Mark Van Hoen

Mark Van Hoen, performing as Locust, worked within the darker and more introspective reaches of modern ambient music, crafting albums whose unmistakable allure emerged from fragmented layers of ominous textures and sonic constructions. Born in London, he first built a career scoring films and advertisements before shifting his full attention to independent recordings, issuing a succession of acclaimed works on Apollo, an imprint of R&S, as well as on Touch and Editions Mego.

Early inspirations cited by Van Hoen included Steve Reich, David Sylvian, Kraftwerk, and Brian Eno, while subsequent explorations drew from pathways first charted by John Coltrane and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Although his initial recordings emphasized expansive, largely rhythm-free experimental environments, he later folded in production methods associated with breakbeat idioms such as trip-hop and jungle, adapting them to his own Locust sensibility rather than adopting their surface characteristics. Truth Is Born of Arguments marked the initial outing in this vein, featuring dense, distorted percussion alongside intricate, looping polyrhythms that echoed those of drum'n'bass yet moved at a markedly slower pace.

Van Hoen divided his efforts between the Locust project and several sustained collaborations, including the techno outfit Autocreation and the post-techno experimental electronic duo Involution, the latter formed with Seefeel frontman Daren Seymour. He also supplied remixes for Love and Rockets, Seefeel, and As One, among others, while integrating multimedia elements and performance-art gestures into his stage presentations. Under his given name he issued Last Flowers from the Darkness (1996), Playing with Time (1999), The Warmth Inside You (2004), and Where Is the Truth (2012). A 2013 WFMU session with Louis Sherman led the pair to revive Locust for the album You'll Be Safe Forever (2013). Van Hoen subsequently participated in Black Hearted Brother alongside Neil Halstead and Nick Holton, and served as a central figure in Children of the Stones, both ensembles releasing full-length recordings. Van Hoen and Sherman then reconvened as Locust for After the Rain (2014). A cassette-only collection of earlier material, The Worcester Tapes, 1983-1987 (2015), appeared on Tapeworm, while the proper Van Hoen album Nightvision (also 2015) was released by Saint Marie.