[Interview by Jacopo Vigezzi, originally published in Prog Rock Journal, July 10; republished with permission. Link ]
From the sonic cathedrals of Tangerine Dream in the mid-80s to the intricate, pulse-pounding textures of Hollywood film scores, Paul Haslinger has spent his career at the intersection of formal academic rigor and cutting-edge technological experimentation. After two decades of defining the sound of modern cinema and television—from Underworld to Halt and Catch Fire—Haslinger is returning to his roots of total creative autonomy.
Alongside long-time collaborator Christian Wittman (of Lightwave), he has launched noion Music, a label dedicated to "atmospheric minimalism" and deep listening. The label’s inaugural releases, “Mallarmé” and “Borges,” serve as "curated sonic geographies" where mathematical precision meets the expansive, metaphysical depths of literature. We sat down with Paul to discuss the philosophy of the new label, his shared history with Wittman, and how a lifetime of "memory palaces" has led to this new chapter of sound art.
Paul, you’ve described noion as a platform for “atmospheric minimalism.” After such a vast career, what was the specific catalyst that made you feel now was the time to launch your own independent label?
When I think of record labels, the ones that truly inspired me always come to mind: ECM, New Albion, Made to Measure, Modern Love, Nonesuch. What made these labels stand out for me wasn’t just the excellent music, but the whole package: the control over artwork, the presentation as a whole, the conveyance of music. So after admiring all these labels for a long time, one quite naturally develops the wish to start something in the same vein on your own terms. A new field of possibilities, curated from the ground up and held to my impossibly high standards.
You and Christian Wittman have a creative history stretching back to Lightwave’s “Tycho Brahé.” How has your collaborative dynamic evolved from those early days to this new, paritarian partnership?
Friendships and musical collaborations often foster our “second family”: a group of people you encounter, interact with, and keep in touch with. In the case of Christian (and Christoph, a member of Lightwave), we first met in 1986, so we’ve known each other for 40 years. And we count quite a few chapters in that history.
We’ve also collaborated with an array of outstanding musicians. It was a 2004 project with Lightwave (Bleue Comme Une Orange) that introduced me to the late Jon Hassell, one of my key influences and musical father figures (together with Richard Horowitz).
I think the key to any long-lasting relationship, musical or otherwise, is the amount of electricity between people: how much you are able to inspire and propel each other toward something you would not have discovered on your own. This has certainly been the case in my friendship with Christian. No day and no conversation has ever been quite the same. We continue a process of discovery that started many years ago.
You’ve called the noion catalogue a “curated sonic geography.” How do you and Christian decide which "territories"—between Ambient, Drone, and Contemporary Classical—are worth exploring?
I think for both of us, a lifetime of listening to and absorbing music has resulted in a set of musical and creative preferences. They provide the foundations for most of our discussions and projects.
For the last 10–15 years, technological advances in music software have brought us to the point where we can create music in the style of Ligeti with just a laptop. And this approach—to create from memory and aesthetic selection—is very much aligned with the original concept of musique concrète.
This is a reactive approach, similar to photography. Haruki Murakami famously stated that he never knows where a book or story will end when he begins to write it. This is also our approach: we know the frame of a project, but we leave open all the possibilities within it.
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