https://guenterraler.com Guenter Råler Wed, 19 Jan 2022 19:19:00 +0000 https://guenterraler.com en https://guenterraler.com/Desktop Mon, 08 Nov 2021 13:01:58 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Desktop &nbsp;New music: ‘Zenith’ out now on benefit compilation for TransWave Jamaica&nbsp; <img width="800" height="800" width_o="800" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f386a18a95f0853abc977b7d7cc09ec0a2ef956a80b7b29229cfaeb5d39c2dc5/cd.png" data-mid="123885339" border="0" alt="Music" data-caption="Music" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/f386a18a95f0853abc977b7d7cc09ec0a2ef956a80b7b29229cfaeb5d39c2dc5/cd.png" /> <img width="120" height="120" width_o="120" height_o="120" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/113c8384b9dde76ee5338b9c8a15f3e0c4f09a3f87faddf6008b51f0cdd0d604/pinata_1fa85.png" data-mid="123995244" border="0" alt="Shows" data-caption="Shows" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/120/i/113c8384b9dde76ee5338b9c8a15f3e0c4f09a3f87faddf6008b51f0cdd0d604/pinata_1fa85.png" /> <img width="640" height="640" width_o="640" height_o="640" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc91fe0e6d5dc5e0bd018160d65b8cc2d7de03b01a84c73bf8cd83c044fa9b5f/Virus-Emoji.png" data-mid="124256944" border="0" alt="Sound Design" data-caption="Sound Design" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/640/i/cc91fe0e6d5dc5e0bd018160d65b8cc2d7de03b01a84c73bf8cd83c044fa9b5f/Virus-Emoji.png" /> <img width="1024" height="1024" width_o="1024" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc0d3888a150de71b07d94bbe58c3ea19b280880238c7d8eb5a0a6495b8fe6a7/pc.png" data-mid="123885341" border="0" alt="Audiosivual work" data-caption="Audiosivual work" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bc0d3888a150de71b07d94bbe58c3ea19b280880238c7d8eb5a0a6495b8fe6a7/pc.png" /> <img width="160" height="160" width_o="160" height_o="160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc6cc6bd03e70f0817dc24afebe4db9c491dd4d90ebe04369b89de171b6f89e0/linked-paperclips_1f587-fe0f.png" data-mid="128419754" border="0" alt="interviews &amp; talks" data-caption="interviews &amp; talks" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/160/i/dc6cc6bd03e70f0817dc24afebe4db9c491dd4d90ebe04369b89de171b6f89e0/linked-paperclips_1f587-fe0f.png" /> <img width="1024" height="1024" width_o="1024" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f1d4e2f7ab29647f9ed02e4ba06b6333065a6ed4f6da7680a48e32200fdf7ff/tools.png" data-mid="123885350" border="0" alt="161 studio Mixing &amp; Mastering" data-caption="161 studio Mixing &amp; Mastering" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9f1d4e2f7ab29647f9ed02e4ba06b6333065a6ed4f6da7680a48e32200fdf7ff/tools.png" /> <img width="160" height="160" width_o="160" height_o="160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29e3e04802ec489395a16a45ebc71443ceeb4f0822f25d624ea8e9f1bb59971a/money-mouth-face_1f911.png" data-mid="124622752" border="0" alt="Shop &amp; Merch" data-caption="Shop &amp; Merch" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/160/i/29e3e04802ec489395a16a45ebc71443ceeb4f0822f25d624ea8e9f1bb59971a/money-mouth-face_1f911.png" /> <img width="160" height="160" width_o="160" height_o="160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0317c7172a616e19719e5957837c1e651027f7ca1824fb2b85dd61788dd82b3f/satellite-antenna_1f4e1.png" data-mid="124623165" border="0" alt="Radio" data-caption="Radio" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/160/i/0317c7172a616e19719e5957837c1e651027f7ca1824fb2b85dd61788dd82b3f/satellite-antenna_1f4e1.png" /> <img width="160" height="160" width_o="160" height_o="160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc530f9108d5fe2acdc9cd69c0575b682962e27697d53ea19c94e6141f8fdbfc/headphone_1f3a7.png" data-mid="124623219" border="0" alt="Mixes" data-caption="Mixes" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/160/i/dc530f9108d5fe2acdc9cd69c0575b682962e27697d53ea19c94e6141f8fdbfc/headphone_1f3a7.png" /> <img width="448" height="446" width_o="448" height_o="446" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc2a6134c041e326dc78b122bc202b8f25658cdd6cd53e59472be1eff886d4d2/5RT9.gif" data-mid="178467228" border="0" alt="'AS LIGHT THROUGH WATER' EP" data-caption="'AS LIGHT THROUGH WATER' EP" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/448/i/cc2a6134c041e326dc78b122bc202b8f25658cdd6cd53e59472be1eff886d4d2/5RT9.gif" /> <img width="2375" height="247" width_o="2375" height_o="247" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cd51dbb55694d81ffd46c8a5b090e1fa30597c33c5789314d0075c2e566efae8/coollogo_com-9239324.png" data-mid="126391172" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cd51dbb55694d81ffd46c8a5b090e1fa30597c33c5789314d0075c2e566efae8/coollogo_com-9239324.png" /> <img