Category: Interviews (Page 12 of 112)

PAGE Interview

8 September 2023 /

Photo by Simon Helm

Since their first single ‘Dansande Man’ in 1983, Sweden’s PAGE have stuck rigidly to their “Keyboardbaserad Retroromantisk Popmusik” manifesto, never feeling the need to use live drums or a brass section.

Ironically, Eddie Bengtsson traded in his drum kit for two synthesizers to form PAGE with Marina Schiptjenko. Inspired by TUBEWAY ARMY, ULTRAVOX and SILICON TEENS, the duo have nurtured their own brand of poptronica. When PAGE went on hiatus in 2000, Bengtsson continued with his solo project SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN while Schiptjenko found mainstream European success as a member of BWO.

But the special chemistry that was within PAGE could not be resisted so in 2010, Bengtsson and Schiptjenko reunited to release a new album appropriately titled ‘Nu’. New is the theme of the new PAGE album ‘En Ny Våg’ which translated into English means “A New Wave”. As on the previous albums ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ and ‘Fakta För Alla’, ‘En Ny Våg’ uses Gary Numan as a catalyst and even brings Chris Payne and RRussell Bell from his imperial live band of 1979-1981 on board to aid the Numanisation process.

Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the continuing PAGE story and the making of ‘En Ny Våg’.

Photo by Jonas Karlsson

What keeps the PAGE partnership going strong?

Eddie: I think that it is because we live so far from each other. We don’t get tired of each other. Also, we have so many other things that we have done and do in our lives. Finally, we are still very good friends and like very much what we are doing and how our music sounds.

Marina: I also would like to add: our history. We kind of grew up together and were both huge fans of the same kind of music. We have so many memories tied to that defining time in our lives.

The concept to “Numanise” PAGE in 2017 began on a few tracks from ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’, how do you think the adventure has gone since then?

Eddie: When I write the songs, I don’t go in with the mission to copy either early Numan or ULTRAVOX (“NumanVox”). It’s more that those artists work like a catalyst to get me in the mood. Of course, I love the sound of those old songs, and I try to emulate it and let it go through a “PAGE-filter”. If someone tells me, “That sounds a bit like early Numan” or ULTRAVOX, I give them a high-five – because that means that they have understood what I’m trying to do.

Photo by Simon Helm

Have you grasped the world of social media and streaming?

Eddie: No, not yet, I suppose.

Marina: It’s boring to do, but I very much like the possibility to share (and to see!) old PAGE live stuff. I have a lousy memory, so it’s so much fun to see old concerts online.

It’s been a while since the most recent PAGE album ‘Fakta För Alla’ in 2019, but there have been two EPs ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ and ‘Aska’. What was the reason for going down this route first?

Eddie: Both of those EPs started as singles. I didn’t have the inspiration for a full album, but I could manage an EP. When those two EPs were done, we just thought, “Let’s put them together and make an album for those who want that”.

Did you impose any rules or restrictions on ‘En Ny Våg’ such as the synths, sounds and software used?

Eddie: I have had the same rules and restrictions for years and years. Once, I was a collector of synths. In other words, I bought lots of synthesizers just to own them; not really to use them. I have always had this idea, this mantra: “You only need ONE synth – force it to sound the way you want it to sound”. So I realised that I didn’t need that load of synths and sold them off. I sold my vintage stuff and bought ONE fat synth instead. I went for a Moog.

To tell you the truth, I don’t only own ONE Moog, I have a couple. Mostly because they look so nice. The last four albums are 80% Moog Voyager XL only. My Moog Little Phatty, I use as a mother keyboard. The Moog Minitaur is for all basses – the same sound on every song. And, finally, the Moog Sub Phatty is only for live. So, yeah, I want to work with restrictions and rules. Force the synth!

Are you still partying like it is 1980 – has any recent pop music been inspiring?

Eddie: I’m not very much for partying – never was. I keep my sources of inspirations very limited. It’s like 3-4 artists, all from the same era of early New Wave / Post Punk electronica. I have come to the conclusion that it was the time when the sounds were perfect. Earlier, I did look into to other styles, new and old; but, looking back, I think that made my own songs be influenced by too many things, and the red thread got kinda lost. So, I like the way I do work now. I have a road to walk down, and it’s very straight, and I love the walk.

Photo by Simon Helm

On the ‘En Ny Våg’ opening title song, you invited Chris Payne from the first Gary Numan live band to perform on it, how was the experience?

Eddie: THAT was a really huge thing for me. To have both Chris Payne and RRussell Bell from the Numan band and DRAMATIS playing on the new PAGE album was fantastic. They are such amazingly talented musicians. Chris plays the violin on the song and his parts really lift the song, I think so, at least. We had contact, and I instructed him to play the parts that I wanted. Then I told him that he could have a free hand to add whatever he could come up with. The part in the middle, where his viola leads, is goose-bumps beautiful.

RRussell Bell also contributes to the album, what did he add?

Eddie: RRussell plays the guitar on ‘Frusen’ (‘Frozen’). He added great atmosphere to the piece. It was so cool to have RRussell, as well as Chris, because he is such an important part of Numan and DRAMATIS story.

At the end of the album, there is an atmospheric track called ‘Korridoren’ that would make OMD proud, how did that develop?

Eddie: That was a quickie. Actually, I wrote it when the album was done and ready to be pressed. There was this day when I had just bought a new microphone, and I wanted to test it. I connected it and tried it out. The sound of that mic was unbelievable, compared to the mics I have been using before. So, I sang a line that sounded good – very close and kind of intimate – and then I put the instruments on that. It took me an hour or so. The result was a very cool song. I like it. Maybe OMD can make a cover of it? 😉

Photo by Jonas Karlsson

One of the highlights is ‘Det Här Är Mitt Sätt’ with its catchy riffs and soloing, what was the idea behind this?

Eddie: The idea was to use that synth sound that leads the song. I did this sound, and it was very much the sound as heard on ‘Fade To Grey’. So, I guess my goal was to make something that would sound a bit like ‘Fade To Grey’; I failed with that, but it became something else. I suppose it sounds very much like classic PAGE.

On ‘Genomskinlig’, you get to do the Billy Currie synth hero thing again, but have you considered getting the Korg ARP Odyssey reissue or does what you have already do the job as you require?

Eddie: No I haven’t. I have no need for it, because I force my synth (the Moog Voyager XL) to sound like a Billy Currie Odyssey solo. The result isn’t perfect but almost – and definitely good enough for me.

What are your favourite songs on the album?

