Touellskouarn is the brand of French music and graphic designer Gaël Loison. Since 2010, it has released pedals, modules and desktop units with a characteristic sonic and visual aesthetic. In this interview, Gaël talks about the origins of the Touellskouarn brand, his musical background, the Breton language and his love for distortion. The Interview was conducted in person at SuperBooth24 in Berlin.
Stromkult: How did you get started with building synths and audio electronics?
Gaël Loison: I initially studied audio engineering for three years and then did sound in cinemas and other places for a while and always worked on my own music on the side. Then, around fifteen years ago, I wanted to repair some tube amps. But before you get started with tube amps, you have to begin with smaller stuff that’s less dangerous. And so I also learned how to build modules and smaller electronics and was able to work with any voltage eventually.
Was there any specific music that got you into electronic sound in general?
Mostly Kraftwerk and Electro music from Detroit, Drexciya, Aux88 and Dopplereffekt and others.
And that got you interested in how they were making those sounds?
When I was 18, I bought a Korg MS-10. That was the first synth I had, a “mini-modular” (laughs) synth. Limited, but it was a good synth to learn on. Then I got a Roland Juno and some other things, and that’s how I gradually got into analog synthesis.
Were you also into guitar music, since you were also dealing with pedals and tube amps?
I made pedals because I used them when playing with my various bands. But I don’t play guitar, I was using these pedals with my synths. The tube amps were mostly hi-fi amps for driving speakers and listening.
Did you teach yourself everything you know about electronics from the internet?
Yes, from the internet, but also just from my own mistakes (laughs). I don’t have a background in electronics, I learned it all on my own. I just really wanted to make something I can use myself — I saw the price of certain pedals and thought “I can just make a clone of this myself and then see how it sounds”. So I was just trying different things, building different pedals. Eventually, I also started selling some of them, because someone from Japan saw my pedals on the internet and asked me to build some for them. So I started making small batches, and that’s how I gradually got into the market professionally.
How did the jump from making pedals to building modules happen?
One shop asked me “why don’t you also make this pedal as a module?”, and so I made one. And I was already into modular at that time, I had the Doepfer Basic System 2. It was a very nice system, still is! Modular wasn’t as mainstream at the time as it is today, but I had lots of fun with it. In a way, I think it was natural to go from the MS-10 to the Doepfer system, using these German modules to make German Kraftwerk-ian sounds (laughs).
How did you expand your line of modules over time?
I was really just making stuff to use for my own music, thinking “oh, I don’t have this, maybe I can make it myself”. And that’s how I ended up doing a lot of distortion modules for example, because I really like massive distortion, nasty sounding distortion for some of the bands I’m playing with. I always use this stuff for my own music for a while before I decide if I should bring it to market. Sometimes it ends up being interesting enough and sometimes it doesn’t.
I was really just making stuff to use for my own music, thinking “oh, I don’t have this, maybe I can make it myself”.
I also send prototypes to friends who will test them for me. Like my friend Marc Caro, a French filmmaker who is also a musician that’s into very harsh sounds and bizarre music, and he makes all the sounds for his own films. And he’ll send me feedback like “Oh, I like this on” or “maybe you can add this”, which is always very helpful for me.
You’ve ported some of their modules to desktop format, what was the inspiration behind that?
I play with some bands where I don’t bring a modular on stage. And so I like having these things as part of a pedalboard that I can use with my synthesizers. I use different setups with different bands. I also have a dark Jazz band where I mostly use an Octatrack with pedals and desktop units. When I play with Marc Caro, it’s only the modular, without any pedals. And with another band that’s more Electro and Electro-clash it is mostly sample-based.
Where does the name Touellskouarn come from?
It’s a Betron language name, as are all of my module names. It’s a very old language from Brittany that is still spoken today as a minority language. My children are learning it, although I myself don’t speak it. I have some friends that speak it and I always send them the module names so I can see how it is pronounced (laughs). Touellskouarn is a neologism that translates to something like “ear candy” — candy for the ears!
Can you say something about your new Kemmerskañ Germanium mixer module?
I wanted to have a nice mixer module that I can use on stage. So I made a six channel Germanium-based mixer, because I’m into the sound of old Germanium mixers. There’s some old French Germanium mixers from the 60s that I really like. So I made a prototype and sent it to Alex4 Distribution. I got the feedback that it would be cool to have the mixer be stereo, so it developed it into a stereo module. It has nice aux sends and it has very nice EQ that remove or boost quite a lot. It has both balanced and unbalanced outs and it can do a lot of different sounds with various panning and feedback.
I also have a new stereo EQ module, the Distresañ. It is based on the EQ in the Kemmerskañ mixer with additional stereo CV control over the EQ bands. The EQ design is inspired by the EQ of an old French recording console.
For SuperBooth24 I also brought the stereo version of my BBD reverb, the Heklev. So there’s a lot of stereo processing in my current modules! It’s a BBD design that can be used as a flanger and can be pinged. It’s based on a design from an old French textbook. But I redid the old design with new in-production BBD chips and adapted it to a new environment and I clock the chips much higher, so it becomes a sort of weird reverb sound.
How do you feel about your lineup of modules overall?
I really like to develop new modules, but I still do like the modules I've made in the past! My modules are analog, so they age very well, better than a lot of digital stuff does. I still play with and use all of the modules I have ever made.
Is there any kind of module you haven’t done yet that you would like to do in the future?
Hmm, perhaps a digital module!
Do you have a favorite module of yours?
Yes, I think it is the Sonveskañ, a Germanium mixer and feedbacker. It has three distortions, six gain stages and feedback. I like to play with them a lot. I just really like distortion, and a lot of it — especially Germanium distortion!
You can check out the Touellskouarn website here and shop a selection of modules over at SchneidersLaden.