Julen Latorre Urbaneta
A reflection on the link between the past and technology

Clarinettist Julen Latorre Urbaneta graduated in June with an advanced masters degree in contemporary music. He looks back on two years in which he found the space to develop his own voice and received the right support to do so. Or why a Basque chose Ghent and would prefer to stay there for a while longer.

LINDE VERJANS
How did you get into contemporary music?

JULEN LATORRE URBANETA
I’ve been playing music since I was a child and at one point decided to study the clarinet in Barcelona. I moved to Madrid for my master’s programme, where I was introduced to electronic music. That really appealed to me. The programme usually focuses on orchestral playing and chamber music. I felt much more at home with contemporary repertoire.

LV
How so?

JLU
I think it has to do with freedom. The ability to be creative with the material. In classical music, there are many unwritten rules that you can’t simply deviate from. With contemporary compositions, you can inject more of your own personality into them, often in consultation with the composer.

LV
Don’t you often have to approach contemporary music rationally?

JLU
It depends on what you mean by ‘rational’. Of course, you have to approach music in a rational way. You make conscious choices. But at the same time, I actually find there’s plenty of scope for creativity, such as in the repetitions in Steve Reich’s music. I also studied philosophy, and for me there are many parallels between the two disciplines.

LV
Why did you decide on KASK & Conservatorium?

JLU
The environment was exactly what I needed. It gives you plenty of freedom to do what you want, whilst at the same time you can count on plenty of support if you need it. In my first year, for example, I had plenty of time: I was new, didn’t know many people yet and was still finding my feet. Then Iñaki Marcos suggested we perform a piece for two bass clarinets together: 1+1=1 by Pierluigi Billone. At first it seemed impossible to play, but I had time and was therefore able to devote myself to it entirely. It took about half a year before we performed it in public. The composer himself was very critical and constantly asked us to record small sections of the piece, which he then had to approve before we could continue. It was a bit demanding, but it provided tremendous motivation to get it right and served as an excellent goal during that first year. Later, we got in touch with the duo who had premiered the piece, which allowed us to go into much greater detail. Experiences like that are incredibly rewarding.

LV
You didn’t have a main teacher, but you did have a wide range of teachers you could turn to. Could you give an example of a time when you received support?

JLU

I’ve benefited greatly from people like Tom De Cock, a percussionist and permanent member of Ictus. His experience on stage means you can be sure that, when he gives feedback, it’s useful. After a concert or performance, he could often pinpoint exactly what needed improvement, which really took the whole performance to a whole new level.

LV

The contemporary music scene is a relatively small arena. How do you find your way around it?

JLU

The school was a great help in this regard too. Thanks to its partnerships with various wonderful venues and festivals both at home and abroad, your network is many times larger by the time you graduate. What’s more, there’s a great deal going on in Belgium. I find it fascinating how many small venues offer such a wide range of excellent-quality events.

LV

Would you like to stay a bit longer, or would you prefer to go somewhere else?

JLU
I’d prefer to stay in Ghent for a while longer. I feel there’s still a lot I can achieve here. Back home, I’d have fewer opportunities to play than I do here. Looking a bit further ahead, Germany might be an interesting place – Berlin in particular. I don’t have any concrete plans to move there, though. For the time being, I’ll be staying in Ghent.

LV

Are there any future projects you’re looking forward to?

JLU
Part of my graduation performance involved reflecting on the link between the past and technology. Many of our memories are created through recordings and machines. I took Basque music from the 1970s and 1980s as my starting point and used it to create new music for clarinet and electronics. I’m going to continue exploring that idea.

I’ve also started a new trio featuring drums and electronics, with which we create music that sits somewhere between jazz and ambient, using lots of samples.

And in a project featuring a dancer, a lot happens at once, with an object in the centre of the space acting as a sort of anchor point.

LV

Why do we make music?

JLU

The reason I make music is because it allows me to connect things that wouldn’t otherwise be linked. Using everyday sounds, you can build entire soundscapes, layer by layer, with glitches and all sorts of other distortion techniques. That’s how you create something new out of the ordinary. I’m cautious about using the word ‘beauty’, because it’s such a subjective concept, but I do think there’s always an aesthetic undertone.