Part 1

Name: Elvin Vanzeebroeck aka HYPNA
Nationality: Belgian
Occupation: Producer, mastering engineer, label founder at Plasma Sources
Current release: HYPNA teams up with J-Shadow for A2I, out now via Plasma Sources.
Recommendations: Graphic Novel: Familiar Face - Micheal DeForge; Album: Navy blue - Songs of Sage: Post Panic!

[Read our J-Shadow interview]

If you enjoyed this HYPNA interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter.  



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I started producing 12 years ago. It was more just messing around but I really started to take it seriously 4 years after that and trying to shape my own sound which took a lot of more years. Around 2007 I was really obsessed by Dubstep and Grime. Once I started going out to parties I really wanted to start making music and be a DJ as well.

Growing up, there were always different genres playing at home so a lot of Funk, Jazz, Soul, Dub and Hip Hop have been part of my musical upbringing as a kid. It's mostly the escapism part that drew me into it. It’s one of the few things that gives me the feeling of being free.

One of my earliest memories that I still have as a child, I think I was 4 or 5 years old, is a song playing on the radio. I got up on the table and started singing my heart out as if my life depended on it. Not with the right lyrics, but I was completely in my own world and I felt the music coming in hard and felt untouchable. It had an incredibly deep impact on my emotions.

After all these years, music still creates a safe bubble for me. At the same time, it sparks my curiosity enormously. I like the fact that music is an endless treasure chest, in which you can search forever and always be inspired in new ways.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

I am often overwhelmed by emotions while listening to music. This can range from spontaneously crying, to a huge amount of euphoria, to feeling completely relaxed. For example, with Sade’s music, I instantly feel warmth, joy and a sense of freedom.

With the Blade Runner soundtrack, goosebumps come immediately. In general, I lose myself in the music and feel disconnected from the outside world. The soundtrack of Blade Runner is a good example to me, because composer Vangelis is tremendously good at creating music to get you into the universe of the movie from the very first second. Creatively, that is hugely inspiring to me.



Navy Blue’s music has been healing to listen to, because of the openness of his trauma and vulnerability. His story unfolds over very repetitive loops, which are so well chosen that they emphasize the emotion so much harder. His work touches me very deeply.



Music as a whole triggers a feeling in my body and mind that for me is best described this way: as a flower imbedded in my mind. As soon as the flower comes in contact with music, it starts to open up and starts to bloom. That's the kind of feeling that music gives me.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

That’s a tough one. I personally struggled a lot with recognizing and aknowledging my breakthroughs. I guess as an artist it’s hard to see breakthroughs. For me personally at least.

I spend a lot of time trying to perfect ideas, sometimes at the stage that it becomes unhealthy and once happy I kind of let it go out in the world and focus on the next. It was an important step for me to be more mindful about that and let it go with pride. Treasure the beautiful feeling it sparked during the process of making it. I guess standing still and looking back in that manner is my way of finding my personal voice.

My Influences from all types of music, movies, images, art and experiences in life give me a direction. I try not to overthink these influences, but I merge them into an idea. I then try to translate that vision into my sound. Now I have created a kind of a framework, so that even when I try out new sounds, genres, rhythms, tempos, I can always stay within that framework. I keep challenging myself in different directions, but my sound always stays within the same kind of universe. That might have been my biggest personal breakthrough; to be able to create that universe for myself, from which I can always build without it becoming a fixed pattern.

My challenge right now is to refine that vision even more and enter new territories. It is important to me that process of production is not an automated process. Instead of creating in a factory manner, rather search new explorations every time.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

As a listener, Identity is not something I concern myself with. When listening to music, I operate like a sponge: open to absorb everything. I tend to know almost instantly what I like or dislike, and don't overthink what I feel.

As an artist, however, my identity constantly shifts. Depending on my vision for a project, I imagine myself to be someone else or a different being. That can range from other artists to a fictional character I invent on the spot or a character from a movie or a book. That chosen character explores the "Hypna universe," which is a combination of a specific theme for that particular project, my musical influences and to my identity as myself.

This method helps me a lot with thinking outside of the box and not sticking to the same type of production. Somehow I gain confidence when discovering that I can reach new musical realms.

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

It’s mostly testing out new techniques and working on arrangement while keeping my identity and hiding hints of my personality and influences in my work.

Usually I am inspired by something specific. It can be an environment, a piece of art, a comic, a movie and so on. I take that influence to the studio and try to sketch that out. If I feel that this is leading me somewhere, I work it out further in depth with my arrangement. Arrangement is becoming more and more important for me to tell a story in my music.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

Originality and innovation are most exciting about music and are exactly what spark a positive boost in my music creation. Perfection and timelessness are often a burden for me because it makes the process frustrating. That's because as an artist I often want to strive for that perfection and create music that can sound timeless.

In the past I have put a lot of pressure on myself because of this. Now I am trying to let go of those ideas inside myself, because it gets in the way of originality/innovation. Focusing so hard on perfection overshadows and blocks the creative process. I'm always looking for the right balance between this every time.

I am very interested in creating a ‘music of the future’. It is my main objective with making music. However, I do realize that creating music of the future goes hand in hand with continuing a tradition. Contemporary music is always in line with music of the past and it is impossible to not be influenced by it.

What I do not tend to do, is recreate music from the past. I do not see the point of doing what has been done, instead of trying to take elements from the past and create a whole new idea. A lot of people tend toward nostalgia, which is something I often am not leaning towards. However, I had a conversation with a friend recently and I realized that nostalgia can be something very powerful. People reach back to the past because it reminds them of a time when they were more carefree.

At the same time for my own creative process, it often doesn't intrigue me, I often like to look for the new. Even though, I know that this is also a continuation of something from the past.