‘A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile, the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral…’ (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince)
In music as in life, the devil ‘hides’ in the details. In other words, no one can guarantee that a piece of music will be perceived as something more than just the sum of its parts, therefore each time a debut album such as Overture’s ‘Screaming Silence’ breaks through the multitude of releases that see the light of day, by offering music of sonic and emotional richness, we can’t resist supporting it !
“Reanimation is about the survival of humanity. It’s about mastering the perseverance that keeps you going when you’ve been forced from your home and your family by (what ought to be equal) men and women in uniforms…“
Overture, is the solo project of Dexter Krusdorf who is based in Copenhagen. He introduced Overture with an extract from Charlie Chaplin’s notorious role in ‘The Great Dictator‘ with the aim of talking about one of the gravest challenge the world faces today: “…mastering the perseverance that keeps you going when you’ve been forced from your home and your family by men and women in uniforms…“. The debut album of the project was released through Black Verb Records after Dexter self released the EP entitled ‘Reanimation’ in 2016. Apart from the fact that any new addition to the ‘family’ of Black Verb Records is almost a guarantee of quality, Overture impressed even before the project was signed to Black Verb, through the release of this first EP.
The project’s take on coldwave, darkwave music immediately triggered emotions and thoughts through the rich textured sound, the skillful layering of vocals and the overall arrangement that creatively combines synth melodies with Dexter’s amazing guitar solos.
A preview of the two releases through the project’s official bandcamp page will convince you about the transition from a darker more gothic in style and atmosphere, rich textured and deep sound (i.e. ‘Reanimation’) to a sound which is more punk in style, more confident and textured with more emphasis placed on percussion without obscuring the amazing guitar melodies (i.e ‘Screaming Silence’).
Dex is a truly talented and highly creative artist who is involved in all aspects of an album’s release. Within two years he released an EP, he then mixed and mastered his debut album ‘Screaming Silence’ and is already preparing the next release! The visuals and videos that accompany each released are his brainchildren as well and they reveal an admirable aesthetic quality, strong theatricality, a deep 
fascination with conceptually strong black and white images and the desire “…to create something that causes any kind of emotion inside anybody who watches…“
The music of Overture will not leave your soul or your heart untouched as either the mesmerizing and seductively melancholic guitar and bass melodies (i.e.‘Weightless’) or the ‘playful’ yet mind numbing synth sounds of ‘Dusty Dance’, will manage to make your mind navigate and yourself “…gasping in an ice cold breeze…“. You will want to listen to this album again either in order to admire the guitar solos and guitar skills evident throughout the album, to enjoy the ‘scratches’ and the electrifying melodies of ‘Screaming Silence’ or to listen again to the psychedelic ‘No One Will Know’ or the more punk ‘Swipe Culture’.
Blauerosen was delighted to talk to Overture about his music, his future plans, Black Verb Records, ownership of art, the famous Ungdomschuset in Copenhagen and many more!
Hi Dex,
It’s a pleasure talking to you. First of all congratulations for the release of a beautiful album both musically and visually!
Likewise and thank you so much. Much appreciated.
Blauerosen: First of all why have you named your project Overture?
Well the word ‘overture’ has different definitions whether it refers to the noun or whether it’s referring to the world of music. Yet what they do have in common is that they are a form of prologue, prelude or introductory part to, either for example poems or an orchestral composition. I actually wanted to name the EP “The beginning of something beautiful” even before I had a name for the project all together so I just figured, this whole project ,should be (and hopefully to some, actually is) the beginning of something beautiful, thereby “Overture”.
Blauerosen: ‘Screaming Silence’ is your first album on Black Verb Records, following the release of the debut EP ‘Reanimation’ last year. How did the collaboration with Black Verb go?
I really liked Black Verb’s former releases and I was crazy about the artists in the Black Verb family and really wanted to be a part of that. I e-
mailed some Overture stuff to Phillip Läufer at the label and while I was working on a video project in Spain in January/February, he wrote back to me that he thought it was interesting stuff and it sort of just took off from there. BV represent such amazing names so I’m really proud to be part of that family.
Blauerosen: You have mixed and mastered this album and you have released your debut EP on your own. What were the differences between the two processes? Do you prefer one over the other?
Well musically “Screaming Silence” has got more roughage going on. I ditched a few machines and plug-ins from the EP and basically just riffed for weeks in a dusty rehearsal room and turned up the Marshall’s – Which is more for me anyway.
