techno and Trance for me was fluent. In the mid-90s I got infected by the Breakbeat and Jungle virus completely which directed me also into djing. Today I still listen to very different kinds of music – but the love for breakbeats in general stayed strong over the year, whether its the faster or the slower kind.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Cool. So, you stated earlier that LOG4N 5 exists for 13 years already. You produced a lot of singles and E.P.’s until now – why didn’t your album come out earlier?
LOG4N 5: The idea of producing a complete album goes back a good 8 years now – I had repeatedly discarded ideas, started anew, the usual pseudo-perfectionism-production madness bullshit – basically, you never really finish. The final step came during the pandemic. Suddenly, there was something like time – it was eerily quiet and almost deserted outside, and then the ideas and inspirations that needed to be processed came flooding in. There was suddenly a sense of deceleration and calm – at the same time, there was this unpredictability: what does it actually feel like to have COVID, and will I survive if I get it? Is humanity finally going to fall apart? Are we all going to hell? In parallel, nature around us was recovering. It was existential and hauntingly beautiful at the same time, and for me, it was an extreme driving force to finish my album. I also needed a working title – something about ‚being human‘ – but it took another good 3 years until the final title practically fell at my feet recently…
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: I got you completely! The pandemic was heavy… I think most of the people are still carrying their personal skid marks from that time until today in particular.
LOG4N 5: True! But today, we’re actually back to where we were before the pandemic – a lot of what I and many others had hoped would change for the better has, unfortunately, turned back for the worse. I often think: Wow! Things are still getting worse, even when we thought it couldn’t possibly go any lower … and where has humanity gone in recent years? Is this part of evolution? Or does evolution move in circles? Perhaps that’s a question AI will be able to answer for us someday. In any case, it’s definitely time for us to remember what it means to be human – that’s why my album is titled HUM4NIZE. In a musical context, to humanize means trying to replicate the imperfections that come with human instrument playing. In a literal sense, humanization aims to prevent cruelty and aggression. Only when we treat others as we would wish to be treated ourselves does fair behavior toward others feel like the only right thing to do.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Very nicely said! Like a plea for humanism. And it’s true that there are still tuff times ahead – but let’s get back to your music and your album. Do you have any listening recommendations for ‚HUM4NIZE‘ ?
LOG4N 5: Well, I knew you would ask me that! I don’t know: maybe just listen for yourself, maybe in one piece. Every track is different, there are a lot references to different genres or music in general. F.e.: I myself am a huge fan of the amen break and the funky drummer – so its quite clear I had to use em several times. There’s reference to old school jungle, as there is also reference to acid house, electric boogie and trap etc. – I don’t have real fear-of-contact on that. 😉 I like to interweave different stiles of electronic music. I find it boring to stay only in one genre or on one particular beat. But I hardly recommend to listen to ‚HUM4NIZE‘ in one piece to get the full experience.
Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ: Well, sounds awesome! So, all we have to do for now is: listen to ‚HUM4NIZE‘! 🙂 Thanks a lot LOG4N 5 for the interview and all the best for you and your music!
LOG4N 5: Thanks Ħ Ξ Ŀ Ŀ and thank you all dear readers of this blog! All I can say is: Enjoy ‚HUM4NIZE‘!
[bandcamp width=350 height=470 album=3373506629 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false]
p.s.: HUM4NIZE will soon be available everywhere else in the web, too! (f.e. Spotify, Apple, etc.)
