Ian Urbina & Kettel - Lawless Place (Inspired by 'The Outlaw Ocean' a Book by Ian Urbina) (2020)

Reimer Eising (1982), an inhabitant of the city of Groningen in the Netherlands and a trained classical pianist, has been a busy man since his first record on the Planet Mu label in 2003. Along his path there were several EPs and albums published on his own Sending Orbs label and that he worked on with the legendary Rotterdam-based Clone label.
Kettel is known for his delicate, melodic and playful melodies uniting elements of electronica, classical music, jazz and techno stirred into flawless, memorable compositions.
As a composer for advertisements, Eising has worked on worldwide, award winning campaigns by Diesel, Ariston, Microsoft, Mercedes and many more.

BEHIND THE MUSIC:
Without dismissing the importance of the stories in The Outlaw Ocean, I am most interested in Ian’s lifestyle and reporting adventures. Reporters don’t often focus on themselves in their work, which is understandable, but I do wonder about Ian’s own experience regularly. I like when he includes details such as his immediate getaway backpack containing items like cash and a satellite phone. I’ve had my own share of surreal experiences around the world, but I cannot imagine what it is like to one day be at home, and the next be sitting on a skiff in Ghanaian waters.

Aside from Ian’s personal experience, I am horrified by the story of Lang Long, who, in the search for a better life, is tricked into slavery. His story shows that the slavery I associate with the past— whereby people are chained by the neck, work in grueling conditions, and are flogged by their ‘owners’—is still occuring. Long’s story is a complete slap in the face. What makes it so bleak is the fact that it’s not just a few evil people committing crimes; rather there are huge machinations that allow criminals to get away with these acts.

It’s a challenge to translate a book, especially a nonfiction one, into music. My goal is not to dictate people’s emotions, but to make them feel spiritually connected to the book’s setting and atmosphere. To do this, I chose to use Ian’s field recordings as the building blocks, or DNA, for my work. While some parts of my music interpret various situations in the book, others pinpoint an event directly. This is a very cool experiment, and I love that there is now a connection between the music and the book. Hopefully, listeners will be interested to learn what inspires the music and this will lead them to Ian’s amazing work.

-Kettel