Trentemøller
Since a long time I am having this sort of favourite track list in my mind. It is full of all the songs that are special to me and I am sure almost everyone has his own list. „Take me into your skin“ and „Moan“ from Anders Trentemøller, are those kind of „piece of gold“ songs that you will probably find on many people´s list.
His debut album „ The Last Resort“ can be considered to be one of the most important albums within the electronic music history. It is somehow different, filigree and powerful at the same time and presumably it entered the world of music and the clubs just at the right time.
Well, now the Copenhagen born artist has brought out his new album „ Into The Great Wide Yonder“. And he lives up to his early success with tracks that get under the skin. Everything sounds like really good handicraft. I have to admit I was more than happy to be able to ask him a few questions, because in my opinion he is one of the superstars within the electronic music scene. In the interview he tells us how the work on his new album had been and what is the most important thing in life…
First of all thanks so much for your time! So, let´s start: What does music mean to you?
Music means a lot! It has always been such a great part of my life! And I can’t live without it. Music gives me so much inspiration and joy, and it’s a way for me to express some feelings, which I think is maybe a bit harder for me to express in other ways.
Trentemøller: …. Even Though You’re With Another Girl (Official music video) from SEN Music TV on Vimeo.
Your new album “Into The Great Wide Yonder” is out now. Why did you chose “Sycamore Feeling” to be the first single release of your album?
I thought it was a great song that has this mysterious feeling to it. It somehow represents the sound of the whole album quite well. It is not as catchy as the next single coming out very soon ‘..Even Though You’re With Another Girl’, but it has a lot of the atmosphere you can find on the album. And then I simply love Marie fisker’s haunting voice.
I read that you did all the music compositions at home and not in a big studio. It´s amazing, because when listening to the album it just sounds so “enormous” and great. What is your secret? :)
he he ..thanks! Yeah, this album ended up sounding quite dramatic in a way. I just spent a lot of time on each part and sound. A lot of the album is played on real instruments and not programmed and that also gave it a more warm and analog feeling. But all drums and loud guitars were recorded at my friends studio, otherwise my neighbours would have killed me I think :)
Being an artist, there are always points where you look at your work and you maybe feel that it is not going into the right direction or you don´t feel satisfied about what you have created and you just want to start again. Did you ever have such moments while producing this album?
Yeah, at some points. I had some technical troubles with the bass in several tracks , because I’m doing all the music in my small apartment. But I was quite sure about how the album should sound artistically. So it’s very often more technical things that can take up a lot of time for me. If I’m not able to make the sounds I have in mind, it’s very frustrating.
I also read that you need to be alone when writing your songs. Do you have a special place where you write them – where you can retreat yourself?
It’s all done in my home studio. I like to sit at my old piano and come up with the chord progressions and melodies before I go to the computer and start the production and further composing. It’s important not to look onto a computer monitor to make music I think. So I prefer the piano in the first composing phase.
What or who are your inspirations?
There are many. I am inspired by music of course but also movies, art or just a walk in the rain through Copenhagen can inspire me. But my biggest inspirations in music are names like Velvet Underground, Suicide, Aphex Twin ,Erik Satie, Brian Eno, The Cure, The Smiths, Angelo Badalamenti, A Place to Bury Strangers, Portishead, My Bloody Valentine…I could go on :) A lot of different artists.
Have you ever thought about making music for a movie?
Yeah, I actually did the score for 2 danish movies , and if the right idea comes up it could be interesting to do that again! It’s interesting how much power music has. It can create the right atmosphere, but you also have to be careful not to ‘tell’ too much with the music. Sometimes the music actually should work a bit ‘against’ the pictures , in a way. It’s a learning experience for me to work with score music.
When you write a song are you thinking about if it will become a success or appeal to many people or is all that matters that you feel it is a beautiful song to you?
No , I don’t think about that at all when I write a song. If I did that, I don’t think it would work for me. Making music is much about atmosphere and emotions and if I should think about sales or target groups or whatever , the spirit for me would be gone.
Trentemøller’s “Sycamore Feeling” from P&L on Vimeo.
What sort of feedback did you get from family and friends for this album?
Mostly good he he :) But for this album , some told me they needed some more time before the album started ‘working’ for them. I think it’s an album that needs time to grow slowly ,- hopefully. It’s a bit more demanding than The Last Resort album.
The electronic scene is huge and diverse. Whereabout in that scene do you see yourself?
It’s hard to say…I just make music and then I think it’s up to others to decide what style scene it belongs to :)
5 years from now you will be? Hopefully still making music!!!
4 things you can´t live without? Love, music, art …and great food! (-:
The most important thing in life is? ‘All you need is love!’