hÄK

You could probably fill a library with the narratives and plot twists that emerge from hÄK’s sonic vocabulary.

Conceived as the solo project of electronic composer, producer and performer B. Norbert Würtz, who has been based in Berlin since 2018 after three years in London and ten in Paris, hÄK is informed by a strong interest in noise and atonal music and a background in sound design.

At the heart of hÄK’s work is a modular system composed of synth modules, pure data patches, DIY circuits and self-soldered controllers. He calls it the ‘molecular synthesizer’, a sonic and semantic instrument that he approaches with impeccable style and a punk spirit. Using these means of production to combine synthesised sound with samples, he explores abstract worlds, rhythmic textures as well as psychoacoustic phenomena, producing results somewhere between electro-acoustics and cut-up musique concrète.

All of hÄK’s work, whether for installations or film soundtracks (as in his year-long collaboration with filmmaker Alex Herzog) or in band projects (as in the duo hÄK / Danzeisen with drummer Philipp Danzeisen), displays an acute sense of structure and instinct for timing. His penchant for drama tends to unfold in a slow manner, making it all the more effective.

hÄK has created a musical language that is dynamic and evocative, speaking in tongues, alive like electricity. In short, music with a voice all its own.

Arno Raffeiner / May 2024