The State of Noise in Belgium

[Nadir]

To think about it some more.. It is history, and government support for labels and organizations (not all of them, of course), that ensure that certain aspects of the experimental scene are largely absent here in Belgium. As a student or young person, you are exposed more to the other end of the spectrum than, for example, PE or Harsh Sounds, etc., so you can't expect them to organize such events unless they receive tips from someone or have a genuine interest in what is still alive. In any case, it is always good to see young people active in any kind of experimental sound. For instance, a few months ago I saw ADIA VANHEERENTALS & KIARA GOVAERT performing as the opening act for BAUDOIN OOSTERLYNCK in Wilrijk. Beautiful sound collages combined with sax sounds, and you were allowed to have a drink in the venue :).

As someone in his early twenties I can say that in the age of internet, everything is essentially at your fingertips. You only need a good dose of curiosity and you will eventually find what you've been looking for, without knowing you were looking for it so to speak haha. Of course the problem is that today many (young) people are stuck on platforms like spotify that have algorithms pushing what they want you to hear, besides there is virtually no noise/experimental music on there. Anyway the disease that is spotify is a discussion for another time.

All that being said, finding stuff on the internet and actually finding the real life music scene are two different things. I started getting into underground music via (black) metal, but like I already implied in the OP, I became disappointed with this scene and started looking for something new/different, eventually landing on industrial and noise. However the noise scene in Belgium seemed at first to be a void! So my initial question in the live reports thread was not just a cynical rhetorical question, but one of genuine interest. Anyway if this thread so far proved anything, I think it is that there is much more interest in noise in Belgium than appears on the surface, so for that I am very happy.

[NedOik]

Absolutely! Subsidies for the cultural sector are a blessing. Looking back at my previous responses I notice that I have been too critical of governmental support, while this is obviously what keeps everything going. Also I have been too binary, as of course many if not most 'underground' organisers and venues are also enjoying the benefits of government support one way or the other.

It's interesting regarding Club Moral, when I interviewed them for a doc that I was making about art collectives - now 20 years back - they both said that that subsidies were available but there was a conscious decision not to accept them. As obviously the organisations giving funding are doing it in their interest, and once you stop becoming a "useful idiot" then they will drop you. It can be a means to an end but in the long term it's counter productive to producing anything "vital" in terms of a culture.