width="2039" height="3063" width_o="2039" height_o="3063" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/688c3beccb8751e00a829f30a3cc991a057119da64a65200bbf4606c7727b0eb/IMG_3540-removebg.png" data-mid="128242885" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/688c3beccb8751e00a829f30a3cc991a057119da64a65200bbf4606c7727b0eb/IMG_3540-removebg.png" /> &nbsp; https://guenterraler.com/Noisey Tue, 28 Dec 2021 19:46:13 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Noisey Noisey Italy In April 2018 I was featured on Noisey Italy with photoshoot and an interview by Diego de Angelis, focused on the local underground scene in Bologna (Italy). Photos by Giuliana Capobianco. The interview is available in italian here and hereby translated in english. “Irene a few years ago was one of the two voices and guitar player of a synth-pop group called Le Ceneri e i Monomi. In those days Irene was just over 18 and hearing her new work under the name of Guenter Råler is amazing. There is an abysmal distance, especially in originality, between the old and the new world of Irene. We decide to portray her in the Giovanni Battista Martini Conservatory, the place where she recently graduated after a bachelor in electronic music and sound design. We shot pictures into one of the rooms dedicated to the electronic music studenrs and while we were talking a little boy a few meters from us was playing the organ in the main aisle, probably sacred music. “In&nbsp; second grade I had friends who made electronic music. I installed my first cracked software in those years. The relationship with music was born almost secretly from my parents, who would have seen it as a waste of time. I did very cheap-sounding stuff in the beginning, approaching the world of electronics with more easy listening music like Slow Magic or Tycho. I mainly am self-taught in music production, so I felt like I needed a place to learn to produce. During my Erasmus in Stockholm I put together all the stimuli I had received in the previous year and in my time in Sweden and found my own personal aesthetic. I needed to get away from the theoretical path too tied to old pioneers like Cage or Stockhausen; in Stockholm I developed a lot, finding a very fertile environment. I began to be interested in visual arts and interactive installations too; in&nbsp; north Europe there is a crazy scene, like Kablam or Toxe, more like disrupted EDM, with unstable rhythms. I really loved it.". <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/79cb373bdad76283868ff7951e9b4b774eb6af3862c1992b9e40f9ad2b1edf6a/30742552_10216460263725629_2163681193738895360_n.jpg" data-mid="128417414" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/79cb373bdad76283868ff7951e9b4b774eb6af3862c1992b9e40f9ad2b1edf6a/30742552_10216460263725629_2163681193738895360_n.jpg" /> Today Irene works as a sound designer as well, including video games, interactive installations and audiovisual pieces. When you visit the Soundcloud page, you realize that Guenter's aesthetics (and poetics) are obviously linked to the world of cyberspace. “Guenter Råler is a name I found in cracked plugin. I chose to use it because it was someone without a precise identity to me. It reconnects to the theory of cyberfeminism, using a name or a platform where you are not obliged to share a certain representation of yourself ". Irene runs a website site where she collects posters and aesthetics on the cyberspace, the realm of the liberation of bodies from the old patriarchal world. "I started from the Fluxus movement to get to Marina Abramovich's manifesto ‘Art Vital’, then the xenofeminism manifesto and many other". Listening to Guenter Råler's compositions is a bit like ending up in a digital graveyard or, perhaps, in paradise or its limbo. It is the reason why I decided to include it in this chart. The concepts that inspire her and the music she composes, in this part of Europe, and in Bologna and its surroundings, is quite unique for a girl of her age. Irene's music reminds me of the concept of hauntology originating in Derrida but reinterpreted by Mark Fisher. One of the ways to define the word hauntology is to imagine it as a ghost of things, being, in an ontological crisis, something that is neither alive nor dead. Guenter Råler's music made me think that it is made of this hauntological non-matter, dysfunctional melodies on an empathic level, which do not come from the world outside the computer but that they have a soul. Ghosts. “The concept of energy in Akira really interests me, of an uncontrollable force; as well as the aesthetics of the film, in its epic-dystopic landscapes, the lights of Neo-Tokyo ... there is an ecstasy, but it’s decadent. " Listening to Guenter's music, from her singles as well as in the entire side dedicated to her in St. Nicolai, it is possible to travel - miraculously without having to take drugs - towards the abyss of history. <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/552c1d5203a28860eb2de302d990e124c1c807fe48ec5a326b64042fc28b972f/30712981_10216460244085138_1059501683836452864_n.jpg" data-mid="128416810" border="0" data-scale="56" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/552c1d5203a28860eb2de302d990e124c1c807fe48ec5a326b64042fc28b972f/30712981_10216460244085138_1059501683836452864_n.