Eddie: My favourite songs are ’En Ny Våg’ (‘A New Wave’), ‘För Du Är Rädd Nu’ (‘Because You’re Scared Now’) and ‘Stop-Vänta-Nu’ (‘Stop-Wait-Now’). All of them are very good songs that I’m very proud of. I totally love everything about those songs: the way they are built, the sounds, the arrangements, the melodies, the beat, the harmonies, the vocals, and the words. They really represent what I’m trying to do.

Marina: ‘En Ny Våg’ and “För Du Är Rädd Nu”, those are two magical PAGE songs.

Photo by Simon Helm

This present phase of PAGE started in 2010, it is more enjoyable than back in the day?

Eddie: Maybe. I haven’t thought about that. I guess it’s more mellow these days. It feels nicer now, when I really, really love the sound. PAGE has always been special, in the sense that there was never anyone that sounded like us. And that is still a fact.

Marina: I am so happy and grateful that Eddie doesn’t force me to play too many live gigs *laughs*

PAGE, in the early days, was a lot about live performance. I truly enjoyed it back then, but now it’s more pressure.

What is next for PAGE?

Eddie: Now we have to kind of sit back and see how the audience will receive the album. I hope they like it as much as we do. When it comes to playing live, we haven’t decided yet if we are going to perform the album or not. If the right opportunity arises, then we might. But it would have to be something that means something special. When it comes to composing, I’m at the moment taking a rest. Maybe, someday, I will start all over again with filling myself with inspiration and ideas.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to PAGE

‘En Ny Våg’ is released on 29 September 2023 by Energy Rekords as a CD and vinyl LP, pre-order from https://hotstuff.se/page/x-7640

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

https://www.instagram.com/page_svensk_pop/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Fte7PuO7hpVbBFrX075fC

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Simon Helm
8 September 2023

JAAKKO EINO KALEVI Interview

5 September 2023 /

Photo by Frank Holbein

Finnish psych-pop voyager Jaakko Eino Kalevi has been on a creative roll and will release his brand new double opus ‘Chaos Magic’ this Autumn. It is the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Dissolution’ mini-album.

Inspired by his new home of Athens and the Greek word “kháos”, meaning “an abyss or void that was created when Earth and Heaven were separated”, Jaakko Eino Kalevi sought to find beauty in the chaotic nature of the everyday.

Written and recorded primarily in Greece but also in Germany, Estonia and Switzerland, ‘Chaos Magic’ is an eclectic collection of music covering sunny art pop, synthy new wave, cosmic jazz, electronic disco, space rock and darker baroque song experiments. Guests include Jimi Tenor, John Moods, Alma Jodorowsky, ‘Dissolution’ collaborator Yu-Ching Huang and on the album’s first single ‘I Forget’, Sigurlaug Gísladóttir aka Mr Silla.

Jaakko Eino Kalevi chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about this wondrous garden of earthly delights that shaped the sound of ‘Chaos Magic’.

It’s been 4 years since the ‘Dissoluton’ mini-album and 5 years since the last album proper ‘Out Of Touch’, how did you decide to make ‘Chaos Magic’ a double opus?

I was not planning to make a double album but somehow that is what it grew up to be. I was just working on my song ideas and in the end didn´t want to drop anything out. I tried but it didn´t make sense to me.

How has living in Athens inspired you, it’s obviously quite different from Finland?

It is very different that is true. It´s much more lively place than Finland and people spend more time hanging outdoors which is nice. I used to live in Berlin after Finland and one thing I like in Athens is having a better routine of working with music, compared to Berlin. One reason for that is our studio that I share with a few friends.

‘Drifting Away’ does as the title suggests, it’s suitably sunny and breezy, is this the Greek environment helping?

Hehe, yes definitely! There is so much sea it´s amazing! Although I don´t know anyone with a boat, yet. When I was working on the lyrics of that song, I had many different versions of it and I think my experiences by the Greek seaside pushed me into using the ‘Drifting Away’ version.

‘Dino’s Deo’ appears to recall the Belgian electronic trio TELEX, were they an inspiration for you at all?

Interesting comparison. I love TELEX, but I was not connecting them to this song. At least not consciously.

What is ‘Hell & Heaven’ for you?

This song was made together with Elliot and Virgile from the band FAUX REAL. It was musically so dramatic so I had to go biblical in the lyrics. I got this idea on the island of Hydra in a pretty heavenly situation, but sometimes even to the most heavenly places you bring your own hell and vice versa. Life is full of Hell and Heaven, and everything in between.

Photo by Frank Holbein

‘Night Walk’ has haunting synthetic overtones, how did that song come together?

It´s based on one old jam and I wanted to make a new version of it. I spent quite a lot of time tweaking the synth sounds on this album. In the demo version of this song, I used a plugin synth bass sound that was kind of perfect, but I wanted to replace it with a hardware sound which was not easy at all. Finally I got it done by layering bass sounds on top of each other. I think hardware often sounds better and it’s inspiring to touch the machines. The song is about some relationship moods from the past and of course the synth bass.

French actress and singer Alma Jodorowsky who starred in the electronic music film ‘Le Choc Du Futur’ adds some exquisite vocals on several tracks… what did you think of the film and how did she come to be involved in recording with you?

Oh I haven´t see that movie unfortunately! Have to correct the situation immediately! Last summer Alma was in Athens for a movie premiere (might actually have been ’Le Choc Du Futur’) and my friend was hosting her. They came to a bar where I was DJing and we met and hung out. I was working on the album at that time and needed some female vocals to it. She was up for it and ended up doing much more for the songs that I had in mind.

‘Palace In My Head’ is quite different with darker claustrophobic overtones offset by a polar opposite chorus, was this a lockdown song?

Yeah, the chorus is pretty different from the rest of the song. The bassline is pretty evil and then it always brightens up for the chorus. I would say there are two characters in the song having sort of a conversation and the chorus is the reply for the verses. This song was written before lockdown, at least the music part.

‘I Forget’ touches all the spectrums in its delivery, but what did you forget? 😉

Well this song has inspiration from one trip when we were playing a show in a festival in the coast of Egypt. After the show I fell asleep in a beach chair and when I woke up, I could not remember where I was and why. Also I had a dream of some other place so it confused me even more. I called my sister and I was on the map again. I had this kind of experience as a kid in some sleepovers as well. It´s strange…

‘The Chamber Of Love’ appears to have a passing resemblance to ‘Everything She Wants’ by WHAM! Was this conscious or coincidence?

