Name: Hans Platzgumer
Nationality: Austrian
Occupation: Educator, vocalist, songwriter
Current release: Hans Platzgumer teams up with Carl Tokujirô Mirwald for Taishô Romantica, a complement to Platzgumer's book Großes Spiel. The album is out September 1st 2023 via Noise Appeal.
Recommendations: Too much good stuff there in art’s long history. I wouldn’t know what to choose.

[Read our Carl Tokujirô Mirwald interview]

If you enjoyed this Hans Platzgumer interview and would like to stay up to date with his work and writing, visit his official homepage. He is also on Facebook, and Instagram.  



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

When I close my eyes the sensation is much stronger, much more intense.

I hate having to listen to music as a background thing. Either full attention or no music.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

No. You need to be driven by a vision, you need to follow a dream, a strong longing to achieve something with your music.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Maybe true. I still treasure the music I discovered back then very much. Queen, Bad Brains, Violent Femmes, Stanley Clarke, Felt … the sound of my youth is still my sound.



What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

A strong vision. Something that comes to my mind and that I want to realize. It always has to be something new, something I haven’t done yet in that way.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I discover it or rather I get discovered by it. And then I follow it up without compromises to the very end.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

Sound is important, but everything else, too, performance. Maybe the vibe is most important.

I hardly ever listen to my own music once it is released.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I worked a lot with field recordings and musique concrète. So all sounds are potential music to my ears. All noises, all cacaphonies.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I always like to explore extremes and limits, both in making as in consuming music.

I like the unknown. I demand to be surprised. Predictable music is pointless.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

My Convertible records under the pseudonym as Holst Gate.



It was amazing what music I was able to produce just by pretending to be someone else. I overcame my own boundaries.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Yes, all errors, all unorthodox sounds are welcome.

Producing music means capturing magical moments.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Everyhting always is connected with everything. Every piece of art can influence us in the way we approach life.

One has to stay open as much and as long as possible.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Cooking is a process of art just as producing music is.

Brewing good coffee might almost be there, too. Though it seems a bit exaggerated.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

All good works of art affect me in a bodily sense that I cannot explain. It touches me. It sends shivers down my spine.

Only if it does that I can really respect it.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I would love that the people take music and the arts more seriously again and not just use it as free background entertainment.