I H8 Camera (I hate camera) is the enigmatic improv collective encompassing Master of Ceremonies Rudy Trouvé. An interview fragment from the Gazet van Antwerpen reads like the perfect introduction: ‘Rudy Trouvé began I H8 Camera around 2005: “Since then, other musicians have always played along. We don’t really have a fixed line-up and that’s a great advantage. Some members have busy schedules or other commitments. So sometimes I myself don’t know in advance who exactly will appear on stage that night. But we always make the best of it. By the way, people often think of free jazz when they hear improv, but that’s not really our thing. Jazzy elements sometimes pop up, but that’s more by chance than anything else. All sorts of things pass in revue with us: funk, postpunk, rock,… It really can go in any direction.” When it comes to vocals, there’s improvisation happening there too, obviously. “I try to make something up on the spot. You could describe it as a sort of slam poetry, but in pop music there is also a long tradition of parlando-like song. So that’s nothing new.”’

Writer Jeroen Olyslaegers is certainly a big fan: “The least you can say of I H8 Camera is that they play, they play to play, they play for the pleasure of playing, and they hope that the audience enjoys their pleasure in playing. Improvisation is like life itself. The band was originally formed around 2009, when one time a member or two of The Love Substitutes weren’t available to play, but there was still a chance that the booked live show could go ahead. Originating from unexpected circumstances, I H8 Camera really does present pure improvisation – with an ever-changing line-up of musicians, ones mainly situated in the circles around the Heaven Hotel label.” 

He continues: “100 percent improvisation and at least 200 years of experience on stage. No songs, only the obscure indications of ringmaster Rudy Trouvé (things along the lines of “today you are a Bulgarian trumpet player travelling in South Africa”) pointing out the direction I H8 Camera is to take. And that direction leads the pedigree musicians and the audience present along new musical paths, sometimes with very sharp turns along the way, … interesting, challenging and often brilliant. Each jam is set in motion by a different musician who takes the show in the direction of pure noise, spaced-out electronica or solos on a water bucket. Anything is possible and anything goes, in this exploration of the boundlessness of improvisation.”

And after a few shows more: “… you hear so much pass in revue with this band: krautrock, Bill Laswell during the ‘90s, shifty jazz (what a wonderful colour that talented saxophonist gave to the sound), punk, frisky seventies funk, contrary post-rock, musing pop and Rudy being Rudy with the totally Rudy statement: I don't feel like dancing.”
Wanna bet that you will?

Band:
Roland van Campenhout, Rudy Trouvé, Stef Kamil Carlens, Nikkie Van Lierop, Rahmat Edmons, Wim De Busser, Teun Verbruggen, Teuk Henri and Matt Watts (1987-2024 R.I.P.).