Karen Vogt Interview: “I always try and just trust my ears and find the feeling in it all”

Since the inception of this website, experimental pop marvel, Karen Vogt, is yet another delightful discovery.

Perhaps better known as part of the cascading dream-pop collective Heligoland, since the turn of the century, the Australian Paris-based artist has seemingly been in a constant flow of creation, involved in swathe of collaborations as well as releasing music under her own name.

Whilst, more often than, collaboration provides contrasting results, in Vogt’s case, her soothing melodies remain the focal point on everything she is involved in.  

Look no further than the forthcoming remix album, All the Time in the World, which includes reworks from Vogt’s collaboration alongside Spanish ambient artist Pepo Galán as GALÁN / VOGT, The Sweet Wait. Arguably the finest release in Vogt canon, with two of remixes from the album already out there in the wilderness, All the Time in the World is a release that many will be waiting for with bated breath.

Meanwhile, 2023 has seen Vogt continue to make great strides across the experimental landscapes. There is no better example of this than her Waxing Crescent Records debut, Le Mans.

Positively immediate, wildly unique and hyper inventive, Le Mans sees Vogt amalgamate field recordings captured from the 24 hour Le Mans race with soaring melodies that take us down yet another dream-state corridor within her gorgeous sound world. 

With some good news on the Le Mans release front (more on that below), we had the opportunity to ask Vogt some questions about her creative processes, her influences, and what the future holds.

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S13: How long have you been in Paris now and how did it come about by you moving there from Australia?

Karen Vogt: “I have been living in Paris since 2007. I first came here with my band Heligoland to play shows and travel around Europe. I extended my stay because I was so fascinated by how culturally different it was to Australia. Australia is so physically isolated from the rest of the world. Europe literally fits inside it, geographically speaking. It was a defining moment in my life to stay here, and since then my perspective has shifted massively on many things. Living here has helped me recognise how important creativity was in my life, so that I am now at a point where I finally feel comfortable to call myself an artist and be true to that each day.”

S13: When did you start making music, and who and what would you consider to be your main influences?

KV: “I started making music when I was nineteen years old. It was after my older brother had died. He had played electric guitar as a hobby. After his death, holding that guitar became a way for me to comfort myself and still feel connected to him. It helped me to grieve, and I felt soothed by the sounds it made as I plucked the strings. I eventually taught myself to play, started humming, then singing and would move on to other guitars. So I taught myself to write songs through essentially using guitar to soothe myself in that very difficult moment of grief.

“Of course, I have music that I have enjoyed over the years, but I don’t feel that it influences the kind of music that I make. I don’t aspire to sound like anything except myself, or a sum total of whoever I am making music with. I think the very raw, unintentional way that I learned how to play has made sure that my main influences is always my emotions and how I feel, or what is coming through me at the time.”

S13: You’ve just released some remixes from the 2021 album you made alongside Pepo Galan, The Sweet Wait. What are your main inspirations for you re-visting your work via remixes?

KV: “Pepo Galán and I have been working on this remix album All The time in the World for a long time. Ever since we made the album we wanted to have remixes done for it. Pepo had his work remixed before, but I hadn’t. I wasn’t quite prepared for what a task it would be to try and get many different artists that we love to remix the tracks. But the main inspiration was a genuine curiosity for what each artist would do. I had come from a band where we just didn’t get anything remixed. So this was a chance for me to have a different experience.

“The first remix that came back was Markus Geuntner’s remix. I will never forget how it felt to hear his remix for the first time. It was such a special moment to hear your work and your vocals remixed by someone who you respect and admire. Pepo and I wanted the remixers to be free and to do as they please. We had total trust in themand just let them go for it and have no restrictions. I really can’t wait for everyone to hear the rest of the remixes when they are all released in November.”

S13: I think Le Mans is one of the most forward-thinking records I’ve heard for quite some time. It sounds like one of those creative processes that was brought upon by sharp impulse. Was this the case?

KV: It was 100 per cent impulse. I spontaneously recorded the sound of the race cars as I attended the Le Mans 24 hour for the first time. The sound was so insane and monstrous that I just wanted to remember it and feel that buzz. I initially caught only a micro second of a recording, I played it back over and over and the way it looped just really excited me because I instantly heard a bunch of musical possibilities. I knew at that moment I wanted to do something with it musically when I got back home. So it felt like a very raw, direct kind of experimental album in that way.”

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S13: What was the main thing you wanted to achieve with the album?

KV: “Experimentation. I wanted to experiment. I could already hear music in the raw of the car engines and the shifting up and down through the gear changes. It felt very clear to me that I could do something if I just recorded some snippets and took them back home with me to work on. I knew it had to made through improvisation so that I didn’t have time to analyse or overthink the idea. I just had to set up a few pedals to process my vocals, set up some loops, mess around with the EQ’s, press record and let my creativity do it’s thing.

“I wanted the singing to be just one take, improvised and no dubbing or re-doing parts. It had to be in the moment for me to capture something raw and stay true to how the idea came through so quickly. Plus, I should mention that it’s just fun to follow your natural curiosity.”

