2020: An overview

Back in April, I had dinner with a friend and when I left her it was still early, twilight started to set in. It had been sunny and warm, unusual for the season. An ordinary weekday. A bike ride home is about fifteen minutes, taking me along the University grounds of Nijmegen, across the train track, along the bowling alley, take a right at the roundabout and then over the grounds from the former army barracks, up the street where I live. In all of that time I didn’t see anybody; no other people on bikes, nobody walking, no cars. It was, as if, a neutron bomb, that thing we feared so much in the eighties, had exploded during our dinner, leaving everything intact and wiped out mankind. I admit I enjoyed the silence.

When I grew up, I had endless discussions with my father about any subject but mostly politics and music. Whenever he had enough he would throw out, “You know what they say, Frans, ‘Oh, Lord, help me to keep my mouth shut until I know what I’m talking about’, but you never do”. Nor did he.

I am ever the optimist, contrary to popular belief.

As I just promised to keep my mouth until I know what I am talking about (a word to the wise), I will discuss 2020 purely in personal, narcissistic, egomaniac (whatever else) terms. That is not to say I don’t care about anything else; sometimes I do.

I am well off, I fully realize that. Since I left Staalplaat, early 2003, I work from home, doing Vital Weekly, selling a few records and doing some music, so for me, nothing much changed. Of course, I wouldn’t mind going to the pub, restaurant, cinema (which I actually did this year, some 42 times, no less) or my favourite Saturday pastime (not the footie) and it’s not easy while it lasts so long. I hope a vaccine will be handed to me soon, I am ready for any side effects.

This year I added publishing books to my activities, following the 2019 re-print of my Staalplaat book. This year I published two more, and I was quite surprised they sold quite well. More books to come next year, we have some exciting plans! We, because I do this with Alfred Boland (design) and Mark Poysden (wordsmith hammering out the mistakes).
I didn’t see many concerts and only remembered the last; Zea & Oscar Jan Hoogland and Matthijs Kouw, early December in Extrapool.
I played one public concert this year, on my birthday and coincidentally the hottest day of the year and I did two of these ‘home concerts’, but it’s not for me. Working the technology while doing the music at the same time is a bitch for an old man. The first time went alright, the second time not so. I am not repeating that.
Being cut off from public life allowed me to do a lot of music at home, and I am happy to say I recorded one thing or another for about 150 evenings this year. Mostly crap of course, but working and reworking same ideas in new configurations for a couple of days before moving on to something else. Modelbau is my improvisation project! I opened up a Bandcamp for it, where there are quite a few works for free, and some, well, for a few bucks.

I am, as always, proud of any of my releases. 2020 saw the launch of a new name, Ruisch, my dub/industrial/voodoo/psychedelic music. I did the mixing with Peter Johan Nijland. The music on the first CD was recorded in 2019, and this year I completed a new one.

this sums the releases up; the only list this year

2020

[Construction]
THE VERY EARLY RECORDINGS OF FRANS DE WAARD, 1981-1982 (download, Korm Digitaal)

[Modelbau]
THE MIDNIGHT SUN (cassette, Grisaille 18)

[Modelbau]
‘Escapement’ on Pattern Recognition, A Benefit Compilation For Bradley Kokay (CDR by No Part Of It)

[Ruisch]
SUBTERRANEAN CAMPFIRES (CD by Erototox Decodings ETD0034)

[De Fabriek]
REMIXES VOL. 10 (CD, De Fabriek Records & Tapes)

[Frans de Waard & Richard Francis]
RETIRED DILLETANTS (The Tapeworm TTW#134)

[Modelbau]
A THING ABOUT MACHINES (cassette, Grisaille 12)

[Tech Riders]
FOR ETERNITY (cassette, eh? 113)

[Modelbau & MvK]
THE HIDDEN ACCORD (cassette, Invisible City Records ICR70, edition of 50)

[Beequeen]
WINTER (LP, A Colourful Storm acolour 029)

[Ruisch feat. Salar Asid]
‘A Small Drop’ on To Yemen With Love’ (download)

[Modelbau]
untitled track on ‘__‘ (cassette, Steep Gloss SG00)

[Frans de Waard & Miguel A. Garcia]
INTERIOR SOUNDING (cassette, Steep Gloss SG 13)

[Modelbau]
‘The Sound Sweep’ Music For A Few People Vol. 3 (CDR, Non-Interrupt)

[De Fabriek]
De Fabriek, REMIXES REMIXES VOL. 9 (CD, De Fabriek Records & Tapes)

[Modelbau]
UNRUHE (split cassette, Grubenwehr Freibug GW/Fr 18, edition of 25 copies in a normal box and 15 copies special edition. Split with Pit Horse Doom Orchestra)

[EMERGE]
reworked field recordings by Freiband on STEPS (CD by Attenuation Circuit 1021) edition of 300 copies

[Frans de Waard & Martijn Comes]
VARIOUS WEIGHTS (CD, Moving Furniture Records mfr 083). First 50 copies with bonus CDR ‘Live In De Ruimte’)

[Freiband]
‘Piano Music Redux’ on Moving Music, Sounds From The Rocking Chair (CD, Moving Furniture Records mfr 080) collaboration with Orphax

[Tech Riders]
DOUBLE FACTORIAL (2 3″CDR, Sleep Fuse/Reverb Worship SF 37, edition of 30 copies)

[Modelbau]
SYNCHRONY (CDR, Econore, edition of 40 copies]

[Modelbau]
WHERE IS EVERYBODY (download, not on label)

[Ruisch featuring Michael Esposito]
‘Every Door Out Is A Way In (insanetorium dub)’ on ‘Pandemic Response Division’ (download by Spectral Electric)

[Modelbau]
THE END OF THE BEGINNING (2CDR, Humanhood Recordings)

[Tech Riders]
OF THE LOST ARK (cassette, Ikuisuus ikasus-076, edition of 60 copies)

[QST]
‘On Her Satanic Majestic Secret Disco Service’ on Mighty Giant Pinky – Tribute to Satanicpornocultshop (cassette by Strategic Tape Reserve, STR034)

[Doc Wör Mirran feat Stadlmeier.De Waard/Gormley]
HOMININE PARTS 1 TO 3 (CDR by Attenuation Circuit ACU 1018, 100 copies)

[Modelbau]
20200101
20200202
20200303
20200404
20200505
20200606
20200707
20200808
20200909
20201010
20201111
20201212
(individual pieces on Bandcamp)

[BJ Nilsen & Frans de Waard & Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarssen]
THREE OPTIONS (CD, Some)

[Modelbau]
ARCADIA (5″ lathe cut, Humanhood Recordings hhr 87, 20 copies)