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ddf426341f928c9653d830181633888d5e6d91d055c0152fc6ab2ace7e127c7d/30724101_10216460244485148_604682041807601664_n.jpg" data-mid="128416809" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ddf426341f928c9653d830181633888d5e6d91d055c0152fc6ab2ace7e127c7d/30724101_10216460244485148_604682041807601664_n.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/36e04d0480143815684674539555dc9011ac29c9f6b057dfaae40340a7a8321c/30715932_10216460243285118_3164537749143289856_n.jpg" data-mid="128416818" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/36e04d0480143815684674539555dc9011ac29c9f6b057dfaae40340a7a8321c/30715932_10216460243285118_3164537749143289856_n.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc907341faf62aaadf4417484ba0185ce08ac360c63790c83d61643ff541606d/30742552_10216460263725629_2163681193738895360_n.jpg" data-mid="128416807" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dc907341faf62aaadf4417484ba0185ce08ac360c63790c83d61643ff541606d/30742552_10216460263725629_2163681193738895360_n.jpg" /> https://guenterraler.com/Barely-Dry-Ink Tue, 28 Dec 2021 20:35:01 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Barely-Dry-Ink Barely Dry Ink In September 2021 I was featured on Barely Dry Ink, a webzine part of &nbsp;Gaudeamus festival in Utrecht. I talked about my upcoming piece ‘Shadow Index’, an audiovisual work composed specifically for the Pentacle surround system.Interview available in english and dutch. Written by Rebecca Kreyenberg. In the many concerts during the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, a lot of works are performed of which the ink is only barely dry. We talked with several composers about the composition that we commissioned them to write. Irene Cassarini a.k.a Guenter Råler will perform her new work for the Pentacle at Gaudeamus this year during the Saturday Night in TivoliVredenburg. In 2020 she already made a piece for Gaudeamus as part of the Archive Dive project. It was a tough year for artists, but also a successful year for her. She graduated with a master’s degree in Music &amp; Technology at the HKU and was one of the five winners of the HKU Prijs. A good starting point for her career as a composer, producer, DJ, visual artist, sound designer and curator. ‘Guenter Råler – where does this name come from?’ For her bachelor’s degree she went from 2016-2017 to Stockholm. Laughing, she said that she then illegally downloaded a software program where the fake license was named Guenter Råler. The idea of having a second identity seemed like a nice way as an artist name. “I think using my real name would be too attached to myself and how people know me. That’s how the idea came to embrace a new identity and take distance from me.’ Before coming to the Netherlands she did a Bachelor’s degree in electronic music in Italy, where she comes from. It’s a study that mainly focuses on electroacoustic music, about the kind of groundbreaking sound between the ‘50s and ‘90s. “So it was quite experimental, but that certainly shaped my interest in experimental sounds.” Ultimately, she didn’t just want to become a producer for pop, techno – or commercial music, which brought her to the Netherlands to study at the HKU. As a result, her interest in visual art grew and she began to combine digital media with her music productions. ‘I learned a code language to create my own visuals from there. It was fun at first, but it quickly became a bit limited, mainly black and white geometries.” She wasn’t really looking for that and so she started collecting images from the internet and archives. “I really like this very raw aesthetic that you find online.” This is reflected in her live performances, such as in Shadow Index. A performance with live visuals, which almost resemble a kind of game world. When I asked her if she’s a gamer type, she laughed and replied, “No. I was mainly inspired by social media and internet trends. Which made me want to bring this aesthetic back without using direct references specifically. This naturally creates a world of its own.” <img