Inspired by Emily St.John Mandel’s book Station Eleven (some of you could have met it through a quite successful same-named TV series) as well as by the first lockdown in 2020, Belgian pianist and producer Mirek Coutigny write a little musical pearl that was poured into this lovely album titled “Through Empty Landscapes and New Beginnings” (released in February 2023 by Icarus Records) by a kind of wise patchwork of ambient, progressive rock, classical music, electronic and instrumental catchy soundscapes. I wouldn’t say that what he does is totally original, but he made it in a so good way that I can’t but suggest checking it. In the meanwhile, let’s know Mirek and his artifact by his words.
Chain D.L.K.: Normally I like the artists to introduce in their own words, but besides that, can you also tell me how you got fatally involved in music making?
Mirek Coutigny: When I was growing up, there was always music around the house. My father was the manager of a symphonic orchestra and an organ player, and my mother was singing. There was a piano in the living room. So for as long as I remember there has been some form of music in my life. In my younger years, I focussed mostly on classical piano, but as I grew up, I listened more and more to all kinds of music and started writing my own on the computer. It all kind of snowballed from there.
Chain D.L.K.: Any artist, friends, or even strange encounters who were particularly important for your personal and artistic growth?
Mirek Coutigny: I think my composition teacher Frank Nuyts was probably one of the most important people in shaping my voice as a composer. His ability not to focus on genres and ‘walls’ between different kinds of music is what made the biggest difference. Next to that, both Jonathan Bonny and Jolien Deley are two musicians I started playing with in my first years of conservatory, and to this day they’re still part of the people I play my music live with. We’ve got a curiosity for all things non-classical in common.
Looking at the artists that shaped my idea of music, I think Boards of Canada is the most influential one. The time they take and the detail they put into every record is something that keeps fascinating me. There are layers of sound in there that are well worth multiple listens.
Chain D.L.K.: Your music has often been compared to a couple of big names of contemporary music, like Jóhann Jóhannsson or Ólafur Arnalds, but I notice since the very first songs of the album that it’s playing in my ears (we’ll focus on it soon) some hints of the more symphonic side of post-rock or recent progressive rock explorations by last years of Steve Wilson’s Porcupine Tree. What are the more guessed matches to your music made by listeners? And what are the weirdest ones?
Mirek Coutigny: I like the reference to post-rock bands, I think that’s an influence that feels more and more true to what I’d like to make. The most guessed matches indeed involve the more well-known names of neoclassical music. Some recent bands in jazz music like Portico Quartet or Nordmann also match the feel of the latest record.
The weirder guesses go quite broad. Because of the instrumental nature of a lot of my tracks, I feel people match it (maybe a little too) easily with other instrumental music that’s quite far from what I do.
Chain D.L.K.: Which release or song do you consider the real debut?
Mirek Coutigny: I think the song ‘As The Birds Fly’ from my first record still feels like an important part of the journey that I made: from pianist to composer, to record artist. I’ve learned a lot since then, and there are things that I wouldn’t do the same way again, but I still enjoy that particular track. But my latest record really gathers some influences and directions I want to explore more of in this project. So in some ways, it always feels like it’s just getting started.
Chain D.L.K.: What’s the connection between your music with cinema? Regardless of its usage for a soundtrack, do you focus on the so-called ‘cinematic’ hook of sounds when composing?
Mirek Coutigny: I love cinema, and I quite often think in images when writing music. I’ve also done some soundtrack work in the past, and I always like the process. A lot of music I listened to grow up also belonged to soundtracks. So the influence is certainly there.
I try though to not really write film music when making an album. The thing that makes soundtracks wonderful is their connection to the image. When working as a recording artist and creating your own album, it’s important that the music goes a step further, and creates a story and arc that works perfectly on its own. And to make the sound stage feel believable, not going too big and epic for no reason. It’s a balance I’m constantly working on.
Chain D.L.K.: Can you introduce ‘Through Empty Landscapes and New Beginnings’ in your own words?
Mirek Coutigny: It’s an album that tries to tell a story, inspired by post-apocalyptic fiction. It takes the idea of a dystopic landscape but swaps out the zombies and horror for nostalgia and people building again on a new world together. Not only that, but it’s also the album where I worked closest with my fellow musicians, giving ideas, but also thriving on their energy in the studio.
