BIO

From the dark into the light, from new moon to full moon,
via first quarter and last quarter…

The cycle in the night sky, through the seasons a relative constant, observed all over the world, a far glistening light that surprises and connects people across the earth. After years of absence on the musical front John van Loon re-enters the fold as Guflux with the double album Blue Moon, which unites past, current times, what’s ahead and beyond in one creative flow.

Guflux

Guflux is moniker under which John van Loon launches his New Moon and Dark Moon: a new starting point on the perpetual repetition of cycles in his original creative musical nature. The demise of Hinterland marked the ascent of Lemonsoul, the project provided fertile soil for Dark Territory and Solar. From there a new light started to shine: Guflux.

With Blue Moon Van Loon presents the fall and resurrection in his own life through sound and music. He had succumbed to hyperacusis, an affliction that causes tremendous pains upon hearing even the faintest of sounds. Van Loon’s search for a cure to his problem marked the beginning of a quest that not only relieved him of his pain, but also enabled him to follow his musical passions. New Moon celebrates Van Loon’s return to the musical fore. With the record’s release, he also organised the symposium Herrie uit je Hoofd (Your Head freed from Noise) on March 26th, aimed at raising awareness for hearing problems such as tinnitus and hyperacusis and above all treatment thereof.

Dark Moon

There are no borders in John van Loon’s music. Therefore it is next to impossible to pin point New Moon with a single label. The Dark Moonsection is both a retrospective and current representation. The record features contemporary remixes of tracks taken from Dark Territory’s Libera Me album remixed by an international selection of artists, including Sara Noxx, Tonikom and Ah Cama-Sotz. Serene atmospheres are paired with pounding dark electro beats – in melancholic soundtrack-like soundscapes the borders between past and present dissolve. As if Dead Can Dance and O Quam Tristes pay a visit to Front Line Assembly and Die Form, Dark Moon’s electronic dark wave flows from brooding etheric to cold industrial.

New Moon

An ending is also a new beginning. On the New Moon side of this coin, the Dark Territory dance floor hit Schmerztanz is also at the forefront of the cohort of thirteen thrillingly refined new compositions that put the moon and its light into full focus. Both elements have been a sublime inspiration on ritual and ‘holy’ music throughout history. Based on ethnic folk melodies and rhythms, New Moon’s trance grows and blossoms from a melodic gothic underground darkness to a celestial firework display in the harmony of spheres. These extremes of the Guflux-spectrum are  joined in a modern foundation of the earthly themes of love, departure, travel, and ever increasing technological possibilities.

SVEN SCHLIJPER, UTRECHT 2014