You have remixed Moby, and released productions on such massive labels on Pickadoll, Dirtybird, Classic Recordings, Tiny Sticks and Rabid Records. Wow. How did you start out in dance music? A family jazz and soul background, drumming in a band, getting into drum & bass then trip hop in your teenage years before discovering techno – quite a trip? Tell us your story….
“One thing lead to another really, drums have been playing the main part in my musical upbringing and the rhythms from different cultures got me interested in exploring everything. I first got into dance music.”
What clubs did you used to go to in your home town as a kid?
“I visited my sister in the States for a year when I was 15, and I started going to a lot of raves and clubs, and that really paved the way for my interest in dance music. They didn’t have many clubs in my Swedish hometown, especially that put the focus on good music. I began to organize a monthly club night to book my favourite swedish DJs and I remember I went to a jazz club every week when I was in high school – that was about it. I had to take a five hour bus-ride down to Stockholm if I wanted to see some good electronic dance music, so that happened rarely!!”
Your new debut artist album ‘Duck, Cover & Hold’, full of melodies, synth stabs, chord progressions, bleeps and rhythms – brilliant and made for the dancefloor. What are your thoughts on it – and what’s the name of the album all about?
“Making this album has been a very emotional and close-hearted process to me. I felt I wanted to do something that I had never done before – so I pretty much locked myself up in the studio for a couple of months to see which direction it would take. I decided to make it work both for clubs and for home-listening, so I loaded a arrangement and started on track number one. Then I added track after track until I felt I had a collection that worked together. I went back and forth between tracks and began to produce the music. Musically, the album contains pretty much everything I’d like to hear and play on a dancefloor, and that was very important to me. The name of the album suggests on the first three things you should do when there’s an earthquake!”
Which tracks on the album are you most excited about?
“I’m really excited about all of them but my one of my favorites is ‘Clown’. It really moves me and gets me moving every time I hear it. The title track ‘Duck, Cover & Hold’ is also a favourite. I’ve been playing ‘Girls and The Prophet’ in all my sets since last year, they are very special to me.
What DJs and other artist’s records are rocking your boat out there?
“There are loads of them that I am into, but to name a few…Tiger Stripes, Dubfire, Popof and the big-band techno from SlagsmŒlsklubben.”
You site musical influences as varied as Stevie Wonder, nineteenth classical composer Edvard Grieg and even Yello – a strange mix ?
“Ha ha – yeah I guess it does look quite odd on paper. I’ve always been interested in new sounds and all kinds of music. I often find something that catches my attention in every style of music, it doesn’t matter if its country music or 60’s pop-music.”
Tell me about qi gong meditation? How has it helped your musical process?
“Qi-gong is a meditation in movement. I practice it every day which keeps my energy high and my mind and body in tune. I’ve always been kind of hyper-active so there’s a need for me to get me focused in order to get things done. This is my most important tool for music making, so it has helped me out in all aspects.”