width="1966" height="1311" width_o="1966" height_o="1311" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ef05b39cc77365a290e7f3067491d6dc4170361552d4e9c014dbd4c13ead6a05/241797179_6319915084715702_6988798366249272467_n.jpeg" data-mid="128423082" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ef05b39cc77365a290e7f3067491d6dc4170361552d4e9c014dbd4c13ead6a05/241797179_6319915084715702_6988798366249272467_n.jpeg" /> <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d53318d3f3185057b1194c3d47a1a3e78e4b4fd0d631d85685662f560f42c8f8/241759248_6319915304715680_5734344787536822993_n.jpeg" data-mid="128423108" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d53318d3f3185057b1194c3d47a1a3e78e4b4fd0d631d85685662f560f42c8f8/241759248_6319915304715680_5734344787536822993_n.jpeg" /> <img width="1703" height="1136" width_o="1703" height_o="1136" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/55d5dc118e53176305d41b9420a68a74e79fcb2d26cc109deb546c89ff04b8ad/241843749_6319915354715675_3064382789697796733_n.jpeg" data-mid="128423097" border="0" data-scale="80" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/55d5dc118e53176305d41b9420a68a74e79fcb2d26cc109deb546c89ff04b8ad/241843749_6319915354715675_3064382789697796733_n.jpeg" /> In her work she addresses social and political issues, such as internet culture and queerness. This motivation came from the need to not only make dance music. She wanted to delve deeper into social and political activism. “How can I still fight for what I believe in while making music? Music is a very abstract art, but I was able to find my own language in it to express this’. She undertook this research in her master thesis ‘Music as an agent of societal change: self-expression, introspection and activism in avant-garde electronic music’. It can also be heard in her 2020 released EP ‘Data/Death’. A pretty extreme title in my opinion, so I asked her what it meant. During the onset of the pandemic, she focused on her relationship with her phone. She thought it was a strange idea that all these big companies that she knows nothing about own her data. The question of what would happen if she decides to step out of social media and what happens to her data was a big part of the making. “I thought about the idea that my online persona is dead on the internet, but lives on outside of it.” It is ultimately a piece about the relationship between the existence of online and offline. A theme that also concerns me because I come from the generation that grew up with social media. Today I find it very difficult to find a healthy balance between the online and offline world, whereupon I asked her if she is looking for an answer in her music and for her audience. “Social media is of course a very useful invention, but we sometimes forget that the algorithm can be polarizing, leading to discrimination against queer people, people of color and black people, for example. I don’t really give an answer, but with my music I want to reflect on what our position is in relation to the internet and social media’. Irene constantly challenges herself as an artist and human being, which can also be heard in her latest Dekmantel release ‘Scores III’. In this work she brings together natural sounds with mechanical sounds for the first time. “I focused on the sound of our ecosystem while making it. Of course also focused on the consequences of climate change. I tried to give that problem a sound, but from a very peaceful and dreamy aesthetic.” In the Netherlands she has the feeling that she gets a lot of support for her ideas, which led to the founding of the queer collective ‘Queer in wonderland’ in 2019. A collective that (actually) organizes events in clubs for and with the LGBTQIA+ community. She understood that she had a voice that she wanted to use for a greater purpose. “It sounds very cliché, but I just like the idea of using my platform to do something good for people.” ‘Art is a form of extremism’, a sentence that I noticed while listening to her music. After I spoke to her, I understood better what she meant by this. You will probably see this sentence in her performance on September 11, 2021 in TivoliVredenburg. An audiovisual performance with the Pentacle Surround Sound System where all her ideas about internet culture and queer theory come together and lead to a world of experimental club music and post-digital aesthetics. https://guenterraler.com/L-indiependente Tue, 28 Dec 2021 20:35:33 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/L-indiependente L'indiependente In September 2018 I was featured on L’indiependente with an interview by Paolo Bergamaschi, prior the première of my audiovisual performance ‘Qeering the Digital Space’ in Bologna (Italy).