Olivier Schreuder

Composer, performer, DJ, label CEO Olivier Schreuder composes & produces electronic and acoustic music. His work ranges from experimental electroacoustic compositions and improvisations, orchestral works, and generative modular synthesizer ecosystems to turntablism and dub-infused electronic music. As a performer he often uses a mix of turntables, digital and analog (modular) synthesis techniques and signal processing. Furthermore he performs with custom made electroacoustic instruments, to explore new textures and expressive possibilities. He is especially interested in how traditional cultures and new technologies meet, and often works together with musicians from these cultures to make new music together. Under his alias Lucid Voyages he composes electroacoustic ecosystems with his modular synthesizer, field recordings and DSP. In these ecosystems he explores the fluidity of sound: the extent to which a sound can morph between different physical characteristics. In his organized chaotic systems he improvises with generative elements, feedback and interaction between acoustic and electronic sounds. Travelling in Southeast Asia and studying the musics, cultures and languages of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos & Cambodia has a strong influence on his work. Olivier Schreuder studied Music technology at the HKU (University of the Arts Utrecht) in the Netherlands where he graduated with a MA with honors in 2013. His graduation project was nominated for the HKU Award 2013 as most innovative and enterprising sound design project, and got selected for the Hot 100 as one of the most talented graduates of 2013 in e-culture. During his time at the HKU he studied composition with Rob Zuidam, Jorrit Tamminga, Marcel Wierckx, David Dramm, Ned McGowan and Katerina Pejoska. He studied traditional Vietnamese music & Đàn Bầu with Lê Uyển in Saigon, folkmusic from Northeast Thailand & the kaen with Pongsapon Upani in Khon Kaen, and the traditional music of the animistic Tampuen tribe with Ven Cherk of the Yeak Lom Arts Group in Ratanakiri, Cambodia. In the Netherlands he is a regular guest-player in the gamelan ensembles Wiludyeng & Manyar Sewu. As a lecturer he has been teaching composition at the HKU, and Southeast Asian music at Codarts (Rotterdam University of the Arts) & the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. His compositions have been performed on the Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Utrecht, NL), ICMC, TodaysArt Festival (The Hague, NL), the Đương Đại Contemporary Music Festival (Saigon, Vietnam), Lasalle University of the Arts & School of the Arts in Singapore, the Isan Creative Festival in Khon Kaen and the Jai Thep Festival in Chiang Mai (Thailand) amongst others. Together with Yme de Jong he started the game audio company SoundBoySound in 2016, specializing in music & sound design for games and interactive art. As DJ Phaze he has played in many clubs and festivals in and around the Netherlands. His mixtape-series Present Revival of Futuristic Classics featured local rap heroes like Def P & Oscar X. With MC Oscar X and producer Werner Urban he made an EP called Hollands Licht and performed live around the Netherlands with a classic DJ-MC live show. Starting out as a turntablist and organizer with firm roots in hip hop culture, he also organized many events in and around the Netherlands like the legendary Hiphopcafe 4 Elementz in Amsterdam, and a tribute to John Coltrane for the Kindred Spirits record label. As a composer, sound designer and performer he is part of several (live) music projects. Currently these include The Magic Number, a live film soundtrack project with composer Robin Koek & DJ Jeroen van Aalst, Kow Mai with Thai classical musician Angkanang Pimwankum, and a gamelan and electronics project with Dutch musician Michiel Niemantsverdriet. In 2015 his studies in Thailand lead to the recording of new compositions for highly talented molam local traditional folk musicians. Under the name of Apichat Pakwan they start a live act in which they blend Lao folk music, dub, electronics & hiphop, and tour in Southeast Asia & Europe, with highlights playing shows at the Amsterdam Roots Festival, Fusion Festival (Germany), World Experience Festival (Romania), Na Fir Bolg Festival (Belgium), Thailand Grand Festival in The Hague (NL), Isan Creative Festival in Khon Kaen, the Jim Thompson's Molam Bus Stage at the Jai Thep Festival in Chiang Mai (Thailand). Love for vinyl, infectious grooves from around the world and turntablism-culture lay the foundation for his own record label Animist Records he started in 2016. The first release is a 10" vinyl record of Apichat Pakwan called Angkanang. In 2017 and 2018 three more records of Apichat Pakwan are released, and a breakthrough in Thailand comes with more successful shows and a much viewed feature on Thai national television. Apichat Pakwan's debut album Esantronics is released in October 2019 to critical international acclaim.