I was fortunate to have the opportunity to interview one of the most endearing singer / songwriters around on a cold October morning. Lena Andressen is a Canadian – Faroese musician with four studio albums out, including her latest, “Letters From The Faroes.”

The recently dropped album has been selected as the album of the year in The Faroe islands, and Lena is currently on tour promoting it.  “Letters from The Faroes” is as inventive and as intimate an album as you’ll ever find.

Here’s most of my brief morning interview with lena:

Your latest album letters From The Faroes, which was released in Denmark yesterday am I right ? It seems like a really interesting album, could you tell us a bit about it ? What’s the inspiration behind it ?

Yes it came out yesterday and it’s inspired by the feeling of being uprooted, the constant longing for elsewhere that I sometimes tend to feel. I’ve grown up in Cananda and on The Faroe islands so i’ve always tended to long for one thing or another and this sense of longing, of uprootedness is reflected in Letters From The Faroes.

The cover design is pretty unique too., as a letter with stamps and love hearts on it Was this your own idea ?

Well it was mine and Niclas, the guy I write most of my stuff with. The idea was to bring back a bit of feeling as far as the art of letters being something that is dying or certainly something that is less common. The CD case feels and looks like a letter, which brings back the idea of feeling being involved in music. Letters from the Faroes, the album title refers to the songs on the CD, which for me are like different letters that capture the state of mind that i’m in at the time I write them.

You’re playing quite a few gigs around Denmark to promote the album over the next few weeks. What is like to play here ?

It’s always nice to play in Denmark. I think my music is appreciated here. Of course it’s different from one venue to another. Some places are really loud, really noisy whilst others can be quiet and cosy and everyone listens to you. Generally it’s always a pleasure to play here.

Most Danes don’t know much about the Faroe Islands, For me they’re this picturesque magical place- that’s the image that springs to my mind when I think of them. What are the islands actually like ?

(smiling) It’s sad that many Danes don’t know much about them- they are a part of Denmark too. Well The Faroes are 18 small islands in the middle of the Atlantic. The weather can be pretty bad – there’s a lot of wind and sometimes it feels like there are four seasons in one day, so if you’re into weather extremes this is the place to be. There are actually a lot of people from the Faroe islands who play music, and I think this has to do with the fact that they’re quite an isolated place, so we’re always looking to express ourselves somehow.

Do you also sing in Faroese ?

I haven’t recorded any songs in Faroese, no and this is mainly because English is my native language which makes it a lot easier for me in the songwriting process. I speak and write Faroese but for my music it’s much easier to do things in English.

What inspires you in the process of writing your music ?

When I write songs I try to convey a state of mind that i’m in at the time so it’s very spontaneous. Sometimes I feel happy, or sad, or if I feel like dying or whatever emotion it is that’s going through me. Sunsets and sunrises and other natural phenomena are all background inspirations but not part of the main process as such. My songs are sometimes a way for me to overcome certain emotions, they have a bit of a therapeutic effect whilst at the same time telling some story or other.

What music do you listen to when you’re not playing your own songs ?

Well anything really. I’m really inspired by songs that trigger an emotion in me, songs that make me do something or want to do something. Of course these songs can be anything really, The Beatles, you name it.

Photo: NJ Photo / http://www.lenamusic.com/

Identified by MTV as one to watch, and with a new album under their belt, the band are keen to explore the international market in 2013

Balkan beat is a rowdy, raunchy concoction of a music genre, popularised by the efforts of acts like Goran Bregovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia and the well-known New-York based band Balkan Beat Box. Here in Denmark, it remains something of a stranger to the mainstream despite its increasing popularity in underground music circuits.

This may well change though, thanks to the efforts of a band cited as one of the greatest up-and-coming acts in Denmark by MTV, the critically-acclaimed Danish/Serbian outfit Tako Lako, who in their own words are “more than just another Balkan Beat band”.

The Copenhagen Post caught up with three of the band’s members – harmonicist Andreas Broby Jensen, bassist Philip Zubin Hormozi Køppen and multi-instrumentalist Malene Brask – for a quick chit-chat following the recent release of their eagerly awaited debut album, Through the Mud.

First and foremost, for all the people who don’t know you guys, who are Tako Lako?