I wrote the song before I ever heard ‘Everything She Wants’ but the arrangement was different. I love ‘Everything She Wants’ so I arranged this song sounding more like that. It is more electronic now and yes with a big inspiration from WHAM!

You worked with Jimi Tenor on this album, do you see him very much as a kindred spirit musically?

Yes definitely. When I started to do my music, he was a big influence for me. He is a great musician and I very much look up to him. It’s been great to have a chance to work with him.

Photo by Isotta Giulia Acquati

‘L’Horizon’ explores a full electronic funk workout, how did that come together?

I thought the song was already finished but then when I listened it more, it seemed to lack something. So I came up with the funky slap bass riff which is pretty prominent in the song now. I also added the white noise phaser hi-hat to make it more upbeat and now it’s perfect! There is always something on the horizon.

The Far Eastern favoured ‘Galactic Romance’ is an intriguing and hypnotic piece of music which you don’t sing on, how was this constructed?

I had the song pretty much ready with the melody and all, but I felt like my voice was not fitting to it. So I asked my friend Yu-Ching to sing on it. The song has a pretty spacey atmosphere so Taiwanese Mandarin suits to that purpose perfectly. The song is a romantic space song.

Do you have any favourite production tools?

Yes many. A new thing for this album is this one tube preamp that is inspired by the Abbey Road Console from the 60s. I recorded almost everything through it. Also synth-wise, I like to use Korg PolySix and Korg 700s. Especially the 700s has a very special aggressively juicy sound.

You close the album with a 13 minute epic ‘Let’s See How Things Go’, what seeded such a long musical excursion?

That was a collaboration with another Finnish legend, Vilunki 3000. The song was originally even longer but I edited it a little shorter. I like epic last song endings and this is one of those. The length is needed to create the right suspension.

ITALOCONNECTION recently covered your 2010 song ‘Flexible Heart’ on their album ‘Nordisko’, what did you think of what they did?

I felt like it was about time! It is such a perfect song to be Italonized so I think that justice was served.

You released your first album ‘Dragon Quest’ in 2007, how do you see the artist from back then compared to where you are now?

Kind of different but pretty much the same. Of course a lot of time has passed and I have explored music and life to another level, but I feel I still have pretty much the same approach to making music. Actually we are planning to reissue ‘Dragon Quest’ in the near future.

What are your hopes and fears for this record? How do you hope it will be received?

Of course I hope people will find it and enjoy it. It is a very diverse album but still I think there is a golden thread to be found. It is my strongest album so far in my opinion and I hope the audience will agree.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Jaakko Eino Kalevi

Additional thanks to Stasi Roe at Domino Recording Co

‘Chaos Magic’ is released by Weird World / Domino Recording Co on 17 November 2023 as a CD, double LP + download, pre-order from https://www.dominomusic.com/

https://www.jaakkoeinokalevi.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JaakkoEinoKalevi

https://twitter.com/JaakkoEino

https://www.instagram.com/jaakkoeinokalevi/

https://www.instagram.com/jaakkoeinokalevi/

https://jaakkoeinokalevi.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/20o7mwLphfnviZKGPw1gi3

https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/jaakko-eino-kalevi/361706924

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
8 September 2023

GEMMA CULLINGFORD & LUKE WRIGHT Interview

31 August 2023 /

Gemma Cullingford is the acclaimed musician, songwriter and producer with two solo albums ‘Let Me Speak’ and ‘Tongue Tied’ to her name. Luke Wright is the dynamic performance poet with a stark but witty take on 21st century British life. Together they have a “fear of missing out”.

‘FOMO’ is the 4 track extended play release by Gemma Cullingford and Luke Wright. The pair have known each other for around 20 years within the Suffolk arts scene with Luke’s then poetry collective AISLE 16 often compering for bands which Gemma was part of, the 2021 lockdown sparked an idea for an electro-poetic collaboration.

With shades of renowned punk-poet John Cooper Clarke and East Midlands duo SLEAFORD MODS, ‘FOMO’ is an enjoyable but abrasive dance friendly commentary that covers toxic masculinity, dance aversion, inner demons and the fashion for self-improvement.

ELECTRICITTYCLUB.CO.UK spoked to Gemma Cullingford and Luke Wright about their fear of missing out and much more.

How did you come together to do some electronic disco poetry?

Gemma: Luke and I have known each other since the early 00s when Luke’s poetry collective AISLE 16 who were based in Norwich used to compere shows at Norwich Arts Centre and I was often one of the bands in those shows back then. I had dabbled with a similar concept in the mid-00s with another of AISLE 16 – our mutual friend Yanny Mac – when I first purchased an eMac (remember those?!) and started teaching myself Garage Band. We formed a kinda fake band called DED DOG briefly and wrote a few tunes where I’d cut up Yanny’s poems and put them to a backing track. I’d always fancied trying that again.

Fast forward to 2021 when my first solo single came out and Luke took a shine to my instrumental tune ‘104’. He dropped me a line to say how much he liked it and I asked him if he fancied trying a collaboration with his poems over my music. He was game and a week later we had these 4 songs! We’ve only just got round to releasing them though as we’ve both been super busy with our own projects (Luke is still mega busy and successful!)

Luke: I really wanted to collaborate with Gemma but I was too nervous to ask, so it was very nice that she did. I remember walking along the coast with ‘104’ on repeat just improvising lyrics over the top, it was such fun in that was a very bleak period.

Had John Cooper Clarke’s albums with Martin Hannett like ‘Disguise In Love’, ‘Zip Style Method’ and ‘Snap, Crackle & Bop’ been an influence?

Gemma: I’d never actually heard them, so no!

Luke: I’ve been JCC’s regular tour support for about 12 years, and been gigging with him regularly for years before that. He was a huge influence on me when I was starting out, but less so for the albums, more as a live poet. I do know those albums, and I love tracks like ‘Valley of the Long Lost Women’ but on the whole, I prefer the poems without that music.

Was featuring both your voices a conscious move in the concept of this EP?

Gemma: As always with me there are no conscious moves or concepts, it’s just what feels right. I like the contrast in our voices and I think they balance each other out a bit. The track ‘FOMO’ was a song I’d had sitting around for a good few years which only had part vocals. When Luke put his poem to it, it fitted magically!

Luke: The other tracks were made from scratch and come together quite organically. ‘Therapist’ was a poem Gemma cut up and put over music. ‘Ballroom’ was a track I wrote lyrics to. ‘Beast’ was a track I cut up and made into a more traditional pop song shape then wrote lyrics to. But ‘FOMO’ was a little different in is much as Gemma had done all her bits and was already quite attached to the song as it was and sent it to me with the caveat not to be offended if she didn’t use anything I added to it! In the end, I used a poem that already existed called ‘William Hague in a Baseball Cap’, about male insecurity in a time of female empowerment. By far the most lyrics of any of the songs and it just sort of worked.

