Yannick Franck was born in 1981 in Belgium. He is an electronic musician, sound artist, vocalist, and researcher in the field of music and sound studies. His work explores the effects of sound on perception and cognition. He is particularly interested in how sound influences sensory and psychological mechanisms, including through subtle or subliminal phenomena. His research extends to the interaction between sound and other artistic disciplines, such as cinema, visual arts, performance, and contemporary dance. This research informs both his artistic practice and pedagogical approach, emphasizing the power of sound to shape aesthetic, psychological, and sensory experiences beyond conventional listening.
Operating under various monikers (Der Mord, Raum, MT Gemini) and within multiple formations (Orphan Swords, Figure Section, Y.E.R.M.O., Die Morde), he has been an active force in experimental electronic music for over twenty years. He has shared the stage with prominent artists such as Front 242, Drew McDowall (Coil, Psychic TV), Moor Mother, Samuel Kerridge, and Hypnoskull, and collaborated with Antwerp-based fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck.
He played in duos Orphan Swords, Figure Section, and Y.E.R.M.O. and is the head of the Antibody label (featuring artists such as Tot Onyx, Shit & Shine, Front 242's Patrick Codenys, Yeun Elez, and many more), which he founded in 2021.
For the past twenty years, he has explored territories such as electroacoustic music, noise, synthpop, industrial, and body music.
His most notable solo works are:
- Hierophany, an abrasive sonic rendition of an introspective journey in the guts of Moscow. It was released in 2012 on the now-defunct Russian label Monochrome Vision.
- Just Like A River (as MT Gemini), a pataphysical, unapologetically experimental revisitation of early Ska and Rocksteady. Released in 2019 on Sub Rosa, the album was defined as “remarkable” by Steve Barker in The Wire Magazine and was listed in their yearly Dub music Top 10.
- Conjurer (as Raum), released in 2021 on the legendary Berlin dark techno label Aufnahme + Wiedergabe.
- Montsalvatsche (as Raum), released in 2022 on Antibody, exploring several themes from the Arthurian cycle. He considers it his most singular work to date.
His track "Counter Initiate" (as Raum) was also featured in the TV series Top Boy.
He has frequently worked as a composer across various disciplines, including film, performance, theater, and contemporary dance. He has composed original soundtracks for Fabrice Murgia / Artara at the Théâtre National de Belgique, as well as for choreographer Chantal Yzermans / Radical Low. His music has also been used in numerous video works by contemporary artists, including South African video artist Wendy Morris, among others.
He has given numerous seminars, masterclasses, and workshops on sound and its relationship with visual arts, performing arts, and film. He has been a lecturer at ESRA (École Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle) for over a decade, where he teaches film analysis, particularly focusing on film soundtracks, as well as artistic direction and the history of electronic music. He has also given lectures on sound and image at the Transcultural Exchange Conference in Boston and has led workshops at various art schools and universities.
Among his significant works, he created a live soundtrack for Häxan, Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) by Benjamin Christensen, presented at the Cinémathèque du Luxembourg. He also developed The Rising, a ritualistic audiovisual performance in collaboration with Gast Bouschet, and more recently, he composed the original score for Jérôme Vandewattyne’s sci-fi film The Belgian Wave.
Previously, he ran Idiosyncratics, a label dedicated to sonic and musical research.
