the [law-rah] collective

About me:

Working from the emotional perspective, Bauke van der Wal - under the name the [law-rah] collective - started experimenting with analog equipment. This resulted in the CD "incarnation", which was released in 2001. During several dates in Europe and the U.S. the [law-rah] collective brought these thick layers live on a minimal setup, based on improvisation.

The first real collective effort was reached when he worked with the dutch dance-group Juxtapose on a ballet, for which the [law-rah] collective wrote the music. The basic thought behind "isolation" was 'the ritual as a method of coping with fear'. The music for the performance – a 44 minute track, built from drones, ambient noise and extreme frequency modulations - was released on CD in 2003. The CD holds a 12 minute video with outtakes of the actual performance.

But 2003 knew another release by the [law-rah] collective. The two years of silence were well spent and the 12" vinyl "Vesuvius", containing two 15 minute tracks about the desctructive eruption, was released on the American label Force of Nature.

One year later "1953" was released in the Nautilus series on the Belgian label Spectre. This album was based on the flood in the south-west of Holland. In one hour a story is told about how a little girl lived through and experienced the disaster and its aftermath. The lyrics on the compositions of the [law-rah] collective were written and recited by Hiekelien van den Herik who from that moment on was a full member of the collective.

In october 2006 the CD "Drones for Drella" was released on Pflichtkauf. This CD was dedicated to the memory and works of Andy Warhol. The variation in Warhol’s methods and the several disciplines he mastered guarenteed a divers CD in which [law-rah]’s signature was still clearly audible.

Spectre Records released another album in 2007, this time in the form of two 3" CDs. Gorgeously packed with tracks carrying the signature of the collective. Emotionally triggered droning soundscapes, which have the power of confronting you with your emotions.

The latest output is called 'Inspiration' and is released by the German label ant-zen. For this release the collective has been extended with Martijn Pieck, with whom Bauke has been working in several projects since 1993.