PRESENT
YODOK III
Tomas Järmyr : drums / Kristoffer Lo : amplified tuba, flugabone / Dirk Serries : electric guitar
When putting three fine exponents of modern, forward-thinking ,and experimental music in the same room, the hope is that something a little special is going to be the result. Yodok III are exactly that, all three recognizable by their contribution and yet forced to go beyond that by the other two. Yodok III is primarily a study in avant-garde, but elements of genres as diverse as jazz, (post)rock and even classical can be heard playing their part in this mind-bending tapestry.
Their debut LP (vinyl-only) was released to worldwide critical acclaim on A New Wave Of Jazz. Follow-up and epic double vinyl ‘THE SKY FLASHES, THE GREAT SEA YEARNS’ was released on January 16th, 2015. This release is a tour-de-force, over the course of just 3 days in the Sunny Side Inc. studio in Brussels (Belgium) Yodok III performed and recorded a set of 4 improvised pieces of sheer beauty, power, and harmony, bridging genres like post-rock, avantgarde, free-jazz and shoegaze into one harmonious glow of pure bliss.
Yodok III is a live band, proof are their amazing passages at ROADBURN and DUNK! Festival 2016 and their well-received live albums on Consouling Sounds.
Discography :
s/t (LP, Tonefloat’s A New Wave Of Jazz 2014)
The Sky Flashes, The Great Sea Yearns (2xLP, Tonefloat’s A New Wave Of Jazz 2015)
Live At Dokkhuset (TAPE, Tonefloat’s A New Wave Of Jazz 2015)
Live At De Singer (TAPE, Tonefloat’s A New Wave Of Jazz 2015)
Legion Of Radiance – Live at Dokkhuset (CD, Consouling Sounds 2016)
s/t/The Sky Flashes, The Great Sea Yearns (3xCD,Tonefloat 2016)
The Mountain Of Void – Live at Roadburn (LP/CD, Tonefloat 2016)
This Earth We Walk Upon (CD, Consouling Sounds 2019)
A Dreamer Ascends (LP+CD, Consouling Sounds 2020)
https://yodokiii.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/yodoklll
KODIAN TRIO
Andrew Lisle : drums / Dirk Serries : electric guitar / Colin Webster : alto sax
Improvising power unit Kodian Trio rose from the ashes of a scorching concert at London’s Café Oto in 2015. Three albums and multiple live appearances later, the trio are swiftly becoming major contenders on the fertile and outward-looking European scene. The uniquely voiced trio is formed of saxophonist Colin Webster using aggressive techniques and unusual approaches to his horn, electric guitarist Dirk Serries throwing spiky lines in forceful and unorthodox dialog, and in-demand UK drummer Andrew Lisle providing underpinning and punctuation. This is free music that actually lives up to its ambitions and frequently uses its maximum potential for individual and collective freedom, while at the same time maintaining a coherence that only becomes apparent with repeated and/or intense listening. It requires an effort, but the rewards are an insight into a unique musical language.
Discography :
I (LP, Tonefloat’s A New Wave Of Jazz 2016 / CD, A New Wave Of Jazz 2017)
Live At Paradox (CDr, Raw Tonk Records 2016)
Volt/Pletterij (TAPE, Raw Tonk Records 2017)
II (LP, Trost Records 2017)
III (CD, Trost Records 2019)
Live In Leeds (CDr, Raw Tonk Records 2020)
Live At Brakfest (CD, OEM Records 2021)
https://kodiantrio.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kodiantrio
THE VOID OF EXPANSION
Tomas Järmyr : drums / Dirk Serries : electric guitar, effects
While there are obvious similarities to Serries’ recordings and live performances with the acclaimed YODOK III (both Serries and Järmyr with Norwegian tuba player Kristoffer Lo), the interplay with Swedish drummer Tomas Järmyr is something different altogether. In spirit it is closer to the impro tradition, but coming from a slightly different angle, making it hard to categorize, but easy to be be fascinated by. The guitar player’s mature and hypnotizing style is forced towards a less idiomatic area by the immensely diverse playing of the drummer, who despite an obvious knack for tonal control also excels in free form energy. A wildly eclectic, yet organic combination with endless posibilities. After their well-received first album on New Wave Of Jazz imprint, THE VOID OF EXPANSION re-booted themselves with GOVERNED BY DECAY and a stunning concert at DUNK! Festival, which steered the duo towards a dialogue between Tomas Järmyr’s ever-expanding drum pallet and a more restrained and harmonic approach of guitar minimalist Dirk Serries spiraling down into a blend of shoegaze, ambient, postrock and avantgarde.
