Interview with Wave Walkers

How did you meet, what made you decide to start Wave Walkers? I found out you both also compose music solo…
Germain: Some two years ago I met Jurgen. We started talking, found out we had a mutual interest, and soon after that I send him some 45 minutes of music I was working on. Jurgen then started to add his own style and music, then changing, remodeling, and producing some of these pieces into what has become “Kronos21”.

The amount of music became bigger and bigger, and it became obvious it was quite heavily influenced by Tangerine Dream 80’s style without copying it. Eventually, we decided to release it on cd as we knew there are quite some electronic music aficionados out there who absolutely love this style. On my own, I’ve recorded a lot of music and released some of it on the digital download album “Resonanzboden” in September 2020 under the moniker QTonik. More is on the shelf due for release.

Could you maybe elaborate a bit more on how (the music of) “Kronos21” came about, I understood that you have worked on it for a long time? How are the reactions & sales of the album?
Germain: Originally, the inspiration came from a documentary I had seen called “Chronos” (a 1985 abstract film directed by Ron Fricke; BS) which showed the passage of time in various ways. For those who have seen “Koyaanisqatsi”, this was quite similar. This was the guiding principle to make a kind of soundtrack that was my interpretation of this theme. So the original version was around 42 minutes of music divided into a number of sequences and themes. This version was then sent to Jurgen and from there the idea grew of reworking smaller pieces, but that is largely Jurgen’s work.

Jurgen: Well, it took some time to make the album as I was mainly busy mixing the songs for the third Frozen Rain album. The little spare time that was left was for the “Kronos21” project. Germain: The reactions to the final version are very positive. The intention that has gradually grown to make this a real TD-inspired work has succeeded very well I think. Someone told me that when he listened to it, he doubted that it was not the real ‘TD’ that he heard. The trick was to fit the elements that made TD of this period (‘80’s) so specific into this work. And that intention is more than successful from the comments.

Was the choice for two long tracks a conscious one? Also, judging by the result, it seems like a lot more work than shorter pieces…
Germain: Actually, it happened by accident. In the beginning, we started out from four themes that were eventually combined into two long pieces.

Jurgen: Well, the mini themes followed each other in smooth succession and the story did not seem to want to stop immediately. One emotion triggers the next and this is actually a nod to the atmosphere of those nostalgic TD albums “Logos” and “Tangram”, each time two long sets with a lot going on. Such long tracks take the listener completely into a long rollercoaster of emotions.

At what point did you decide to involve German guitarist Jens Ambrosch in “Kronos21 part 2”? How did this cooperation work out?
Jurgen: Jens did all the guitar parts for the third Frozen Rain album and since I wanted to end “Kronos21 Part 2” with a guitar-synth duel. Jens was the logical choice.

Is Wave Walkers exclusively a studio project, or is there a possibility that you will also perform live?
Germain: Initially, this was a studio project. To bring this work live as a whole is almost impossible.
What I would consider is to use several ideas and themes to put together something that could be performed live in this style. But unfortunately, there is not enough time to work this out.

Does the title of your debut album have a special meaning?
Germain: Well, Kronos was the working title, named after the original “Kronos 21”

Can you tell us a bit more about your two studios and the instruments at your disposal? Are there any specific wishes in this respect?
Jurgen: For “Kronos21” I used synths from Moog, Oberheim, ARP, Dave Smith, Waldorf, Roland, Korg and Clavia. The only soft synth used is the u-he Repro-5, a very convincing recreation of the Prophet-5. The digital mix consoles are from Yamaha and everything was recorded in Cubase. Further production, mixing, and mastering were also done in Cubase.

Germain: Here are some photos of the current set-up of my studio, ‘Attic 52’.
The core of my system remains the Cirklon. This and the synchronization of almost all devices provide great flexibility. The NDLR, Keystep, and Keystep Pro are also important in the sequences. What follows is for the gear porn fanatics…