SX
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SX

Kortrijk, Belgium | Established. Jan 01, 2011 | MAJOR

Kortrijk, Belgium | MAJOR
Established on Jan, 2011
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"StuBru - Hurts van SX - Hotshot"

Het is van 2013 geleden dat SX nog een single op de wereld losliet, maar met 'Hurts' is SX helemaal klaar voor 2016!

De nieuwe single is deze week onze Hotshot. Frontfrouw Stefanie kwam erover vertellen bij Linde. "We hebben heel hard gewerkt om een vervolg te breien aan onze muziek. We hebben een zoektocht gedaan en onze muziek uitgepuurd: we willen met minder elementen meer teweegbrengen."

De nieuwe single 'Hurts' is daar een voorbeeld van. En SX gaat ook touren. "De kans bestaat dat je ons deze zomer ergens tegen komt. Op 30 april staan we in de AB." - Studio Brussel


"Disco Naïveté - SX - Shimona"

“Hold me like you used to do it” beg SX in Shimona, the next single off their newly released EP Alpha. Stefanie Callebaut easily takes up all of the attention in the room (along with her twin sister, which also features in the video), gracefully Beyoncé’ing her way through the white studio in a self-created garment through their artists collaboration platform Community X. It’s more like commanding you to do so than begging, gaining extra force thanks to the snappy production. Shimona feels very minimalistic but it’s all in the details and the overwhelming chorus, which really got us going last night at their showcase at the Silencio in Paris. - Disco Naïveté


"Première: Bekijk hier de nieuwe video ‘Hurts’ van SX"

Hurts is de nieuwe single van het Belgische duo en gaat over groeipijn.
Het is een universeel gegeven dat volwassen worden niet bepaald een pretje is. Je moet ineens een mening hebben over de rente op hypothecaire leningen, katers komen dubbel zo hard aan en haar begint te groeien op plekken waar je het als kiespijn kan missen. Hurts, de nieuwe single van het Belgische SX, gaat over die groeipijnen. SX is een combinatie van FKA Twigs’ verknipte elektronica, Beyoncé’s sexappeal en de oncomfortabele gezelligheid van Björk.

De video, die hieronder in première gaat, is opgenomen in de Surinaamse jungle. Hurts is de eerste, morgen te verschijnen single afkomstig van hun aankomende EP Alpha, die op 11 maart verschijnt. Op 30 april staat het duo in Ancienne Belgique in Brussel SX, kijk voor meer live-data op hun facebookpagina. - Noisey


"INTERVIEW: SX"

In the past two years, SX – the duo consisting of Benjamin Desmet and Stefanie Callebaut – have created their own universe. Raw human emotion has been harmonized with progressive technology. After bursting into the scene in 2011 and releasing various singles and their debut album ‚Arche‘ in 2012 they got to play international tours supporting bands like Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend, Ariel Pink and Poliça. Our author Sofia Kourtesis met them to ask them some questions about their touring life and much more. Read below

LSD: You must have visited many places around Europe and overseas. Which city or place is the most inspiring for you? And which place describes or reflects your personality?






Benjamin: It really depends. For the video of Hurts we went to Surinam. It was a quite intense experience. So if you ask me it was a great trip we did.
Stefanie: I would agree with Benjamin. We went as a group of three people, together with another friend where we made the video of hurts. We always do our video by ourselves. It was a really exciting thing to do and really inspiring. Crazy.
Benjamin: The longer you were there, the less civilized we became. More natural. Maybe because of the pills we were taking. Malaria pills. Causing us to think like this.
Stefanie: It was a really important trip for us because for the video of Hurts we really wanted to go to the Amazonas. The song is about transcending singularity. It means that point where technology transcends human consciousness. Sending a beautiful message where we are just going to say like everything is going to be okay like nature will survive everything. We wanted to go to a really rough and raw nature thing. And then we went to Surinam so we really lived our song.

LSD: What have been you favourite live Venues so far?

Stefanie: It depends. We did these big festivals which is really special to play like Werchter. You have 50.000 people in front of you which is a nice experience. On the other hand silencio in Paris is always a special thing to do. It has some kind of mystery vibe going on.
Benjamin: Silencio was nice! We also like the Scandinavian venues. People were like really paying attention. It was a good match with our music.
Stefanie: We once went to a festival in the Netherlands in Vlieland. It is called „Into the great wide open“. It’s a festival on a small island so you had to a boat for an hour and a half in order to get there. It is really cool because you are on an island which is so small. In a way it is a big festival like the events there a cool, however it is an exclusive festival, because everyone has to go on the same boat to get to the island.

LSD: As you are the new Belgian music export product, can you see that right now there is a movement going on in the music scene? Some are talking about the ‚new scence’. What do you think the ‘new scene’ will be? We’ve had a lot of coined words trying to portray ‘new’ music scenes as of late (EDM / Nu Rave / Nu Grave / Re-emmergence of Psych-Blues).

Benjamin: I think it’s evolving. I don’t think it is really new. It is an ever evolving process. Sometimes you have bigger waves sometimes you have smaller waves. I just think people now can do a lot more, the do have more possibilities. And you have much more freedom in pop music. Like the freedom you have that you can choose and out some special stuff in your music. You have no boundaries. 





LSD: In your eyes is there any new inventions in music or do you think it is a lot of rehashed ideas?


Benjamin: Maybe it is always you. But it is refreshing the same maybe? It’s a good question. It’s a deep philosophical question.
Stefanie: New things always come up, so like for us as SX we search for new ways to create and new technologies to create, so probably it’s just normal that the evolution will keep on going.

LSD: Some technical question. Which Hardware do you use, for producing as well as playing Live?
 Do you have a brand on which you trust at most?


Benjamin: The classical setup is like you have a laptop, or your mac Pro, an Apogee Soundcard and we really like the German Brand Ableton. That’s an amazing Brand. I am working on it since Ableton 1 or Ableton 2 I think. My daddy always goes to Frankfurter Messe and he always came back with a lot of new stuff. Since I was a kid he was like saying: “You have to use Ableton. Ableton is the best”. We still do that and everybody loves it and it’s an amazing software. Next to it we use loads of plugins and also some electro-acoustic recordings. I have a bunch of synthesizers from Roland, Korg, Yamaha. A lot of stuff.
Stefanie: We need to clean them next. Too much synthesizers.
Benjamin: I guess you can really trust on Ableton. For a live set we lean on our drummer. He is a really good firm basis even more for me than Ableton. He is more relieable.

LSD: I am referring to your new Video Hurts which is really cinematic. Are you guys also involved as FKA TWIgs on your own story Boards? And visuals ?



Stefanie: Yeah. We do everything by ourselves. So every video you see from SX we made by ourselves. We do the story, we film it, we edit, we do everything. So it’s a big party of our biotop. For us SX is more than just the music. It’s an entire biotope, where we create music, create art, we create our own clothings. So every video and on stage an stuff it’s our own design you’ll see. It’s a really important thing to us, that the story is complete. And since we are living in a world where we have the luxury that we can everything by ourselves and we just do it.

LSD: Do you have any advisor who helps you out or is involved in your work?

Stefanie: For images we work with a very good friend of us (Harvey B.), he is like a wonderkid in a way. He used to be an designer, he worked for Jean Paul Gaultier. He and I started to work on this clothing collection, and from one thing came another like for the video we went to Surinam with three people Benjamin, Harvey and Me.
Benjamin: And for music we work with my brother Dimitri. He is also a techno producer and he also is the co-producer and mixed our EP.

LSD: This question goes to you Benjamin! I’ve heard you are a filmmaker? Is there any link between your films and your music? Kind of sensual, emotional connection?

Benjamin: Yeah we built music on our images and we built images on our music. So it’s like a hermeneutic whole (circle). One thing cannot go without the other and it builds upon itself. Filmmaker is a big word. We love making music and love filming and making our videos. It’s like something we feel we really have to do and that’s one of the big advantages of what we do.

LSD: Which Art Director would represent your Music Style?

Benjamin: We really belive in working together with ourselves with Harvey, for the moment we are not really looking for that. We believe in building and growing slowly and trying to adchieve something by working on it.
Stefanie: We are really open to work with people but we are perfectionist and we like to have control over what we are doing. I guess we are open work with other people but it’s not always easy to act in our biotop.
Benjamin: I am sure that there a people who like to, but it’s something you have to do on your own. It’s like someone who wants to play football who would not be satisfied by only watching football.
Stefanie: I think like the people we work with are most of the times we get to know them first and get on the same level like we need the right atmosphere.
Benjamin: We just want to learn by ourselves and grow by ourselves.

LSD: What is the importance of Fashion on Music / or the Fashion Industry with Musicians?

Stefanie: I don’t like the word fashion. It’s an important thing that our clothing translates our music so I have always been really inspired by movement and structure and fabric and that’s the only reason why we create our own clothes. I think it’s like an extension of the body. On stage I move a lot and I think it’s important that the things I wear just strengthen those movements and strengthen the story. So that’s the only reason why we create out own clothes. It’s not something like I wanna do fashion.

