Piano solo music by Tomas Johan Kristian, my real name!

I was born in 1977 as Tomas Johan Kristian. I have been submerged in classical music since the day I was born. When I started playing Czerny, Bach & Beethoven on the piano at the age of six, I immediately started inventing my own minimal piano tunes. These days, I release experimental ambient and neoclassical music as Suntapes.

The time has come for Tomas Johan Kristian to release very personal piano solo compositions. Some of these sonates have been composed more than 20 years ago. Constantly I create new piano pieces and keep working on them. Now in 2024, from March 15th until August I start releasing 11 tracks. In the end of August the album will be released. And then many more pieces are ready to record and release in 2024 and later.

Wavering between melodramatic subtle beauty and energetic minimalism, the solo piano pieces of Tomas Johan Kristian have a soothing feel and warm sound. His quirky approach to classical compositions sprung from his character to avoid the expected and to submerge in his own organic connection with repetitiveness.

Check out the website for more information about Tomas Johan Kristian and the links to all streaming platforms: www.tomasjohankristian.com

Follow me on Spotify to discover the tracks.

Extricate

A soothing universe that listens to a different sound! Circus artist Bert Berg explores the boundaries of handstand based on intrinsically driven movements. Composer Suntapes is extrapolating the minimalistic approach in his compositions. The interaction between both worlds is the base of the new performance “Extricate”.  

About Extricate
‘Extricate’ is a circus ritual that untangles itself from a world in overdrive, by inviting an audience to a duet performed by a reshaped hand balancing language and an auditive universe.

During this circus ritual, an unravelling participative performance unfolds itself. The piece leans on the artistic harmony between a language created out of a new approach to hand-balancing and minimal musical compositions that invite active listening.

The project rebels in all ‘gentle calmness’ against a society that many perceive as too intense, over-consuming and over-saturated with choices. The harmonious analog universe that this performance creates is our answer to this.

Next to the performance Bert and Tomas (Suntapes) will bring guided ‘unwinding sessions’ in which they’ll invite people to provoke the calmness through their bodies in a somatic manner. The same auditive universe & parts of the physical language will be used. For those who can experience both, a deeper connection will be found.

concept & circus performance: Bert Berg (Bert Vanden Berghe)

composition & music performance: Suntapes (Tomas Vanderplaetse)

dramaturgy: Margot Jansens

choreograhy: Roseta Placencia

videography: Wim Piqueur

ritual dramaturgy: Iris Carta

costume & scenography: Valerie Le Roy

production: Lien Vanbossele

exterior ear: Aifoon vzw

coproduction: PERPLX, Dommelhof & CIRKLABO

with financial support: Vlaamse overheid, Miramiro & Blinkout

Technique
Age: 7+ | Black box (maybe in situ) | Full length | Capacity: 50 – 500 pers. 

Planning
Several preliminary investigations & try-outs have be done. In 2023 and mainly 2024 the production will be created with the team. Provisional première of the social parkour: April 28, 2025. Planning will be updated.

Contact & booking
Bert Vanden Berghe – info@bertberg.com – +32 478 577 866 – www.bertberg.com 

Regenerative flows

Artwork Installation by Sep Verboom

A living landscapes that grows and evolves in time. A place where silence reigns and time seems to slow down. As the elements in the limestone exhale, CO2 reacts with slaked lime, gradually forming a solid carbonaceous landscape. Regenerative Flows invites us to slow down, to reflect on the world around us. It is a reminder that beauty and complexity can come from the simplest materials and the most basic processes.

The installation was a starting point for different artistic perspectives to inspire and co-create, adding new poetic layers to the installation. The 5K video images of the limestone artwork are very fascinating and varying landscapes views that slowly evolve and pull an audience in a unique and unkown universe.

Suntapes added a soothing live music performance to these immersive video images in Z33 museum. The auditive universe contains the sounds of the artwork and a relaxing & evolving composition with acoustic instruments, analogue synths and effects.

An immersive video installation with these images and music is now in creation! Looking for an installation to slow down an audience? Get in touch!

Credits

Z33: Healing Water exposition 2023
Artwork “Regenerative Flows” : Sep Verboom
Videographer: Glenn Verdickt
Composition & Live music: Suntapes

Piano artifacts

This audiovisual art installation is the first in a series of installations built around detuned and degraded piano’s. Although this piano is not playable in a traditional way, it still has an amazing sonic character that is reinforced by artificial interventions. The piano is prepared to produce sustained tones and rhythmic convolutions by itself and when touching the piano. The soundscape that emerges from the piano represents a state of suspended animation. What will happen to this piano? Will it be refurbished? Will it be destroyed? Or will it be ignored forever?

CREDITS

Concept, piano preparation, sound, image & installation: Suntapes

Year: 2021

Video shot at exposition “Buiten spoor” in Chinastraat Gent.

Solo piano set @Atelier Jules August

A pure acoustic neo-classical set on the grand piano

After many months of no shows, it was a real pleasure to play an acoustic set with a lot of unreleased Suntapes piano compositions. These new neo-classical piano tracks will be released somewhere in 2022, after I released all the ambient electronic and piano music I recorded the last year.