Where has the world’s “fear of missing out” come from? Why does it appear to be a bigger issue now than it was before and has social media amplified it?

Luke: I used to get FOMO really badly and then I got married and had kids and missed out on absolutely everything, the point where it was pointless to care about it. But then I got divorced and entered into a long distance relationship. My girlfriend was often going out with her mates while I was stuck at home with the kids hundreds of miles away, which left me feeling like a teenager. Only I was a lot fatter.

Countering that “fear of missing out” is ‘Ballroom’ which recalls Gary Clail, is this a fight for the right NOT to party? It’s a fascinating paradox…

Gemma: I love Luke’s lyrics to this as an introvert! I often feel awkward on stage and I don’t move around much so I could totally get behind these lyrics. I do love a dance after a good few drinks though, but I mean a REAL good few! Plus I love writing danceable music yet I don’t like clubbing or raves etc. I’m full of contradictions, me!

Luke: I’m really glad you like this one, Gemma, because I was a bit meh about it. I was writing a poem for the Kennedy Foundation For Human Rights. There were 30 poets, each writing about a different article of the UN Convention For Human Rights. Mine was article 20: “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.” I had a metaphor in my poem about a dance floor that didn’t really fit, so I developed it here. This is about social media to an extent, about trying to remain above the fray, not to get involved in group think. And it’s about dancing!

The ‘FOMO’ tracks and its lines about being “pale male and stale and not all men” and “I am the sh*t Morrissey says in interviews” are all part of a starker observation about toxic masculinity?

Luke: I wrote this in 2018 when there was a lot of discussion around toxic masculinity in the wake of #MeToo. As a left-wing liberal person, the media I consume, and the people I follow, are very progressive, so my online life seemed to a succession of posts saying “UGH MEN!” This piece isn’t complaining about that, I think most of this discourse was sorely needed. It’s just feeling it a bit and also trying to be funny about it as well. Sending up the woundedness, lampooning myself.

Are things improving since #MeToo or is the continued adulation of high profile misogynists like Andrew Tate and Donald Trump proof that there is a long way to go?

Gemma: Women being heard and taken more seriously and the general awareness of misogyny are improving perhaps, but unfortunately I don’t think it’ll stop certain types of folk from needing to feel powerful and belittling (and worse) women in order to do so. Through talking about it and forming social movements, it equips women with knowledge and awareness. I’m only just waking up to certain things. I’m realising that behaviour – both from and aimed at all genders and walks of life – can be oppressive and it’s things that I might have just accepted as being normal before, but actually it’s not right at all. It’s all so very subtle and how we’ve all been conditioned in society. This country is a lot better than some but as a world, I think we’ve all a looooong way to go.

Luke: I’m not surprised that figures like Andrew Tate have come to prominence. It’s a backlash against stuff like #MeToo. But those of us on the side of progress just need to keep pushing back. I am the father of teenage sons who are appalled by Andrew Tate, so it’s not a lost cause. It’s about education and bringing people with you. I can understand the howls of anger from women about male behaviour but if you want to take a new generation of boys and men with you, the discussion needs to feel inclusive so figures like Andrew Tate can’t get a look in.

‘You Are Making Progress With Your Therapist’ is a typical Gemma backing track, but how much of the monologue was already part of something already written, how did things develop to completion?

Gemma: ‘Therapist’ was the first track that came out of this collaboration and I wrote the music the very night that we decided to collaborate. Luke recorded and sent over the poem and I popped it over the top of the music and repeated the line to make a kinda chorus out of it. At the exact same time, I sent Luke an instrumental track and he wrote a poem to go over it, which ended up as ‘Ballroom’. So both tunes happened pretty simultaneously and very quickly. Which then spurred us to create two more…

Luke: It was poem I’d just finished. It worked being split in two. It’s my favourite of our tracks.

There’s some great Moroder-esque programming and keys work on the backing track of ‘The Beast’ which really adds to the narrative tension but who is that beast that is angrily being referred to?

Gemma: Thanks! That was another song I’d had kicking about for a couple of years which needed vocals. I sent that to Luke and he chopped it up a bit and put a snarly John Lydon-meets-Shaun Ryder-esque vocal to it.

Luke: F*ck knows that this is about. I used all the lines I liked best in my notebook. But… it is kind of about an old rockstar shuffling around the town years after fame and riches have passed him by. I do actually know someone like this. “The Beast” is rock n roll, I think.

What is next for you, would you like to do more collaborations?

Gemma: I’m taking a bit of a break from performing to recharge my batteries. Performing, promoting and touring really takes it out of me and I’m a bit of a home bird, I get overwhelmed quite easily. So I’m gonna take a break from performing and writing until the urge to do more comes – which I’m sure it will! In the meantime at the moment I’m enjoying my DJ venture with my partner – we play vinyl only singles and I get immense enjoyment from playing other people’s songs that I love and that have shaped me and my musical tastes!

I do have a Christmas song to come out but I’ll not be performing it live anywhere. However, knowing me, I could be eating my words in a few weeks – but right now, this is my current plan. I would totally be up for more collaborations with Luke in future but he’s an extremely busy guy. Make sure to check out his shows. Seriously good stuff!!

Luke: I think we should do another song! Saying I’m busy makes it sound like I’m working on a series of glamorous projects, in reality I’m just driving from town to town playing small theatres. I’m a long distance driver who does a bit of poetry on the side.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Gemma Cullingford and Luke Wright

‘FOMO’ is released by Elmo Recordings via https://gemmacullingford.bandcamp.com/album/fomo

The ‘FOMO’ EP Launch takes place at Karma Café in Norwich on Friday 1st September 2023

To celebrate the release of ‘FOMO’, Gemma Cullingford and Luke Wright have teamed up with brewery Iron Pier and artist Duncan Grant to create a limited edition tropical hazy pale ale, available online direct from https://ironpier.beer/collections/cans/products/fomo-5-3-440ml-can

https://www.gemmacullingford.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/gemcullingford

https://twitter.com/gemcullingford

https://www.instagram.com/gemma_cullingford/

https://www.lukewright.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/MrLukeWright/

https://twitter.com/lukewrightpoet

https://www.instagram.com/lukewrightpoet

Text by Chi Ming Lai
1 September 2023

RICKY WILDE X NINA Interview

11 August 2023 /

‘Scala Hearts’ sees the first long playing collaboration between Ricky Wilde X Nina.