LSD: Are you superstitious? Not like the Stevie Wonder counter-world, but a world that is to be said unknown, parapsychology paganism / occultism. Or are you religious?

Benjamin: Everybody is a bit religious. We are both atheists. We all have superstition or any religion. And if we don’t have we are maybe living the capitalist religion. But I am talking about people who claim not having a religion. You are always religious I guess.

Did you ever have any intervention with something parapsychological thing?

Benjamin: We have daily interventions with things. Now we have an intervention with you. I think we see the religion in the small eminent stuff and stuff that’s real/ reality.
Stefanie: But even though it’s really inspiring to look at religion. It’ s an important thing.
Benjamin: That’s what people are hoping for and that’s so beautiful. That’s why we love gospel music. The hope in that music is so pure.
Stefanie: I am a big gospel fan. Just because it’s really pure and it goes back to basics in a way.

LSD: What would you like to be written as your epitaph?

Benjamin: I would write for Stephanie: “She thanks for her soul”
or something like that. Or “she thanks for our souls”. It’s a bit bigger.
Stefanie: Probably it would be something basic and pure. Probably it would refer to our music. Our music refers to our beings already. It’s part of us and it’s part of our world.

LSD: Can you describe your Album in with 3 Words?

Benjamin: Abstract.
Stefanie: Abstract, contouring and classy. We can use a lot of words.
Benjamin: Sometimes it’s minimal.
Stefanie: Organic, Nostalgic and a bit like futuristic. But not in a retro futuristic was. More like the futuristic way of the world in we are living right now. Abstract, Class, timeless. We always try to tell in our songs timeless story.
Benjamin: We call it minimalistic, organic, futuristic. Maybe that’s good.

LSD: What is on your mind right now?

Stefanie: I guess we are really excited right now. We have been working for the last two years on our own, in a studio, in a cave we have been creating, I guess we are really excited to get out there!

LSD: What’s your plan for today before you are going to play in Berghain?

Stefanie: We have more interviews toady and after that we probably do a little walk. And then we go to the venue, doing the soundcheck. And after that we have to leave because we have another show tomorrow in Brussels, playing a session for the Brussels Radio. And then from Brussels we go to Paris straight away. So it’s gonna be a cool week.

LSD: Last comment?

Stefanie: I wanted to refer to another word if we describe our music. It’s more like the attention we are looking for. We say organic and futuristic, but we say these two word because it’s attention we are always looking for. It’s like S and X. These two total opposites we put together and then try to look for a good tension line where everything is like moving. And we’ve translated it in our music because it’s very digital but it’s also very organic. We use a lot of nature four our inspiration. We also use reality, like the present, and it’s in our images, in our music, in our clothing, it’s everywhere, in our logo… It’s an important thing to say that we really look for attention. That’s the wave we are always on. We just move on out attention line or it moves us. We never stop searching.
Benjamin: You’ve asked us if it’s evolving or new things are happening. Maybe I want to add that everything is new that happens, but still it has a memory.
Stefanie: You always take the best from the past. And take the new and then you put it together.
Benjamin: That’s something we could talk about for a whole day or for the whole lifetime.
S: He is more one of the philosopher.

LSD: How would you describe yourself if he takes the part of a philosopher?

Stefanie: I am more the one who feels with the belly. It’s again like the S and X. We are really conceptional and I am more from my soul.
Benjamin: But I also try to think from my belly. So I don’t think it’s we have two different parts. It is not like she is S and I am X or something. That’s too much! - Local Suicide (DE)


"EXOTIC REALITY: AN INTERVIEW WITH SX"

SX is a band from Belgium, formed by Stefanie Callebaut and Benjamin Desmet. With a strong live reputation, SX takes you into the exotic reality. Natural elements such as Stefanie’s raw, vigorous voice and primal percussion are being contrasted with abstract, futuristic digital elements. This results in a pure, authentic sound, and a class performance. After the mesmerizing song “Black Video” got discovered through social media, SX became the new revelation in the Belgian music scene, being highlighted as the next Belgian music export. On that account, SX appeared on numerous festivals and music venues throughout continental Europe including Rock Werchter, Melkweg, Paradiso, and Silencio. During this period they also supported acts like Vampire Weekend, Poliça and Ariel Pink. Brooklyn band Yeasayer embraced SX and took them along their European tour. SX linked this to a stand alone sold out club tour in Belgium, and received gold status in the Benelux. Also artists from outside the music field are intrigued by the SX biotope, an example of this is the collaboration with Dries Van Noten for the presentation of his Winter 2015-2016 collection. Alpha, the 1st EP of SX, has just been released today, just in time to share our chat with SX about the creative influences that resonate within their work, and their plans for the future.

KALTBLUT: How would you define the style and energy that goes into producing your sound, and the artistic direction you’ve taken with new EP Alpha?
SX: SX is all about finding perfect harmony between contrasts, we feel very much like children of the present. Moving our way through a complex, digital world – but finding rest and peace in pure things, such as nature and love. That contrast is a tension that reflects in our sound, songs, videos, and every other part of our SX biotope. For example, our sound arises out of an abstract, clinical, and digital environment, which we love to counter and layer with raw natural field recordings.

KALTBLUT: What was your experience emerging in the Belgian music scene, and how did you come together?
SX: Belgium is situated quite centrally, as we live within a two hour drive from both Paris and Amsterdam, the Eurostar to London takes one hour, and other great European countries, such as Germany, are an easy train ride away. We feel that it’s great to live in this buffer zone! Being surrounded by all these different European cultures, the Belgian music scene emerges into an eclectic inspirational scene.
Benjamin: And I grew up in the same town. Surrounded by mutual friends we ran into each other quite often. We were both part of the local music scene, playing, creating and studying music. Although Benjamin was more of a ‘Nirvana’ type of guy, and I was more of a ‘Mahalia Jackson’ type of girl, we ended up jamming together in Benjamin’s studio one day. It soon became clear that our opposite roots translated into something magical when we combined them. It brought a great tension to our creations.

KALTBLUT: Which artists have had a major influence on your music and your exploration of visual arts?
SX: We could name loads of inspiring artists but these three big guys really are a big influence to us: Michael Jackson, Nietzsche, and Picasso!

KALTBLUT: What was it like to emerge as a multi-dimensional online presence, with the success of “Black Video”, and how do you feel social media has impacted rising artists such as yourselves?
SX: It was really intense. For fun, one day, you upload a track and video that you’ve made – and the next thing you know you’re number one in the charts and you’re playing big festival crowds. Very overwhelming, but we feel really lucky for that. We should embrace the fact that nowadays artists have the possibility to independently share their work with the world. Right now, anything is possible!

KALTBLUT: What led to your collaboration with designers Harvey Bouterse and Dries Van Noten?
SX: I’ve always been fascinated by fabrics, structures and shapes. With these elements I love to challenge myself to reinforce body and movement. I feel it produces a great strength for individuals to tell their true story.
Benjamin: I also have always been a great fan of the stories Dries Van Noten is bringing us. How humble we felt when it seemed he loved SX’s story too. One of the collaborations we ended up doing was bringing my a-capella vocals to the runway show video for his Fall/Winter 2015 collection.
Harvey Bouterse and I met a few years ago. At that time he had just ended his job at Jean Paul Gaultier as a junior designer. We started sharing ideas, creating moods, and sewing our first clothing samples. Today our creations go much further than creating garments together. We turned out not only to be best friends, but we brought ‘Community X’ to life.

KALTBLUT: When it comes to starting each new project, including artistic platform Community X, what inspires you?
SX: Community X might have been a counter reaction to the remoteness you feel when your are in a time of pure creation. Community X is an artist’s collaboration platform with Benjamin, Harvey and I as the beating heart. It is bringing artists together to create in all kinds of forms – check out the collaboration we are doing with ceramist Wouter Hoste, “Community X Wouter Hoste”. Where Benjamin takes the lead more when it comes to the film, visual, and digital division of our community, Harvey and I concentrate on the fashion part. Not only have we created a whole “SX garments” collection which you can see on stage and in our video, but we have developed items which we offer custom made, such as female suits. You gotta love “Les Deux Pieces”!

KALTBLUT: Could you tell us a little bit more about Alpha and you produced it?
SX: Benjamin and I like to experiment. How and where we write is pretty much undefined. We create, search and build in many different ways. Behind the piano, in our studio, or during a walk in the forest. Though I must say – Benjamin is the production wizard of us two. He’s the one who comes up with the most amazing sounds and vibes, so songwriting and producing happens at the same time. Both aspects flow into each other. For the final production and mix for Alpha, we teamed up with Benjamin’s brother Dimitri Desmet- also known as ‘Dimitri Andreas’ in the techno scene. He is the amazing third party of the production team, that makes the sound of what defines SX today. Dimitri is a real craftsman, really skilful, and has the best ears, we are very thankful for what Dimitri did on the final production and mixes.

