Name: Marten Rux aka m.rux
Occupation: Producer
Nationality: German
Recent release: m.rux's Rekorder is out via YNFND.
Recommendations: Musicophilia - Oliver Sachs; The Creative Act - A Way of Being – Rick Rubin; Sounds Like Silence - John Cage - 4’33” – Silence Today

If you enjoyed this m.rux interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, bandcamp, and Soundcloud.
 


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?

Mostly I listen to music with my eyes open.

I love to gaze into landscapes using music as a soundtrack. It puts things in perspective or shifts views on paths you thought you know quite well.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

Totally, I'm not a big fan of headphones.

It is a good checkup. But listening to music in a room with speakers, feeling the acoustic, the bouncing reflexion, the bass unfolding, feels more natural to me.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

First album that comes to mind would be Terry Reid's Seed of Memory.



It is such a fantastic production that it immediately draws you in, charming you with its creamy sound of percussion, guitars, rhodes and vocals. The mix and the recording are just fantastic. An analog masterpiece of its era.

Lately I listen to Sam Gendel's blueblue quite a lot.



It's a rather lofi sounding album but has fantastic layers of sounds and rooms that take you by surprise. How he set up his saxophone with effects and room placements is very inspiring. The whole album has a very woobley sound due to tape recording.

The Last Weval Album called Remember, has a really great sound and production.



Musically, some of it is not my cup of tea. But the sound design, textures and depth of this album are superb.

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Yes, there are certain sounds that always trigger or get me. Warm synthesizers pads, guitar picking or just a low tom drum hit in the right moment makes me tingle.

I call it the buzz, frequencies that touch us, remind us of home, or a lover, the ocean, a feeling of bliss.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

On a recent trip, a 10 hour train ride, a little girl sat behind me. She was constantly, but very slowly, opening and closing a velcro fastener. That almost drove me mad.

While on my last gig there was a slighty broken vent on the backstage toilet perfectly huming in A minor. I could have sat there for hours.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

I'm very much into old radios, I have several fm transmitters to broadcast my own sounds or music onto them. Recording it direct to tape or just mike the old speakers.

There is an old mansion where I live and its parlor room has a fantastic reverb for spacey recordings.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

On a gig in Lebanon, the promoter took me to Oscar Niemeyer's  unfished fairgound from 1962 in Tripoli. We sneaked into the experimental theater dome with a stunning surround effect. Loud sounds travel in reverberating echoes. while a whisper gets carried onto the otherside of the structure.

It really made me understand how structures can shape and form sounds and how you receive them.

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

I have to say a kitchen seems to be one of the best places for all of that.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

No I wouldn't say that, the vanishing and brief nature of sound is also the beauty of it.

It feels more like creating a mood or a feeling that maybe other can receive.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

Acoustic health is very important to me. It is quite a dystopian feeling walking in nature next to a busy highway.

The overall noise pollution in a city (or anywhere actually) is very alarming. I hope we all can come back to a much quiter daily life.  

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?

Have you ever heard an australian magpie? Its a very moving sound experience. So strange and enchanting.
 
Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?  

Defefinitely, I believe there are many communications happening in between species. Its an infinte pool of inspiration once you start to actively participate,

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

I have been very lucky so far in that regard. I take way too little care of loudness in clubs or concerts and also enjoy a good and loud monitor setup.

But I can feel my limit of loudness and retreat quickly to some quiter areas, espiacially after performing.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Yes I can relate to this. I think quiteness is a privilege nowadays.

We are constantly exposed to all sorts of noises and it's hard to hold space for tranquility. I can feel that treshold sometimes and then I know it's time to wind down.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

Totally different. I would image the world a way more sensitive place with people more temperate and respectful.