The difference between putting the EP out on your own and having somebody put out an album for you is huge. Unless you have a product, the masses really want (or think they do, due to whatever is currently the dictating norm), it is insanely difficult to put something out there on your own and just expect it to spread and grow. When somebody else has already created and earned an incredible base for sharing and putting out music, it makes it so much easier to both spread your music to as many people as possible and focus more on the music rather than the release itself at the same time.
Blauerosen: Did you create the videos by yourself?
Every last one.
Blauerosen: The very first track that you released in ‘Reanimation’ has extracts from ‘The Great Dictator’ with Charlie Chaplin. We also see extracts of this movie at the video clip of this song. Why did you choose this movie and this extract?
Reanimation is about the survival of humanity. It’s about mastering the perseverance that keeps you going when you’ve been forced from your home and your family by (what ought to be equal) men and women in uniforms. Men and women who, due to whatever brainwash they’ve been put through, now have a self-perspective that dwells in the thought of superiority of sorts; this point of view or this idea that leads people to crushing the spirits of, and taking away the homes and lives of, innocent people. When did the majority of the people succumb either to accepting or even taking direct part in these actions?
Then humanity itself requires reanimation. And that’s exactly what Chaplin’s speech means to me and why I chose to use it.
Blauerosen: The music of Overture so far is moving on coldwave/gothic post punk paths. I loved the guitar melodies, how the guitar and the bass are so nicely combined with the various sounds that give depth to each song. It’s hard for someone to realize that Overture is a solo project! What inspires you to go down the path of coldwave music in this way?
Thank you for your kind words. I just happen to love music in general. I play various types of instruments and I play various kinds of music. Sometimes I set out to riff for another project and it just turns out, I think, that the riff suits a coldwave or a synthpop song better. It’s hard to say, whenever I’m recording or writing music in general, I am really happy somewhere inside for sure. But I guess i can write this type of music whether I’m happy or really depressed. On one hand it’s a tool of communication. Communicating whatever is inside you and wants to break free but on the other hand it’s also just one art form out of a million others that I just happen to love and try my best to contribute to.
Blauerosen: Which bands are your biggest influences and what sort of music do you like listening to when you want to relax?
I actually try not to listen to too much cold/darkwave or post-punk whenever I want to record ‘cause I like to keep the sound fresh and unique. And unfortunately, our subconscious has a nasty habit of stealing shit when we aren’t paying close attention. Obviously there are hundreds of wonderful artists but for influences, I don’t know. It’s always difficult comparing your own stuff to other stuff and then tell the people who enjoyed it, to begin with. Those people are much better at telling you what your influences must have been anyways. But a couple of examples for relaxation? I’m on never-ending Molly Nilsson cruise I gotta admit. Whether I’m in bed, biking to work or working on something, I’m floating on thin air listening to her stuff. Pure magic. Also, I’m quite addicted to a French post-punk group at the moment called “Litovsk”, they do really amazing work as well.
Blauerosen: ‘Screaming Silence’ is one of my favourite songs from the album. It is interesting that you have used this combination of words because I also believe that sometimes silence can be really deafening and can be perceived as screaming. Simon and Garfunkel have also attempted to address the sonic aspect of silence with their song ‘The Sound of Silence’. A friend of mine said that he finds people who can share silent moments really fascinating. How do you deal with a ‘screaming silence’?
To me screaming silence is the worst possible human emotion. I define screaming silence as exactly what is inside of you when you want to 
just disappear yet you cannot put words behind any potential action. Everything inside you is screaming in anguish but all the emotions, all the words get choked in your throat before it ever reaches your mouth. Only one or if you are lucky, maybe two people in the world that you share the closest human bonds with, are able to hear the screaming silence. And when one of those extremely few people actually do address it, you can only dream of begging them to stop and leave you alone cause to me at least, only you, yourself can conquer screaming silence.
Blauerosen: Does the song ‘Villa Paranoia’ refer to a paranoic villa? If yes, then could you tell us where this villa is? 🙂
That song is actually about a guy I was living with when I wrote most of the album. I was about to be homeless again when I found this shady old dude who was looking for a roommate. I had no other choice so I moved in straight away. No internet, no phone, no nothing in this place. He actually mentioned something about al-Qaeda when talking about why he didn’t want to have internet. I had a home again, I was worry-free and thought nothing of it. As time/months went by I realized I haven’t cooked once in this house (besides noodles in lukewarm water in the shower), cause this guy basically lives in the kitchen and he’s fucking off. One time he told me about the special locks he had put in the front door for like 10.000 dkk which is like 1000 quid. So this other time I forget to lock em and only then do I realize what the whole story was about, in the first place. This guy was paranoid as shit. Didn’t do anything, didn’t talk to anybody and didn’t leave the apartment, ever. Therefore I practically lived in the rehearsal room where I could write songs, drink warm coffee and not having to deal with this guy. Anyways whenever I told my friends about it they thought the whole situation was hilarious so I decided to write about it and the song is basically about the apartment being the only safe place from crazy guys POV
Blauerosen: Could you share with us a situation/thing/place that has inspired one of your songs?