Aside from the music part, Alpha was also a process of building our SX biotope. Therefore we used all of our talents and passions to reinforce our story. So during the whole songwriting/producing process, we were also working on videos, artworks, garments, and every other aspect we felt belonged to SX’s world.

We let the writing process inspire the visual part and vice versa, building stone by stone. With Alpha, we really challenged ourselves to create every aspect on our own. For example, Benjamin, Harvey and I traveled all the way to the Suriname Amazon to translate our concepts and ideas into image. With Benjamin as director and editor, we created a lot of video footage over there. The contrast of our western, technological, virtual existence (or non-existence) with the reality of raw nature was a great source of inspiration for Alpha. We felt the need to explore and experience this in reality to be able to tell a true story. The same goes for the garments. I would counter and combine abstract futuristic latex fabrics with authentic Vlisco wax. Or with texture and materials, bringing liquid glass together with dark brown clay.

KALTBLUT: How do you combine the elements of your music and your artwork in your live performances?
SX: Both musically and visually we extend the tension line SX moves on. We combine electronic and real drums, analogue and digital keyboards, with sampled and real percussion. There’s also Stefanie’s deep, raw gospel voice that takes us back to the essence. We are waiting to incorporate our visuals in our lightshow, but we hope to do that in the future. Focusing on lights and the 3D aspects of the stage, we love a lightshow performed with Japanese precision. Also, our garments play with all the SX elements our music has to bring. Playing transparency in combination with the lightshow. Giving a lot, but not everything. Embracing the reality we live in, but also that mystery that surrounds life. Using classy shapes, latex and pure silk, letting it flow through the wind, as some kind of gracefulness to life.

KALTBLUT: How have you found touring so far, as well as your experience with Yeasayer – what have been the highlights?
SX: We love to travel in this way. To feel, see, and discover the world through our musical experience is a blessing. Touring with Yeasayer was radical. Every show was great. Packed venues, great crowds, and good vibes. We’ve learned so much on that journey. A highlight may have been our final show together at ‘Astra’, in Berlin.

KALTBLUT: What can we expect from you in the future, and which direction do you hope to take as a band?
SX: You can expect more music, videos and shows from SX. We really feel we want to elaborate the story we are starting to tell now.
Benjamin: As a band we hope to keep on growing. To keep on challenging ourselves as musicians, creators, and individuals. We are working on really exciting new stuff, and we hope to be able to share this with you in the future.

‘Alpha’ the debut EP is out today via Believe / Universal. Order it here - Kaltblut (DE)


"FindSpire Live Session"

Découvrez la nouvelle Full Live Session du groupe Belge: SX – réalisée by Findspire. Il y a même un bonus dans lequel le groupe se prête au jeu du Logo Quizz… on vous laisse découvrir tout ça en dessous. - FindSpire (FR)


"Magischer dan deze Airbnb wordt het niet"

Magischer dan deze Airbnb wordt het niet
Voor hun nieuwe videoclip trok SX naar deze grot in Gran Canaria. Onze redacteur ging mee

De Morgen trok met de Belgische band SX naar Gran Canaria voor de opnames van hun nieuwe videoclip. Het reisverslag lees je vrijdag online, maar hier is alvast een voorsmaakje: een portret van de unieke opnamelocatie, een 'Airbnb-grot' te midden van het Canarische kraterlandschap.

"Enkel voor avonturiers: laat je moderne, urbane levensstijl thuis. In ruil word je beloond met totale rust, fantastische berglandschappen en een pracht van een sterrenhemel."

Kan tellen als Airbnb-beschrijving, niet? Dat dacht ook SX-duo Stefanie Callebaut (30) en Benjamin Desmet (34). Voor de opnames van hun nieuwe videoclip trokken ze naar 'Acusa Seca Cave House', de unieke Airbnb van Manuel Cabezudo (40) in Gran Canaria.

Over de verblijfplaats: Acusa Seca mag dan wel in het hol van Pluto gelegen zijn en uit de 6de eeuw na Christus dateren, er is wel degelijk heet, stromend water, elektriciteit en ja, zelfs een toilet. Begrijpt Cabezudo dat wij comfort niet meteen met een 'cave house' associëren? De Spanjaard: (lacht) "Voor iemand die in de stad woont, spreekt een 'grothuis' waarschijnlijk tot de verbeelding. Maar voor ons, inwoners van Gran Canaria, is het de normaalste zaak van de wereld. Het is erfgoed van onze voormalige residenten, de Berbers - een etnische stam die vandaag nog in landen als Egypte, Libië en Marokko woont."

Zeldzaam zijn de grothuizen dan ook niet, geeft Cabezudo aan. Op Gran Canaria vind je er maar liefst 7.000; toch is de zijne een van de meest bijzondere. "Laat die Spanjaard maar in verkoopspraatjes vervallen, zie ik je denken. Maar geef toe: een uitzicht als deze zie je niet iedere dag."

We geven het toe: het uitzicht, de rust... dit is uniek. Maar waarom heeft Cabezudo er dan niet zelf zijn intrek in genomen? "Ik ben geboren en getogen in het metropolitaanse Las Palmas. Ben opgegroeid in een 'gewoon' huis, net zoals de meeste van mijn vrienden. Tot de jaren vijftig van de vorige eeuw was de bevolking talrijk in deze streek, maar nadien heeft zich de fameuze 'exodus rural', de plattelandsvlucht zich voltrokken."

Nog de Spanjaard: "Op het eerste zicht heb ik dus niets met grothuizen, maar ik heb er mij één uit idealisme gekocht - kostprijs: 100.000 euro. Terwijl de rest van de wereld beseft dat de ecologische voetafdruk van massatoerisme gigantisch is, gelooft het overgrote deel van de Canarische bevolking nog steeds dat het de oplossing voor alles is. Ik niet. Ik geloof in de trend van duurzaam toerisme die berust op economische, ecologische en sociaal-culturele duurzaamheid. Mijn 'cave house' biedt een kleine, onafhankelijke accommodatie die zelfbedruipend is - de grot wordt bijvoorbeeld natuurlijk verwarmd. Milieuvriendelijkheid boven en fijn neveneffect: als toeristen hun weg naar hier vinden, kan ik ook het karige aantal zelfstandigen in de streek ondersteunen."

Cabezudos klanten zijn doorgaans kinderloze koppels tussen de 25 en 40 jaar die er een sport van maken om via sites als Airbnb slechts enkele muisklikken verwijderd te zijn van een onvergetelijke ervaring. "En dan heel af en toe komt er een productie langs, zoals de die van de fantastische Stefanie en Benjamin van SX. Of ik daar vreemd van opkeek? Helemaal niet. Ik heb hier ook al Chinese realitysterren over de vloer gehad, ik ben wel het een en ander gewoon."

De Canarische eilanden, dat is een geval apart. Cabezudo: "Politiek zijn we Spaans, geografisch Afrikaans en cultureel Latijns-Amerikaans, maar we beschouwen ons niet als een aparte entiteit. Separatistische bewegingen kunnen hier maar moeilijk wortel schieten omdat inwoners beseffen dat we economisch niet zonder Spanje kunnen."

De Berbercultuur heeft onlosmakelijk haar stempel op het Canarische eiland gedrukt. "Veel tekens herinneren ons aan de Berbers, zoals plaatsnamen. Tejeda, Artenara... Klinken Spaans, maar zijn het niet", geeft Cabezudo aan.

"Met de Spaanse Conquista in 1483 is de Berbercultuur de kop ingedrukt. Toch is ze lang blijven voortsluimeren. De Spanjaarden zijn hier met 'slechts' 500 gearriveerd; de Berbers waren met 50.000 en kenden de bergregio op hun duimpje. Bijgevolg hebben de Spanjaarden eerst de vlakke hoofdstad Las Palmas veroverd en heeft het tot latere Conquistas geduurd voor ook de meer afgelegen dorpen werden veroverd. Mannen werden als slaven meegenomen, de vrouwen bleven hier." - De Morgen


"Rencontre : SX – Mystérieux alliage"

Nous avons rencontré Stefanie Callebaut et Benjamin Desmet, les deux visages de SX, à l’occasion de la sortie de leur nouvel EP. Alpha, c’est quatre titres puissants et limpides, une musique magnétique aux confins du gospel futuriste, et teintée de discrètes influences pop. La voix singulière de Stefanie caressant les arrangements de Benjamin fait éclore une oeuvre messianique risquant de résonner dans vos pensées pour une durée sans fin. Passionnés et talentueux, les deux artistes se produiront ce soir au Silencio.

