Fleeting thoughts, vain hopes ...
Dec 11, 2024
"From desire to yearing, from yearing to doubt, suddenly,
in the dark, came hope and an enlightening calm.
Simply, I can.
- Robert Bernard on 'Morning Sun' Official Video"
Robert Bernard
Nov 24, 2024
A Worthy Man: Studio 37 and Adam Żytkowski
Dec 11, 2023
We often meet people whom we casually call "random".
Yet, it is time and circumstances that reveal their true worth. They are the ones who give more than we expected.
In doing so, they prove to be far from random.
In gratitude for the time and commitment of Adam Żytkowski - a man of worth.
Robert Bernard
Dec 11, 2023
Insanity the First
Nov 15, 2023
When it comes to striving and vain effort for a distant goal, we sometimes advance in our tenacity. Whether what I do meets the popular definition of insanity, it is the result of my temporal existence.
In this respect, I believe I find myself closer to the struggles of Sisyphus than to the pitiable repetitions of a madman. Though I often reassure myself that I don't demand too much – my expectations remain unchanged.
Robert Bernard
Nov 15, 2023
Maiden-Era: Honesty and Naivety
Nov 11, 2023
There was a time when keeping a precise chronology seemed not only possible but also necessary. Every thought, detail and stumble during the creative process was supposed to be an immanent part of something truly special.
From a critical point of view, everything was sacred and everything had to have its place in the space of the project.
From today's perspective it sounds almost absurd. Nevertheless, my mistakes and failures have been evidenced in many forms, and some of them still remain as pieces of something bigger and wider in a conceptual sense. Moreover, as a whole, they reflect what the Maiden-era was.
I decided to release this material in three separate digital sets containing a few quite new songs and a couple of variations of those known from Maiden.
Robert Bernard
Dec 18, 2018.
About Iteration concept ...
Oct 11, 2023
Its first emanation will be the re-publishing of the entire material, accompanied by the withdrawal and removal of previous publications:
"These releases collectively represent the work from 2012 to 2023 and serve as the primary attempt to bring the aesthetic principles of the 'Maiden-Era' concept to life.
As a result of further artistic activity, these publications will no longer be recognized as musical compilations after November 11, 2023. All manifestations, whether in the form of audio files or graphics, will be deleted from all online platforms to the greatest extent possible."
Robert Bernard
Oct 11, 2023
In the Dark: First Release
Sep 27, 2023
This is a compilation of three songs, based on ideas from the Maiden period. Unlike the Ballerina single, they have a strictly defined narrative structure.
The first two scenes are practically new songs composed of parts or entire fragments of several works.
Enlightened Calm grew out of a vast arrangement for Morning Sun which has been completely cut from the On The Morrow version.
Robert Bernard
Mar 19, 2019
Feb 11, 2017
I wanted to use words which would not just be a simple commentary or additional narration. Instead, my intention was to compile music with one surrounding sentence, stimulus for the imagination, subtly directing and widening perception.
If there are acts or their omissions, dictated by any fear or weakness, and which no one could deny the constituent elements of heroism, we should look for them among those billions of victims –
wars for dreams.
Robert Bernard
Feb 11, 2017
Working on the Maiden album ...
Feb 11, 2017
At the very beginning it became clear to me that the most significant aspect of this project would be a distinct dialogue between sounds and images – moving or static, always as the main source of inspiration resulting from an emotional bond with the past.
When working on the Maiden album, the main goal was to create the illusion of aged records while maintaining some features of modern music at the same time. An adequate degradation was equally important as a deep deformation of the entire sound structure.
Another aspect was to give the impression that there is something unnatural, something inappropriate – even in music from such a past.
All of this was done to evoke the mood of anxiety and, in the meanwhile, the feeling of discovering something old and special.
Robert Bernard
Feb 11, 2017
Nov 11, 2023
The page that has unveiled before your eyes is an original project titled Triton. The three central veils here symbolize the three dimensions of the universal existence.
Capturing one's attention, they express the instinctual nature of perception.
As banners of simplicity and mundaneness, they conceal beneath them contents that have been imbued with meaning.
The fourth element is the background. The all-encompassing time - showcasing all that is capable of being known.
Robert Bernard
Nov 11, 2023
A New Genre?
Oct 29, 2023
Ever since I can recall, any attempt at thinking about the future predominantly filled me with unease and apprehension. Hence, it's unsurprising that I began to associate my future with musing over the past.
In the realm of sound art, this took the shape of music scenes - as I tend to call my pieces.
These are recollections, seemingly insignificant, snippets of moments or entire episodes from someone's life. Past events, like forgotten switches of life’s tracks - sources and causes.
Robert Bernard
Oct 29, 2023
Time: The Essence of Music?
Sep. 11. 2023
Age is only a number of chances, I think. A sum of events and opportunities that life has given us so we can feel older. Ultimately, sooner or later we are all forced to accept our four-dimensional nature.
