On Tomodachi, Stijn Hüwels gives us the best of his two worlds by combining his solo studio work with his collaborative efforts: “The starting point for this album was simple. I sent out a question to fellow musicians I deeply respect and whose work I especially like. I know all of them for some time, and they all have a significant influence on my work. I asked them to send me 'something', a sample, melody or field recording I could use to create a new piece of music. This exchange of inspiration forced me to approach composing in a different way than I use to do, without abandoning my main gear (guitar and laptop). Slowly, I tried to make a consistent story from the different pieces I got. That's how the album was formed and how it got its final shape. I decided to call it Tomodachi, Japanese for ‘friend(s)’. That's the only thing I can say about the album: it's about friendship and music”.
This is the list of collaborators in order of appearance on the album: Heine Christensen / Ghost and Tape (Home Normal, Slaapwel) - Ralph Steinbrüchel (12k, Slaapwel) - Sylvain Chauveau (Flau, FatCat, Brocoli) - Yves De Mey (Line, Opal Tapes) - Yukitomo Hamasaki (mAtter) - Christoph Berg (Flau, Sonic Pieces) - Patrick Stevens / Hypnoskull (Ant Zen) - Dirk Serries (Consouling, Midira Records, Tonefloat, New Wave of Jazz) - Tomoyoshi Date (12k, Home Normal, Baskaru) - Ciro Berenguer (Dauw, Eilean Records).

"Stijn's invitation to contribute to his new album came at the moment when I was seeking closure to my ambient story. One I began in 1988 after my early industrial period and which transformed over the years, from the synth-based Vidna Obmana to my guitar-orientated albums under my own name. Epitaph became my last chapter and it was around that time I also recorded my source for Stijn. Very fond of what I recorded and especially what Stijn did with it. Respectfully but also enriching it with his own style of ambience makes it one of my favorite collaborative pieces. Proud to be part of this fantastic new album while feeling comfortable with the fact that a new generation stood up to represent the ambient field. Ambient is what we need in life to reflect, chill and live with. Tomodachi is a pearl." - Dirk Serries

"Idea. Project. Question. Contemplating. Answer. Contribution. Develop. Record. Copy. Paste. Variation. Particles. Transmit. Pause. Composition. Exchange. Details. Information. Release. Thank you!" - Ralph Steinbrüchel