Quand avez-vous décidé de travailler sur le projet SX?
Stefanie: On a tous les deux grandi à Courtrai, une petite ville Belge. Les choses allaient de soi, on partageait les mêmes amis, la plupart formait des groupes.. On faisait donc tous un peu de musique. En 2009, on a décidé de concrétiser le projet en jouant en studio.
En ayant choisi les lettres S et X, quelle idée vouliez-vous faire transparaitre ?
Benjamin: SX, c’est graphique, le S évoque la sensualité, la féminité et la magie tandis que la lettre X représente la force, le danger et le mystère. Tout est coordonné, l’idée de tension est omniprésente dans notre projet, avec notre musique nous entrechoquons différents contrastes.
Ces contrastes sont le reflet de vos personnalités, est-ce qu’ils influent sur votre manière de travailler? Benjamin, on vous voit que très peu dans les réalisations visuelles, c’est un choix?
Stefanie: Les différences n’empêchent pas le travail en symbiose, on fait toute la production ensemble. Benjamin est derrière la caméra lorsque nous tournons nos clips…
Benjamin: Prochaine étape, créer mon hologramme pour que vous puissiez me voir dans nos futurs clips.
Vous revenez ce printemps avec votre nouvel EP Alpha, que s’est-il passé entre sa sortie et celle d’Arche en 2012?
Benjamin: On a fait pas mal de concerts jusqu’à août 2014 pour ensuite se recentrer sur l’écriture de nos chansons.
Stefanie: Le premier album était distribué uniquement en Belgique. Tout est allé très vite, on postait sur Youtube Black Video, un premier clip sans prétention, et peu de temps après des radios ont commencé à diffuser notre titre. On a pas vraiment marqué un temps d’arrêt, on a juste décidé de prendre notre temps pour offrir un projet à maturité.

Que voulez-vous communiquer à travers Alpha?
Stefanie: C’est le prolongement de notre précédent album, il était intitulé Arche qui signifie le commencement en grec. Dans Alpha, on essaye de confronter la nature à la technologie.
Benjamin: On explore divers concepts, la création, la naissance d’une nouvelle idée. Vous visualisez la boule d’or sur la pochette de l’album Arche? Elle résume notre message, la créativité est l’essence de nos projets.
Avez-vous un titre préfèré dans cet EP?
Stefanie: Peut-être Under the skin , mais à vrai dire tout dépend de mon état d’esprit et puis pour tout vous dire je considère mes chansons comme mes enfants. Tu préférerais l’un de tes enfants?
Benjamin: Si je devais absolument choisir, j’opterai pour Shimona.


Vous avez fait une collaboration avec Dries Van Noten, considérez-vous la mode et la musique comme deux paramètres interdépendants?
Stefanie: L’aspect visuel est très important pour moi, les vêtements sont là pour compléter une histoire, ils viennent retranscrire notre musique. J’ai créé le label Community X, il est en concordance avec l’univers SX, on harmonise des matières antinomiques comme nous entrechoquons différents concepts dans nos chansons.
Que pouvons-nous vous souhaiter pour la suite?
Stefanie: J’espère voyager et faire perdurer le partage de notre musique tout en cherchant à nous affiner artistiquement au fil du temps.
Benjamin: Et rendre les gens heureux grâce à notre musique, ce serait parfait! - Modzik (FR)


"A LA RENCONTRE DE LA CRÉATIVITÉ BELGE"

Avec son électro pop unique emmenée par la voix très particulière de sa chanteuse, le duo belge a produit un EP efficace. La touche très créative de ce duo en fait tout son intérêt : des clips réalisés par la moitié masculine du groupe et une implication forte dans le milieu de la mode belge (ils créent notamment l’accompagnement musical des défilés de Dries Von Noten, mais aussi leurs propres vêtements). Alors plus que jamais, vive la créativité belge ! - Apar (FR)


"La Nature nous donne de l’espoir parce qu’elle renaît toujours"

SX EN INTERVIEW: « LA NATURE NOUS DONNE DE L’ESPOIR PARCE QU’ELLE RENAÎT TOUJOURS »

Nous avons rencontré SX lors de leur passage à la Maroquinerie en 1ère partie de Petite Noire. Le duo belge produit depuis 2009 une pop hypnotique et mutante dans un univers où la nature et la technologie cohabitent en harmonie. Avec ce nouvel Ep « Hurts », SX marche dans les beats de FKA Twigs et d’Arca, une pointe d’optimisme en plus.

Comment vous êtes-vous rencontrés ?

Stefanie : Avec Benjamin nous avons grandi dans le même quartier (à Courtrai en Belgique). Nous avions les mêmes amis et en 2009 on a commencé à faire de la musique en studio.

Vous avez tous les deux une formation musicale ?

Benjamin : Stefanie a étudié le jazz et moi la philosophie. C’est pour ça qu’on aime introduire des concepts dans notre musique.

Quelles sont vos inspirations musicales :

Stefanie : Elles sont vraiment très larges et périodiques. On peut être obsédés par un morceau classique et le lendemain par Michael Jackson ou Björk. On est toujours à la recherche de nouveaux sons mais on souhaite aussi que tout le monde puisse comprendre notre musique. C’est pour ça qu’on fait de la pop.

Le futur et la nature sont des thèmes très présents dans votre musique et dans vos visuels?

Stefanie : Le futur est un thème qui nous inspire beaucoup. C’est excitant, on essaye constamment de ressentir ce qui va se passer et d’y apporter une touche d’optimisme.

Benjamin: La nature nous donne de l’espoir parce qu’elle renaît toujours. C’est un cycle perpétuel et une source de bonheur immense qu’on veut partager avec le public

Stefanie : En même temps on cherche les contrastes. D’un côté il y a la nature qui apporte paix intérieur et repos et de l’autre le futur et la domination de la technologie. On essaye de combiner les deux dans nos sons, nos paroles et nos visuels. C’est une tension qu’on recherche.

Benjamin : C’est S et X

Qu’est-ce que c’est S et X ?

Stefanie : C’est d’abord un nom visuel. La combinaison deux lettres qu’on trouve intéressante. D’un côté il y a le S qui est une lettre sensuelle, douce et nostalgique et de l’autre le X qui est plus dangereux et mystérieux. En les réunissant, on accède à notre monde.

Qui a travaillé sur la production de cet album ?

Benjamin: On a d’abord travaillé tous les deux sur la composition des titres puis avec l’aide de mon grand frère Dimitri en studio.

Stefanie : On fait tout, tous seuls, de A à Z : la musique, les visuels, les vidéo et même le stylisme.

Vous avez créé le label Community X. De quoi il s’agit exactement ?

Stefanie : Community X est le label à travers lequel on fabrique tout l’univers visuel de SX. C’était important de pouvoir créer un monde à part entière, un biotope. Les vidéos, les vêtements, les visuels, tout ça compte autant que la musique car ça fait partie de l’histoire qu’on raconte. On travaille depuis 1 an et demi avec notre ami Harvey Bouterse qui a collaboré notamment avec Jean Paul Gaultier à Paris et nous avons maintenant toute une collection sous le nom de Community X, fabriquée entièrement à la main dans un atelier d’Anvers

Vous êtes allés au Surinam pour tourner le clip de « Hurts » ?

Benjamin : Oui, nous avons tourné toutes les vidéos de l’EP dans la jungle. La plupart du temps c’est moi qui filme et Stefanie s’occupe du stylisme.

Vous intégrez aussi des éléments 3D, comme dans le clip de The Future,

Benjamin: Oui, c’est mon petit frère qui travaille sur toutes les animations 3D comme le logo, les projections qu’on fait pendant notre concert et les clips.

Qu’aimeriez-vous dire au public parisien pour qu’il vienne vous voir en concert ?

Ce qui compte pour nous c’est de partager notre musique et notre univers. On aimerait pouvoir convaincre chaque fan un par un mais ce n’est pas toujours possible. Je pense qu’on essaye de donner un maximum d’énergie et de la joie sur scène. C’est ce qu’on veut partager avec le public même si ça peut paraître un peu cheesy.

Et pour la suite ?

Pour l’instant on se concentre sur la sortie de cet Ep et sur notre tournée de concerts en Europe. On devrait sortir autre chose après l’été en attendant la sortie de l’album. - Les Tambours (FR)


"Review Silencio 12/04/2016"

Il y a un mois, je découvrais SX. C'était une première partie, c'était une première fois, c'était une claque. Au point qu'ils en avaient éclipsé Petite Noir.

Ce soir, rebelote au Silencio. La claque, encore. Hypnose complète, impossible de décrocher. Je pourrais faire un nouveau live report sur ces 45 minutes de concert parfait. Je pourrais disserter des heures sur cette voix toujours incroyablement riche, de la caresse au cri, et surtout parfaitement juste et acérée. Je pourrais disserter tout autant sur le toucher du batteur, ce talent pour nuancer le rythme et la puissance, ce coup de baguette comme ce coup de balai. Sans parler des claviers, pour la répétition, pour la profondeur, pour la vague, pour l'écho, pour le brouillard et pour la corde sensible. Je pourrais même te parler de ce jam final, que je n'arrive pas à croire improvisé. Oui, je pourrais.

Mais je vais plutôt de te parler du projet complet, à travers leur EP Alpha. Parce qu'entre le premier concert découverte et le 2e concert confirmation, j'ai appris beaucoup de chose sur SX.

