top of page
Bouvetøya
Cinematic Berlin School Electronic Music
Biography
Bouvetøya is the recording avatar of Irish-based electronic composer and musician Michael Jones
The Early Years
Bouvetøya was formed in 2008 as the electronic music avatar of musician Michael Jones. After a lifetime listening to the pioneers of electronica, namely Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre as well as a fascination for the sound creators of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Michael acquired his first real synthesizers during the 1990s, picking up a cheap Korg Poly 800 and an even cheaper Yamaha CS5 monosynth at "back in the day" prices. During the early 2000s after years with a Portastudio, he discovered Cubase software and began constructing a small studio in his home. Contemporary influences such as Boards of Canada, AIR, and FSOL also began shaping his music, and the first ambient soundscape demos emerged from the studio and were circulated among his fellow EM peers.
As the studio grew and encouraged by those around him, he began to look for an internet outlet for his music and the concept of Bouvetøya was conceived. The name is from the Norwegian spelling of Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic, the most isolated island on the planet; a reference to the Dr Bob Moog quote that "electronic music is played by musicians who work alone and listened to by people who listen alone"
Subtractivate and Berlin School
After releasing two albums independently through Tunecore, and with the advent of Soundcloud to promote his music, there was a small but loyal fanbase building for the output of Bouvetøya, most notably from Germany and Holland. With around four new tracks completed for a new album, two were uploaded onto Soundcloud. After discovering the SynGate Records website, this opened up an ideal opportunity, as the label was based in Germany and dedicated to the Berlin School of Electronic Music genre. Contact was made with the label owner and a week later a deal was in place to release the next Bouvetøya album with SynGate Records.
SUBTRACTIVATE was released in October 2013, receiving good reviews and culminating in a top ten nomination as Best Newcomer at the Schallwelle Award for Electronic Music (Germany).
Interstellarphonic and Beyond
Work started on a new album over the winter of 2013, and by the spring of 2014 it was starting to take shape.
INTERSTELLARPHONIC was the second album to be released by SynGate Records and as a concept it was Bouvetøya's most ambitious work to date, even the striking artwork became a labour of love with each image on the album representing an influence which shaped the music of Bouvetøya.
Released to encouraging reviews, INTERSTELLARPHONIC has found its way onto the playlist of many prominent EM music stations, particularly Yolande's EM show on RADIO HAPPY and Bill Fox's radio shows GALACTIC TRAVELS and THOUGHT RADIO in the US.
A new album is planned for release in 2015, check Soundcloud for the latest studio demos.
Awakenings and Timeslip
2015 saw a full studio revamp and in January the third SynGate album began production. With a theme based around the philosophy of Plato, and the Timaeus dialogue, the basic structure of the album came together over a period of 6 months.
The year got off to a sad start with the passing of Tangerine Dream founder and Berlin School pioneer Edgar Froese; several months later Cluster and Harmonia member Dieter Moebius passed on too; both gentlemen Bouvetøya had the pleasure of meeting in Copenhagen in 2014.
In the meantime, Bouvetøya played in the UK at the Awakenings event held in Burton on Trent, performing a fully live set which was relatively well received.
Other projects included the submission of tracks for various compilation albums including a very special one dedicated to the music of Edgar Froese. Bouvetoya was also involved in remixing a couple of tracks for fellow Carlow musician Bocuma, also due for release later during the 4th quarter of 2015.
During August TIMESLIP was finally fully mixed and released in September. A special ambient album is also pencilled in for release before the year end, with artwork by graphic artist Martin Millar.
bottom of page