Lasse Hoile

Lasse Hoile
Born 1973 (age 41–42)
Aarhus, Denmark
Genres Death metal
Heavy metal
Extreme metal, Progressive metal, Experimental rock
Associated acts Steven Wilson, Panzerchrist, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Dream Theater, Blackfield
Website http://www.lassehoile.com

Lasse Hoile (born 1973 in Aarhus, Denmark) is an acclaimed artist of mixed media, photographer, graphic artist writer, film-maker/director, and cinematographer. Recognized for his unique vintage style intertwined with a modern day twist, Hoile is best known for his close work with Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree and Blackfield. He has also designed live visuals for the US progressive metal band Dream Theater. In the mid-1990s he was the vocalist for Danish death metal band, Panzerchrist. Today, he continues to create various designs used for music videos, posters, and band photography.

Hoile originated working as an editor and producing short films in 1993. Five years later in 1998, he decided to take up photography as a hobby. As he grew more attached to this hobby, Hoile claimed he “started doing art seriously”. Since then, he has worked on documentaries, commercials, live show projections, short films, feature films, art installations, animation, grading, and post production/compositing. Although some of his productions are more controversial, he refuses to sugarcoat “truth” in human nature and behavior.

Influenced by melancholic music, Francis Bacon, David Lynch, and Andrei Tarkovsky, Hoile continued to convey through his artwork, the world through his eyes and stark depictions of reality. One of his projects,“Recycler” (1999), which can be seen on Myspace TV on myspace.com, is simply a short film about humans and our “recycling nature”. Although prefaced that this film was graphic, hundreds of fans still continued to watch, fascinated with the idea. Many of his photographs, such as “Patient II” and “Girl in a Box” often depict—but are in no way limited to—anger, loneliness, melancholia, and emotional struggle. This can be shown through grain, distortion, color/tone variations, and noise usage, which set the mood of that particular photo. He states the reason why he favored these particular colors, is because they reminded him of the “old masters” such as Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt.

Another piece by Hoile, which can be easily accessed through the internet or various photography sites, is “Mail Order Babies”. The photograph depicts new born babies placed next to one another; side by side in boxes. According to Hoile, this photo is meant convey "…the western arrogance way of getting kids. It seems nowadays one can almost design their 'dream' child through genetic preference or adoption."

Hoile has also been recognized for directing videos and creating a number of their album sleeves for Porcupine Tree since the release of In Absentia in 2002. Later in 2005, he was able to direct the recording of Porcupine Tree's first live performance DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., which took place at Park West, Chicago. He also directed Porcupine Tree's music videos “Fear of a Blank Planet”. Reviews of his artwork have been featured on Forbes.com.

The music video, titled “Blackfield” for the band Blackfield, has been recognized for its layering and vividness of winding photographs inside of photographs. Not only did Hoile film music videos for Blackfield, but he also played a major role in the recording, editing, and direction of some of their live shows, most notably Blackfield Live in NY. Aside from Blackfield, he has worked very closely with Israeli star, Aviv Geffen on both live visuals and music videos such as Black and White shot at Abbey Road Studios in London, during the summer of 2007. He was also responsible for visual projections for the Danish supergroup, TV-2 (band) during their tour for their album; "De første kærester på månen".

Hoile also edited and directed two music videos for Opeth. These music videos include Porcelain Heart and "Burden" from their album, Watershed released in 2008.

Along with Opeth's music videos, Hoile has also designed mesmerizing visuals for the band, such as lush forest scenery, for when they are touring or performing live. During the same year, Hoile directed a music video for "Normal", from Porcupine Tree's Nil Recurring album also released in 2008.

Shortly after, Lasse began working on another piece - Insurgentes. The music project received special attention from the media, but underneath all that, the artwork itself for Insurgentes caught the eyes and peaked the interest of many. This work was notable particularly for its bizarre beauty, complexity, and uniqueness. One Special Deluxe edition, limited to 3000 copies, contains a double CD along with DVD-A and some brief footage from the documentary “Insurgentes”.[1] Another special edition was also released on a 10-inch vinyl, limited to only 1000 copies. However, both include a sleek hardback book containing 120 pages of Lasse’s photography and visual stimuli to capture the mood, feel and atmosphere of the entire work throughout the album's run-time.

Soon after editing, creating, and finalizing the entire Insurgentes project—including the documentary itself (which was featured at the CPH:DOX International Film Festival in November 2009)[2] Lasse Hoile commenced works on the cover art for Porcupine Tree’s latest studio album, The Incident (album released in September 2009).[3] A Deluxe Edition of “The Incident” contains a 116-page hardback book featuring more of Lasse’s photographs.[4] Lasse created and design the album’s sleeve, as well as composing and directing the music video for the album's single, “Time Flies”.[3]

This music video, in particular, contains brighter and more lucid imagery than those previously produced. More of Hoile's featured work could be seen on the film projections during the live performances of Porcupine Tree's promotional tour supporting "The Incident". After the "Time Flies" video was completed and later released for viewing on the World Wide Web, Lasse received positive feedback from loyal fans and other artists in the industry who were tracking his work. Upon receiving positive reviews, he was asked for an interview with Roadrunner Records UK on August 21, 2009.[5] Shortly after the interview was conducted, "Time Flies" was the featured "Video of the Week" on iTunes USA (October 19–25, 2009)—a first for Hoile, a first for Porcupine Tree, and a first for any band under the Roadrunner UK Label.[6]

Discography

With Panzerchrist

References

  1. ↑ "Kscope post progressive sounds". Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  2. ↑ "CPH:DOX International Documentary Film Festival". Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Lasse Hoile News". Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  4. ↑ "Official Porcupine Tree Webpage - News". Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  5. ↑ "Roadrunner Records UK". Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  6. ↑ "Official Porcupine Tree Webpage - News". Retrieved 2009-10-22.

External links