Jensen: Tako Lako is a band that plays psychedelic gypsy beat; that’s what we choose to call what we do. It’s a pretty mashed-up type of music. We combine heavy beats with a psychedelic acoustic vibe.

Køppen: So far we’ve been known mainly for our live shows, up until releasing our debut album, Through the Mud.

How did Tako Lako come to be, how did you form ?

Køppen:  (grins): Well Andreas was on a inter-rail trip, maybe you’d like to elaborate on that?

Jensen: It all started on an Inter-rail trip many years ago. Our lead singer Ognjen and I went through Europe- Serbia and Monte Negro especially. On the tour we bought some instruments- a drum and a small keyboard thing; a melodica is that what you call it ? It was very chilled, very relaxed – we just jammed on the long train trips- we sat in the coupe and jammed

Køppen : Which must have been really annoying for the other passengers

Jensen (laughs) : For some yeah, some did think it was cool to have a private concert. We weren’t really a bad it was just for fun. When we came home to Denmark we thought it would be fun to go further with our music,; we started bringing people together. In the beginning Oggie wasn’t singing- he wanted to be a percussionist. We got a better percussionist who was trained- even though Oggie insisted on trying the percussion.In the end we got ourselves a pretty good lead singer (laughs)

Køppen: Personally I got into the band since I was really drawn to the complexity of the music. I’d played a lot of rock before that and I wanted to try something new

Did you know any of the guys before ? 

Køppen: I went to high school with Andreas, the classic story

What about you Malene, how did you get involved ? 

I went to school with Phillip (Køppen). He invited me to a concert which I remember really well- I was drawn by a bunch of gypsy balkan dudes who were playing really well and I though that I’d really like to be a part of this.

Tako Lako, the name; where does it come from?

Jensen: (grins) I think it’s a bit of a coincidence. Tako Lako means ‘so easy’ in Serbian. We started out brainstorming with names. [Vocalist] Ognjen [Curcic] came up with it – it looks good written and maybe people can remember it. It also reflects our music. Our music is kind of complex, but we wanted to turn it into something that is comprehensible.

Køppen: It’s a name you cannot categorise, much like our band – it’s completely movable contextually, which reflects us as a band. Tako Lako has changed a lot. I mean Tako Lako can be everything.

Many people would call you a Balkan beat group, for the sake of classification at least. What are some of your main influences, if any, within Balkan Beat?

Jensen: Of course, at the beginning, we were very influenced by the Balkan wave, by Balkan beat. Bands like Go Gol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Shantel and so on. In time, however, we changed – particularly over the last two years. We found our inspiration from bands who are not related to the gypsy genre as such.

Køppen: The thing with Balkan is, we all adore it, but it’s not necessarily full of substance and meaning, especially lyrically. So we feel that we’ve added an extra element of meaning to the genre through Ognjen’s lyrics.

So what does Ognjen sing about typically?

Brask:  There are some themes on our CD, particularly family traditions and coming from Serbia. Ognjen’s family comes from Serbia. He knows how it was in the war. He also knows what it means to be left out.

Køppen: It’s also about the past and the clash that one’s past represents for the future.

A bit like discovering one’s own identity perhaps?

Køppen: Exactly. In a way it’s about our own story as well. The battle that we’ve been through. We’ve been compared to other Balkan beat bands, but we’re trying to find our own place.

Your album Through the Mud has just dropped. Gaffa has given it five out of six stars. You must be pretty happy with it. You’ve been performing since 2008. What took you so long to make an album?

Jensen: Two years ago when we made our EP, we decided we’d wait a while before making an album.  If you listen to the EP, you can tell that something is happening, but it’s not finished yet. It just took us a while to find a sound that we can all agree on.

Køppen: The thing is that we’re really busy as a live band. We’ve had a lot of gigs over the last few years and have been really busy despite us not having any recorded material (laughs).

Brask: At the start we almost only worked on our live performances because we just love being on stage. We really love it! We wanted to see how far it could take us, so that’s where our focus was, but we also had to find a bit more substance in our music. We needed time to become more of a unit.

I’m sure you’ve had many good gigs in the history of Tako Lako. Is there a jewel in the crown of all your many gigs ? 

