Ben Lukas Boysen, also known by his stage name Hecq, is an electronic music composer based in Berlin.
Boysen learned classical guitar and piano as a child. He moved to Berlin in the early 2000s, setting up a studio called Hecq Audio, and composed electronic music under the alias Hecq from 2003. As Hecq, he released music in a variety of electronic styles, including glitch, ambient, breakcore, abstract IDM, and dubstep, mostly on the label Hymen Records.
In 2014, he was featured (under his given name) in the lead track of Jon Hopkins’s LateNightTales release. He signed with Erased Tapes and released two full-lengths to date as Ben Lukas Boysen. The first, Gravity, was originally issued in 2013, but was reissued by Erased Tapes in 2016; the second, Spells, appeared in 2016 as well.
Boysen also does soundtrack work and has written pieces for entities such as Marvel and Amnesty International.
FACTS:
1: There is no ultimate truth.
2: I take minor chords over major chords almost any time.
3: ThereÕs hardly ever enough reverb.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
Any form of escapism.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
My family introduced me to all kinds of music very early in and throughout my life. I listened from the very beginning and actively started making music when i was 12 or 13 i think.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
(in no specific order)
01: Autechre – Quaristice.Subrange.ep.ae
02: Max Loderbauer & Ricardo Villalobos – Re:ECM
03: Keith Jarrett – Dark Intervals
04: Bohren & Der Club Of Gore – Piano Nights
05: Nina Simone – Forbidden Fruit
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
True friendships, wonderful summers, horribly dull winters, great coffee and pizza, amazing music, overhyped stores and places, namelessness, chance and luck, greed, safety, valediction, being home.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
There are (too) many and they depend on the occasion but generally: wherever there is really good coffee or really good beer.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Architecture or photography.
7. What was the last record/music you bought?
Leyland Kirby – When We Parted My Heart Wanted To Die
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
There are too many to take a top pick. Among the favorites would certainly be Arve Henriksen, Kronos Quartet and The Orb!
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
ItÕs not that easy since this depends on the phase of live iÕm in but one thing thatÕs for sure is that all Godspeed You Black Emperor gigs i saw really transformed me.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
It depends. IÕm not very tech-savvy but iÕm specific in my choice of gear. I love the fact that ideas need to be channeled through (certain) machines (just like instruments) and that every now and then you can breathe life into circuits. Something i feel is missing in mobile and /or app based music making so far – i need some wires and switches and keys.
11. Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career/art?
I do have 2 older brothers and they could not be more supportive. They were a huge part of my musical upbringing and showed/taught me a lot. So in a way they are in almost every not i write.