The pair met when they independently went to see THE MIDNIGHT at the Scala in London, hence the album’s title. Introduced to each other by a mutual friend podcaster Lee Bennett, Ricky and Nina got on like a house on fire and found they had common ground creatively despite the generational divide. Straight away, they collaborated on two tracks ‘Runaway’ and ‘Gave Up On Us’ on Nina’s second album ‘Synthian’.

Ricky Wilde is the musical veteran who was first touted for boyhood stardom with his 1972 debut single ‘I Am An Astronaut’, drawing comparisons with Donny Osmond. But his future lay behind the scenes as a songwriter and producer. The son of Marty and the brother of Kim, he played a key role in his sister’s international hits ‘Kids In America’, ‘Cambodia’ and ‘You Came’. It could even be argued that Ricky’s ‘Reprise’ instrumental section of the ‘Select’ album version of ‘Cambodia’ was the forerunner of the filmic synthwave styles that since have been adopted and developed by the likes of artists such as WAVESHAPER. Today, he remains the musical director of her live popular shows and continues to work on her albums, the most recent being ‘Here Come The Aliens’ in 2018.

Nina has been called “The Queen of Synthwave” following her appearance in the 2019 documentary film ‘The Rise Of The Synths’ narrated by John Carpenter. She achieved her wider breakthrough when her single ‘My Mistake’ was part a 2015 Mercedes-Benz advertising campaign in Europe. Since then, she has issued two solo albums ‘Sleepwalking’ and ‘Synthian’ which both included tracks co-produced by Richard X and an EP ‘Control’ which utilised samples from Cliff Martinez’s ‘Drive’ film score. More recently, there has been the ‘Lust’ EP with Kid Moxie released on Italians Do It Better.

What originally started as a selection of songs intended for Nina’s third album became a joint artist collaboration with Nina and Ricky standing centre stage together. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK was extremely pleased to be able to chat to Ricky and Nina about the making of ‘Scala Hearts’ in what is likely to be one of the most anticipated moments of 2023 in electronic pop.

Ricky Wilde X Nina, it’s like it is meant to be?

Nina: It definitely feels that way! After we met, we realised that we love the same bands and were going to all the same concerts without knowing one another yet. Ricky is very on the pulse and although we are from different generations, we create music together almost effortlessly! Our mutual friend Lee Bennet introduced us, knowing that we’d click.

You’ve worked with each other before, on ’Runaway’ and ‘Gave Up On Us’ from ‘Synthian’, were there any anxiety or nerves on either side when you sat in the studio together for the first time?

Ricky: There wasn’t on my side, I knew from meeting Nina at THE MIDNIGHT gig, I just had a really good vibe off her and I knew she has this lovely energy, she was very positive and I didn’t think there would be any problems in the studio. I knew it was going to be a lovely experience and I was right.

Sometimes, you just get a gut feeling Chi and you know when something is right, it felt right the moment I met her. When she said she was 2 tracks light on the album, I saw it as my opportunity to dive in and say “Let’s do some work!”. Thankfully she accepted my proposal and she came down and we spent a couple of days on it. Was it 2 days Nina?

Nina: Yes, you’re right! I was definitely nervous meeting Ricky in his studio for the first time. It was a huge deal for me! I grew up listening to his beautiful melodies and incredible songwriting. However, the nerves went away almost instantly, as he’s such a warm person and made me feel very at home. There is a mutual respect between the two of us, which was very comforting.

Ricky: Yes, we finishing writing it and then I programmed it up and then we had the recording process after that but it was pretty quick. I knew it would be a lovely experience and I’m just grateful that the two tracks that we wrote ended up on the album.

So with ‘Scala Hearts’, what was intended as a few collab songs has ended up as full-length album, was this partly as a result of lockdown?

Ricky: A lot of it was written during lockdown. I knew Nina was thinking about new songs for her third album and had just moved back to Berlin, so I sent her some demos with my vocals recorded as a guide. She quickly responded with “love this” and “love that” but to my surprise, she proposed the idea of us collaborating as an artist duo, rather than me just producing. I wasn’t expecting that and though it was a little crazy! *laughs*

Nina: It was totally obvious for me!

Ricky: It’s weird because for me, it wasn’t something that was in my peripheral and Nina suggested it, I thought “why not!”, why not work with this incredibly talented writer with a beautiful voice and wonderful person, why would I not do that. So it didn’t take long for me to jump in and say “let’s do it!” 🙂

It’s a wonderful bridge between generations…

Ricky: That was one of the other things that was mad! *laughs*

Are there any advantages to collaborating remotely?

Ricky: It’s a really strange one this, when Nina said she had to move to Berlin, I thought “How’s this going to affect our writing relationship?” and to be honest, it kind of helped it. I am very insular as a person and as a writer in my life, so to have people watching me while I’m programming is not particularly comfortable for me…

Nina: I’m the same!

Ricky: I like having my own autonomy and to be able to muck around, try chords, try sounds in my own time without feeling the pressure of someone going “come on!”.

Nina: I wouldn’t have done that! *laughs*

Ricky: No, but by the sheer fact that if there is anyone in the room, I know they’re there waiting while I’m doing something. Not that anyone would feel irritated or annoyed by it, but knowing they are waiting for you is a pressure in itself. So I liked the way I could work on synth sounds and THEN send it over and go “what do you think of this?”

Sometimes, Nina would say “I love this” and other times she was say “Oh, it’s a little bit low in key, maybe this, maybe that”, it was just a lovely way of working for me, it really worked.

Nina: I feel the same way. Sometimes being alone allows me to be less self-conscious and in my private, carefree mindset, I can get really emotional. As much as I enjoy vibing off other musicians in the studio, some recordings benefit from this type of intimacy and it can help me be more receptive to a magic moment.

Have you ever worked with that software where you are virtually working live remotely?

Ricky: I haven’t but it’s the same situation, if we had that, Nina would be sitting there waiting and that in my head would be distracting. I like that she’s off doing her own thing whether that’s with Kid Moxie flying to LA or whatever, it meant I could spend more time making our tracks better and know there’s no pressure of Nina waiting for me.

‘LA Dreamers’ is the first single, described in the press release as “STARSHIP meets TEARS FOR FEARS”… it’s a duet, this must be the first time Ricky has sung lead vocals for nearly 50 years since ‘I Wanna Go To A Disco’.