Jensen: Roskilde 09 for sure. It was very emotional for all of us. One of the things you say as a band is “We want to play at Roskilde Festival” We did it, with over 5000 people packed in an arena that was meant for 2000.

Køppen: It was manic ! Mind blowing ! The security dudes almost had to close down the stage because there were so many people.

Denmark has been a pop-reliant nation for a long time now. What has it been like for you to face this barrier  a Balkan outfit ? Has it been difficult to get people to latch on to Balkan beat? 

Køppen: Definitely yeah. That’s why our album is titled Through The Mud – we’ve really fought for this. Getting our music out to the important people has been really difficult- we’ve been told there’s no market for Balkan music. We’ve really fought for what we believe in though and we haven’t given up. It is a pat on the shoulder when we get to perform at a Pop festival like Skanderborg and we can get the crowd to sit down and jump start.

Jensen: Signing for a label like Sony is also a huge pat on the shoulder-  It tells the music industry something about us.

Brask: A couple of years ago we actually thought about being a bit more mainstream just to fit into the Danish market. It went wrong though- our heart wasn’t in the music, so we stopped and went back to our original style. The market has to accept our songs and work with us so we can the music out to people.

Where do you see yourselves in, say three years from now ? 

Jensen: We definitely want to expand out of Denmark. A dream would be to become the GoGol Bordello’s of Europe.

 

What are you up to now then?

Køppen: We’ve got a busy schedule this autumn. The plan is to focus on the Danish market to see how far we can take Tako Lako, promoting the new album and so on. Next year we’ll head south, into the German market and of course the UK.

From film-directing to generative art. Creative expression is all around ! The Papaya caught up with Polish generative artist Kasia Stangrecka and found out what her work is all about

 Original article: Roskilde University, Papaya Magazine Jan 2012 Issue: www.thepapayamag.com 

 Hi Kasia ! What inspires you as an artist ?

I’m not an artist. I am a builder? A creator? Everyday shapes inspire me ! Last time I looked at a lettuce I couldn’t help noticing how much like fractals the leaves looked like.

What exactly is it that you do and how long have you done it for ? 

My video works are generated through coding, Eisenscript to be specific. I first imagine a shape and then express it with letters and numbers in code. I started doing this a year ago. Creating the code takes me all night and then I render the image.Now that I have a new computer and it takes about 10 minutes to render an image and around a week for a movie. It took 10 times longer on my previous computer !

What’s the most difficult thing about what you do ?

Getting what’s in my head into a language understood by the computer. My communicational tools are purely letters in numbers in a code sequence. Controlling how shapes in my head get digitalised on the computer is probably the hardest thing about what I do

Any exciting plans for the future ?

Well I’d like to develop my skills further. Currently I do short films about life, expressed in generative form. I would like to do a whole series of them and in so doing, illustrate how coding can create a small, independent digital life form

Inspiration From Behind the Camera Lens, Seven quick questions with up and coming film director, Kristian Håskjold.

Original article: Roskilde University, Papaya Magazine Jan 2012 Issue: www.thepapayamag.com 

It’s a dark, dank, decadent December day. I find myself staggering around the streets in Pisserenden, clinging onto my jacket for dear life and wondering why the heck i’m battling the elements to catch up with Kristian Håskjold in Riccos for a chit-chat about his latest project and his work in general. A few minutes later i’m sat face to face with Kristian, a warm cup of cocoa and cheap plastic pen-in hand.

Kristian Håskjold is one of Denmark’s up and coming movie producers who recently founded Flying Films, a company that’s slowly getting into gear and coming up with rather intriguing short films, adverts and other work, including the Gaffa video of the year music video nominee, Sebastien Lind’s “Never Let Go”

So Kristian… Flying films What are you guys all about ?

We’re a film company. I started the company in February this year, that’s when I turned it into a real company, got a CVR number, got registered. I own the company and I have some people attached to it freelancing -an art director, a producer and a composer and an animator.

“We do lots of different things.” “The way to best describe what we do is, well…we do storytelling, this is what’s most important for us.” “It doesn’t really matter that much if we do a commercial or fiction or even animation.” “For us there needs to be a beginning and a development and so on; we don’t just show a product “ Look at this cool shoe and buy it !, no We just want to be creative in the way we do it, that’s important for us.

