Here follows a short interview with Harry, the madman behind the dread headache-maker Albert Tross, Leader Of The Demons, who kindly agreed to slither from his bunker and disseminate just exactly what in God’s name he thinks he’s doing.
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How did you find an interest in Noise?
At an early age, I started messing around with tape manipulation. Creating loops, replacing vocals to songs with weird noises, slowing down music, piling loops on top of one another, or just recording white noise and hoping for some sort of interference.
No idea where it really came from. Boredom? Soon after that I heard an early CD by Laibach, which led me to other groups like Non and SPK. The thought of doing harm to others with nothing but sound amused me, so I continued.
How long have you been making and releasing music, as Albert Tross or otherwise? Do you have any other projects currently?
My early tapes are gone for the most part. I found one, fuck knows what kind of shape its in. I might try to rip that one day. Albert Tross, however, started as a casio keyboard’s drumming and a distorted, shitty guitar. I’d guess that was around 2001.
Most of that stuff still exists, but its pretty horrible. I was eventually introduced to SoundForge, a couple of years later, and began experimenting with manipulation again.
There’s some other shit I’m working on, sure. Takes me forever to complete shit though. There’s this attempt at krautrock using the GarageBand app that’s been sitting unfinished for way too long. There’s also some shit with actual instruments that I
sporadically start and stop working on. Not sure what kind of direction I want to go with it, but it will be pretty noisy and sloppy. I also sing for Stab!
What are the inspirations behind the frightening dreamscape that is Albert Tross, both sonically and visually?
Migraines and hallucinations. I’ve had those problems for as long as I can remember. Albert Tross is my way of re-enacting the pain and anxiety.
What equipment or instruments do you use to create your Noise?
I mostly just use the SoundForge program and stolen music/sounds. I don’t think I would ever use anything else and feel right calling it Albert Tross.
What does the process of creating new material entail for you?
A clouded mind and a couple of hours of free time. I just plop down in front of the computer and start digging through this massive collection of acquired sounds. I might go into it with an idea on what I want to achieve, even then I often stray from that
plan. Its mostly just haphazard trash. I’ll create some sort of mess and sort it into a folder when I feel its completed. I usually have 4 or 5 collection folders going at a time of tracks that I feel fit a certain mood. I’ll go back to them over and over again at
a later point when I’ve completely forgotten what everything sounds like, then I’ll either work on them some more or wait until I’ve forgotten about them all over again. The whole process doesn’t make much sense.
Who do you like/listen to/follow in the world of Noise?
I honestly don’t know too much about the whole noise scene. I know the guys behind Arachnid, Atomic Cockbombs, Kap’n Krank and Mahler Haze, so I listen to and enjoy their output. Andy at Mortville shared a link for this noise outfit called Beelzebukkake, which I
thought was really incredible. Reminded me of those countless hours sitting behind a stitcher/trimmer in a print shop as a teenager. He really captured how all of those loud, abrasive factory noises can become quite rhythmic after a while.
What do you like listening to outside of Noise?
Metal, mostly. Krautrock, schlager, oompah. Shit that either makes me want to drink or break something or both. Just snagged a massive amount of recordings by a synth group called Nightcrawlers, really enjoying them.
Any releases on the horizon?
I recently completed a track for a split release with Arachnad, not sure when that will be out. Started working on some stuff for Kareeye Tapes, far from finished on that though. There’s always my usual mess of incomplete folders too. I’ve got five
separate concepts going at once right now. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do an entire album centered completely around monster movies, but I haven’t been able to wrap my brain around it completely yet. Or maybe a Haunted House album.
One of these days.
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Thanks again Harry! Go scope out the ever confusing Albert Tross, Leader Of The Demon’s extensive body of work here. Bring aspirin. Bring alcohol. Do NOT bring psychedelics.
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