Taut is the alias of Berlin based electronic musician Jacob Bergson. Since the release of his debut singles as a solo artist in late 2020, Taut has been a prolific creator of music, releasing a full-length album, three EPs, and several remixes.
Originally focused exclusively on instrumental music, Taut has grown increasingly eager to include the human voice as a prominent texture in his work. Nearly every one of his upcoming releases employs the human voice in some fashion, although it always appears somehow mangled or distorted. Inspired by a diverse set of electronic innovators like Siriusmo, DJ Rashad, Floating Points and Burial, Taut’s music defies easy category, opting instead for a stream-of-consciousness approach which flouts stylistic boundaries.
FACTS
1. Strawberries aren’t true berries, they’re “aggregate fruits”.
2. But, avocados are in fact berries
3. and so are cucumbers.
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
I don’t usually think of what I create through the lens of inspiration. I’m just trying to make music that I would also want to listen to, and I suppose that everything I’ve ever loved filters into that in one way or another. In a way it’s all inspiration, but what’s the biggest? No idea.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
I started taking piano lessons when I was five years old, and I was pretty much immediately writing my own music. It wasn’t good, I’m sure, but I was in the headspace of trying to express myself through composition very early.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
Clearly an impossible question, so I refuse to answer, but here are 5 really good ones that I’d be happy to listen to anytime:
Miles Davis – Four and More/My Funny Valentine
John Coltrane – Crescent
Burial – Untrue
Floating Points – Crush
Siriusmo – Mosaik
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
Summer days that feel endless, and winter days that feel like they never begin.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
Museumsinsel in the middle of the night on a weekday
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
I guess there’re a couple ways to take that question – what would I do for artistic fulfillment, or what would I do professionally?
I’d probably cook, but to be honest, even considering that questions makes me feel anxious.
I’ve learned over the years that basically any pursuit requires a lifetime of skill acquisition – the more you learn, the more you’re able to understand just how much better than you the people who are at the top of that field are. And, even as you improve, the more unachievable that apex feels.
The idea of all of my music expertise evaporating (along with music itself), and having to start over in another field…that’s enough to make me want to give up.
Maybe the take away here is that I’m just too competitive.
7. What was the last record/music you bought or listen?
The last physical record I bought, as in the last vinyl LP, is Animals by Kassa Overall. It’s a really good one, although apparently not good enough to make my list earlier.
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Producing electronic music is a pretty solitary act, and I find a lot of collaborations between (even great) producers to be a bit underwhelming, especially when they’re both a bit iconoclastic. It can be as if all of the interesting wrinkles get smoothed out. I think part of the magic of electronic music is getting to see the wacky stuff that one person makes when there’s no one else looking over their shoulder.
That said, I still love collaborating regardless, with anyone who is skilled and curious and doesn’t beat themselves up too badly.
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
I’ve got to say I really have no idea. I’ve played so many shows with different artists over the years, and there were really a lot of memorable ones.
But, whatever it is, it would have to be as a performer for sure. These days, I just don’t really enjoy going to gigs as a spectator. It always ends up being some form of research for me; I’ve just become incapable of shutting off my musician brain and enjoying the music.
Plus, as a listener I’ve got an attention span of around 40-45 minutes, which works great for listening to records, but often only gets me through the first 50% of a gig. It just feels like way more information being thrown at me than I’m able to absorb.
And don’t even get me started on festivals…
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
Incredibly important. I could make music without technology, of course, but it would be entirely impossible to make the music I make as Taut without technology.
I sometimes think about the piano, and how it’s an incredibly complex piece of mechanical technology which took hundreds of years to develop into its modern state, and how that was my primary instrument for a long time. So, on some level, I think I’ve been habituated to expect a certain degree of interaction with technology in my music.
11. Please tell us about your two new EPs?
I spend the latter half of 2023 finishing a bunch of tracks – not quite enough tracks for an album, but nearly enough. I let them sit around for a few months while I worked on the visual concepts for the release, and while I considered what exactly this release should be. After living with them for a bit, six of the strongest tracks seemed to naturally divide themselves into 2 different sounds – on one hand, clubbier and more aggressive, and on the other more intricate, more beautiful, sadder…
I decided it made sense to just use those, split them up, and release two contrasting EPs
I have some sort of apparent attraction to this idea of contrast – my previous EP was named Polarity, and consists of six tracks which also divide along similar lines. So this is a retread for me, conceptually. I’m stuck on this idea that I’m still trying to nail.