So we’ve done some work for an insurance company called Codan and for a guy called Sebastien Lind…

Yeah, that’s right for which you’ve been nominated for The Gaffa video of the year prize. How was it working with Sebastien Lind ?

It was awesome, he’s a great kid, very down to earth ! It was lots of fun, we started with a pre-video to the actual music video which got incorporated into the final video. We started filming in a dark appartment where we shot various sequences that were going to be included in the video, lots of shadow a bit of animation, lots of different things and then we went about combing them so they seemed alike.

I read that Sebastien Lind’s “Never Let Go Video” was made with no budget whatsoever. How did you guys stay motivated during the creative process ?

Well it was kind of tough and before making the video I’d decided not to do free work anymore. I’d reached a point where I needed to take a leap-take my work to the next level. A guy called Jonas Woof, Sebastien’s manager sent me the song and I was amazed. I felt that this was the best work Sebastien had ever done

Did you know Sebastien before all this ?

Yeah, I worked on a small music production with him 8 months ago and other small projects including a clothing project with Marianne Gerda about half a year or so ago.

Nice one. I saw this video on your webpage of a guy getting chased through the streets of New York by a pink umbrella which I thought was quite cool. What’s the story or the metaphor if you like, behind it all ?

There are two stories involved here. Writing the script for it, I wanted to convey the idea that everyone has some sort of “umbrella” which we all have to accept at a certain point. When we accept them, the result is a sort of synergy effect, access to another level of life through self-acceptance. The second story is the more down-to-earth one. I had an experience similar to that of the guy in the video when living in London and working as a fundraiser on the streets. One of the conditions of having this job was that we had to bring our umbrellas with us to work, in case it started to rain. So I picked out this really ugly pink umbrella from the pile and used it out on the streets and hated it quite a lot. So one day this French Canadian girl and I swopped umbrellas; she got my ugly pink one and I got her blue one and when we came back to the office someone had stolen all the other umbrellas. They were replaced the next day though, with a new bunch of pink ones !
That’s an interesting story ! Lots of artists struggle to stay motivated in the creative process. How do you maintain your inspiration?

Hmmm…That’s a good question, I guess i’ve always been very ambitious with my work and at some point, well the simple thought of moving forward, the feeling of building something up keeps me going. I’d really like Flying Films to become something big and i’d like a lot more people to get involved with it. This is the more entrepreneurial side of things.

Which is important too, a lot of artists forget this

Yeah, so true. The more creative side of keeping my inspiration comes from my love of being part of creative projects and being around interesting people. I enjoy this a lot.

Are there any particular movie directors you look up to for inspiration ?

Yeah there’s a guy called Steven Sotherberg; there are some of his films I really love. He did a film called the informant, with Matt Damon. It’s a really quirky film about a stupid man who tries to become a detective. I’d say the film is underplayed and very…. European in some way. I like the way he makes a commercial movie to get people’s attention so that the next movie he makes can be all about his own thing, where he does whatever he wants to. It’s quite similar to the way I see the world as I feel there needs to be balance in movie making, as we talked about before; the need for entrepreneurship and creativity at the same time. Some artists are purely artists and there’s no entrepreneurship, so most of the time they never get anywhere because they don’t get into their work and then there are the entrepreneurs who create lots of things but it’s purely about the money. So there needs to be a balance and Steven Sotherberg seems to have this.

And what are you up to at the moment ?

I’m writing a script for a film called “Reception” and i’ve just applied for funding for it through the Danish Film Institute. We’ll know in late December if we get the funding. One other project i’m working on is a documentary film about a guy called Troy Davis, who was falsely accussed of murdering a policeman in Georgia 20 years ago. So we’ll be going to the states to shoot next year if we get the funding in February.

House is feeling, not a music genre: Papaya Exclusive with Tim Andresen (original article: Roskilde University, Papaya Magazine, January 2012 edition: www.thepapayamag.com) 

When mention of House music comes up in everyday parlance most people will instantly think of the likes of David Guetta or The Swedish House Mafia, artists who have skyrocketed to global fame over the last couple of years or so, cutting through the echelons of mainstream music like a hot knife through butter.