“Queering The Digital Space” premiered at roBOt Festival on October 26th, and the interviews gives insight about my backgroung, experiences and what inspired this audiovisual show about digital spaces and queerness. The interviews is available in italian here&nbsp;and hereby translated in english. For the eleventh edition of roBOt Festival, on Saturday 26th October in the main hall of Ex-GAM the Bologna-native artist Guenter Råler, pseudonym of Irene Cassarini, will present her new work ‘Queering the Digital Space’. Irene has been active for several years as a DJ, producer and visual artist with performances at international festivals. She has now her base in the Netherlands where she runs a radio show for Stranded FM in Utrecht, called SoundExtremism, and last year she published Mobile Energy for the label Bene Tleilax. We had a pleasant chat with her to talk about her latest project, Italian clubbing and the issues related to gender discrimination to which Irene is very sensitive. Hi Irene, tell us how did you approach the world of electronic music and what was your path? I started with electronic music when I enrolled at the Conservatory in Bologna after high school, where I studied Electronic Music and Sound Design. After that I spent a year in Stockholm at the Royal College of Music exploring some areas of interest including multi-channel spatialization and diffusion, algorithmic and audiovisual composition, and getting in contact with artists from the Scandinavian experimental scene. Now I am in Holland for a two-year master’s degree in Music Technology and Music Design, at the University of the Arts in Utrecht, focusing on music production, digital art and doing research on queer culture related to artistic practices. What do you think of the current Italian clubbing scene, which unfortunately, we all know, is languishing between the closure of historic clubs and the lack of experimental spaces? I believe that in Italy a scene at a local level is missing, there are big festivals and events of great importance at an international level which, however, fall a few times a year, and which also give space mainly to the big names of electronic music. I’m thinking of course of Club2Club and Robot Festival itself, that is returning to the international levels of the previous years after a fallback. Unfortunately, there is not, or very little, continuous and scattered programming troughout the peninsula that could give the opportunity to young and emerging experimental artists to perform. Probably this does not happen because of the lack of audience and of a clubbing culture which in other European countries is very much alive, consequently there are not a lot of money and energy invested in this sector and the space open to experimentation is ever smaller. On the other hand, I think that the&nbsp; electronic experimental music scene it is a solid reality that has born years ago and keeps expanding, especially from DIY small realities, even if it often remains in the hands of big festivals. Continuing on the Italian situation, you are also very active about&nbsp; LGBTQ issues and sensitive to the topic of feminism. Since you studied and worked in Italy and abroad, what are the differences in the approach to these issues? When I studied in Italy I did not always feel at ease as a woman and queer person, there are many preconceptions and widespread misinformation that spoils human relationships. Especially when I was the only woman in my class I did not find a very inclusive environment, many topics were taboo or could not be treated in a thorough and clear manner. I was also a sound technician, and if maybe playing on stage the situation is easier, when you’re behind the scenes for a woman it’s not easy. In general, in Italy there is a lot of closure with respect to these issues, we don’t talk about certain topics or we do it with the ignorance of those who flag them up as slogans. We often forget that behind the labels or the acronyms there are people with their problems and their history, but there are places that show a certain openness and activism, also in relation to art practices, such as Macao in Milan. Abroad it’s different: in addition to a greater openness to dialogue and knowledge of these problems, I noticed a kind of neutrality towards women or queer people, in the sense that your gender or your sexual orientation are not categories that are considered when you work. You are a person first. Let’s move on to Queering the Digital Space, the project that you will present at the evening of 26th at Robot Festival. What is it about, what should we expect? The project stems from a research on gender identity and art, I wanted to give my critical vision also from the more political side of my work: in fact it is an exploration of today’s digital culture, of how the digital world takes into account the fluidity of the human being, how gender stereotypes are represented and a series of other clichés about the individual and our