Since his first releases in the early 80s, uncompromising Belgian artist Dirk Serries has garnered respect from and invitations to collaborate with recognised musicians like Steven Wilson, Steve Von Till, Justin Broadrick, Cult Of Luna and Alan Sparhawk of Low. He has been commisioned to write works for Dutch national television broadcaster VPRO, the Antwerp Zoo as well as architectural festival Biënnale Rotterdam and worked on stage with the Holland Symfonia orchestra. His discography encompasses stylistically diverse releases on labels like Relapse, Projekt, Conspiracy as well as his current creative partner Tonefloat, an outfit with years of experience in vinyl editions for acts like Porcupine Tree, Robert Fripp, Theo Travis and Anja Garbarek. Over the past thirty years, he has toured extensively through Europe and the USA and performed at some of experimental music’s major venues and concert spaces, as headliner or in support of Low, Mono, My Bloody Valentine, Jesu and others.
Dirk Serries never shied away from collaborations with Justin Broadrick, Steve Roach, Sam Rosenthal, Alio Die, Theo Travis, David Lee Myers, Asmus Tietchens, Stratosphere, Serge Devadder, Willem Tanke or under seperate entities like The Sleep Of Reason (with Jon Attwood), Continuum (with Steven Wilson), Principle Of Silence (with Joris De Backer), The Eightfold Model (with Michael Beckett), Akhet (with Marc Verhaeghen, Paul Van Den Berg), 3 Seconds Of Air (with Martina Verhoeven, Paul Van Den Berg) and The Black Fire (with Robert MacManus).
After bringing his projects vidnaObmana (1984-2005) and Fear Falls Burning (2005-2012) to a satisfying conclusion, Serries no longer considers it necessary to hide behind alter egos. Confident enough to operate under his own name, he is continuing his ongoing search for uncharted territory while keeping in mind the essence which made him want to work with sound in the first place. Fascinated by the power of purity, he has built a reputation for building a personal galaxy of harmony and dissonance through dense caleidoscopes of slowly unfolding motives. His upcoming second microphonics-album is a further refinement of this approach. Eschewing stereotypical genre exercises, Serries refuses to be labeled as a guitarist, weilding his instrument in a way which never denies its original tonal colours while bringing out the unique intimacy of his music.
Released in 2008, Serries’s debut studio album under his own name was all about analog warmth and natural acoustics. For his second full-length and in a bid of creating the perfect sonic space, he has now taken on the challenge of engaging in a dialogue with digital processing. Lyricaly titled ‘microphonics xxi – xxv – mounting among the the wings, there’s a light in vein. the burden of hope across thousands of rivers’, the album was released to critical acclaim in March 2013 on renowned Dutch label Tonefloat as a CD and double 10″ vinyl.
The sobriety of his studio work is mirrored by Serries’s philosophy to performing live, based on the concept that music should be heard, not seen. Focussed like a monk immersed in prayer, he is performing his music almost in complete darkness and entirely in real-time, making use of both electric amplification and the natural resonance of the room and taking the particular characteristics of each venue into consideration. This way, not a single gig sounds the same as the night before.
While writing the follow-up to his second microphonics solo album, his ongoing fascination for jazz for more than 15 years solidified in 2011 when he was invited by improv and jazz musicians Kristoffer Lo and Tomas Järmyr to form YODOK III. Recording their debut album, completely performed real-time, at the legendary Athletic Sound Studio in Halden (Norway), brought projects in a rapid stream and on the right track. Teaming up with both musicians, in their trio format and with Tomas Järmyr on drums as duo THE VOID OF EXPANSION, Serries collaborates as well with Belgian jazzdrummer Teun Verbruggen as ART OF COSMIC MUSINGS and goes into a duel with Dead Neanderthals, Cactus Truck’s American sax player John Dikeman and Dutch drummer Onno Govaert, UK saxophonist Colin Websters, UK drummers Andrew Lisle and Steve Noble. Born was Tonefloat’s New Wave Of Jazz and the future foresees no boundaries, 30 years and onwards.
