Supercontinuum

Supercontinuum came to be as I started building modular synth gear in 2012. I had become obsessed with making the most insane and torn-up sounds that I could, with homemade electronics, built with many random connections. Eventually I had to record these sounds, which started as ambient, noise, and soundscape experiments, and at times I put these sounds to beats.

In the post-Covid detritus of 2021 my husband (Christiaan van Bremen) and I started a party called Swimousine which we threw in our apartment. I did some hardware sets and eventually learned to DJ with vinyl and digital. In the last couple years I’ve focused on producing – I self-released some EPs and an album, DJ Rebekah released two of my tracks, and I have an upcoming EP coming out soon on a Brooklyn-based label. And now I will return to developing my live set. The cycle repeats!

I started recording music in middle school with a four-track tape machine, trying to record David Bowie cover songs in my parents’ basement. Since then I’ve played in rock and electronic bands. I never thought about the concept of “producing” until much more recently -- previously I was just “recording” whatever I created with hardware. However in a 2020 producers workshop with DJ Rebekah, I fell hard into the Ableton wormhole, using the software to go ham on the sound design.

I come in and out of being inspired by electronic music. Early on I was inspired by Xiu Xiu; I remember first hearing “I Broke Up” and thinking “this is the music that’s in my head all the time.” Another crucial discovery was queer West Coast synth punk – Nervous Gender’s “Cardinal Newman” – its bassline is like a bulldozer coming for all civilized society! Most recently, I saw Sirāt, and the atmosphere created in that movie with Kangding Ray’s sounds totally took me over.

When I was 13ish, I scrawled drawings of “bands” all over my school folders, usually cyborg-looking creatures with strange instruments, guitars that looked like motors or plumbing parts, and acoustic drum sets that had various levers hitting them. I never wanted to have normal instruments! One time I even installed a small TV into my guitar.

When I first started building electronics, my vision was to play shows using only gear that I had built. Eventually to “level up” and play techno and harder music in a club context, I needed to get more “firepower,” faster than I could build it. My studiomate Ashe Kilbourne then suggested I check out her TR8S, which is a highly intuitive drum machine that you can load your own sounds onto – so now I have two of these boxes and they are terribly fun.

I would like to inspire others to be original and do what they genuinely enjoy, as opposed to doing things that following trends, or what is is popular for 3 minutes. Social media obviously is a huge proponent of this.

Once after my noise rock band The Amazing Plaid had played a show upstate, a booker told me to “keep it surreal,” which I think he meant to keep playing music that is multilayered and does not follow a predefined path. Obviously I have no idea what he really meant, but I always remembered that.

If I could shift one thing about “the scene,” easily I would say to reduce social media, as it has helped move us towards monoculture.

I have tried (not very hard) to abide by various scene standards, to stay on whatever the look and brand is. It never sticks. My methods are surreal, rely on chance, and I find it impossible to adhere to a template – a supercontinuum laser has a wide bandwidth. My colors are slime and melted jelly beans. My homemade synth looks like candy. And I am not a candy raver either. My last record, “Super Gone World” – I thought I was making “scum rave,” and other times I thought I was making “sissy gabber.” These styles were sort of thought-feelings that had just occurred to me, and I had to unleash the energy. These instincts are often in opposition to what is considered good business sense, and I welcome that.

Most recently I have been going for things that sound like the forest, or the Earth, and I try to make the listener cry at the end. My formula is now: “2 for them and 1 for me,” and I aim to put out there sounds that a listener would find interesting, secondary to what I solely enjoy.

In one hour, it is a short trip, and I won’t know until the set happens exactly where it will go. I’ve been trying to be a bit more groovy with my percussion, and use more bass, so look for that. I really don’t like the word “groove” or “groovy” either, so that says something.

Just focusing on the last years since 2020 – at first I wanted to make the harshest gabber I was capable of. Then I felt slightly stuck as it seemed that I had nowhere to put this music – I couldn’t casually play it at some bar – but I continued on with schranz, hard techno, inspired by harsh sounds in Scalameriya’s “Juggernaut,” or the terrifying set from Rha on the Produkt/Moment of Terror podcast. Recently I’ve been experimenting with slower, acidy burners in the 130 - 140 bpm areas. I think they still offer a lot of bite and intrigue.

A friend asked me once a long time ago, “what do you really want to do?” Without thinking I said “run into the night on fire.” And that is still true. I think my style will evolve, but this type of sentiment and energy will continue.