La chose principale à retenir de ces 4 musiciens, c'est qu'ils ont une ligne directrice ultra-travaillée et ultra-cohérente, qu'ils ont parfaitement su faire évoluer depuis leur premier album Arche en 2012 (ué, on était passé à côté de ça...). Et ça fait du bien de pénétrer dans un univers si construit. Les 4 titres de cet EP transmettent (presque) la même impression qu'en live : dès Hurts, on plonge tête la première dans une électro racée qui rassemble derrière elle aussi bien pop (Mercury) que r'n'b (Shimona). Le son est précis, implacable, presque trop parfait pour être vrai (merveilleuse Under The Skin).



C'est la même chose sur les vidéos qui accompagnent l'EP. Stéphanie Callebaut en fait presque trop. Ses danses, ses positions, ses fringues futuristes pourraient en agacer certains. Sauf que non. Elle rend ces choses-là évidentes. Naturelles. Parfaites.
Le clip de Hurts? La forêt amazonnienne. Des fondus noirs qui collent aux nappes électro, puis des plans qui s'accélèrent avant un changement de référentiel très futuriste. Les racines terriennes et l'éthérisme de la science-fiction. On ne saurait faire mieux pour représenter la musique de SX. Une esthétique soignée, et aussi racée que le titre, le tout fait par Benjamin Desmet, clavier du groupe... Ca en friserait presque le too much, là encore.

Sauf que voilà, avec SX, rien n'est jamais trop. Tout est juste parfait. Classieux. Grâcieux. Et sacrément puissant.
Alors toi aussi, va prendre ta claque. - MilmoLiveReport (FR)


"On y était : SX au Silencio"

D’ordinaire, j’écoute toujours les groupes que je vais voir en concert. Mais pas cette fois. Cette fois, j’avais envie de découvrir SX en live, sans rien connaître du groupe. Rien du tout. Je savais juste qu’ils étaient Belges. Et je sais qu’en Belgique, ils ont vraiment des super groupes débordant de créativité. Ça me suffisait pour me rendre au Silencio.
Il est 22h30 quand les rideaux s’ouvrent. Les musiciens sont déjà sur scène, la chanteuse longiligne arrive après. Grande, blonde, tout d’argent vêtue. Aurait-elle débarqué tout juste du Cinquième Element ? Avec sa gestuelle saccadée, elle semble en transe quand elle chante. La vérité, c’est qu’elle détonne par rapport aux autres membres du groupe qui affichent un calme presque olympien. Stéfanie Callebaut, elle, mène la danse. Littéralement. Mouvements saccadés, bras qui ondulent aux rythmes des nappes électroniques, elle hypnotise littéralement et embarque le public avec elle. Ici et là, on voit des jeunes gens entrer eux aussi en transe tandis que la musique déroule. Et cette musique parlons-en : des synthés omniprésents, des structures complexes, des percussions tribales, des mélodies planantes et cette voix puissante qui naviguent entre les aigües et les graves. Je suis scotchée. Les titres « Hurts » et « Shimona » transportent.
SX ne ressemble à personne. Un univers pop-électro futuriste, une direction artistique définie et assumée. C’est barré, étrange, fascinant. On m’avait prévenue : on accroche ou pas. J’accroche à 100%. En me renseignant après sur SX, je découvre que le groupe existe depuis 2011. Merde. Comment ai-je pu passer à côté de ce groupe depuis toutes ses années ? Je m’en veux. - RocknFool (FR)


"Das belgische Duo SX im Interview"

Mit ihrer Ende März veröffentlichten EP „Alpha“ hat das belgische Elektropopduo SX mächtig Staub aufgewirbelt. Wir zeigen das Video zur neuen Single „Shimona“ und stellen die beiden im O-Ton-Interview vor.



Were you guys sad when David Bowie died?
Stefanie Callebaut: Oh yeah..We were actually on our way to the airport or something, like really early in the morning on the highway and it was about 7:30am in the morning..
Benjamin Desmet: We turned on the radio..
Stefanie Callebaut: And we were like in a really good mood and then all of a sudden..
Benjamin Desmet: We had goosebumps all over!
Stefanie Callebaut: Yes, it was crazy. And then bit by bit we realized that he just released his new stuff and how connected everything was, it was really crazy. We had goosebumps all day. Like all week I think.
Benjamin Desmet: It was like a moment where you realize you’re alive!

Did you have a favorite song?
Benjamin Desmet: Oh so many… I really liked his new album. I really like his imagination and his Alter Ego Ziggy Stardust.
Srefanie Callebaut: He did so many different things, it’s like asking your favourite song from Michael Jackson..there’s not really a favourite, all of them are good somehow…

Would you mind briefly sharing with us what you use to record your music with?
Benjamin Desmet: With Abbleton. Mostly in the studio but also with the recorder of field recordings, we try to mix hard sounds, hard nature sounds or even more ambient sounds.

Do you spend more time on the recording process or on writing lyrics?
Stefanie Callebaut: We are writing most of the time inside the studio, so the recording and producing is like one big building. It is more like everything is floating at the same time.
Benjamin Desmet: It’s all in one, yes!
Stefanie Callebaut: Even when we’re writing we’re already working on production, because we are really into sample sounds and stuff so you’re already producing your sounds while writing. Most of the time everything happens already in the studio.
Benjamin Desmet: I guess we work a little bit like, i guess a lot of artists work that way, like with the stream of conciousness, just let it flow and then maybe conceptualize afterwards. It works really great when you just do and then you conceptualize.

I really enjoy your video „Hurts“! Was it really shot in the Amazon forests?
Stefanie Callebaut: Yes! We went to Surinam and shot three videos over there. We went with three people, me, Benjamin and Harvy, a guy we work with on our clothes and stuff and we packed all this together and went to the Amazons, deep down the jungle! It was a crazy ride…
Benjamin Desmet: It had a lot to do with the lyrics of the song, it’s about the time after singularity, the moment where technology takes over human consciousness. We are feeling this happening and that we are moving towards that. And the video we did plays after that. We survived it, back in nature, back in the jungle.
Stefanie Callebaut: The song is more like a beautiful gospel message we try to send out, like, everything is gonna be ok, nature is gonna win and it’s gonna be wild!
Benjamin Desmet: … and it’s not bad that sometimes it hurts, to go through the process.
Stefanie Callebaut: And we look back at the moment where we’re heading to right now, we’re like somewhere in the future, where technology takes so much space and people are losing their minds in a way. And we look back and want to say: Ok, it hurts, it did hurt to rebound, but we’re ok now, we’re back in nature. So we really needed to go to the wild Amazon jungle to really feel your nature and to feel that there is still something raw.
Benjamin Desmet: We did a car ride for like four hours and then an eight hour boat ride down the jungle in a very little boat!

Do you have a strong connection to nature, you enjoy being in nature?
Stefanie Callebaut: Yes! I think we enjoyed the contrast..
Benjamin Desmet: Yeah, because when we were on the boat we lost the connection of being a european, like some fake identity is surrounding us and it was like: oh, what am I?
Stefanie Callebaut: I think we are just really looking for contrasts, like our group name SX, the S is really soft and sensual, nostalgic; and the X is really abstract and a bit mysterious. We put the contrasts together. That’s what we’re doing in our music, in our clothes, in everything..
Benjamin Desmet: We like to keep it in the roots and reality.

Why do you guys call yourself SX? What’s the story behind it?
Stefanie Callebaut: It’s something visual, like the soft and abstract, and then you put them together, it’s like a tension you create and we look for this tension in our music, too.
Benjamin Desmet: It also resembles how Stephanie dances on stage, she can be really sensual but also very hard.

What are the three basic things that should be in a catering rider?
Stefanie Callebaut: I think it’s water, fruit and nuts, really healthy stuff. Keeps you going when you’re on tour. We are like really easy going.

If you could recompose the soundtrack for Charlie Chaplin’s „The Kid“ – what kind of music would it be?
Stefanie Callebaut: I guess it will be like exactly what we do, we would use our own vibes.
Benjamin Desmet: Yes, that’s a good answer…
Stefanie Callebaut: It would be challenging, though.. Charlie Chaplin…



„I still have the dream I go to school, or to my job or on stage without my clothes“



Do you have favourite german electronic music artist?
Benjamin Desmet: I really like your techno-scene, can’t pick a favourite! I really like the straight forward techno and the german style of techno. My brother is our co-producer and he mixed our records, he releases sometimes on a german label and i really like the sounds.

Have you been to Berghain before?
Stefanie Callebaut: No, we haven’t been there. We played twice here before, one time in Astra Berlin and the other gig was in Kreuzberg, a few years ago. Everyone we’re telling we play there is like: wow! So we’re sure it must be really legendary.
Benjamin Desmet: Isn’t it the nightclub who has big restrictions on who comes in?

Yes!
Benjamin Desmet: My dad once went in. He fooled the doorman and said my son is having a gig here, so he was partying in Berghain, that was cool!

You still buy records?
Stefanie Callebaut: We had a phase where we bought every Vinyl we like, now we try to select, every year we select in our minds, our favourite artists from the year and buy those records and only those records!
Benjamin Desmet: Its more like: I really like that one, let’s get that one!