Discography :
Ashes And Blues (LP, Tonefloat’s A New Wave Of Jazz 2014 / CD, Substrata 2018)
Governed By Decay (LP+CD, Dunk! Records 2019)
https://www.facebook.com/thevoidofexpansion
SCATTERWOUND
Hellmut Neidhardt : electric guitar, effects / Dirk Serries : electric guitar, effects
Like a rising droning sound, something that starts inaudibly but builds and builds and builds until it’s all you can hear, Scatterwound were, well, scattered for a while, waiting for the universe to be ready for its pieces to finally fall into place. Known experimentalist Dirk Serries and Hellmut Neidhardt, aka N, had this collaboration idea floating around in the ether for, rumour has it, almost a decade.
And that it only came properly to fruition once they heard a forgotten recording done at a soundcheck while searching for something else. Somehow, it makes perfect sense that it should be like this – more than music, even ambient, abstract music as it is, Scatterwound is an idea, an ephemeral meeting of travelling minds, blinking in and out of existence, consuming you briefly and then drifting away into another dimension before coming back again.
Discography :
0.0 (TAPE, Midira Records 2017 / LP, Denovali 2018)
M.N. (CD, Midira Records 2018)
CB (TAPE, Midira Records 2021)
https://www.midirarecords.com/
LOUD AS GIANTS
Justin K Broadrick / Dirk Serries
13 years after their Fear Falls Burning & Final collaboration, these two kindred spirits return with an album that symbolizes their mutual fascination for the eighties culture in which they grew up and all the relevant and groundbreaking genres Justin and Dirk were influenced by.
Justin K Broadrick and Dirk Serries have been musically in sync since the early eighties when they both were active in the underground cassette network, individually producing experimental, industrial and noise music.
Both with the highest appreciation for each other’s work for almost two decades, they finally met during a joined tour where Dirk, as Fear Falls Burning, supported JESU during the CONQUEROR tour.
Finding out that they both a huge admiration for each other immense discography and versatile musical activities, working together was only a matter of time. Remixes (for Vidna Obmana), reconstructions (for Continuum), collaborations (with Dirk Serries’ Microphonics and Fear Falls Burning) and helping each other out at concerts became a constant until finally they unleashed LOUD AS GIANTS.
Discography :
Empty Homes (LP&CD, Consouling Sounds 2023)
TONUS
TONUS as an ensemble grew out of Dirk Serries’ jazzcase residency in 2017 for which he brought together a sextet to work around a slow piano motif by Martina Verhoeven. The literal translation of Tonus is muscle strength, but in this context defines a musical system that places equal importance on the space between notes. Both definitions apply here as the music is an exercise in discipline and anticipation while controlling the clarity, sustain and effect of each single note played. The birth of the TONUS happened when Serries realised that he needed a vehicle to explore and perform these exercises, as well as a general classification for his ongoing study in minimalism and free improvisation. TONUS is a constantly rotating group, assembled to the needs of the graphic sore. Members have been : Jan Daelman, Patrick De Groote, Graham Dunning, Kristoffer Lo, Cath Roberts, Benedict Taylor, Martina Verhoeven, Nils Vermeulen, Tom Ward, Colin Webster, Otto Willberg.
Discography :
Intermediate Obscurities I+IV (CD, A New Wave Of Jazz 2018)
Texture Point (CD, A New Wave Of Jazz 2018)
Cagean Morphology (CD, A New Wave Of Jazz 2018)
Ear Duration (CD, A New Wave Of Jazz 2019)
Segment Tones (CD, A New Wave Of Jazz 2019)
Intermediate Obscurities III (CD, Spontaneous Music Live Series 2020)
Monograph 50 (TAPE, Fort Fruit Evil 2020)
Modulation Grid II (TAPE, Midira Records 2021)
IMPETUS GROUP
Conceptually part of the A New Wave Of Jazz modus operandi, to unite musicians and kindred spirits to create on the spot, curator Dirk Serries has a dream.. Heavily inspired by the late 70s/early 80s British free improvising ‘big bands’, Derek Bailey’s Company group, Iskra 1903 and John Stevens’ Spontaneous Music Ensemble, he has formed the IMPETUS GROUP – a large ensemble based upon the free improvisation principle. Members have been : Martin Clarke, Maya Felixbrodt, Peter Jacquemyn, Charlotte Keeffe, Andrew Lisle, Hannah Marshall, Cath Roberts, Benedict Taylor, Daniel Thompson, Tom Ward, Alan Wilkinson, Colin Webster, Otto Willberg.
MARTINA VERHOEVEN QUINTET
Gonçalo Almeida : double bass / Onno Govaert : drums / Dirk Serries : guitar / Martina Verhoeven : piano / Colin Webster : alto sax
Discography :
Driven – Live At Roadburn 2022 (CD, Klanggalerie 2022)
DIRK SERRIES 