Name: Martin Boehm aka Housemeister
Nationality: German
Occupation: Producer, DJ, label founder at AYCB
Current Release: Housemeister's new full-length album Calling Earth is out via AYCB.

If you enjoyed this Housemeister interview and would like to know more about his work and music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, bandcamp, Facebook, and Soundcloud.  
 


What was the first time you were consciously impressed by technology – in and outside of music?

Not an easy question ... I think it was my first Game Boy, my first tape recorder and recordplayer. But then definitely synthesizers and drum machines! Even more today than back then. I love that everything is getting smaller and has so much more in it, effects, compressors etc.

For example the OP-Z workstation, the TX-6 mini mixer, or the K.O. pocket operators. No bigger than a remote control or a pack of cigarettes and there is so much power inside. They look like toys, but they're not! I even sold my 32 channel Midas mixer which weighs 38kilos. My new one has 145 grams and I can record everywhere in HQ directly to a USB-stick, which I have done often. This is awesome. I am also impressed by 1010music, retrokits or the sonicware lo-fi 12xt.

Outside of music I love films, Nintendo, my refrigerator and dishwasher lol.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) in terms of production – and why you're content with them.

Oh yes, good question! That would be, for example, INORDERTODANCE from my 2nd album Who is that Noize around 2005.



That was one of the first tracks that I didn't arrange anymore, but recorded live in one piece with all my machines and synthesizers without editing on the computer later. It was a huge club hit at the time, people went crazy and the track still works today.

“Music is awesome” is another track, I'm still proud of, technically and also the result.



It's an electro track with a computer voice, this voice I programmed for days with my monomachine, which have a voicesynthesizer. You can put individual letters together to form words, but it sounds really weird and takes ages for something useful to come out ... and suddenly the voice says: you are you, music is awesome.

Accidently, but that was then also the album title for my 3rd album on Boysnoize Records, which was released on a beautiful picture disc and on CD. That album also contains the track "Sommer," which is one of my favorites.



When it comes to arranging, sound design, performing, composing, etc – what are currently concrete topics and aspects that interest you and where you want to improve or simply challenge yourself?

I used to arrange in the computer too, but i've been training myself in live recording for 15 years. Only very rarely do I still use a computer. That means I compose and design the sounds in my machines, the midi master is often the Elektron Analog Four or the Digitone. Then, when a track seems complete, including mixer settings, I record it live on one track in Ableton live (+stems in case of remixes).

You have to train yourself not to make the song too long, because I don't want to cut or edit it later. I find that often takes the soul out of it. To record live, you also have to be in the right mood. Sometimes the studio is on for a few days to find the right recording moment, sometimes in the early morning or after some beers at my bar. Sometimes I also record 2 or more versions, but actually it usually remains the first version.

If voices play a role in the song, like for example my album song “Loves a killer”, where Joy Tyson sings with her great voice, then it's getting edited in the computer. Here my friend and colleague T.Raumschmiere helped me with the mixing. He can simply do it better.



To challenge myself, I love to make project albums only with one machine, like I've released before the op-1 album on BNR and Game over, the gameboy album on my own label AYCB.



Another one is in the pipeline and ready to be release soon, only made with the K.O.33 sampler pocketoperator. Tis is definitely more experimental, but great lo-fi hiphop and house. Stay tuned.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

I've already mentioned my most important devices and synthesizers in previous questions. My studio is constantly changing, new machines are always being added and others are leaving.

I love trying out new equipment while others get boring, just stand around or take up space. I miss some machines and buy them again. I already had the elektron analog 4 three times haha, first the mk1, then keyboard version and now the mk2. The good thing is, you can restore the old backup and then you have the same A4 as before!


The "old" Housemeister studio. Photo (c) Housemeister

Last winter I also had a bad moment in my studio, the studio was stressing me out, it always came out the same. Destruction is a creative act, so I took everything apart, sold more than 2 thirds of all the gear, including the studio shelves and the Midas Venice f32 giant mixer. I wanted to downsize, I wanted to become mobile ... while I was dismantling everything, I felt pretty crazy ... I thought: Oh my God, you're destroying the sound of “housemeister” aaaaaahhh. That was pretty radical!