identity that are reinforced in online environments. I tried to create an audiovisual work that was provocative, but without the desire to give an answer. It is the result of a personal urgency to bring up this discourse linked to woman-hood, feminism, queerness, and I am especially happy to be able to do it in Italy. In short, it is a disintegration in a visual and digital format of norms that we stick to and spread daily (for example on social media), for the most part in a passive manner and without thinking about it. So it will be a work of art that does not hide and does not disregard the ideological and political level, do you think it can be read as a provocation, a breaking action? A provocation maybe yes, my intent is that as well. I’m not sure it’s a real break. It is a reflection on how I see a very mainstream binary culture strictly tied to gender roles. The fact that I can’t find any solution in the end an integral is part of my work, I could define it as oxymoronic: I push the audience as much as I can to reflect, using images from trends, such as memes or viral videos of Donald Trump, and by deconstructing them I try to offer another perspective. I think it is necessary to acknowledge how much the internet can make us superficial, nullifying our depth of thought: it is a trivial example, but how many times do we read a super serious article of politics, finance or news in one internet tab, and in next one we can watch a make up tutorial from the Kardashians. The fact that everything is on the same level makes us unable to give weight to online content. You worked on the question of splitting between a true ego and a digital ego, between the concrete experience of the “real” life and the immaterial one on the web. Tell us your thoughts. From my point of view, the idea that there is a separation between the true self and the online is utopian: I believe that digital culture is now so integrated into our lives that the two aspects have become indistinguishable. The internet to me is an extension of our concrete life, even if they are considered on two different levels, real and online are two realities that exist simultaneously and depend on each other. Precisely for this reason it is interesting to analyze how we express ourselves on the internet and explore in which ways we can fight against norms or express our fluidity in an immaterial dimension that still strongly influences our life. In my opinion, social media is seen as a personal and intimate space when in reality it is not: we open up as if it was were because we have a freedom of expression that perhaps we cannot find in the real world. The Internet at the beginning was actually the realization of that “liquid society”, offering an immaterial and potentially infinite space, without borders and with maximum freedom of expression. Now we are witnessing more and more the phenomenon of an internet normalization, which between algorithms and platforms in the hands of a handful of people, is putting a brake on that freedom that has been the revelation of the web. Do you think this could be a threat to the free expression of oneself and one’s own ideas? It is certainly a delicate subject. The great opportunity offered by the internet was to be able to publish content anonymously for example, the fact that it could let us expose completely with potentially great freedom to address any kind of issue within an online community. I believe that this process is still possible, even if it is inevitable to clash with the capitalist reality of the Internet. If an artist wants to show his works or sell his music, he must turn to those same websites everyone use, because after all it gives you visibility and exposure. Despite this, I believe there are still many possibilities to resist, or to create places of inclusion without being ‘sold off’. I try to do this with my online space called “Art Extremism” and I wrote a sort of manifesto about this. To close off, would you like to tell us your way of approaching the production of your music and your performances? For this audiovisual work I am also presenting new music, produced recently. I tend to create everything on my computer with different softwares, which lead my music to have a certain cold, digital side to it, but I always blend it with an emotional component expressed through melodies and chord progressions. Generally I aim to create deep sounds and atmospheres that clash with hard and insistent beats. So, on the one hand the digital “coldness”, on the other the warmth of emotional expression, which is the ultimate human heritage in the digital age. My idea is to create a contrast that can trigger feelings, emotions or a personal reflection in very digitally-sounding production. https://guenterraler.com/Balcony-TV