Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with xtort
We are xtort from NL/DE Playing dark electro & industrial wave, Pete & Irma , married for a long time and together in music for a few years now
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Irma
Our records at home, with 70s music, later really got into Prince
Pete
The Old Philips stereo at hour with singles in it by Bowie , Blondie etc
I Guess the most impact was a week where I saw shows by Borghesia & the Klinik in our local youth centre when I was 15 years old, that might have been a big influence….
How did your passion for creating music begin?
In the early 90s we got into an exciting mix of Metal, Gothic and House music, things where really boiling back then, you could crossover almost everything and we wanted to get into that, that’s how Pete’s first industrial rock band started (HOER)
What’s the story behind your current music project?
It is mainly a continuation of the old band, we lost the metal guitars and our sound evolved more into the postpunk / wave sound, The origins of Industrial music.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
A More extreme , louder version of Kraftwerk probably
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music? Synthesizers , just because of the almost limitless possibilities of them.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process? Synthesizers samplers and drummachines and probably cubase , it is all you need to make complete productions in a single setup, our favorites are the Roland Alpha Juno2, Oberheim Matrix1000 nothing beats old analog synths.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
We really enjoy a lot of music in different styles, but we love dark minimal acts like; Hollow Reflection, Lifeless Past, Staatseinde, Boy Harsher etc.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision? Yes very much, Pete is a social worker and puts a lot of his experiences into songs, we both share a more sombre vision on how society is becoming harder and harder. How to cope with that and mental resilience is a theme for us.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work? Hang in there, you are not alone in the daily struggle….. and take some love into the world.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Surround yourself with creative people, they are the creators , most others are destructive…
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Without a doubt, that will probably ´Wave Gothic Treffen´ the worldwide get together for all the lovers of dark culture !!
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why? We worked with a lot of cool people,but Moby would be on both our lists, because he did a lot of different styles and techniques, has a punk rock attitude and is a really nice guy.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links) https://open.spotify.com/artist/2r4vP0stSMmsxm77UfDPPr
https://www.instagram.com/xtortnl
https://www.facebook.com/xtort
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical Journey We got some shows planned in the Netherlands . a.o. Amsterdam, Utrecht, but will do some Belgian and French dates in the Spring including Paris, and are hoping to do a small German tour in 2026 and are planning to do 2 new releases in 2026 so we will have our work cut out , really looking forward to that.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
Just enjoy it, and bring some love! We love it when people come up to us , give feedback and have a chat with us.
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