INVOLUCIA•ORG presents “Tiha povest involucije (The Quiet History of Involution) 2xLP” [I•O LP001], the follow-up to INVOLUCIJA’s 2023 debut EP on aufnahme+wiedergabe.
The unique alloy of EBM, industrial techno & Bosnian musical traditions is the core of a new style called Balkan Body Music.
LISTEN TRACK PREMIERE HERE:
INVOLUCIJA is an experimental post-industrial collaboration with artists from ex-Yugoslavian countries started by Michel Morin (CA/DE) and Lucija Invo (BiH). The record label INVOLUCIJA•ORG was created as a vehicle for their collective to carry forward powerful ideas started by ex-Yugoslavian groups like Laibach, Borghesia and Videosex. As Yugoslavia was never part of the Eastern-bloc, creative freedoms and cultural exchanges gave rise to edgy and unexpected musical gems that transcend a country that no longer exists.
Three upcoming 2024 12″ releases include collaborations with Le Chocolat Noir, Zarkoff and Lidija Andonov.
INVOLUCIJA has been performing live on dancefloors across Europe since 2020 with custom built hardware sequencers and software.
KEYI Magazine: What are a few questions you would like to ask one another?
Michel: When you came up with the concept of Involucija, did you have a particular definition of the word “involution” in mind?
Lucija: No, I didn’t – it appeared in my dream in which I was reading a book entitled “Tiha povest involucije” (The Quiet History of Involution). Afterward, I read various definitions and the sociological one that was originally from the early 1900’s was particularly interesting. This term has become quite popular in China in recent years. Wikipedia says:
Neijuan (内卷); lit. ‘to roll inwards’ is an English loanword of the Chinese word for involution. Neijuan reflects a life of being overworked, stressed, anxious and feeling trapped, a lifestyle where many face the negative effects of living a very competitive life for nothing.
Which associations do you have with Eastern Balkan music and what’s it like injecting it into a dark Western techno sound?
After visiting Bosnia for over a decade and living there for a year, many cultural aspects became embedded in my psyche. Music in ex-Yugoslavia had such a wide variety of influences due to cultural freedoms that simply weren’t allowed in any of the neighboring Eastern Bloc countries. In the Balkans, you can often hear amazing vocal and instrumental performances that seem to dance effortlessly around Byzantine scales and I became enamored with this exceptional musicianship and heightened expressiveness.
Since you wanted to have lyrics and titles in Serbo-Croatian, it seemed obvious to dive further into traditional Bosnian scales and instruments. I spent a year listening and researching various traditions, including various academic papers discussing the Ottoman Empire’s heavy musical influence.
Frankly, it felt deliciously transgressive to juxtapose it on top of abrasive industrial techno – but also incredibly liberating because it helped me escape the tyranny of Western musical scales. Although at one point when we were working with Zarkoff on an LP, he was making jokes about my “dodgy Turkish melodies” LOL.
On that note, how hard was it for me to convince you that this wasn’t a ridiculous concept?
Lucija: I was dubious of the idea at first until you started adding Balkan musical elements to our music. You’re not oversaturated with it like I am and you don’t have the same associations. That allows you to make such a combination that was unimaginable to me until now.
What’s the magic ingredient in your music production?
Michel: I’d say it’s a deep love of unique sound design, most of which comes from my hand-soldered synths and audio gear that I built over ten years. With it, I recorded 100 half-hour episodes of original music I classified as “naive electronics” for a radio program on https://intergalacticfm.com. These were all live recordings of improvisations using only my 11-rack DIY-modular synth, raw and freaky stuff. Afterwards, I sliced up these rough experiments and refined them into a massive sound library which I use for Involucija.
From the beginning, you brought your love of dark techno/goth/EBM and inspired this project. What is it that captivates you about these genres?
Lucija: What can I say? I feel it in my body. These are the frequencies that activate my limbic system – they make me move and somehow generate a form of ecstatic energy. On top of that they often feature captivating soundscapes, gloomy moods, and sombre sonic imagery which are interspersed with lightning bolts of euphoria.
I•O LP001 is out April 5th on vinyl, CD + digital.
Get yours at:
BANDCAMP https://involucija.bandcamp.com
DECKS.DE https://www.decks.de/track/involucija-tiha_povest_involucije/cme-dv
PARTY!
The INVOLUCIA•ORG label launch and release party will be held at Urban Spree, Berlin. April 5th, 22h:
– INVOLUCIJA live
– Philipp Strobel
– Berlin Bunny
– Eyes Dice
Tickets:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/involucija
Instagram: https://instagram.com/invo.lucija
Website: https://involucija.org
Distributed by Bordello A Parigi