Tue, 28 Dec 2021 20:35:59 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Balcony-TV Balcony TV In May 2018 I was invited to play live on an historical terrace in Bologna (Italy) by Balcony TV, and was interviewed by Ilaria Ciampolini about my background and music. Balcony TV is an international platform for underground artists.The interview is available only in italian. https://guenterraler.com/Queer-Safe-Spaces Wed, 19 Jan 2022 17:26:03 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Queer-Safe-Spaces Queer (Safe) Spaces In occasion of the digital festival Rainbows End, which took place in April 2021, I was invited participate in a panel about queer safe spaces and its necessity and role within society and nightlife. In the panel I talked with spatial designer Colin Keays about how our works reflect on the experience of queer spaces. The panel is moderated by Vincent Wijlhuizen, director of the&nbsp;What You See Festival.Colin Keays (he/him) is a spatial designer based in Rotterdam. With a background in architecture, his practice takes a critical approach to understanding the built environment while deconstructing the social, cultural and political forces that shape it. Through this lens, the outcomes of his research manifest as full scale immersive installations, and more recently through the production of digital environments. Rainbows End was organized by Creative Coding Utrecht (CCU) and Her Vision. This multi-sensory art manifestation is exploring the boundaries of reality, intimacy and play, with a diverse range of activities. Thanks to talk shows, screenings, performances, workshops, and an online art exhibition, you will be immersed in new realities. “As the closure of LGBTQ+ venues accelerates due to lockdowns, digitalisation and gentrification, it’s time to reflect on the radical legacy of the gay bar and what’s next for queer space. But what challenges does this future of digital gatherings hold for the queer community? When communities depend on social media technologies, they become exposed to an uncontrolled and diseased side of digital networks and intimacy. What does it mean to be queer and women in the era of digital interactions?” https://guenterraler.com/Art-as-research Wed, 19 Jan 2022 17:26:08 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Art-as-research Art as Research In Febryary 2020 I was invited by Uncloud and Creative Coding Utrecht to participate in a panel about artistic reserach and how that informs creative expression. How are fields like electronic music, artistic research, video art and choreography united Uncloud Festival 2020? During this afternoon program curated by Creative Coding Utrecht and Uncloud participating artists give insights into their research and making processes and reflect on the notion of space in their work. The program consists of talks and short performances byGuenter Råler, Roel Weerdenburg and Zeno van den Broek.The talk was held previous to my performance of “Queering the Digital Space” at Uncloud 2020 in EKKO, Utrecht.3voor12 Utrecht wrote about the performance “Local producer Guenter Råler performs the audiovisual show Queering the Digital Space, a dark musical quest that at times has the appearance of an electronic version of the Twin Peaks soundtrack.” <img width="1200" height="694" src="https://irenecassarinimusic.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/82241694_1079795132368515_3765057490899697664_o.jpg?w=1200" style="width: 710.628px; height: 410.98px;" data-scale="60"> https://guenterraler.com/Girls-to-the-Front-ADE Wed, 19 Jan 2022 17:26:13 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Girls-to-the-Front-ADE Girls to the Front ADE 2019 In October 18 2019 I joined Journalist Holly Dicker at the panel “Girls to the Front”, held at Amsterdam Dance Event. Me and other panelists discussed hardcore’s rising “new school” and some of the barriers preventing more women, LGBTQ+ and other minority groups from entering the scene. What can hardcore’s old school learn from the new? And how can we encourage more girls to the front? Holly Dicker’s panel “Girls to the front”, discussing issues about hardcore’s rising ‘new school’ and how to brake barriers preventing more women, LGBTQIA+ and other minority groups from entering the scene.I will join the conversation with exceptional djs/producers Know V.A., Nick Moody and Miss Hysteria. <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/64ae6db6f4ddaae9a4feaad5a9621c2c0d46bc352b29e8ae30f13c1d9c105c42/WhatsApp-Image-2019-10-18-at-14.04.40.jpeg" data-mid="130769576" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/64ae6db6f4ddaae9a4feaad5a9621c2c0d46bc352b29e8ae30f13c1d9c105c42/WhatsApp-Image-2019-10-18-at-14.04.40.jpeg" /> <img