About Dirk Serries

Since his first releases in the early 80s, uncompromising belgian artist Dirk Serries has garnered respect from and invitations to collaborate with recognised musicians like Steven Wilson, steve von till, justin broadrick, cult of luna and alan sparhawk of low. He has been commissioned to write works for dutch national television broadcaster vpro, the antwerp zoo as well as architectural festival biënnale rotterdam and worked on stage with the holland symfonia orchestra. His discography encompasses stylistically diverse releases on labels like relapse, projekt, conspiracy records as well as his current creative partner tonefloat, an outfit with years of experience in vinyl editions for acts like porcupine tree, robert fripp, theo travis and anja garbarek. Over the past thirty years, he has toured extensively through europe and the usa, and performed at some of experimental music's major venues and concert spaces. After bringing his projects vidnaObmana (1984-2005) and fear falls burning (2005-2012) to a satisfying conclusion, Serries no longer considers it necessary to hide behind alter egos. Confident enough to operate under his own name, he is continuing his ongoing search for uncharted territory while keeping in mind the essence which made him want to work with sound in the first place. Fascinated by the power of purity, he has built a reputation for building a personal galaxy of harmony and dissonance through dense kaleidoscopes of slowly unfolding motives. His upcoming second microphonics-album is a further refinement of this approach. Eschewing stereotypical genre exercises, Serries refuses to be labeled as a guitarist, wielding his instrument in a way which never denies its original tonal colours while bringing out the unique intimacy of his music. Released in 2008, Serries's debut studio album under his own name was all about analog warmth and natural acoustics. for his second full-length and in a bid of creating the perfect sonic space, he has now taken on the challenge of engaging in a dialogue with digital processing. Lyrically titled microphonics xxi - xxv - mounting among the the wings, there's a light in vein. The burden of hope across thousands of rivers, the work is slated for release in early 2013 on renowned dutch label tonefloat as a cd and double 10" vinyl in conjunction with martina verhoeven's art photography book 'cities in grey' collecting her striking city photography used for the microphonics music. The sobriety of his studio work is mirrored by Serries's philosophy to performing live, based on the concept that music should be heard, not seen. Focussed like a monk immersed in prayer, he is performing his music almost in complete darkness, making use of both electric amplification, digital processing and the natural resonance of the room and taking the particular characteristics of each venue into consideration. This way, not a single gig sounds the same as the night before. Staying true to his principles, Serries is fulfilling an apodictic statement once made by aristoteles: the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Discography : Dirk Serries - Microphonics I-V (cd+lp, tonefloat 2007/2010) Dirk Serries - Microphonics VI (one-sided lp, tonefloat 2009 Dirk Serries - Microphonics VII (one-sided lp, tonefloat 2009) Dirk Serries - Microphonics XII (tour 10", tonefloat 2010) Dirk Serries - Microphonics XIV (two-sided lp, tonefloat 2010) Dirk Serries - Microphonics XIX (one-sided lp, tonefloat 2011) Steve Roach & Dirk Serries - Low Volume Music (cd, Projekt 2012) Dirk Serries - Microphonics XX (one-sided lp, tonefloat 2012) Dirk Serries - Microphonics XXI-XXV: Mounting Among The Waves, There's A Light In Vein. The Burden Of Hope Across Thousands Of Rivers ‎ (cd+lp, tonefloat 2013)