The "new" Housemeister studio. Photo (c) Housemeister

Then I only kept micro and mini gear except the electrons and built a whole new studio together. By now, I could use a bigger mixer again haha! Hello teenage engineering, could you build a TX-24 or 32. I'll take one.

But it worked, on my new album there are 4 tracks from the new studio and the rest from the old one. I can now recombine everything every time, or quickly use my portable turntable on the table and play directly into the sampler. I feel freer. I'm very happy, it was a good decision.

Jean-Michel Jarre maintained that, despite the advances in virtual technology, we are still "analogue animals made out of blood and bones who need buttons and knobs to touch.” In how far is this statement true or false for your own music?  

I agree absolutely! I just dont care anymore, if it's analog or not, the main thing is that it is a machine created by smart developers with great ideas.

Teenage Engineering from Sweden are like that, they develop amazing machines like op-1, op-z or the k.o. samplers. Super innovative!

What are examples of production tools/instruments that you bought for a specific purpose?

At the moment I´m into samplers. I just got my chompy sampler which seems an amazing sampler with completely new ways of using samples. I can't wait to play around with it.

Then I ordered the Solar f42, an ambient machine from Elta Music. That again a big machine which I'll receive end of the year. Maybe one day I'll make an ambient album.
 
Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

That's absolutely right.


Housemeister Interview Image by Gesine Born

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the production process for your current  album release, please.

I actually had a completely different album in the pipeline. But then I had a good moment a few months ago and checked my recordings of the last 2 years and sorted them and gave them names. and I thought: Wow every track is really good, but it doesn't fit together at all ... I was already thinking about releasing a single track every 2 weeks, which Spotify would have loved ... But I'm an album fan.

Well, I took the tracks with me and drove around in the car and listened to the list on shuffle ... and suddenly everything fit together. I just wrote it down and sorted the tracks like this. I threw out 3 more and added the outro track “Coming home”. Then everything made sense. My 9th album Calling Earth was ready for release.

“Loves a Killer" featuring Joy Tyson is actually 3 years old. It was finished and mastered without vocals and that day I wanted to send it to the distributor to release. I realised, it needs a voice. So I stopped it and sent the track to Joy, whom I'd met at the Superbooth synth fair in Berlin. Two days later she sent me the vocals. I was wowed! Check it out.

What does your own way of working with sound look like? Do you find using presets lazy?

When I got a new machine I mostly delete all preset patterns, but not all sounds. They're sometimes good to start to create a new sound which I store as mine.

I prefer to go deeper and create my own sounds.
 
What were some of your most positive collaboration experiences? How did this "human element" enhance your solo approach? Did you record via filesharing or in the same room and if so, what did the recording process look like?  

My friend T.Raumschmiere and I have just founded a new project T.Raumhouse and released the song "Samstag Nacht" a few months ago on the Iptamenos Discos label. It is currently in daily rotation on some German radio stations. It sounds like it's from the 80s and I "sing" with a vocoder voice.

When we make music together, we usually go to his studio and I bring a few machines and synthesizers of mine, everything gets connected, midified and then we just start. We drink a few beers, everyone jams on their machines until suddenly the song is there. Then it's developed further, Marco records the sessions on his computer, sorts and arranges. Mic set up, vocoder activated and sung in. We have already met several times to finally finalize it.

It's a fun process and that's how it should be.



To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regard?

I hope for AI auto mixing lol. And I'm afraid that many artist end up without a job.

And for sure the matrix is coming. No idea, it's great and weird.

Have you used AI or generative music tools for your own productions? If so, in which way and what did they add?

Musically not really yet, but I'm open minded and looking forward to it. Let's see what's coming. But I've made some musicvideos for my album with ai and that's awesome. I've also started to animate my album artwork, which I did myself ... And I was super impressed. After a while, I had to to inspire the AI more, so I built around 50 different covers to feed her! And she was serving! Then, I cut the the videos together in Ableton.

And there is more ... in  the beginning of 2025, a new movie will premiere in German cinemas with some music by me. It's called Traumnovelle after the book by Arthur Schnitzler in 1925. The same named track on my album was made for that movie and in the film is a 3 minute AI scene.



So I made a deal, that the OPSIN video guys make also a video for my track. Check all on my youtube, if you want.