width="1600" height="1066" width_o="1600" height_o="1066" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e166f4be5d0ef7e1010c858c6150a6e21826b5190888f03049dbc90c9f2f13c/ADE-panel-01.jpg" data-mid="130769547" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9e166f4be5d0ef7e1010c858c6150a6e21826b5190888f03049dbc90c9f2f13c/ADE-panel-01.jpg" /> https://guenterraler.com/Sexual-Range Wed, 19 Jan 2022 17:26:21 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Sexual-Range Sexual Range In April 2018 I was invited by the italian collective PHASE to play in Prato (IT) and join the third edition of the TALK + NIGHT SHOW events where they hosted Guenter Råler, Serena Butler, Katatonic Silentio and other activists of the local LGBTQA+ community. The topic was “SEXUAL RANGE, gender-queer-trans and other sexual expressions”, exploring our identities, activism and ways to be free from gender roles and labels. <img width="1920" height="1007" width_o="1920" height_o="1007" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1a8c7985e8ed0527eeb34bd87cc704be0243f99fab92313c9febb4ca201ac782/29871579_282474478955316_66658886654682004_o.jpeg" data-mid="130771128" border="0" data-scale="55" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1a8c7985e8ed0527eeb34bd87cc704be0243f99fab92313c9febb4ca201ac782/29871579_282474478955316_66658886654682004_o.jpeg" /> <img width="1606" height="1204" width_o="1606" height_o="1204" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/db187f4118305fb89f29cec1fac35aef56e1449a001ec656eace801ce72a9188/lottozero2.jpeg" data-mid="130770993" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/db187f4118305fb89f29cec1fac35aef56e1449a001ec656eace801ce72a9188/lottozero2.jpeg" /> <img width="1762" height="1203" width_o="1762" height_o="1203" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c728f1e299fb090158c3811e09cfb46e150bf0b3e490bf01bad76a6b512677a0/lottozero3.jpeg" data-mid="130770989" border="0" data-scale="51" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c728f1e299fb090158c3811e09cfb46e150bf0b3e490bf01bad76a6b512677a0/lottozero3.jpeg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a939c28316bafbf82c2c1fe18a96de04d0c2f662be18a75756a635a222a0fdc2/lottozero.jpeg" data-mid="130770996" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a939c28316bafbf82c2c1fe18a96de04d0c2f662be18a75756a635a222a0fdc2/lottozero.jpeg" /> <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0b804670aa717eab4227b90665fc9e6e5c03420b03aaf811bb80b2e68fce07b2/lottozero1.jpeg" data-mid="130770995" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0b804670aa717eab4227b90665fc9e6e5c03420b03aaf811bb80b2e68fce07b2/lottozero1.jpeg" /> https://guenterraler.com/Sexless-and-Inhuman Wed, 19 Jan 2022 19:19:00 +0000 Guenter Råler https://guenterraler.com/Sexless-and-Inhuman Sexless and Inhuman On May 2018 I joined the panel&nbsp; “Sexless and Inhuman” at Je t'aime festival in Pauda.&nbsp;The open Talk was followed by the projection of the documentary “Out Of This World” about the South African queer sceen directed by singer and activist Mykki Blanco. The talk focused on inclusion strategies, safe spaces and queer emancipation policies in today’s dance scene. Guests in panel were Serena Butler and Guenter Råler, artists from the record label Bene Tleilax, the Collective Kosmos, a local community for LGBTQIA+ people, and&nbsp;The Antéros LGBTI association in Padua. The talk wants to freely investigate the artistic and human evolution of international queer and non-binary components in dance music (and post-club), with particular regard to the (non) Italian scene and for inclusion policies in European clubs and festivals of electronic music, the creation of safe spaces for minorities and disabled people, the artistic urgency that these themes can ignite in the * young * creativity of every possible genetic mark. The youtube video of the conference is available in italian with automatically generated english subtitles here. <img width="1944" height="1296" width_o="1944" height_o="1296" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aecec576ebf132ccc531eb97bf4f616f0ab75f80449d0487694f86883bc7175d/33845205_10156349409064941_3164769488398712832_o.jpeg" data-mid="130772111" border="0" data-scale="56" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aecec576ebf132ccc531eb97bf4f616f0ab75f80449d0487694f86883bc7175d/33845205_10156349409064941_3164769488398712832_o.jpeg" /> <img width="1944" height="1296" width_o="1944" height_o="1296" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8cc7d67fa18d452d7911f22e8115f076becc9e55ff2aae9de4247ca58122b81a/33990808_10156349408459941_7801440538472742912_o.jpeg" data-mid="130772112" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8cc7d67fa18d452d7911f22e8115f076becc9e55ff2aae9de4247ca58122b81a/33990808_10156349408459941_7801440538472742912_o.jpeg" />