From time to time, from one day to another, something happens, and then everything is different and so are we – more complicated, more sophisticated, or simply dead.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of things that give us a chance to contemplate the meaning of the passage of time – the daily tiny little reminders of our curse.
And for me, music as a field of art is about time.
Treating it objectively, subordinated by its ultimate subjectivity, constantly giving us a chance to make conclusions in a broader sense.
Robert Bernard
Feb 11, 2017
Sep 09, 2023
Maiden
Feb 11, 2017
- Morning Sun
- Rupture
- Spontaneous Combustion
- Maiden
-
- Path Through the Torment
- Nowheres Avenue
Is there something these days, some sort of pan-cultural, subliminal agreement for self-fulfilling prophecies so that we’re trying to see ourselves in the poses of those who have passed away. By contemplating the future we create an image of the past.
War – still, isn’t it something necessary for us to re-evaluate things, to take these never-ending lessons.
A couple of years ago I started thinking about all these correlations and implications that shape our life in such a way. Since I can remember, finding the common denominators for any matter or for different situations was my secret obsession. Perhaps this gave me an inkling that for some reason we repeatedly try to reach this kind of critical point whenever the time has come – starting from the global dimension and ending on a single life.
In brief, it’s all about this album I think. It’s about repeated tragedies passing into normality, about the relativism of our choices, and maybe more than anything it’s about the overwhelming solitude surrounding us at all moments when we make decisions.
Solitude as an immanent element of the whole idea penetrates any aspect of this work at each level of its creation – starting from a simple inspiration by Edward Hopper’s painting and expanding to the sound impression of a fictitious story about the progressive degradation and final transformation of a woman’s soul.
Robert Bernard
Feb 11, 2017
Robert Bernard
Dec 15, 2024
Dec 11, 2024
There is undoubtedly a limit to how deeply one person can commit to all aspects of an artistic project.
The creation of the Morning Sun music video was something that, until recently, seemed like nothing more than fleeting thoughts, vain hopes.
Today, it has become a reality.
The premiere of the Morning Sun Official Video will take place on January 19, 2025.
Stay tuned.
Robert Bernard
Dec 02, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
Robert Bernard’s concept album Maiden and all iterative sound projects unite on Bandcamp.
Streaming begins November 27, 2024.
Robert Bernard
Nov 01, 2024
Dec 18, 2023
Robert Bernard
Dec 18, 2023
Last but Not Least: Studio 37 and Adam Żytkowski
Dec 11, 2023
Thanks to the unexpected recent collaboration with Studio 37 and Adam Żytkowski, the entire material, subjected to the Iteration the First process, could once again reside in the analog domain.
This symbolic act of sonic blessing would not have been possible without the work and commitment of Mr. Adam and Studio 37.
Robert Bernard
Dec 11, 2023
In the Dark: Exclusive Release
Dec 07, 2023
In the Dark: Iteration the First will be exclusively available on Bandcamp and Soundcloud, completely free. Release date remains unchanged.
In the Dark: Iteration the FIrst
Robert Bernard
Dec 07, 2023
Iteration the First: Moments Away
Nov 15, 2023
All previous releases subjected to the process of Iteration the First will have a joint digital premiere scheduled for December 18th, 2023.
Here are the upcoming reissues of
Maiden
Iteration the First
- Morning Sun
- Rupture
- Spontaneous Combustion
- Maiden
-
- Path Through the Torment
- Nowheres Avenue
Ballerina
Iteration the First
- On the Morrow
- At the End of the Path
- Ballerina
In the Dark
Iteration the First
- Suddenly
- Came in the Dark
- Enlightened Calm
Down the Avenue
Iteration the First
- Empty Street
- Nevermore Return
- The Avenue
Robert Bernard
Nov 15, 2023
Maiden-era Concludes?
Oct 11, 2023
In line with the main tenets of the Iteration the First process, all previous publications in the form of musical works and graphic projects will be removed from the internet as of November 11th, 2023.
Robert Bernard
Oct 11, 2023
Iteration the First: Assumptions
Sep 27, 2023
One of the concepts that accompanied my release of the existing material was the idea that music from the Maiden-era should retain a somewhat open character.
The notion of some form of reissue seemed evident. Over time, the traditional approach gave way to a far deeper, broader, and more pertinent perspective. This is how the idea for the entire artistic process was born, which I subsequently refer to as the "Iteration."
Its first emanation will be the re-publishing of the entire material, accompanied by the withdrawal and removal of previous publications.
Iteration the First is not just a reissue, but primarily a process of reworking, aimed at altering the material in line with the overarching idea of making music sound older and more deformed.
When the degradation becomes so intense that it obscures the meaning and structure of a piece or its part – it either recedes or becomes the backdrop for a newly defined thought.
Robert Bernard
Sep 27, 2023
ALL CONTENT CREATED BY ROBERT BERNARD. © 2015-2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.