Interviews: continued

When we can expect your new album? What music will be there? What will be similarities and differences between it and your previous albums?

A new album may be expected around the summer of 2002.

A few songs are already finished but due to a few filmcomposing jobs I will not be able to finish it this year. Also, knowing myself, some finished songs can get trashed after a while. I want to be able to maintain my standards in quality.

The style will be of course very electronic but as I hate to copy myself, the new album will definitely be different compared to "Colours"-1998 album ,"Geographic"-1999, and "Docking"-2000.

You, being a sound engineer and composer experienced in working with various ethnic ensembles, you know well the folklore music from all over the world. Which music do you prefer and why? Which music instruments and equipment you prefer to use in your work?

I mostly prefer instrumental music that has some kind of beauty (e.g.beautiful sounding instruments).

The instuments I use for my music are mostly analog synthesizers and different samplers. I prefer the Yamaha CS-series of analogs and old Roland analogs. on the sampler side I'm convinced EMU is the best! My favourite reverb is the Lexicon 480L and I mix all my music on an AMEK mixing desk.

I recently added an ACCESS VIRUS B virtual analog synth to my collection and must admit that it almost sounds as good as the real stuff.

Now tell us please about your work at ACE Studio, one of the biggest recording studios in Belgium. When you started working there? How you became its owner? What kind of music you release, and what are your plans related to ACE Studio (www.acerecordingstudio.com)?

My career started at the age of 18 by forming the Belgian New Wave band "1000 ohm" back in 1980. The band consisted out of 2 keyboardplayers, one bassplayer and a drummer, a not often seen combination back in those years. We made music best compareble to "Ultravox" and "Depeche Mode".

In 1981 we had a big international hit and so we had recorddeals and I started to spend an awfull lot of time in different Belgian studios to produce records. It's in that period that I realised that a recordingstudio was "the place" I felt at home. After a while I was also doing engineering work for other bands and when "1000 Ohm" split up in 1987, I just continued working as a soundengineer, mostly at ACE studio.

I became chief-engineer and was asked in 1989 to take over the studio's managment. In 1993 I was able to buy the studio and further expand it to what it is now. These where very hard times because I had to payback my bankloans and so I didn't have time to work on solo-projects.

Now things are easier but I will always make shure that ACE studio will stay an up-to-date high tech studio.

The well-known Dutch studio Groove Unlimited releases your solo works. How your cooperation with this studio started? Are you going to release your new project there, or are you going to cooperate with another studio? Are you linked with the musicians Kees Aerts and Ron Boots working with Groove Unlimited (I've heard they are also the owners of the studio, is that true?) with any cooperation or maybe with personal relations?

"Groove Unlimited" is not a recordingstudio but mainly a recordlabel specialized in electronic music and new age. I signed my solowork to them because I believe they're one of the best European EM/new age labels.

Another reason for signing with "Groove" is that I like their managers Ron Boots and Kees Aerts. They're both EM musicians themselves so this makes understanding each other a lot easier! There's also a chance Ron Boots and I will record together in the near future.

Which musicians can be mentioned as your friends?

I have a lot of musical friends but Ron Boots and Walter Christian Rothe are probably best known in the EM/New age world.

I know from my communication that new age music is more popular in America than in Europe. And European performers are known there much less than the American ones. Are you going to make efforts to promote your music in USA?

We do what we can to get known in the US and I must say that we're progressing !

What are your interests and hobbies? Do you like traveling? Have you got a family?

I have a wife and 9 year old son with whom I live happily.

As for my hobbies : I like working in my garden on a Sunday or having a drink with friends.

I also like traveling but don't have much time to do so. Maybe when I'm
64. :-)

What is your spiritual search? Do you practice any spiritual techniques?

I'm not practicing any religion, although I was raised in a catholic way. As for spiritual techniques; I try to enjoy nature as often as I can and set my mind free listening to beautiful music.

How would you define new age music?

Image-evoking and beautiful!

And at least, about Internet representation of your work. You have a well-formed, informative site (www.frankvanbogaert.com). How the idea arose of creating your own web site? Who implemented it? How and in which direction you are going to develop your site?

The idea basicly came from Kees Aerts of "Groove Unlimited", who is also implementing and maintaining it.

I think it is a necessity in this internetworld for an artist to have a website. My site is pure informative but fans can contact me there or get to know more about my music.

What would you like to wish to our readers and your fans here in Belarus and in Russia?

What can I wish ?

What more is there to wish than that everybody may live in a peaceful world.
:-)