Block&Tackle is an ensemble project founded by Berlin-based musicians Boris Hegenbart and Jan Thoben. Hegenbart is a composer and sound artist who works mainly in the fields of sound installation, electro-acoustic music and computer performance. Thoben is a drummer and percussionist whose activities range from post-rock oriented bands to improvised music and audiovisual performance.
With Block&Tackle we focus on the application of instruments encompassing analog and digital audio technology as well as crossbreeding the acoustic and the electro-acoustic domains. We use hybrid devices to perform live sampling, rhythmical synching and overdubbing. Inspired by the concepts and techniques of dub music production – dropping musical streams in and out of the mix or routing sounds through effects like delays and filters – we aim to transform the studio situation into a live-electronic musical performance. We thereby function as a backing band, a steady sound-block being tackled together with different guest musicians on every performance and recording occasion. By playing in different formations our musical material undergoes continuous variation, comparable to the endless remixing processes in dub music. This way each performance turns out to be a unique version of a modified musical prototype.