The set list also included my favorite neo-classical piano pieces by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Philip Glass, Yann Tiersen and Jóhann Jóhannsson.

The 2 sessions took place in the stunning atelier of photographer Jules August.

Check out the Spotify playlist Latenight Piano that starts of with the setlist of the show (my unreleased work will be added later)

Immersea

A unique immersive artwork experience

This immersive experience is an audiovisual artwork impression of the sea. Colorful painted artwork elements are projected on the floor as you walk through the space. Analogue sound vibes slowly evolve in a mesmerizing minimal composition. As you create a visual and sonic symphony with the movement of your feet you are urged into a psychedelic dreamworld. And so you are immersed in this unique sea!

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To give an impression of the #immersea experience we had a dancer move around in the space:

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CALENDAR

FRAGMENTS of land and other scapes: 30/10/2021 - 07/11/2021

LUCA Ghent: 08/06/2021 - 17/06/2021

KAPOW Ghent: 24/04/2021 - 25/04/2021

Get in touch if you’re interested to host this installation.

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CREDITS

Artwork: Deogracias Kihalu
Animation & interactive magic: Kasper Jordaens
Music & sounddesign: Suntapes
Concept: Tomas Vanderplaetse, Kasper Jordaens, Deogracias Kihalu

End of an era: organic audiovisual flow

An organic abstract audiovisual story by videographer Wim Piqueur and Suntapes. This was recorded as a live stream performance in March 2021 where live visuals and live music are interacting in a subtle manner. For this session we carefully selected abstract images and sounds to create a minimalist ambient flow. The result is tranquil, haunting at times and always with an immersive soul.

PLAY

Bechstein studio session

This studio session evolves around the warm character of my 1881 Bechstein grand piano. The piano is prepared with felt under the strings to create an even warmer and closer sound. The placing of the ribbon microphones is so that you can hear all sounds coming from the piano, including squeaks and the rubbing of the felt. Just like I hear it when I’m playing the piano. Big thanks to Jesse De Roo who recorded and mixed this session.

To start, I manipulate different sound sources inside the piano to extract dark filmic soundscapes. After that, I perform some new neoclassic compositions to let you dream away.

Director Jakob Rosseel created the visual atmosphere in my studio and captured the session on film. The result is a melancholic plunge inside the Bechstein with me. Since we can’t do real shows at the moment, we thought this augmented visual experience brings something you couldn’t experience in a real concert. I actually created the compositions around the idea of how to film it.

With support of the flemish government. This show was originally streamed on the Suntapes Facebook page. Now it’s available on Youtube.

Psychedelic trip from Japan to Mali

Here’s a Spotify playlist that takes you on a 4 hour chill musical trip from Asia to Africa and beyond. It features a lot of Japanese ambient by some of my favorite artists such as Susumu Yokota, Yusuke Tsutsumi, Haruka Nakamura and of course Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Further along you’ll find more Indian and Middle-Eastern vibes which will keep you pondering about travels through vast landscapes to eventually drop you right into the African continent with lovely minimal tunes.

Enjoy the trip! Follow and play the playlist.

You can also submit tracks for this playlist by using the contact form.

The Remnant - making sense in a post-apocalyptic world

An abstract dance in a post-apocalyptic empty landscape. The remnant is the only person left in this world. He is struggling and trying to find his way.

The soundtrack of this video is an electronic instrumental synthwave-like tune built around the unique vintage sound of the 1979 Farfisa Soundmaker synthesizer. Quirky arpeggiators evolve around wobbly sounds and distant field recordings in an atmospheric trip.

Credits

Robin Leo: Dance

Quinten Prinsen: Camera and post production

Kasper Jordaens: Additional Video FX

Suntapes: Music & Concept

Instruments & new tunes

Back in 2004, I found myself in a dusty garage shop full of musical instruments somewhere in Calcutta. I bought an Indian harmonium because I just loved that sound. It felt good and it felt like more. After many more travels, I ended up with an arsenal of quirky acoustic instruments each with their own story. Today, they have become a crucial part of the Suntapes sound and appear on a lot of tunes of my new album that will be released on June 7th. 

One of my early tunes "Alone" combines the Phin (a three stringed lute from Thailand), Moroccan bass (Sintir) and lap steel guitar I found in Vietnam. The last one has a Fender sticker on it, so it's definitely good stuff :-). Here's how that sounds: 

The tune "Guzheng" evolves around the Chinese harp called Guzheng (no kidding) as well as the Chinese ruan (like a big wooden banjo), the Indian harmonium and many more sounds. Check it out: 

I tried all kinds of combinations of instruments and experimented with different effects and field recordings I have made. Of course I kept composing on the grand piano and synthesizers, so you'll be hearing a lot of that too. 

More and more I have come to realize that the instrumental music I make are soundtracks for the places I travelled to. Tunes that remind me of vast foreign landscapes or people in traditional clothes chatting in dusty roads. Feels like some kind of sweet spot where music & traveling come together. 

