Eponymous founder of Swedish company Sebsongs, Malmö’s Sebastian Hastrup has burst onto the Eurorack scene in recent years with a slew of gorgeously minimal, modestly sized and functionally named modules, from the wildly creative 12‑bit digital Sampler to the brilliantly designed Polyseq flexible step sequencer. His latest module, the Bread & Butter, takes the hallowed sounds of General MIDI and implements them into your modular system with equal parts irony and sincerity.
On his entry into modular
I’ve had an interest in music and electronics for as long as I can remember — my first serious DIY projects were stripboard guitar pedals based on any designs and schematics I could find online. When I eventually discovered modular synths it seemed obvious that it would be my thing as well. I started building DIY YuSynth 5U modules back in 2013. I had circuit boards made and sourced all components manually. I instantly fell in love with the process! The idea for my module Polyseq was actually born already back in 2014 and that was also my first venture into the Eurorack format, as I realised that the Polyseq could be a commercially viable module and Eurorack was the most popular format already back then.
On his go‑to modules (aside from his own!)
One of my early module purchases was Mutable Instruments’ Plaits and I still use that module in many of my patches — most of the time for kick drums, but it’s so versatile and comes in handy in a lot of different scenarios. Tom Whitwell’s [Music Thing Modular] Radio Music is also a frequent part of my patches. It’s such a simple and brilliant design. I also love the Doboz modules and I’ve built both the TSNM II and a couple of his VCO340s, the latter being one of the most complete and compact analogue oscillators that I’ve used.
On the Bread & Butter
I had a lot of fun developing the Bread & Butter! I wanted to release a synth voice as my next module after the Sampler and went through many different ideas and designs before settling on the General MIDI polyphonic synth voice concept. The module is based around a cool little audio encoding chip that happens to have a really nice‑sounding GM synth engine on board. My main goals for the module were to keep it simple, small and fun to use, and it seems to have resonated well with people so far. I really like how easy it is to create a lush and wide polyphonic soundscape and it’s become an integral part of my own patches.
On making DIY kits
After a fire back in 2019 I lost my 5U system and when the pandemic hit I wanted to start building a modular system again. So I started designing Eurorack modules as a recreational and therapeutic thing, just for myself. After having designed a bunch of modules and seeing them work well together in my own system, I started thinking about somehow sharing them with the world. In late 2021 I reached out to Thonk and they were very enthusiastic about my designs, so we started a collaboration. To this day I design and prototype the modules, and the fine folks at Thonk assemble and distribute the DIY kits. As I’m a DIY‑er myself, putting my modules on the market as DIY kits made a lot of sense to me. I’ve really enjoyed being part of the DIY scene myself for the last 10 years, and contributing to the DIY culture is something I feel strongly about.
On the culture of modular
In my experience, the modular scene has been very embracing and open to people like myself, especially the synth DIY scene. I joined the Electro‑Music forum early on, posted updates on my 5U system and got a lot of encouragement and help from that community. Since joining the modular scene as one of the Eurorack module brands and having conversations with customers from many corners of the world, it has really hit me how diverse and joyful the modular culture can be. I like to make an effort contributing to the DIY synth culture by offering good support and by encouraging newcomers to learn how to build DIY modules themselves. More broadly, modular culture seems to continue to grow and I see modular systems in many different scenarios: from contemporary music composition and film scoring to experimental art installations and much more. I’m definitely proud to be a part of this culture and I look forward to what the future might bring.