Actually I guess the two previous answers covered that.
Blauerosen: You look like a combination of Brandon Lee at the ‘The Crow’ and the heroes of the famous horror movies ‘Ring’ and ‘Grudge’ in the videos and photos of the album. Were these movies an inspiration for the visuals? If not, which are your influences on what concerns the visuals?
Hehe, those are pretty funny comparisons actually. I guess I wanted to do some sort of trademark-ish, very simple look. Black and white always master that task. I never gave it too much thought. What does concern me are the visuals of the videos. I put a lot of work into these and try to make them as much mine and as unique as possible. I want them to create something, just any kind of emotion really to anybody who watches. That’s the main goal.
Blauerosen: You are based in Copenhagen. Which are the most influential and the least influential aspects of everyday life in the city when it comes to writing music?
Least (when talking about this city in particular) would be watching a beautiful old city you love, descend to bricks on the street just so scums of the earth can put up skyscrapers that are neither livable nor accessible to the common man/woman.
Most, are the people and the places you love. Everybody has places that are sacred to them wherever they are from. Those places sometimes immediately bring out passion, anger, love, desire, despair, depression or joy. Secret, nonetheless; Inspirational.
Blauerosen: On the project’s Bandcamp page we can read that this album was mixed and mastered at Ungdomshuset. Is this a new venue and how is it related to the older building that was demolished and ‘cleared’? I was really impressed when I read this because I am familiar with the whole story about the original building and I have seen very interesting documentaries about it. Could you share with us a little bit about your experience producing an album there?
Ungdomshuset is the same place as it used to be basically. Some are the same wonderful faces for ten years, some are new. We got the house about a year after the torn down our old one and we’ve been here ever since. This is my second home; I just basically couldn’t see myself doing it anywhere else. I mean I have my somewhat portable home studio that I set up in Ungdomshuset where I have all my guitars basically. The sound is often rough and things do get a bit too distorted, dusty or messy but I wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else.
Blauerosen: The very first EP of Overture had the following message ‘Use at will’. Where do you stand on what concerns ownership rights and misuse of art? There have been famous cases of well-known musicians who suddenly found out that their music was used in a context that was in contrast with their own values. How could this be avoided without sacrificing free access to art for the public?
I don’t know, I mean I don’t believe you can own art. I don’t care whether it’s KISS or Overture not making a few bucks off a record. I couldn’t care less, thereby use at will. Art is for us to take in, feel, modulate and share in any possible way we can. It’s like caging a lion in the city for economic purposes. We cannot and should never ever try to trap such a beautiful, ungrasped and divine creation, just for our own benefit.
Blauerosen: If you were to suggest to the audience, an ideal setting for listening to your music, what would this be?
Biking late at night. Gasping in an ice-cold breeze.
Blauerosen: The videos that have been released so far for the songs ‘Screaming Silence’ and ‘Burn It Down’ seem to have borrowed elements from the aesthetics of comics and dark indie computer games. Were these areas sources of inspiration for you?
Hehe, comics and computer games? No, not really. The aesthetics I create make me feel something and that’s what I want them to do for other people as well.
Blauerosen: The videos for the EP were quite different from those of this album. How did you decide this change of style?
It’s not really a change of style as much as it is just songs being very different from each other. I mean the EP (being an emotional EP, surely) is more politically charged, whereas “Screaming silence” really dwells more in personal endurance and perseverance. Whatever you feel when you write a song, you visualize somehow in your mind too. You want to try and match that pure spark of original thought when you’re finally ready to go in that editing room, and that’s what I try to do.
Blauerosen: Any plans for gigs this year? Would you be interested in playing live in London?
Unfortunately no. I’m far too busy at the moment, recording another album for you guys! But fingers crossed for 2018.
Blauerosen: Thank you for your time
Thank you! All the love from Copenhagen.
Blaue Rosen 
You can support Overture by following these links to access and purchase his releases: https://overturecph.bandcamp.com/releases and
https://blackverbrecords.bandcamp.com/album/screaming-silence