Ricky: Thankfully not! *laughs*

I did do a duet with Kim on ‘Here Come The Aliens’ called ‘Pop Don’t Stop’, it was a kind of autobiographical song about us growing up and loving pop music. So ‘Scala Hearts’ isn’t really the first thing but in my head, it was a little one-off thing. We obviously do lots of gigs with Kim, and have so many incredible experiences, working with many incredible people on stage, we absolutely love it. The nucleus of the live band has been with us for the last 20-25 years, we’re all mates and it’s like a little family when we go on tour. We just know each other backwards and Kim feels very comfortable with us all.

Nina: There’s so much banter, I loved the experience of seeing Kim Wilde and the band on stage, it was so much fun, everyone has to go and seeing the show, you can just feel their love for one another.

Ricky: So with ‘Pop Don’t Stop’, it made sense for me to do something other than just play guitar; so for the next Kim Wilde album that we’re working on, it might be that Scarlett, my daughter is featured on one track.

How did the “please sing Ricky” idea come about?

Nina: When I heard Ricky’s vocals on the demos, I was like “Bloody hell! His vocals are incredible! To not embrace him as a co-lead singer would be a mistake!”.

Ricky, you do sound like Ollie Wride on ‘LA Dreamers’, was this intentional or just your natural delivery?

Ricky: I’ve always sung like that but I’m a bit of a Rory Bremner of pop vocally, I morph into different styles for different songs, so if you listen to my vocal on ‘Living In Sin’ for instance, it’s a totally different sounding type of vocal than it is on ‘LA Dreamers’. So it’s what I feel for each different track, I probably DO sound like Ollie Wride on some tracks because I love Ollie and his voice!

Have you ever heard ‘Overpass Graffiti’ by Ed Sheeran? The first time I heard it on Radio 2, I thought it was the new one by Ollie Wride!!

Ricky: No, I’ll give that a listen Chi *laughs*

Look-In magazine called Ricky “The New Donny” and Nina has been compared to Kim Wilde, journalists like a reference (and I’m guilty of this), is this sort of thing damaging when launching a music career?

Nina: I don’t know, it depends on who you get compared to, I guess! *laughs*

I’m one of the lucky ones because I get to be compared to Kim. It’s an honour, I love it.

Ricky: I agree, I was compared to Donny Osmond back in those days, it was “WOW!”, little me being compared to one of the biggest stars in the world at the time, that was incredible for me, it was a real honour. It didn’t do me any harm, put it that way!

So OMD‘s ‘Messages’ was a key source of inspiration in the song ‘Night & Day’? Please elaborate…

Ricky: We’ve done quite a few gigs with OMD and they’ve become friends now which is an amazing honour for me because I adore them.

‘Messages’ was for me one of the first warm synthesizer pop records…

Ricky: ‘Messages’ was a massive track for me back in the 80s… along with Gary Numan and John Foxx, there were so many synth bands at that time like ULTRAVOX who were so inspiring for me. But when I heard ‘Messages’, there was something about it that struck a chord for me, that blippy intro… it finished up on ‘Kids In America’, that was all OMD! They were a massive influence me at the time. ‘Souvenir’ was another one, those beautiful swirling synths, I loved it. So maybe there were some influence from OMD on ‘Night & Day’…

On the same subject, you know when I first heard ‘Cambodia’, I thought it was a bit OMD sounding with the minimal rhythm and the melodies…

Ricky: Possibly, but at that time I was also listening to a lot of JAPAN as well, I used to love JAPAN…

You worked with the late Mick Karn from JAPAN didn’t you?

Ricky: Yeah, I did a couple of tracks on his first solo album, he became a great friend as well, sadly missed, 52 years of age he was when he passed away, so sad but what an incredible talent 😥

I was very much influenced by JAPAN, that minimalist vibe and DURAN DURAN, all those lovely synth sounds they had, there were so many incredible exciting bands in those days, DEPECHE MODE as well, there might have been a little bit of influence from them. It was almost like every week, something came out that was like “OH MY GOD! WHAT THE F**K IS THAT?” you know, it was such an inspiring time.

Nina, were you much of an OMD fan?

Nina: I love OMD! They were constantly on German radio as I was growing up. In general, the 80s were such an influential decade for me.

But were you more into ‘If You Leave’ from ‘Pretty In Pink’ or ‘Secret’ with regards OMD or the weirder earlier stuff?

Nina: I have a soft spot for ‘If You Leave’ because I’m a romantic at heart *chuckles*

Can I put an idea in your heads? I can imagine you both doing a popwave duet take on ‘Secret’…

Ricky: Maybe we’ll do that live 😉

Nina: That’s a good idea, I’m up for it!

On ‘Kids In America’ there is that pulsing synthbass, do you see any parallels between the music you made then and the synthwave pop of more recent years in terms of construction?

Ricky: That was a Minimoog… that’s a really good question, it’s an interesting one. Every now and then, I do hear songs and I think “oh, that reminds me of…” but whether I’ve influenced that, it’s so hard to know. I’d like to think that maybe there something they’re heard of mine that they might have done something with or thought about. And if they have, wonderful but there was so many incredible bands in those days with different sounds and there were different synths coming out every year! You can almost plot the year of a song by the synth… like ‘Smalltown Boy’ by BRONSKI BEAT, that beautiful pad sound, I remember hearing that sound on a Roland D550.

Were there any other artists that you mutually bonded during the conception and production of ‘Scala Hearts?

Ricky: There were quite a few bands we were listening to… we love CAUSEWAY don’t we?

Nina: Totally, I played their songs a lot around that time and felt so inspired… they’re so talented. I hope they’re going to play a show in Berlin one day. Also, Frida Sundemo because we really adore her…

Ricky: Yup, we love Frida! I love PENSACOLA MIST, I love their album ‘Lost In Love’, I thought it was sensational, that first track ‘The Dying Light’, the whole LA lyric was really inspiring for me on ‘LA Dreamers’. NATION OF LANGUAGE, I think you love them Nina?

Nina: Oh amazing! I love them…

Ricky: L’AVENUE…

Nina: Yes, we love L’AVENUE…

Ricky: Yes, love you Jez, we got to know him really well, he was on my ‘Unsung Heroes’ podcast recently. Oh yes, BUNNY X, I did a remix for ‘Perfect Paradise’…

Nina: That’s a cool remix, it was a perfect summer tune…

Ricky: We love THE MIDNIGHT… and FUTURE ISLANDS

Nina: You got me into FUTURE ISLANDS as well!

