Lasse Hoile
Encyclopedia
Lasse Hoile is an acclaimed artist of mix 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 had humble beginnings working as an editor and producing short films in 1993. Five years later in 1998, he decided to take up photography only as a hobby. The hobby grew into a passion and it is here Hoile claimed he “started doing art seriously”. Though having only started “doing art seriously” a few years ago, he has wasted no time in creating several documentaries, commercials, live show projections, short films, feature films, art installations, animation, grading, and post production/compositing to name a few.
Though ridiculed every now and again for some of his controversial productions, he still refuses to sugarcoat “truth” such as nature itself, and the behavior of human beings.
Influenced by melancholic music, Francis Bacon
, David Lynch
, and Andrei Tarkovsky
, Hoile continues to convey through his artwork, the world through his eyes and often realities people wish did not exist.
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 continue to watch, fascinated with the idea, the “realness” and thought behind it. 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, or 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 favors those particular colors, is because they remind him of “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”. The video has been viewed over 700,000 times according to youtube.com. Most of his visual work can be seen on YouTube and already totals well over a million views. Reviews of his artwork have also been mentioned on Forbes.com.
The music video, titled “Blackfield” for the band Blackfield
, has been recognized for its crafty layering and vividness of winding photographs inside of photographs inside of photographs. It often has led its viewers feeling nostalgic yet intrigued. Not only has Hoile filmed music videos for Blackfield, but he has also played a major role in the recording, editing, and direction of some of their live shows, notably Blackfield Live in NY. The music video "Blackfield" has been viewed over 40,000 times and uploaded by many other fans of his work over and over again on youtube.com. Aside from Blackfield, he has had the opportunity to work very closely with Israeli megastar, Aviv Geffen
on both live visuals and music videos such as Black and White shot at Abbey Road Studios
in London
, summer of 2007. He was also responsible for the visual projections for the Danish supergroup, TV-2 (band)
for their tour of "De første kærester på månen" album.
Hoile has also been noted for editing and directing two music videos for Opeth
. These music videos include Porcelain Heart (already viewed well over 800,000 times) and "Burden" from their new 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—they are touring or performing live. Within the same year, Hoile directed a second music video, "Normal", from Porcupine Tree's Nil Recurring
album also released in 2008.
Shortly after, Lasse began working on another piece. Insurgentes
—the music project—has received special attention from the media, but underneath all that, Insurgentes—the artwork itself—has caught the eyes and peaked the interest of many. This work has been noted particularly for its bizarre beauty, complexity, and uniqueness all of which can be seen in the special edition.
One Special Deluxe edition, limited to 3000 copies, contains a double CD along with DVD-A and some brief footage from the documentary “Insurgentes” underway.
Another special edition was also released. This one on the other hand, entails 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 along with the journey.
Not much longer after editing, creating, and finalizing the entire Insurgentes project—including the documentary itself (which is to be featured at the CPH:DOX International Film Festival November 2009) Lasse Hoile commenced—which would be his latest of works—Porcupine Tree’s cover art for their latest album, The Incident
(the album is to be released September 15, 2009.
There also is a Deluxe Edition of “The Incident” that contains a 116-page hardback book containing more of Lasse’s photographs. Not only did Lasse create and design the album’s sleeve, but he was also presented with yet again, another opportunity to compose and direct the music video for the Porcupine Tree's latest single “Time Flies”.
This music video, in particular, contains brighter and more lucid imagery than those previously produced, which has surprised and intrigued many (more of Hoile's featured work can also be seen on the film projections on Porcupine Tree's current promotional tour "The Incident"). After the "Time Flies" video was completed and later released for viewing on the World Wide Web, little time had passed until Lasse received feedback from loyal fans and other artists in the industry who were tracking his work. Upon receiving such raving reviews and attention, he was asked for an interview with Roadrunner Records UK on August 21, 2009.
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.
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
. Recognized for his unique vintage style intertwined with a modern day twist, Hoile is best known for his close work with Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
and his projects Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
and Blackfield
Blackfield
Blackfield is a collaboratory musical group between Porcupine Tree founder and lead singer Steven Wilson and Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen.-Formation, self-titled debut :...
. He has also designed live visuals for the US progressive metal band Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
. In the mid-1990s he was the vocalist for Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band, Panzerchrist
Panzerchrist
Panzerchrist is a Danish death metal band formed in '93-'94 by Michael Enevoldsen and celebrated Danish artist Lasse Hoile.- History :Panzerchrist recorded a few demos and was signed by Serious entertainment...
. Today, he continues to create various designs used for music videos, posters, and band photography.
Hoile had humble beginnings working as an editor and producing short films in 1993. Five years later in 1998, he decided to take up photography only as a hobby. The hobby grew into a passion and it is here Hoile claimed he “started doing art seriously”. Though having only started “doing art seriously” a few years ago, he has wasted no time in creating several documentaries, commercials, live show projections, short films, feature films, art installations, animation, grading, and post production/compositing to name a few.
Though ridiculed every now and again for some of his controversial productions, he still refuses to sugarcoat “truth” such as nature itself, and the behavior of human beings.
Influenced by melancholic music, Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, and Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
, Hoile continues to convey through his artwork, the world through his eyes and often realities people wish did not exist.