On June 7th 2018 I'm releasing the album "Hunting for hills" on all streaming platforms, online stores and also on CD and LP. Release show will be in Theater Tinnenpot.  

Suntapes live moods

It's always nice to have talented photographers around when playing live. Here's a selection of moods of some Suntapes shows in 2017 at Kapow, ENTR and Cab Art Centre. 

Check out these talented photographers: Maxime Fauconnier and Jules August 

One man soundtrack orchestra

I'm currently working on the live performance of different Suntapes tunes. Over the last year I've done different one-offs and improvisation sessions each time with different acoustic and analogue instruments. My ideal is to have all my instruments on stage and use them all to create a complete concert with soundscapes and melodies. Since it's hard to handle so many instruments on stage, I have to make a selection. So I'm going for piano, harmonium, Chinese lute, Thai pin, slide guitar, mellotron sounds, Hofner bass, Korg minilogue and possibly the Chinese guhzeng (harp). This should be quite enough to perform 10 to 12 songs. More or less the instruments on this picture:

Another crucial part of the performance from now on will be the visuals. I've done a few try-outs the last few months without visuals, but it's not the same. VJ Kasper Jordaens will use the imagery I've shot on different travels and process it live. The result should be a compelling audio-visual trip through different places in the world. After all a "one-man soundtrack orchestra" is nothing without the films the music is meant for. 

A few days at John’s long ranch in Nevada

It seems some people have figured out life better than others. John struck me as somebody who found his perfect place in the world and his own way of living.  

The sun was starting to set when me and my family took the long drive to John's ranch on the border of Nevada and California. We stopped in the small town of Cedarville to stock up on groceries for a few days. From there we drove through the rough landscape of Surprise valley. Nothing more than sand, stones and startled jack rabbits sprinting away. John’s long ranch is so remote, you have to be kind of a loner to live there. And so it seems.

The ranch is a collection of old houses, barns and cabins scattered over what can only be described as a green oasis in the middle of a desert. Surprise valley is surrounded by rather dry mountain ranges, but the climate is not as hot as the area around in Redding. The best thing is that the ranch sits on top of a natural spring. John makes great use of this spring water and even built a lovely swimming pool. Swimming in a oasis with view on the mountains. Just great! The fresh water was also the reason the native Indians used it in the early days. All kinds of plants and trees are growing which in turn attracts a large range of birds I had never seen before. 

Somewhere in the nineteenth century a wealthy American family has bought the land and built the ranch for a whole family. All the different buildings had their own use, there even was a small school cabin were the children received education. John has re-arranged this wooden cabin for guests to stay over. That’s were we stayed. Our kids loved to sleep in the mezzanine area on top. We loved to wake up with endless views on surprise valley. 

John has bought the run down ranch twenty years ago and has been refurbishing it on his own ever since. There's a lot of work to be done and it’s hard work. I have nothing but respect for the choice John has made. He managed to find a unique place and make it his own. When a local friend of him introduced him to Airbnb he opened up the ranch for Airbnb guests. It will probably not become a huge touristic success, actually I hope not because it would spoil the quirky character it has. Wefound our stay nothing less than amazing. 

While I was there I did some filming and afterwards put a soundtrack on the film. I hope this shows the atmosphere. 

Live performance on BYOB Gent with @Kaosbeat visuals

I hooked up with Kasper from Kaosbeat to bring this video performance on #byob Ghent. The soundtracks to the images was played live with keyboard, slide guitar and my looping set up with Ableton. The live visual effects are done by Kasper. It was our first collaboration but definitely not our last. The whole evening was great fun for us. The public seemed to dig it since we won the public crowdfunding price that evening. 

Check out one of the takes we recorded: 

My view on the visuals: 

Mini cinema with Live soundtrack

During the exposition "Rauw" I played the live soundtrack for a short film. An experience for 2 people at a time. It's all very direct and raw, without any effects. I build up and break down different loops straight from the microphone into the headphones of the people watching. For this set I used my Thai Pin for different melodies, the Morrocan Gnawa with lovely bass sound and the slide guitar for the opening sound. 

I probably played it about 80 times over the course of the 2 weekends. I recorded the last take and made a youtube film about it.  Check it out: 

Sagittarius

SAGITTARIUS (2011)

SUNTAPES ON TAPE WITH UMOR REX LABEL

Available on cassette (Limited edition) and digital on Bandcamp

Exposition "Rauw", September 2015

"Rauw" is an exposition by Suntapes, sculptor Christoph Annys and photographer Kris Goubert.

Suntapes will set up a video installation. During the exposition, several videos will bring visitors to different places in the world. I want people to really get immersed in these places. Enjoy places with your eyes and ears. I have composed a soundtrack to go with each video. 

As usual, I used exotic music instruments to record the compositions. Not too much editing, mixing and mastering. "Raw" is how we like it.

Join the event on facebook 

A soundtrack for WUMU, Yunnan, China

Wumu is a tiny mountain village on a steep hillside in Yunnan, China. I've spent 3 weeks there so I had some time to film in the rugged area and the town.  I edited this small film around a soundtrack tune I had already recorded before.