Ricky: And more recently CANNONS, I saw you liked one of their tracks on Insta Nina 😉

Was the title ‘Fade Me Out’ a consequence of a recording or mix instruction? 😉

Ricky: I just liked the “Take me in, fade me out” couplet, IN-OUT, I just thought “take me in” as in you’re taken in by someone because they are conning you and then they are not interested in you anymore, so they fade you out. I just liked that juxtaposition so that’s where that lyric came from. So it wasn’t anything to do with fading out by programming on Logic X Pro… it’s funny with writing and Nina will back me up on this one, sometimes you’ll just sing something and it’s the first thing that comes into you head because you know how it should sound… sometimes that finished up being the title or a main part of the lyric. You don’t know where it comes from or why, but it just sounds right at the time and it sticks for whatever reason. “Take me in, fade me out” was the first thing that came into my head.

Nina: I love how Ricky sometimes came up with lyrics that expressed exactly what I was going through at the time. It inspired me to continue the story and interpret it in a more personal way, like I did for ‘Fade Me Out’. For Ricky, it was the “push and pull” in a relationship, to me it became “the anxiety of letting someone go and starting over, truly”.

You are covering ‘Videotheque’, probably the coolest of those quartet of DOLLAR singles produced by Trevor Horn, have you given it a different spin or played it straight?

Nina: I actually had never heard the original before our friend Lee recommended it to us. The original is great! We rock out a bit more in our version. Ricky’s badass guitar solo gives it a whole other dynamic which I adore!

Ricky: Yeah, it’s a bit tougher… when Lee suggested it, it was a no brainer and I could really hear Nina’s vocal on it and that’s what Lee said. And sure enough, she killed the vocal on it, absolutely beautiful.

The 1984 Kim Wilde B-side ‘Lovers On A Beach’ from ‘The Second Time’ is another cover on ‘Scala Hearts’ and the original has this Italo disco vibe, is that a music form that you have both appreciated as it did get maligned back in the day?

Ricky: I’ve always been a fan of Giorgio Moroder since ‘Midnight Express’, the moment I heard that theme tune, I was hooked. And then there was ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ with Phil Oakey and of course, ‘I Feel Love’ with Donna Summer, that whole bassline, the moment you hear that, that’s it, you’re up dancing, you can’t not!

Nina: Ah, that’s SO good!

Ricky: When we came to do the remake of ‘Lovers On A Beach’, I just thought there was a little bit more that it needed that I maybe wanted to add back in the day. But we didn’t have enough time for whatever reason and ended up as a B-side as we were in a real rush to get one done; it was written, recorded and done, blah-blah-blah, then out! By the time it came out, I thought maybe we could have done more with it, which is why we’ve revisited it. Yeah, Nina smashed the vocal on it!

Nina: In general, Italo Disco is a big inspiration for me. ‘I Feel Love’ is still a huge favourite and I’m a big fan of Giorgio Moroder, “The Father of Disco”. Being asked to cover any of Ricky and Kim’s songs is a huge honour but ‘Lovers On A Beach’ tickled our Italo fancy 🙂

Ricky: I remember years ago being in the studio with Pete Bellotte who was Moroder’s writing partner, I learnt a lot from him so there was stuff he was doing that I was taking note of.

What are your hopes and fears for ‘Scala Hearts’? Favourite Track?

Ricky: I’m just actually thrilled that it’s coming out and done with such a great label (New Retro Wave), it’s been done in such a classy way, that’s exactly how I wanted it. It’s done its job for me by the fact it’s going to be out and people can see what we can do., I’m really pleased with that. Favourite track? I change from day-to-day, some days it’s ’Fade Me Out’, other days it’s ‘LA Dreamers’, it could be ‘Gold Heart’, it changes daily. Today? ‘LA Dreamers’ *laughs*

Nina: My hope is that listeners are as inspirited and motivated as I was while making it. It’s a positive record, created from a place of goodwill; a “feel good” album intended to elevate the heart. I’ve never thought about “fear” when it comes to this project. I feel too good about the positive energy in the music. It has protective wings!

My favourite track changes all the time. At the moment, it’s a tie between ‘Fade Me Out’ and ‘Fighter’. Creating both songs with Ricky was very therapeutic for me because I was going through one of the hardest times of my life. ‘Fade Me Out’ is about loss and I sing with an operatic sorrow at times, while the epic drums crash down like the lyrics. ‘Fighter’ contrasts this and rises with bravery and hope.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Ricky Wilde X Nina

‘LA Dreamers’ is available now via New Retro Wave on the usual online platforms at https://ninanrickywilde.lnk.to/LADreamers

‘Scala Hearts’ will be released in Autumn 2023

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Say Goodnight Films
11 August 2023

JOHAN AGEBJÖRN Interview

5 August 2023 /

Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn is perhaps best known as the instrumental half of dreamy electronic disco duo Sally Shapiro.

Their most recent fourth album ‘Sad Cities’ was released by Italians Do It Better in 2022. While Johan Agebjörn himself released a dance pop flavoured solo album ‘Casablanca Nights’ in 2011 and since has collaborated with the likes of Ryan Paris and Samantha Fox on various singles, his portfolio has included more downtempo and ambient works such as 2008’s ‘Mossebo’, 2011’s ‘The Mountain Lake’ and more recently ‘Artefact’ with Mikael Ögren.

His latest release is ‘Subtracted Soundscapes’ where he has reworked eight pieces from across his career into something warmer and calmer than their original incarnations, “subtracted” into being entirely beatless so that only the key elements of the music remain. Focussing on calmness and serenity, this wonderful record creates “a sonic sanctuary for the listener and another world to explore”. The end result is an extremely satisfying sonic experience with a distinct environmental atmosphere.

Johan Agebjörn chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about his interest in ambient music and the intimate ideas behind ‘Subtracted Soundscapes’.

As someone best known for electronic disco, was it a reaction to that which led you onto an ambient path, or was the interest always there from when you started making music?

My love for ambient music has been there from the early 1990s and I’ve been making ambient music from time to time since the late 1990s. My disco / synthpop music, especially with Sally Shapiro, has reached more people, but my creative effort put into ambient is probably comparable.

What would be your definition of “ambient” music?

Difficult question! For me it’s music that is atmospheric, floating and transcends pop structure – then it can be with or without beats or electronic instruments.

Although it often gets confused with “chillout”, “beach bar” or “elevator” music, and even the electronic classical stylists like Isao Tomita or the synthonies of Jean-Michel Jarre, ambient does have a distinct style of its own, what are your thoughts about how it has been misinterpreted?