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 continue to watch, fascinated with the idea, the “realness” and thought behind it. 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, or 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 favors those particular colors, is because they remind him of “old masters” such as Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
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 Absentia
In Absentia is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. It was their first release on a major record label, Lava Records. It is Metal Storm's number 3 of the Top 20 albums of 2002 and number 49 on the Top 100 albums of all time...
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
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He also directed Porcupine Tree's music videos “Fear of a Blank Planet”. The video has been viewed over 700,000 times according to youtube.com. Most of his visual work can be seen on YouTube and already totals well over a million views. Reviews of his artwork have also been mentioned on Forbes.com.
The music video, titled “Blackfield” for the band Blackfield
Blackfield
Blackfield is a collaboratory musical group between Porcupine Tree founder and lead singer Steven Wilson and Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen.-Formation, self-titled debut :...
, has been recognized for its crafty layering and vividness of winding photographs inside of photographs inside of photographs. It often has led its viewers feeling nostalgic yet intrigued. Not only has Hoile filmed music videos for Blackfield, but he has also played a major role in the recording, editing, and direction of some of their live shows, notably Blackfield Live in NY. The music video "Blackfield" has been viewed over 40,000 times and uploaded by many other fans of his work over and over again on youtube.com. Aside from Blackfield, he has had the opportunity to work very closely with Israeli megastar, Aviv Geffen
Aviv Geffen
Aviv Geffen is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist and guitarist. He is the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.Geffen was and is extremely popular...
on both live visuals and music videos such as Black and White shot at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, summer of 2007. He was also responsible for the visual projections for the Danish supergroup, TV-2 (band)
TV-2 (band)
TV-2 , is a Danish pop rock band group formed in 1981 in Aarhus. The group is composed of Steffen Brandt , Hans Erik Lerchenfeld , Georg Olesen , and Sven Gaul...
for their tour of "De første kærester på månen" album.
Hoile has also been noted for editing and directing two music videos for Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
. These music videos include Porcelain Heart (already viewed well over 800,000 times) and "Burden" from their new album, Watershed
Watershed (Opeth album)
Watershed is the ninth full-length studio album by the Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. Published by Roadrunner Records, the album's special edition was released first as a music download on the Italian iTunes Stores on May 19, 2008.Watershed is the first studio album by Opeth to...
released in 2008.
Along with Opeth's music videos, Hoile has also designed mesmerizing visuals for the band—such as lush forest scenery—they are touring or performing live. Within the same year, Hoile directed a second music video, "Normal", from Porcupine Tree's Nil Recurring
Nil Recurring
Nil Recurring is an EP by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released on 17 September 2007 through the band's online store...
album also released in 2008.
Shortly after, Lasse began working on another piece. Insurgentes
Insurgentes
Insurgentes is a Spanish word meaning insurgents and may refer to:*Avenida de los Insurgentes, the longest avenue in Mexico City*Insurgentes , album by British artist Steven Wilson*Metro Insurgentes, subway station in Mexico City...
—the music project—has received special attention from the media, but underneath all that, Insurgentes—the artwork itself—has caught the eyes and peaked the interest of many. This work has been noted particularly for its bizarre beauty, complexity, and uniqueness all of which can be seen in the special edition.
One Special Deluxe edition, limited to 3000 copies, contains a double CD along with DVD-A and some brief footage from the documentary “Insurgentes” underway.
Another special edition was also released. This one on the other hand, entails 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 along with the journey.
Not much longer after editing, creating, and finalizing the entire Insurgentes project—including the documentary itself (which is to be featured at the CPH:DOX International Film Festival November 2009) Lasse Hoile commenced—which would be his latest of works—Porcupine Tree’s cover art for their latest album, The Incident
The Incident
- Films :* The Incident , a 1967 film starring Beau Bridges and Martin Sheen* The Incident , a Japanese film by Yoshitaro Nomura* The Incident , a 1990 film starring Walter Matthau and Harry Morgan...
(the album is to be released September 15, 2009.
There also is a Deluxe Edition of “The Incident” that contains a 116-page hardback book containing more of Lasse’s photographs. Not only did Lasse create and design the album’s sleeve, but he was also presented with yet again, another opportunity to compose and direct the music video for the Porcupine Tree's latest single “Time Flies”.
This music video, in particular, contains brighter and more lucid imagery than those previously produced, which has surprised and intrigued many (more of Hoile's featured work can also be seen on the film projections on Porcupine Tree's current promotional tour "The Incident"). After the "Time Flies" video was completed and later released for viewing on the World Wide Web, little time had passed until Lasse received feedback from loyal fans and other artists in the industry who were tracking his work. Upon receiving such raving reviews and attention, he was asked for an interview with Roadrunner Records UK on August 21, 2009.
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.
Discography
With PanzerchristPanzerchrist
Panzerchrist is a Danish death metal band formed in '93-'94 by Michael Enevoldsen and celebrated Danish artist Lasse Hoile.- History :Panzerchrist recorded a few demos and was signed by Serious entertainment...
- Outpost Fort Europa (1999/Serious)
- Six Seconds Kill (1996/Serious)