KV: It came out on the equally inventive Waxing Crescent label. How did that collaboration come about?

KV: “Phil at Waxing Crescent records had very kindly invited me to release something on his label. I have lots of respect for any label that has the courage to invite an artist and give them carte blanche. I liked much of the music coming out on his label, so I agreed precisely because I wanted to stretch myself in the experimental electronic genre that his label operates in. But I didn’t have a clear idea of what kind of record I wanted to make until after I came back from Le Mans with those samples and ideas in my mind. Looking back, it feels like everything happened and unfolded at exactly the right time.

“I checked in with Phil after I had done the initial improvisation sessions and had the songs in longer formats to just be sure it sounded okay to him. I wanted to be sure that he was happy with what I was making. That is really important to me. Also, if you read a bit further, I have some exciting news coming up about this release that I will mention.”

S13: I feel that there’s a pretty big emphasis on technology with your music. Are you always looking for new equipment to incorporate into your music? 

KV: “If it sounds like I am using lots of technology to achieve the sound, then it is probably because of the way I layer, loop and stitch things together. It’s quite a hodge podge, but I always try and just trust my ears and find the feeling in it all.

“But, the truth is that I don’t have that luxury to even consider new equipment. I can barely keep my head above water with daily living costs as it is now. I use an old, slow second-hand PC, Cubase is my DAW with a few plug-ins. If I ever had any money, then I would dearly love to upgrade and get a laptop. I only have a few pedals, and most of them are second hand, or borrowed. I have a studio microphone, a soundcard, a couple of guitars and a pre-amp. That’s it. That’s my set-up and my gear. But, it’s more than enough for me to make all the music I have made thus far. The only brand new pedal I have is a microcosm pedal that I won on Instagram. Bizarre, but true. I could never have afforded it otherwise.”

S13: Your output is so constant. Are you working on music every day, and what is your creative process?

KV: “Yes, every day there is something to do creatively, but also just all the behind the scenes stuff to do with releasing music and working with others. I find it really hard to stop and not think about music and creative ideas. When you manage yourself there is lots of communication, planning and you have to be really organised. But of course you also want to give yourself enough space and time to freely work on the creative ideas coming through. It’s often a bit of a juggling act to do this while making sure that I do the things I commit to first. I am often multi-tasking.

“Today I was listening back to a track I recorded last weekend for a project, and I suddenly realised it contained seeds of a new possible project entirely. So, I separated all the ‘new seed’ parts out and put them to one side to come back to later. Of course I wanted to continue with that idea, but I have to trust that I will pick it up when I can come back to it. In the meantime, I had to crack on with the other track so that I could meet a deadline.”

S13: Does your sense of identity influence your creativity and the music you produce?

KV: “I don’t especially have a burning desire to want to write about who I am. I prefer the transient emotional states and exploring more universal themes. I spend more time pondering how I feel, and how a feeling pases through me, than I do in asking who I am. In this way, I do feel like there is a fluidity and strong emotional qualities to the music I produce, but that it is (hopefully) accessible.”

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S13: And what about your surroundings? Being from a place like Australia, sometimes that can influence play a bigger influence by not being there. Do you think this is true in your case?

KV: “I spent the first 30 years of my life in Australia, and so it is where all my memories were made. I sometimes find myself making comparisons, but now it’s just to acknowledge that there are so many different ways to do things, and they vary within each culture. It gives you an interesting perspective on creativity and opens you up to more possibilities than before. This is what makes life so fascinating is that we all do things differently. But, I do like to dive into my memories and quite often, many of those memories are rooted in Australia. An album I released earlier this year called Losing the Sea is a good example of this because I am literally expressing a sense of loss at being so far away from the sea after constantly living near it in Australia.”

S13: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

KV: “I have lots to keep me busy until the end of the year with a bunch of projects at various stages, but experience has taught me to keep quiet about them until they are actually finished!

“However, I can say that I am currently working on an EP release for a UK label run by some good friends. It’s a special themed series, and so I’m enjoying exploring what that particular theme means to me.

“I have some guest vocals to write and record for a couple of other artists, a collaborative project, a remix (my first one) and a sound design project.

“Also, my band Heligoland has an album that has been in the works for a while and that is slowly being worked on too.” 

“Release wise, I can give you the first scoop here and announce that there will be a really special vinyl version of my Le Mans album released on Waxing Crescent Records on Friday October 6, precisely at 7pm on Bandcamp.

“I have a solo album coming out on new UK experimental label Nite Hive before the end of the year. I was really touched when Penelope Trappes invited me to make something for her newly birthed label, and I’m ecstatic about being the second release on this label run by women and gender nonconforming artists. It will be a digital and cassette release.

“Another release due out before the end of the year is the remix album for my duo GALÁN / VOGT.  All the Time In The World has taken a long time to put together, and it’s going to be a very nice moment for me when this is released!

“So, lots of things coming up, and more than enough to keep me busy!”

Le Mans is out on vinyl via Waxing Crescent Records on October 6. Pre-order from Bandcamp.

For more information on current/future releases, visit Karen’s Bandcamp page.