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dec 1997
DOGMA - diary
(taken from: plur magazine nov 97)
Land of UtopiaJuly 21, 7 PM
CKS International Airport in Tao-yuan. 35 degree C.. After 20 hours long exhausting flight from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, Dogma ( Goran Stetic, 23 yrs old, and Damir Ludvig, 26 yrs old) landed Taiwan. It's an sub-tropical island located 121E. 25N. they only seen in the map.
With blue jeans and 2 disc and few DATs in a compact suitcase, they were invited to Taipei for their debut album recording by David Cheng, the owner of Blue Moon Music Production after communicating through internet for couple of months. Being simple-minded, maybe a little bit tired from flying, they are still full of expectations and excitement in their heart.
As soon as they walked out from the airport lobby, they were overwhelmed by the heat wave of humid air blowing on their faces. What they heard was a complete strange language, they couldn't understand a thing. .......Finally they found the limo driver waiting in parking lot, and that ended a potential disaster. While the car running smoothly on highway, the scenery pass by in front of their eyes, and they knew this is the beginning of their one-month long stay.
7.22. 2PM Technology Station
Technology Station. The subway station next to Blue Moon was the first landmark they recognized in Taipei. These two guys were waking up in the dizziness of time-difference. Look at the Tatami they were sleeping on, they were confused for a while and wondered " Don't people here have beds? I've seen their movies and there are beds in them!" Of course, they came to their senses in few minutes, that they are in Taipei, and they are here for the love of their life ---music. They got up right away and left their memory of home behind in the dreams. And they started the non-stop recording session in studio from day 1.
Besides doing the re-mastering of 2 tracks they produced at 100 K Studios at Zagreb, [Sutra Sarma and Epos], they are going to finish up 7 more new tracks .
Arriving the Bluemoon Studio, their face are lit up with excitement when they see the equipment waiting inside for them. For their works, the equipment they use mainly are Roland JV2080,JP8000, Korg Prophecy, Yamaha CS X-1 and Akai S-3000. As for drums, the TR909 and Novation Drum Station will be the basic drum sound. Besides, there are more analog and digital instruments as part of the structure. The engineer from Moontribe, Larry, helps Dogma with compressing the drum sound on some tracks, to make the punch more powerful. The other artist, Jimi, as the co-producer of some tracks in this album, is in charge of the selection of sounds. Jimi use connected Studio 400 to work on these sounds. They use Darwin, the 8 tracks hard-disc recorder for the most recording work. Also, ADAT will be helping on the side. These two machines are hooked up with the computer they use for composing, this way, they can record some sounds on hard-disc, and the rest they use hard-disc via computer via synthesizers for the whole midi work. The very first job is to distinguish each single sound. Goran said, Dogma made each sound by themselves from point zero in stead of using the ready-to-use preset sounds from synthesizers. They would either re-create or re-define the sounds step by step. So those whole group of sounds made on JV2080 became the essential flash and blood in most of Dogma's tracks, which are in the process of being born at this point. Because of this, we are really looking forward to see what's going to happen with this new album.
And tonight they tried the local food, stinky tofu, and they hated it. Probably the worst food they can image happens on the dinner table in the whole planet.
July 25, 3AM Collective Levitation.
Submerging in their works, Dogma become insensitive to time-shifting.
The studio swims at night like a shark........the instruments reflects warm metal radiation.......
In the studio, one inspiration stir up another, they make changes and corrections over and over again. The process of creating is time-consuming, like walking in a dark tunnel, you gotta keep on walking till you see the light. And it takes all the energy and capability from the artists -- the process of making the art is as valuable as the art itself. Take a look inside the studio, seems Goran is always in front of the computer, eyes and hands busy following the notes on cubase sequencer. And Damir, sitting behind on the couch with legs stretched, also paying full attention on what's going on. They talk, in rapid speed. It seems Goran is more into music production and Damir is more into rhythm programming. But actually they are playing the same/equal roll in every process of creating. If they have different opinions on some parts, they will make corrections till nobody complains. "The Elementary Basis of Subconscious Mind", the core of Dogma's music. They express their beliefs and dreams in non-verbal way, and that means energy and positive vibes bring the listeners to a place far far away. The magical universe orbits around an invisible track.........Light rays from shooting stars........The cosmology is indeed very close by us.
July 29, 1PM Lunch hour.
Dogma have lunch boxes with the rest of Bluemoon. They already know how to say some Chinese words: " How are you? Thanks. No. Onion-Chicken Rice.( Yo-Gee-Fun)".Cro-atia used to be such an unimaginable country for us, but now look at these two lovable young men trying to speak Chinese to us, we were all amazed by the force of destiny........Some guests visit the studio and they treat Dogma with "Beatle Nuts", the nuts most local people don't dare to try, and guess what happen. From this day, they are full of suspicions when it comes to food.
Aug.6, 12 a.m,
Dogma went to CKS memorial. This is the first time they get to take a look at Taipei. They are impressed by the splendor buildings. But they forgot their camera......