Do you have a reoccuring dream or nightmare?
Benjamin Desmet: I still have the dream I go to school, to my job or on stage without my clothes. But last time i didn’t really mind, when I was younger i was really frightened, but now i am more fine with it. The nightmare became more of a reoccuring dream.
Stefanie Callebaut: When I was a bit younger every dream I had ended with the same vision: I was a mole, the animal which lives in the ground. I was that animal and every dream ended up the same way: i was rolling myself together and then i role off the stairs.
I had it for years and years, always with this ending. Now I don’t have that anymore, i am not the mole anymore!

You have a favourite quote or saying?
Stefanie Callebaut: Everything’s gonna be alright! It’s really simple, like couldn’t be more simple, but it’s very positive and i think everyone should keep this little positive reminders inside.

20. April 2016 - KulturNews (DE)


"SX on how they make electronic gospel so good it “Hurts”"

SX are the embodiment of just how dynamic DIY music can be. The Belgian duo, now in their second outing, make music that’s unmistakably pop, but with plenty of raw power humming under the hood. And Benjamin and Stefanie are fully invested in their collaboration in every last detail of production, from studio to music video to live. I wanted to talk to them primarily about how that creative process came together.

The sound of SX is big – really big – especially on the obvious hit single, “Hurts.” It’s clear that Stefanie’s vocals are an engine for everything else. Her vocal range is just extraordinary; she’s able to turn effortlessly from sultry crooning to something momentarily vulnerable or fragile to full-throttle ballad.

It’s a perfectly balanced EP: “Hurts” is tribal and heavy, “Mercury” soulful and deep. “Shimona” manages to sound 80s-inspired and contemporary all at once, whispering its way through excited momentum. “Under the Skin” is a slow-dance with sweet synths behind. Great sound design is all over the album, from clever organic percussion to glowing synth abstraction to layered vocals.

Impressively, this is all executed with the same accuracy onstage in the live show, from Stefanie’s vocal acrobatics to the rapid-fire drums (executed on electronic drum pads). The Kantine am Berghain show I caught was the very first of the tour, and it was already nearly flawless.

Onstage, you get a sense of the band’s kinetic energy. Stefanie never stops moving, as if she has more energy than she can contain.

I was most interested in how a sound this natural had come together. And my strong suspicion, even from listening to Benjamin and Stefanie talk, was that this was a real collaboration — don’t think just vocals plus producer. There were times where Benjamin said he would walk out of the studio and let Stefanie do vocals alone, returning to them when done (though not on every occasion, they hastened to add). But even in that event, there was no clear separation of duties, no clear line between production element and song strain, sound design and song craft. It was everything at once, all the time.

If I’m effusive, it’s because I think they’re about to be a big hit. So let’s hear a bit of how they work. And sure enough, the two were constantly completing each other’s sentences, Stefanie usually hanging back to get in the last word.

How are you working together on this production? Of course, the divide between songwriting and production is blurred; now you can kind of do both at once.

Benjamin: It’s more hermetic – building songs together.

Stefanie: (finishes) — a buiding process that comes together. Most of the things really exist inside the studio, so we’re producing and writing at the same time. Sometimes. Sometimes it happens with me just sitting at the piano.

Benjamin: Most of the times we conceptualize afterwards – really put the lyrics on afterwards. And we don’t start from a concrete idea, but from a stream of consciousness. Sometimes we have one sound and … we make a concept around it. We don’t have a fixed metholodgy.

Stefanie: But there is a philosophy, always.

Benjamin: It’s more tension – tension is the word.

Stefanie: All the songs, even if we start from a song or sample or whatever, we’re on some kind of vibe – some kind of ideas.

Tell us a little bit about this idea of tension; you seem to really like that word.

Benjamin: We really like the concept of tension. Coming from somewhere, going through somewhere else – even our logo, SX. It’s like a really sensual, organic ‘S’ and a more dangerous, futuristic ‘X’.

Stefanie: We always look for tension in everything we do. Bringing nature together with technology, for example.

Benjamin: If we have a drum beat, we have some 808 samples we layer with organic stuff. It’s some layer of both. And also in the synthesizers, they may be really electronic, and then her voice is more rooted in the soul. Again it’s the —

Stefanie: — the contrast. It’s something that makes us move. It makes us move our minds, our creativity, our lives.

Does that tension apply to the way you two work together?

Benjamin: Most of the time. Maybe people would say the girls are more soft and the boys, but in our situation, it’s the other side.

Benjamin: I’m the more nostalgic, romantic guy, and you’re more like — [makes a crashing sound]

Stefanie: Yeah, it’s true.

Benjamin: Maybe it’s true, in the way we work together. [She murmurs agreement.]

Stefanie: Sometimes he would be the ever-doubting person. We have so much luxury these days, we do everything ourselves and so much is possible – we have so many choices. He’s really always thinking – a lot. I’m more a feeling-in-my-belly person. So I think that’s the reason why I can more easily make choices. If I feel it, that’s the thing.

Where does the vocal writing happen in your process?

Benjamin: I think in vocals, the first takes we do are really the important ones. I always know we really will want to have these takes. Because those takes are always the best. You’re in the song, you’re in the vibe, and you really can go with that flow.

Stefanie: It’s the most pure.

Benjamin: Afterwards it gets more like a product. I really like demos; I really like raw.

I definitely get the rawness – on the other hand, these tracks definitely feel finished, feel produced. They don’t seem anything like demos.

Benjamin: It depends, because also when Stefanie has more time to feel, a vocal gets better and better.

Stefanie: We always take time for our music to grow. It’s something that’s really important for us — for a lot of artists, I guess. Sometimes it happens that we have a song in two days — but most of the time. it’s not. It’s really growing. It needs to.

What is your studio like?

Stefanie: We have three studios. We have the chaos studio, and then clean studio, and then the studio of his brother.

Benjamin: Yeah, we work together with my brother; he has, like, the real studio.

Stefanie: So it depends on which phase or mood we are.

Benjamin: I work most in the clean studio, and you work —

Stefanie: — in the chaos studio.

And these are computer productions, right; you’re working with Ableton Live? Does the computer travel between studios?

Benjamin: In one studio we have the Mac Pro, and the other laptop. I think Ableton is at the center.

Stefanie: The chaos studio is full of synthesizers and books, and then carpet on the wall. That’s where I take my vocals. The clean studio is when we really need to think clean and abstract.

Benjamin: That’s where I record – where I record sticks on the floor or hit stones together. It’s more a minimalistic, abstract vibe.

So this is how your sound comes together, these different places?

Stefanie: I guess that’s SX, probably. Studio A is the really warm, cosy, home-y feeling. And then you have the abstract minimalistic thing. And then they come together in his brother’s studio.

Benjamin: He built a whole room – sound-proof but a really great acoustic. It’s a great environment to be in; it’s totally white. He has a Solid State Nucleus board. He’s a really calm being, also. So it’s really great to work there, to finish everything there. He’s not really much of an outboard gear slut.

How did your approach change from your maiden release?

Stefanie: I guess the biggest difference is that, for this one we really wanted to challenge ourselves to work with as few elements as possible – and to make it bigger. We just tried to go less is more. And I think I’m really happy with that result. It’s also just grown in musicality. we’ve grown – which is normal, I guess.

For that record, we worked with Ben H. Allen, an American producer; he mixed it —

Benjamin: He was really great to work with.

Stefanie: — but now it was a challenge, because we felt like we can do this ourselves. The challenge was, Let’s do this, then, let’s try to be really happy and make it really good ourselves. And that’s what we did. (laughes)

Because you could.

Benjamin: Because we could. We felt it was going okay, and also it really was great to involve my brother in the whole process. It’s so natural, and for the future, we could really make tracks, we don’t have to fly overseas to have a track.

Stefanie: We were really happy with the sound.

Benjamin: Maybe it’s more stylized, or maybe it’s more designed. But that’s what we like about it now. We can still evolve – that’s something we are, we say to ourselves, you can always evolve.

Stefanie: We keep on searching.

Benjamin: We played with a drummer, but a real kit – an electronic drum kit, the [Roland] SPD-SX.Ed.: That’s the real product name – nice coincidence. And we play with keyboards. I’m more the digital guy, I play with Ableton Push, and the other one is an analog guy who plays with the Prophets and the Mopho from Dave Smith.

Stefanie: That was another challenge; if we want to grow, I might need to get away from the keyboards more. It was really static.

Right, I mean, that’s always a problem for a keyboardist. You can really get trapped behind the keyboard.

Stefanie: I was stuck. And it worked; it was fine, it was fun. But to go to the next level, it is important for me to get away. So it’s really exciting to try and get away, because it’s also a safety zone. There’s always a keyboard between me and the crowd, and I’m just me and my keyboard and my voice. And i’m trying to get out there. I have to learn a lot, but it’s fun.

Benjamin: That’s why we got the second player to do her parts, and even more.

