Seppe Gebruers

Jef Neve became his teacher and at age 12 he played in Belgium and abroad with his pianotrio (with Jakob Warmenbol and Nathan Wouters).

At age 17 he shared the stage with Jim Black and Andrew D'Angelo and met musicians such as Kris Defoort, Bill Carrothers, Eric Thielemans, and Jozef Dumoulin.

At the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp he studied both jazz (with Erik Vermeulen) and classical piano (with Levente Kende).

At the heart of this album lies an exploratory spirit that combines the lyrical with the abstract, and the sensitive and intuitive with the rational.

A warm, intimate and generous statement that first and foremost believes in the lasting power of human interaction, the subtle variations in the breaks and the fragments and the story that they might tell."

In 2019 he started a research project at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, titled 'Unexplored possibilities of contemporary improvisation and the influence of microtonality in the creation process'.

Bach's Das wohltemporierte Klavier, the custom in Europe is to have twelve equal semitones in one octave; a uniform system of tuning that still dominates Western music.

Placing two differently tuned pianos next to or across one another makes playing "right" and "off-key" lose all their meanings, and allows the music to unfold in all its kaleidoscopic glory" (Koen van Meel) With two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart Gebruers recorded 'The Room: Time & Space' (2018) in a trio formation with drummer Paul Lovens and bassist Hugo Anthunes.

He questions the current relationship between artist, audience, and the cultural institutions that mediate this interaction, suggesting that these dynamics compromise the essence of musical creativity.

Gebruers observes that the arts are increasingly driven by consumerist goals, with agencies, curators, and managers shaping what is created and how it is received.

"[10]This professionalisation places musicians in a precarious position, forcing them to cater to industry standards rather than pursue their artistic visions.

He warns of a cultural climate where aesthetic complexity is sacrificed for ideological and logistical concerns, reducing art to something easily consumable and marketable.

A recurring theme in Gebruers' essay is the conflict between authentic artistic expression and the pressure to present one's work in a comprehensible, polished format.

"[10]This performativity, he suggests, can undermine genuine efforts toward inclusivity, replacing meaningful engagement with tokenistic displays.

Drawing inspiration from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Ricercar a 6, he argues for an approach that embraces tension and difference rather than seeking uniformity or consensus:"Being polyphonic is a complex exercise in which you constantly learn to sense your place in a group.

"[10]This model, he suggests, could foster more dynamic and inclusive discussions among artists, curators, and other stakeholders, leading to a richer and more unpredictable cultural landscape.

"I love hearing the lack of control of a musician that you cross limits and lose track of time and space.

[12] Gebruers created music for films: Het zwijgen van elena (2012),[13] The Reconstruction (2016),[14] and Etangs Noirs (2018)[15] and for several theatre pieces by Tibaldus].