Aug.8,
The intro of the album is finished today. Land of Utopia.
Hihats are grey and white stream lines, bass black, strings yellow and red.........All the sounds conducted into this abstract painting, you don't know what it is, but you love it.
Aug.11, 12PM
They finished the schedule bit early today, and they decide to take a walk. [Usually they only move from point A to point B, studio to apartment]
From Technology Station to Chung-siao E. Road, they witnessed the chaos of Taipei's traffic in the sweat.
Aug.13, 10AM Sutra Sarma
Sutra Sarma, the magical language. But it seems like we don't really have to know what it means. The more names we give to a music, the more limited it gets. Let music do the talking!
Recording session is in a very intense stage at this point, and we are all very impressed by Dogma's hard-working. They know exactly what they want, and they know they are going to make it. No complaints. They face it with eternal positivity and optimism. Maybe this is the spirit of sun trance--to release the peace and rejoice in our hearts fully, like the sun rises from the top of the mountain, the light shines on everybody..........People might have different visions for trance music, but there's no difference when it comes to good vibes. They exist in the air in telepathic way.
Aug.16, 7PM Full Moon
Dogma is getting kind of anxious because they are going to perform live at Club Edge in a few hours. The Club is waiting for the new laser lights, and the instruments are not being set yet. Goran is doing the final preparing for the performance, and Damir hubs into the cab rush to the Club Edge.
Inside the Edge, everybody helped to set up the equipment, making tests and adjustments, things getting in shape little by little. And then all we have to do is just wait, wait for the explosive moment to arrive.
Point 000, 1 a.m., Dogma show up on the stage, the operation headquarter of a space ship. Things cool down, and drop into the darkness of stardust. The ambient sound floats in the air slowly, we are all ready to do the final countdown. Like two spacemen doing the final check-up before departure, the golden-colored lights cast a shadow on their faces. The crowd is getting high. In three minutes the tempo of Sutra Sarma falls down like raindrops, and that's the beginning of the trip for tonight. Powerful drum beats appear along with the beautiful Croatian rhythm, the crowds are so ready to jump right into the music. In stead of flying in straight line, the rhythm take us high and low like roller coaster. It leads us, tempts us, and it makes the trip so fun. What we feel is what Dogma feels at a moment, the heat and energy coming from their music. The loneliness and coldness can't hurt you anymore because you are surrounded by the warm and powerful music like a baby swims in the womb. You become the source of energy.
The drum sound continues to lead us through the trip in the space. We are still searching, we are not there yet. The rhythm comes to us one layer after another, two spacemen's face fade in the dark. The brass notes flows from JP8000 Goran's playing, point out the main theme of the track. The dreamy scenery past by us in seconds, we are sent back to the starting point.
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The moon light reappears behind the clouds.
At this moment we sink down inside stratums..........the beats move like liquid, makes you feel like walking in the sea. All alone, you're by yourself, listen to the calling from pure sun trance. After a while, the drum sound from TR909 show up again and it beats on everyone's heart. 16 th notes are the signal coming from the distant........we dance into the trip to our body and brain.........the sub-consciousness extend........The techno sound of "Elementary Basis of Subconscious Mind" connect with the screams from the crowd, Dogma are also in the stage of frantic, Damir is jumping around like crazy.........
The 16 th notes of Hihats coming from TR909 spreads the electric waves of hypnotism. It takes us into this track full of happiness. The shouts, whistles, crashed cymbal , stars fly across the sky,and the clouds beneath our feet. This is the dawn of our victory.........The spaceship has won the battle over the alien invaders...........The crowd are losing their mind at this point, but the music is still attacking. The moon goddess gazing us from above, we sink right into the sea once again. The craziness didn't last long. The music become so clear and bright and we are finally landed in this dimension filled with lights and sounds. The rhythm is reaching it's highest point when the 360 degree sliding sounds break though one after another. The amazing climax..........and then the first main theme reappears............we're just enjoying the rush of different rhythms.............the final explosion.
The performance ends at its peak. Dogma's t-shirts are all wet.....they came down from the stage and flooded by hugs and congratulations. This is the first time we hear Dogma's music in such a complete form. The freshness and energy grew from the life of a true mind.........
For Dogma, for us, it's a night we will never forget.
Aug.17, 2PM The typhoon Wennie landed.
This is the first typhoon Dogma ever experienced in their life time. They didn't know what was going on till their umbrellas broke by fierce wind on the way to studio. They might be the only two people working in Taipei........... They finished the track Eastern Dawn at 2 a.m next morning.
Aug.20, 10PM
The last night of Dogma's staying. They are done with all the works.
They went to Hwa-shi Street, the famous night market in Taipei. They've been asking about the snake meal since the first day they arrived. Now they are here, the snake guy strangle a rattlesnake on one hand, shouting in loud-speaker on the other. Damir and Goran looked at each other....they changed their mind.
Aug.21, 8PM Taking Off
Dogma leave for Zagreb.
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