And you’re doing this stuff live. It’s not backing tracks or something.

Stefanie: It’s really important for us that everything is live.

How linear is the live performance? You’re doing some clip triggering?

Benjamin: Most of the sequences are just loops that are in the tracks, and it’s launched by the drummer most of the time. So he likes to play on a click track, but he launches a lot of sequences himself. Sometimes, if it’s too elaborate, then I can launch it — I guess it’s four beat or eight beat sequences, I launch it on my Push. But it’s most of the time, it’s Christopher the drummer who launches.

I like the songs without sequences. Most of the songs we don’t have sequences.

Ah, so this sounds like a really nice way to spend my Monday evening. I’m excited to hear this.

Stefanie: Please keep in mind it’s our first show!

How did the visual elements grow – you’re actually making your own videos and using even original costumes, as well?

Benjamin: Since the beginning of SX, we made all our own videos. So now we went to surinam… with our friend Harvey who’s co-designing clothing of everything Stefanie wears.

And we traveled … with a bus to a lake, and —

Stefanie: — just the Surinam River, it’s where the road stops. You have no option.

Benjamin: For half a day we went by boat through the jungle, and then we were in an amazing, heavenly place. we shot a lot of footage there, and one of them resulted in “Hurts.”

Stefanie: While we’re making our tracks, we already have an idea of what we want to do visually. It’s really important for us, the visual aspect – for us, it’s not just the music, it’s the videos, it’s the clothing, it’s the whole vibe, the whole thing. For “Hurts,” we had the idea for a long time. Because it’s about raw nature, the song. So we really wanted to go to the jungle — somewhere where it’s really pure, raw — that’s why we went to Surinam.

Benjamin: We had this idea that she’s an insect in the jungle. And that’s something that’s taking place after the singularity has happened, after the moment that technology has more consciousness than human consciousness. And then everything turns back to nature, and Stefanie is there in that jungle singing that it hurts. The whole process that we’re going through now – technology is taking over our human mood. And we were so intrigued by this idea that we really wanted to do something in the jungle to say that everything’s going to be alright. It’s like a new hippie song for us.

So it’s optimistic in that way?

Benjamin: Yeah, really optimistic.

Stefanie: It’s a message of hope – everything’s going to be fine. Nature’s going to win anyhow.

Benjamin: If it hurts, keep on going.

Stefanie: Yeah, if it hurts, keep on going. Go back to nature; it always calms you. We see a lot of people, the world we live in, people go mad. It’s too much. Because we live in a world where we are constantly occupied, busy with all these subjects.

We could have done this video in some kind of studio or something, but it wouldn’t have been real. And so that’s the main thing, to feel the realness.

Benjamin: Maybe we have to do a making of video that isn’t so stylized so people realize, ah, they really went to the jungle. It’s not like a backdrop.

So that reality was important to you.

Benjamin: For us, yeah. Like the oil you see on her skin —

Stefanie: It’s not oil! (laughs)

Benjamin: It’s sweat! Anti-mosquito…

Stefanie: Yeah, yeah, I think for us it’s realy important for ourselves to make a true story, a real story. Every song we do it has to be real.

Benjamin: For us, nature’s apogee — that can be love. Animals together, humans together. Or that can be the consciousness of people, the consciousness that technology is getting more and more creative. That can also be nature’s apogee. It’s that tension between love and the other side, again, that was at the source of the song.

Stefanie: We tell you the story, but for us it’s also important that the music and the lyrics are layered. You can make your own story.

Stefanie: And sometimes our ideas and concepts – we want to give people a simple message. Even if we start with something that isn’t as easy to think about. (laughs)

We make pop music, so it’s supposed to be —

Benjamin: — it’s still a bit poppy, although it’s scientific, or philosophical — but it’s still poppy —

Stefanie: Yeah, because we wanted to bring our music to everyone. We don’t want to be in a box.

But you would describe it as pop?

Benjamin: What is pop? I think that’s the question. Pop is the music that has the least boundaries, so you’re the most free. Like if you have techno music — or if you’re in the hardcore scene…

Stefanie: Pop music, you’re totally free to do what you want. I think that’s something really good … We can put pop music in a garbage bin and say, what’s wrong with pop music these days. But I think we have to be positive and see it as a form of free speech.

Benjamin: I studied jazz music. We just translate it – we just say pop music.

We work with verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge…

Stefanie: It’s really wide. It can be anything, in a way.

You could call it electronic gospel. You can say whatever you want! (laughs)

Thanks, SX! Hope to see you back around.

More on the band:

http://www.sxmusic.be

Plus they’ve done a music video minisite (and yes, this time they get to do the behind the scenes, lest you think this is all some green screen trick):

https://shimona.redbullelektropedia.be

Update – about that custom controller! Yep, we all spotted that! It’s called MOOD, and you can check out more in this Facebook gallery. - Create Digital Music (DE)


"Mixtape made by SX"

On est vendredi, il est 17h00, cessez de faire semblant de travailler. Nous savons bien que le brief sur le «carré sémantique entre pain d’épice et essence», vous vous en foutez comme de l’an 40. Pour ne pas parasiter votre bonhommie enjointe par l'arrivée du weekend, nous vous proposons un mix préparé par les très magnétiques SX, groupe belge de gospel du turfu. Massive Attack, James Blake, Her, David Bowie : c’est envoûtant, c’est détente, c'est tout en douceur. - Brain Magazine


"Das belgische Duo SX mit neuem Video"

Das belgische Duo SX mit neuem Video

Mit der Single „Hurts“ veröffentlichen Stefanie Callebaut und Benjamin Desmet einen Vorboten ihrer Ende März erscheinenden EP „Alpha“.

Das in seiner Heimat mit Gold ausgezeichnete Duo stand bereits mit Vampire Weekend, Poliça und Ariel Pink auf der Bühne, für die New Yorker Band Yeasayer tourten die Belgier als Support durch ganz Europa.

Die EP „Alpha“ von SX erscheint am 25.3. via Universal Music Belgium.

24. Februar 2016 - KulturNews (DE)


"Music videos of the week"

Die besten Clips der vergangenen Tage auf einen Blick. Diesmal mit Rihanna, New Order, Gold Panda u.v.m. - Intro Magazine (DE)


"Exclusive website to launch the video for Shimona"

Exclusive website to launch the video for Shimona - Red Bull ( INT)


"Review: SX op Rock Werchter 2016"

Mochten er nog godinnen gerekruteerd worden uit de rangen der stervelingen, kennen wij kandidaat nummer één.

sx
Stefanie Callebaut is de naam, en ze spoelde onze oren met goud, glitter en aloë vera. Haar hulpjes gaven ons synths met een forse speklaag, de drummer sneed ze in plakjes en ons Stefanie kwam de pakketjes als een wulpse slagersdochter aan huis leveren – u weet hoe dat gaat. Callebaut schurkt qua stem- en danswerk wel verdacht dicht tegen de ebbenhouten ledematen van FKA Twigs aan, maar waar Twigs ons visioenen geeft van openbloeiende madeliefjes en ontkiemende lotelingen, neigde het bij SX wat richting herfst.

Kwam het door Macklemore die stond te dreunen op de Main Stage? Stonden we al collectief te dromen van Jamie XX? Huiverden we voor de werkdag van morgen? Aan Stefanie zelf lag het niet: die hese stem, die bombast, die flarden theater tussendoor, die schichtige bewegingen – ze nam het adagium van Muhammad Ali ter harte: float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Waarvan akte.

Het gebrek aan enthousiasme in Klub C deed afbreuk aan Callebauts act: men stond zich schijnbaar te vergapen aan een bosnimf wiens danskaramelletje slecht op de maag gevallen was. De scène: op het podium een wild gebarende deerne (één woord: cybergeisha) die gewrichten bezit waar ze niet horen te zitten – dat die gewrichten duchtig geolied zijn, is evident. Daartegenover, in het duister, zo’n vijfduizend paar opgetrokken wenkbrauwen. Sleutelwoord in casu: onbegrip.

We hadden het SX wel gegund, een publiek dat even hondsdol voor hen stond als andersom. De show an sich werd immers wel gesmaakt, getuige het aantal decibels tussen de nummers door, maar het festivalvolk liet zich niet tot dansen verleiden door Callebauts wervelstorm. Wat er ook van zij: ooit zien we SX nog terug. Ooit. - HUMO


"SX: Schrik niet van de schikgodin"

Hulpeloze drenkelingen waren we bij het concert van SX, dobberend tussen diepe bassen en abstracte elektronica. Tot schikgodin Stefanie Callebaut ons met de wereldhit 'Gold' even een boei aanreikte. Met ijselijk gegil keilde ze ons in 'Shimona' evenwel weer in troebel water.

SX had makkelijk kunnen scoren met radiovriendelijke versies van 'Gold' en 'Black Video', maar koos voor het experiment
Moeilijke set van SX: op zondagavond, na vier modderige Werchter-dagen, was dwarse en arty muziek niet het eerste waar het publiek om vroeg. Maar moedig was het concert van Stefanie Callebaut en Benjamin Desmet evengoed: ze hadden makkelijk kunnen scoren met radiovriendelijke versies van 'Gold' en 'Black Video', maar kozen voor het experiment.

