Ale Hop and the life of Insects
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On 21 January 2021, experimental instrumentalist Ale Hop released a new album, The Life of Insects.
● Read more: Interview with Russian Mezzo Yana Mann
Immersed in the sound construction of an insect nursery for a film, Ale Hop decided to explore through experimental electronics and guitar, her experience of living for a month with insects in her home studio in Berlin. The result is an 8-track recording, where Ale continues a musical exploration of Synths, guitar techniques and vocals.
The album is released by Lima based, independent record label, Buh Records
IGM decided to talk to Ale about her new album The life of Insects.
Tracklist:
Side A
1. La procesión
2. The Life of Insects
3. Pollinators
Side B
1. The Way to the Ocean
2. Someday We’ll Dance Again
3. The Pearl Diver
4. Jungle Depredation
Q&A with Ale Hop
1. Hi Ale. How do you do? Thanks for sharing your thouhts about your music with the IGM community. Tell us a bit about yourself. We know you were born in Lima and are now living in Berlin…
I am an experimental instrumentalist and researcher. I started my career 15 years ago in the experimental and underground scene of Lima, Peru, where I participated in many pop, experimental and electronic projects. I also collaborated with filmmakers for various projects. I’ve been living in Berlin since 2015. That same year I started a master's degree in Sound Studies at the Berlin University of the Arts. I usually compose electroacoustic music, mixing noise, field recordings and strange electric guitar techniques.
2. When did your interest in music begin and at what point did you decide to dedicate yourself to it?
I got interested in music so early in my childhood that I actually couldn’t point out a particular moment where it all began. In fact, I can’t remember if I ever took some definitive decision about becoming a musician. My mother gave piano lessons at home when I was born, and I took some of those lessons before I even started walking. Then, during my pre-teen years and my time in college, I tried instead to pursue a career in something that might be more conventional, such as art history. But eventually my music career took all of my time and I abandoned any other professional interests. After arriving in Berlin, I eventually learned to accept that calling, and I realized that I would dedicate myself to music all my life.
3. Peru is known for its music, folklore and culture. How has your relationship with its music been, and how has it influenced your work?
Well, *she laughs*, I don't know if that's exactly what Peru is really known for, but my relationship with music has to do with the environment I grew up in, which was very musical. At home, we used to listen to a lot of local music, vals criollo, rock, and also classical music. In fact, I only got to know Andean music and more traditional folk music in general by traveling around Peru, and in greater depth at college, when I studied musicology. Yeah, all those travels I've done around Peru have definitely influenced my work, and in that sense, I can't separate my experience with music from the vision of the landscapes I saw at the time. I think that's the moment when everything became a single entity in my imagination.
Ale Hop
Self Portrait
4. Our current society is gradually subverting traditional and patriarchichal conceptions about music and is beginning to give space to women composers. How has it been your experience, coming from a Latin American "macho" culture, besides exploring genres such as electronica, noise, experimental music?
Well, the electronic and experimental scene in Lima is certainly a boys club. However, I've always felt accepted and welcome there. This openness is not the case in more mainstream or lucrative music scenes, because there are other expectations at play and more consumption and competition. On the other hand, it's strange, but it was only a few years ago I realized that my early musical formation lacks female references. Most of the composers that I have wanted to imitate, in my early days, have been men, without realizing it, because it is not something that I have given any thought at the age of fifteen and by the end of the 90s. I think that had some impact on my approach to the electric guitar. I followed learned conventions and gestures for several years, until I managed to shake them off and found my own way of playing. I think that these types of stereotypes come from a lad-culture that reproduces dull and empty gestures, over and over again.
5. Let’s talk about your new album. How did you get the idea of exploring the "intimate life" of insects?
It started when I bought some insects at an insect dealer in Berlin. They sell insects as food for iguanas. I bought them because I was working on the sound design of a film and the sound of an insect nursery. The name of the album is more of a concept or narrative kernel rather than a description of the method of composition. I used very few field recordings. In the end, the album is much more narrative, in the sense that it takes you through different spaces and situations. The name of the album also works to influence the listener and create certain expectations or fantasies.
6. How was the creative process of The Life Of Insects?
My creative processes are extremely immersive. I just completely submerge myself in the process of recording-editing-listening for days and weeks. The few lyrics on the album were also written at the time of recording.
7. How did you achieve the recording and sound construction?
For me, the technical process is not separate from the composition or the creative process. In fact, I would say that the technical process of editing, recording and mixing is the most creative and thoughtful part of my latest albums. Sometimes I write the notes without really composing, I just let them come out, but I do have the frequency range and the tone quality I want to achieve very well thought out.
8. Do you work with computers? Do you write the music first? Dow do you manage to put the music together before taking it to the recording?
I record, mix and compose at the same time. Then I keep mixing and editing until I get what I want. Other times it's just trial and error, or luck, when editing something unexpected comes up and changes the path.
4fakultät Nr17 @ Resonanzraum Hamburg 19
© Udo Siegfriedt
9. What has been your experience as a musician in times of pandemic?
The big difference with my life before the pandemic is that we’ve taken the possibility of giving live concerts out of the equation, and that is no small thing. I think it's only after a year that I'm starting to feel how that has affected my own skills and even my understanding of what I do.
10. Finally, what’s Ale Hop working on right now? What should we expect soon?
I’m currently working on a collaborative project with twelve musicians from different parts of the world. I hope that in the next few months I will be able to bring this project to the public.