The Swan And The Lake

DMC’s reviewer MANNIX got the chance to talk to Emil Breum aka Chill & Ambient meastro The Swan And The Lake about his productions, his workflow and his future releases!

DMC: Emil it seems The Swan And The Lake is one of the dominant characters when it comes to laid back Ambient Chill Music. Do you agree?
TSATL: Thanks, for your question.. I’m proud to hear that my music has an influence, in the Ambient-music scene.. This kind  of music has been a big part of my life and my musical development.
DMC: When did you start out producing?

TSATL: I started to produce music when I was 15 years old, on an old computer with very low budget software and a little MIDI-keyboard. But before that, I had played piano since I was about 6 years old. Since then I have established two very important “rules” in my music and the process of producing: I play all the basic sounds and melodies with my own hands and after that, I do the occasional  sampling and looping. All the keyboards and synthesizers I have recorded, are recordied without MIDI and quantizing.

My second little rule is: The final mix should having an organic and natural sound.
DMC: Which instruments do you play?

TSATL:  I play a lots of instruments. My primary instrument is piano and synthesizer.

But I also play guitar, bass, drums, percussion, marimba and xylophon.
My latest challenge to myself is to learn to play a new instrument every year. Next up is the harp.
DMC: The majority of your productions have been instrumental cuts so far. Is there a specific reason why you don’t produce more vocal tracks?

TSATL: I love instrumental music and have enjoyed to go into depth only with keyboard-sounds and other instruments.

Having said that I’m currently working on new music with vocalists though-3 months ago I found a really beautiful voice. It’s a girl  I met, and she is now in the studio with me recording. The output is quite extraordinary.
DMC: You have some amazing figures on Spotify and other listening platforms. What do these numbers mean to you?
TSATL: I’m very proud. Really. It’s very exciting. I have big respect for the digital platforms and all the opportunities they bring. It gives me a lot of motivation to keep on being creative.
DMC: How do you regard streaming plaforms in general?
TSATL: It’s a great thing. It helps me to promote my music and many people in the whole world can listen to my music on their tablets smartphones and other devices. The big advantage these platforms is that they give peeps easy access to listen to new music. It’s more easy to tell people about my music and where they can find the music. The digital platforms are an important thing but personally I enjoy the feeling of having a vinyl in my hands and see it spin around even more.
DMC: You are connected to Kenneth Bagers’ Music For Dreams label. How is it to work alongside a man with his experience in Music?

TSATL:  It’s a big adventure and I learn a lot from him about music and being a part of the music industry.

His a great person and I feel like we are getting closer to each other and have a great collaboration.
It’s a big pleasure for me to release my music on Music For Dreams.
DMC: It seems you didn’t do that many remixes in general. Is it a question of turning down requests or just a question of demand?
TSATL: I enjoy and prioritize a lot of my time on collaborations and featurings with other artists and producers. So this is one of the main reasons I have not done too many remixes. But maybe more remixes will surface in the future.
DMC: Your last albums are regarded as classics now. What about a new longplayer? When can we expect it and what will be the changes in comparison to your last ones?
TSATL: My next album is out in the beginning of 2019. You can expect some new featurings and a touch of acoustic drums. There will also be some tracks with a deeper, different sound.
DMC: Final question, how does it feel living and making music in Denmark?

TSATL: I love to live in Denmark, and to make music at my studio here.

But I wish I could be closer to my listeners at some point as I can see my music reaches out to people all over the world. But as I can’t be at different places at the same time, I enjoy living and producing in Denmark for now!
DMC: Thank you very much!