Op het podium tastte de band - uitgebreid met twee man van Amatorski - de grenzen van zijn nieuwe geluid af: minder Beach House, meer FKA Twigs ('Hurts') en Arca ('Under the Skin'); minder soezerige zoemtonen, meer knarsende en krakende blieps. Zo bood 'Comfort' alvast niet wat de titel beloofde en dreunde 'Singularity' de hele KluB C een paar centimeter naar links.

SX was op Werchter iets geweldigs op het spoor
De hits 'Gold' en 'Black Video' hadden een grimmige gedaanteverwisseling ondergaan, net zoals Stefanie Callebaut tegen het eind haar zilveren onesie plots had omgeruild voor een gazen cape - het leek wel een doorschijnende boerka.

Nog weirder was 'Shimona', waarin je plots twéé Stefanies zag. Bleek dat de frontvrouw van SX een zus heeft die als twee druppels water op haar lijkt, maar wij dachten toch even dat David Lynch de regie van ons leven had overgenomen. Een stevige mindfuck, nog versterkt door de futuristische, kaalgeknipte r&b die je hoorde.

Kortom: SX was op Werchter iets geweldigs op het spoor. Tot ze het gevonden hebben, klampen we ons vast aan die wijsheid uit 'Gold': "You climb and you fall, this is how a human heart sounds." - De Morgen


"SX op Rock Werchter: Space... The final frontier"

Stefanie Callebaut van SX droeg in Werchter een nauwsluitend zilveren pakje waaruit we meenden te mogen afleiden dat ze net auditie had gedaan voor een nieuwe reeks van Star Trek. Of was het de voor The Woman Who Fell to Earth? Dat zijn we even kwijt. Liet die hang naar futurisme zich even hard voelen in de muziek? Om met Vicky Pollard te spreken: Yes but no but.

What's the fuss?

Het Kortrijkse SX, een alliantie van Callebaut met Benjamin De Smet, groeide dank zij de single 'Black Video' in een mum van tijd uit tot een sensatie. Het duurde dus niet lang voor er bij het duo een grote platenmaatschappij op de stoep stond. Het resultaat was het ambitieuze 'Arche', een in 2012 verschenen cd vol kosmopolitische, vaak dansbare popmuziek waarin meer dan één pijltje richting eighties werd geschoten. In afwachting van een echte opvolger kwam het stel enkele maanden geleden met de ep 'Alpha' op de proppen. Blijkbaar hebben die twee van SX vroeger goed opgelet tijdens de lessen Grieks.

Toch niet beter de toog opgezocht?

Neen, want we wilden wel eens weten hoe de zaken er tegenwoordig in het SX-kamp zoal voor staan. Op die vraag kregen we in Werchter slechts een gedeeltelijk antwoord. Het duo (op het podium een kwartet) denkt duidelijk in concepten, en daarin wordt la Stefanie nadrukkelijk als een visuele troef uitgespeeld. Ze etaleerde een nogal theatrale manier van dansen, vaak met bruuske, hoekige bewegingen. Om eerlijk te zijn: die leidde eerder de aandacht af dan de muziek echt te ondersteunen.

De zangeres beschikte over een soulvolle stem die afwisselend deed denken aan Roísin Murphy (vooral in de gewezen radiohit 'Gold') en Kate Bush. Toch zat ze iets te diep in haar eigen wereldje om écht contact te maken met het publiek. Het statische, nogal contourloze 'The Future' ging bijvoorbeeld roemloos de mist in.

De muzikanten, een drummer en twee toetsenspelers, bleven in de schaduw, ook al produceerden die vaak prikkelende elektronische geluiden.Van de nieuwe songs onthielden we onder anderen de single 'Hurts' en 'Shimona', al spijt het ons te moeten melden dat Callebaut zich in het laatst genoemde iets te fel aan vocale overacting bezondigde. Het concert maakte nieuwsgierig naar de volgende langspeler van SX, zoveel is zeker. Maar we wachten ook wel af met een bang hartje.

Materiaal voor uw snapchatverhaal?

Tijdens 'Shimona' verscheen er plots een dubbelgangster (of was het een kloon) van Callebaut op het podium. Een vervreemdingseffect dat kon tellen en een beeld waarmee u al uw vrienden gegarandeerd op het verkeerde been zult zetten. Je kunt niet blijven uitpakken met die zwarte video. - Focus Knack


"REVIEW. SX: Futuristische Lorelei"

Futuristische r&b, 21ste-eeuwse folk, elektronische gospel: noem de muziek van SX wat je wilt, maar duidelijk is dat de band aan het vervellen is. De groep rond Stefanie Callebaut en Benjamin Desmet, aangevuld met Sebastiaan Van den Branden van Amatorski op toetsen en drummer Christophe Claeys (Magnus, Amatorski), zoekt het vandaag in donkere, uitgepuurde elektronica.

Diepe zoemtonen van ‘Under the skin’ deden de plankenvloer van Klub C uit zijn klinknagels trillen. ‘Hurts’ zoog zich op en neer tegen een vreemdsoortige, bezwerende elektronische puls. Callebaut, met haar zilveren catsuit met doorschijnende cape had ze iets van een futuristische Lorelei, plaatste er wulpse dansbewegingen rond die gestyled leken door FKA twigs.

Hun nieuwe geluid is onderkoeld en sexy, maar ook traag en hoekig. Hij ligt minder makkelijk in het gehoor dan de dromerige, soms epische elektropop van ‘Black video’ en ‘The future’. Dat had zo zijn effect op het al vermoeide festivalpubliek, dat langzaamaan uit de tent wegsijpelde. Nog wat sleutelen en dit is een topshow. - De Standaard


Discography

First Album - ARCHE

  1. Gold
  2. Arche
  3. Graffiti
  4. The Future
  5. Black Video
  6. Midnight Hour
  7. Plateaux
  8. Pearls
  9. Beach
  10. Aurora 

Second Album - ALPHABETH
  1. Comfort
  2. Tango
  3. Apollo
  4. Shimona
  5. Vision
  6. Under the skin
  7. Phenomenal woman
  8. Hurts
  9. Singularity
  10. Mercury 


Photos

Bio

Imagine the mysticism of Van Eyck running into the surrealism of Magritte on some Balearic beach at 6 o’clock in the morning. Then imagine the two passionately falling into each other’s arms like two disciples of acclaimed Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet. Finally, imagine what the baby of that joyously odd, yet strangely fitting one-morning stand might look or – better yet – sound like. Suffering from a severe lack of imagination? We’ve got your back! Just listen to Alphabet, the sophomore album of Belgium’s most avant-garde pop outfit SX, and you’ll know what we’re talking about.

Four years after the duo’s debut album Arche struck gold in their native country, SX returns with a more confident, stripped, fiery, harmonious and ultimately also more seductive album. ‘I like to call it exotic reality’, says sonic witchdoctor Benjamin Desmet about Alphabet’s sound. ‘In the sense that we look for the unexpected in the realm of both our imagination and the world around us’, adds Stefanie Callebaut, SX’s captivating frontwoman. ‘We love to experiment and push the boundaries of pop music – adding both gospel and techno along the way.’

Mind you, rewriting the rules of pop has always been part of the band’s DNA – ever since storming onto the airwaves with the dreamy lo-fi synthpop tune Black Video in 2011. ‘But we were just kids back then’, says Callebaut about the years leading up to Arche. ‘Listening to it today, I often get the impression that certain songs contain enough darlings for two tracks! This time around, we wanted to do as much as possible with as little as possible.’

In case you’re wondering: Arche is Greek for ‘beginning’, while Alphabet is the band’s way of saying they’ve now found all the letters they need to write songs – ‘pure and simple’, according to Callebaut. ‘ ere’s a certain serenity to how we make music now, but also still very much a sense of wonder and – ultimately – harmony.’ e same goes for SX’s stunning music videos, which the two band members direct themselves. Desmet: ‘ They are an essential part of the sensory experience that is SX.’

An even bigger part of that experience is frontwoman Stefanie Callebaut’s captivation with movement. ‘To the extent that it sometimes almost gets in the way of the music’,she admits – only half-joking. ‘It definitely happened that we were working on a track and Benjamin came up with something brilliant – musically – but I just couldn’t bring my body to dance to it. So we cut it. It’s never just about what’s going on in my head. I need to feel our music in my fingers, toes and pretty much every other part of my body.’

Chances are: so will you. Alphabet is nothing short of a sultry wonder: ‘Pretty abstract but also very human’, asserts Desmet. ‘Surreal but concrete. Less but more. A product of our bewilderment and fascination for the world around us. Sort of like a painting of René Magritte, who also stuck to simple yet powerful, inventive and deliciously odd images – full of color and humanity.’ In a nutshell, that’s precisely what Alphabet is about. 


Band Members