Well I don’t bother so much, though I would say that ambient music is richer in its emotional scope than “elevator music”, which I guess is only there to be in the background. Ambient can be very expressive of different emotions in my opinion, it can be sad, it can be happy, it can be healing, it can be painful, it can be scary.

Who would you say are your influences in ambient music?

Brian Eno of course, Pete Namlook, The KLF (‘Chill Out’ and the original ambient version of ‘Last Train To Trancentral’), Scandinavian “arctic ambient” like Biosphere and Krister Linder, also the early ambient works of Moby, those are my most important influences.

Are there any preferred synths, effects or techniques you like to use to make ambient music?

One favourite technique to find warm sounds is to record a very high-pitched waveform to tape, resample it, and transpose it a few octaves down. You get a noise and a slight sway from the tape, that makes it very warm and analogue sounding. For example, I recorded the high-pitched sound of Aphex Twin ’Ventolin’ to tape and resampled it, it’s now one of my favourite pad sounds. I also found some very warm sounds by sampling a tape that was used to store games on my old Commodore 64. As for effects, I really like the built-in reverb in Propellerheads Reason.

How did ‘Subtracted Soundscapes’ come about as an idea?

I was listening to my 2008 album ‘Mossebo’ in the car and suddenly thought “hey, I want to hear these tracks without beats”. I had been listening to a lot of beatless ambient lately (John Serrie, 36), especially in the evenings after work and putting kids to sleep, and I felt a wish to make more beatless ambient music myself.

Although ‘Subtracted Soundscapes’ is an ambient record, it IS very melodic, is this a consequence of the bones of the tracks being songs in the first place, as opposed to being composed specifically ground up as ambient pieces?

Probably. I also feel it’s often kind of boring to make music without harmonies and melodies. It’s not necessarily boring to listen to, I can enjoy drone ambient for example, but it’s not my kind of thing to sit a whole day in the studio with that kind of music, I usually lose the excitement if there are no harmonies or melodies.

As an example, how did it occur to you that a rhythmic track such as ‘Ambient Computer Dance’ would work in a subtracted environmental manner?

Actually I think that track was the first one that I wanted to “subtract”. The track was originally influenced by early Autechre, like if Autechre would have listened a lot to Italo disco. I like the original but after removing the beats, slowing it down etc, there’s a different kind of calm magic to it, I think.

What about the process for ‘Sleep In My Arms’ with Sally Shapiro which admittedly already had a serene quality about it?

That track was actually originally a cover version of ‘Ursa Major 7’ by Erik van den Broek which I heard on John Acquaviva’s DJ mix for X-MIX-3. The flute melody is taken from that track, and Erik agreed to let us make a new track out of it. Sally did some minimal spoken word on it and it became a nice ambient ending track on ‘Disco Romance’. The version on this album is even more ambient and minimal.

‘Swimming Through The Blue Lagoon’ comes from ‘The Mountain Lake’ album of 2011 and had beats from a Casio MT52 on the original, how did this evolve into an ambient journey over the years?

This is one of my all-time favourite tracks of mine, the original version with beats was made already in 2005 and was included on the album you mentioned. A short ambient version with some vocals by Sally was also included on the album ‘My Guilty Pleasure’ in 2009, and has been included a lot in the background of TV programs around the world. In this version I have removed even more parts from it, added reverb etc and it has the length of the original. The melody is actually also played with the Casio MT52… the sound is called “electric guitar”!

The new version of ‘Zero Gravitation’ has this glorious floating quality about it, but was almost like a trance track when it featured on ‘The Mountain Lake’; so did that begin in ambient form and then layered into something more lively?

Yes, the starting point of the track was these emotional, spacey strings. Actually that’s another sound that is sampled from a tape, some high-pitched string sound taken from a break of some drum ’n’ bass track, sampled by my old Roland DJ-70 and then played live by myself with lots of reverb from Reason. The tape effect makes it a bit Mellotron-ish.

One of the more vocal-led tracks is ‘Dulciter Somni’ and you kept Lisa Barra’s voice in for the Subtracted version?

This track had Lisa Barra’s magic vocal loop as a starting point, everything else was built around it. Here you have some sounds from the tape of the Commodore 64.

Did you actually ride the ‘Siberian Train’ for real yourself?

Oh yes – my mum took me on a journey to China by train through the Soviet Union in 1987! She was a journalist, so she brought a tape recorder, and we recorded a few tapes along the journey. Some of the train sounds are actually sampled from one of those tapes. On the original version (Part I) of ‘Siberian Train’ on ‘Mossebo’, there’s also a vocal sample when the train approaches the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude close to the Mongolian border. One memorable moment was when I was contacted by a listener from Ulan-Ude who had heard the track!

I think this train journey – plus The KLF’s original ambient version of ‘Last Train To Trancentral’ – has had a big influence on my music, as there are train samples and train references in a lot of my tracks.

What satisfaction does ambient work give you that you can’t get from song writing and disco productions?

Sometimes I’m simply more in a calm ambient mood!

Have you ever considered taking on the challenge of constructing much longer ambient pieces, for example like Brian Eno’s ‘Thursday Afternoon’, ‘Neroli’ or ‘Reflection’ which are around an hour in length?

I’ve been thinking about it, as I sometimes listen to some of these long pieces, Brian Eno’s ‘Discreet Music’ is a favourite for example. Let’s see if it happens sometime!

What is next for you?

I’m in a very musically active period lately – I’m working on three different kinds of music: new Sally Shapiro tracks, new synthpop-ish tracks with other singers, and new ambient music. This autumn I’m also planning an ambient concert in a church together with my musical collaborator Mikael Ögren (Malmö, October 21st in case anyone’s interested), as well as a DJ set at an Italo disco festival in Helsingborg Sweden on October 7th, Den Harrow, Linda Jo Rizzo and some others will be performing there too.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Johan Agebjörn

‘Subtracted Soundscapes’ is released by Spotted Peccary Music and available as a digital album via https://johan-agebjorn.bandcamp.com/album/subtracted-soundscapes

Johan Agebjörn DJs at BEATBOXHBG23 in Helsingborg on Saturday 7th October 2023 – information on the event at Charles Dickens Bar & Scen which features appareances from Den Harrow, Linda Jo Rizzo, Paul Rein, Tobias Bernstrup + many more can be found via here

https://www.johanagebjorn.info/

https://www.facebook.com/agebjorn

https://twitter.com/johanagebjorn

https://www.instagram.com/johan.agebjorn/

https://linktr.ee/johanagebjorn

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Mika Stjärnglinder.
5 August 2023

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