The Faded Reveries

Foundation Hope was formed in 2003 by Joep Smaling. The main idea was to make dark cinematical soundscapes with a strong focus on the harshness and cruelty of everyday life. This instead of the more common ambient focus on a fantastical or subterranean world. Foundation Hope tries to reflect the sharp contrast between religious/illusory thought and the crudeness of everyday reality and mankind musically. Ironically presenting itself as a foundation, an institute that comforts seeking souls in times of distress, it is instead an attempt to confront the listener with moods of isolation, despair and sorrow. At the same time it is a question on what the fundaments of our hope are, in times when not only parts of the world are at war or otherwise suffering, but also wealthy individuals in western secularised civilisation seek relief in anti-depressants and are aware of the hollowness of consumerism and hedonism, living in a world gone mad without the belief in a purpose to it all. Foundation Hope is an aural arrow pointing to the spiritual sores of this modern civilisation. ‘To perceive evil in where it exists is in fact a form of optimism,’ to quote Rossellini. This was the basic, albeit somewhat pretentious, idea behind the project. Luckily, music speaks no language and can induce mood and feeling directly. So listeners might as well abandon the whole idea behind Foundation Hope and interpret the drones, strings, melancholic tunes, confusing vocal-samples and cinematic moods as they wish. May the aural presence of Foundation Hope bloom in their heads and cause whatever it causes. Music is, after drugs, the strongest weapon when it comes to mood-engineering. Foundation Hope released its debut album A Call To All Redeemers on the French Divine Comedy Records in January 2006. After summer 2006, two tracks will appear on the Book-cd compilation Pere Lachaise. Before the debut, two promo’s were made, respectively titled Broken Sounds Set To Despairing Melodies and The Forsaken Playgrounds. Both are sold out. The musical influences of Foundation Hope are many, from dark-ambient to abstract noise and post-rock. The aim was and will be, trying to find an individual and somewhat original sound, instead of the sound of common dark-ambient Lustmord epigones.