Chain D.L.K.: How does it relate to the historical moment when it was composed?
Mirek Coutigny: The idea for this album was always there, but I was postponing it. It felt like it was a big album: big in scope, big in orchestration. Those things also mean that it’s not the easiest, and certainly not the cheapest, to make. But when COVID hit, it was something that I started working on day 3 of lockdown, I think. Every day I worked on it for 3 hours in the morning. It felt like a little comfort blanket, a way to deal with that extraordinary moment.
The first studio sessions, working on this with the rest, were also the first moments being together with other musicians in the studio again. There was an unbelievable joy in creating together again. I feel that that’s also something that can be perceived when listening to some of the tracks.
Chain D.L.K.: Some voices can be perceived in the opening part of the opener ‘Day 0’… what are they related to?
Mirek Coutigny: I wanted to create this kind of cinematic jump in the story from day 0 to 20 years later. So I tried to lean on sound design to make this atmosphere of frantic radio reporters and TV channels shutting down one after the other, happen. It’s also something that I love on those Boards of Canada records. It immediately puts you at that moment, that situation, as a listener. The specific voices are nothing all that special, some bits that I recorded from various international radios. With the right atmosphere underneath, anything can sound menacing.
Chain D.L.K.: I read you got also inspired by Station Eleven for the composition of ‘Through Empty Landscapes and New Beginnings’. What was the impact on the score of that book?
Mirek Coutigny: The book was my first inspiration for this album. It tells a beautiful story about the importance of art, the rebuilding of society, and the connection between people, in this apocalyptic setting. Whenever I was feeling low on inspiration, flicking through some pages sufficed to get me going again.
Chain D.L.K.: Do you consider your album as belonging to a pre- or post-apocalyptic age (or I’d rather say incoming or outcoming apocalypse)?
Mirek Coutigny: It’s definitely more of a post-apocalyptic mood. The darkness of the album symbolizes the immediate aftermath, and the hope and light of the album tell the story of a kind of big rebuild.
Chain D.L.K.: Tracks are really well-recorded. Any word on the sound engineering and recording jobs that, I guess, were done in Ghent?
Mirek Coutigny: I did the production of the album together with a whole bunch of talented people I love working with. Each person and each studio was carefully chosen for what I considered their strength. Drums, bass, and guitar were produced by Klaas Tomme and engineered by Dirk Miers in a studio near Brussels. I’ve worked there before and always loved the drum sound. The band sessions were recorded over some nice weekends in comfortable studios, those I engineered myself. Pianos and strings were recorded by Fabien Leseure in studios in Brussels with great acoustics. I then mixed the tracks myself.
Chain D.L.K.: There are many touching tracks, but what are the ones that keep on resounding in your mind for some reason that you can share with our readers?
Mirek Coutigny: ‘The Road’ is one of the first tracks that I’ve started working on. The main chord progression that drives the chorus of the track was already written in 2016 and kept haunting me. This track is the core of the album, the reason I started working on this musical world. In the same way, ‘We Were Never Meant For This’always touches me, as it’s kind of a memory of the same chord progression, at the end of the album. And finally, the last track, ‘Home’, is a one-take improvisation with the musicians I’ve always worked with on the themes of the album. It will always be this pure, untouched memory of friendship and music-making.
Chain D.L.K.: Female voices play an important role in some tracks… any words on them?
Mirek Coutigny: The voice was an element that I wanted to explore in this album. I think this idea finds it origin in a lot of soundtrack albums of the 90s and 00s that I love, that would always have this kind of epic end title pop song. It’s an album structure that’s not logical, to have the single at the end, but one that kind of grew on me. So I wanted to try this on this album. All songs were written together with my girlfriend Ella Vermeir, during lockdown together. I think her voice is a perfect match for the gentle, warm, nature of my music.
Chain D.L.K.: Any work in progress?
Mirek Coutigny: This album was a big one: in writing, in recording, and in releasing. So I want to go back now to some smaller, more DIY stuff. I’m working on an acoustic EP with violin and cello, and on an electronic solo record. It feels like going back a little to the musician making songs in his attic, something that feels very nice for the time being.
Visit Mirek Coutigny on the web:
https://mirekcoutigny.com/