Four months after the release of Delusion, we catch up with Beta Evers, aka Brigitte Enzler, to find out about the creative process, running a label, and the album that was 10+ years in the making. Thank you, Beta Evers, for taking the time to share your sonic insights with us!
Bavarian electronic artist Brigitte Enzler is no stranger to transitions in music. In the 1980s, sometime around her 15th birthday, she created her first (cassette) label, at a time when tape dubbing was the equivalent of illegal downloading. She founded the independent record label and electro collective Kommando 6 in 2001. By 2006 the demand for digital media over vinyl saw the closure of Kommando 6. Like a cat with nine lives, the Bodyvolt CD and cassette label was born within weeks of its predecessor’s demise.
In 2017, Bodyvolt is legit and it is cool. Of the minimal catalogue of artists released on the label Enzler’s solo project Beta Evers is the most recent. For someone whose musical career spans 30+ years, enduring numerous upheavals in the music industry, Beta Evers’s first full-length album, Delusion, holds testament to Enzler’s resilience. The Bodyvolt label rode the wave of digital preference long enough to see resurgence in vinyl production and sales. Aligned with the times, Bodyvolt launched its vinyl series.
A slow burner, Delusion is a selection of tracks recorded between 2002-2016. It is dark, minimal electronic music, restrained and filled with dread. The sense of foreboding on the album builds, never releasing the listener from its grip, but always allowing enough room to kick it with the dance floor spectres. Cascading and dissonant synths snake around Beta Evers’s cool, detached vox. As we sink deeper into the album, the Argento-esque horror keys tempt us further into the dance beat. ‘Kalt’, ‘Stirring Dreams’, and ‘Skin-Tight’ are minimal wave bangers.
The album follows the sonic development of Beta Evers. Vocals become increasingly present and prominent in later recordings. “The voice can be a very lively element,” Evers says. “That’s why I basically like it in complement with the synths. Human - machine... it is often a good combination!”
“I am driven by the music; I am not really able to compose in a technical way, or in accordance with a plan. I just take what comes out of me and elaborate it, so that it becomes a structured piece of music. I think I am mainly inspired by sounds and the mood I am in when I compose. Some would probably call this approach a female approach. Sometimes I wish I could make music like a craftsman works on an object according to a plan, but for some reason it does not work for me. In the early years I enjoyed how I composed in a very free and playful way, almost like a kid that plays with toys. In recent years I am more critical towards myself, I take more time to finish my tracks, and more time mixing down or editing small details.”
Enzler started distributing cassettes in her teens, going on to found Kommando 6, Bodyvolt, and Venus Noir. Noticing how few independent music labels in New Zealand are run by women, we ask Enzler if she has advice for young women, or female identifying artists, interested in creating their own label. “I totally believed in the music I wanted to release and I was never afraid of taking a calculable risk for my musical activities,” says Enzler. She offered two pieces of advice for our young label entrepreneurs, “Number one: do it when you are very passionate about the music you want to release. Managing and organising music and artists should be something you enjoy. It takes a lot of time, contacts, and endurance to promote a new label. Number two: save some money before you start, so if you can’t sell your records quickly, you should still be able to pay your rent and other bills. Besides this money thing, I did not worry; I just jumped into the cold water, so to speak. I trusted in my instincts and my musical taste.”
Ultimately, like her minimal sound, Enzler would rather have too few than too many releases. “Breaks where I do not work on any solo stuff are very important to me. When the time comes where I am ready to work on new solo stuff again, I feel it. I follow my instincts. Creativity and compulsion are not a good combination for me, so I would rather record nothing for 2-3 years than feel forced to have a record out every year.”
2017 marks an unusual year for Enzler, with Delusion now out and two EPs due to be released in the near future.
Delusion is available on bandcamp (digital), Bodyvolt (vinyl), and Daft Records (CD):