Truth be told, the pop-induced “House” wave that’s dominating airplay on most teenager’s mobiles today could not be further from the definition of true house music, a genre that kicked off in Chicago in the early 80’s before becoming a worldwide phenomenon through it’s popularisation as Acid House in the U.K at the end of the 80’s.

This viral metamorphosis counterweighted the economic hardships and disillusions of a nation bored beyond tolerance by the conservative Thatcher politics of the time and as such, the second summer of love, Woodstock’s successor was born. House music was, at the time, an instrumental-rich form of electronic music that borrowed from the disco culture of the late seventies / early eighties, the result being a more minimalistic series of drum machine produced beats accompanied by everything from poignant synth stabs to Motown-esque vocals.

Fast-forward two decades or so and House has branched off into commercial pop-heavy Electro house a La Guetta, whilst retaining its former dignity through its identity as deep and tech house.

I caught up with Culture Box resident and co-booker Tim Andresen for a quick chat about the state of the current house scene and his work as a Deejay one rainy day in the post New Year’s eve state quietude that the streets tend to blossom with in early January.

From humble Beginnings to global success

Tim Andresen started spinning vinyl way back in 1986 (that’s before I was even born ! ) Part of a mobile disco group of newly-made friends, Tim started as most Deejays do, learning the tricks of the trade by saving up for his own pair of decks and honing his skills on them in his free time.

Back then, he had not yet been bitten by the house bug, and as such, commercial music du jour and a fair bit of old school Hip Hop was what he spun albeit commercial music fused with choice, hard-to-come-by 12 inch imports from record shops such as Fredgård and the legendary Street Dance Records.

The switch to House came in 1997, when Tim played a gig with a friend of his and got hooked by it. Since then he slowly built a name for himself, specialising in playing a witty blend of “good quality House music with an uplifting edge to it”.

House music in those days was nowhere near as well-known in Denmark as it is today and as such, a lot of work went into promoting and hosting gigs, as no specific venues existed to serve the needs of the electronic music market niche.

Further along the line, the jump from Deejay to producer saw Tim venture into making his own productions in 2002 with literally no professional music training whatsoever.

Since then, his releases have been featured on the likes of Fatboy Slim’s label “Southern Fried,” Mark Knight’s “Toolroom ” imprint and on the mighty “Azuli,” The UK’s longest running House label.

His forays into the world of music production elevated Tim to the highest level of Deejaying, as he backed his studio creations with hectic tour schedules that saw him play in over 40 countries, headlining for brands such as theMinistry Of Sound Tour, Godskitchen and Azuli and playing some of the finest clubs on the planet such as Space, Pacha and Privelegé Ibiza, Fabric, Ministry of Sound, the impeccable Turnmills in and dozens of others.

Tim also founded his “What Happens” label a good 5 years ago, and has enjoyed a fair deal of success through it, with upcoming names such as “Tiva” and “Dennis Horvat” using it as a base for their productions

Fast-forward and press play

Tim’s decorated past in the annals of house music folklore lives on today through his label What Happens and his residency at Copenhagen’s Culture Box who he also co-books for. He jets around a lot less than he used to but he’s certainly not any less busier as a result.

In fact, Tim’s dedication to the scene means that he’s in his own words “listening to music for up to 12 hours a day” and as such, if he listens to anything else, it’s usually Chillout music, to unwind and kick back from the hectic everyday life of a producer.

The scene today

The music industry in one that is in constant flux. Despite being a vinyl lover, Tim admits that Deejaying with vinyl is an artform that’s history. He doesn’t miss carrying around a bag full of 12 inch records and he appreciates the mod cons of mixing using CD’s.

Like many other players in the music industry, Tim also believes that the influx of new artists on the scene due to technological advancements that have made making and producing music something that can be done in a bedroom as opposed to a studio has made it more difficult for one to find good electronic music.

He maintains that creativity needs to stand out, and a sense of imperfection and even difference in music production has to exist in the process of making electronic music. As such, an otherwise optimistic Tim feels that focus on already established artists and labels has created a sort of music hegemony that locks out many newcomers to the scene who aren’t part of the most favourited and highest rated charts that electronic music sites such as Beatport popularise.

So With so much to do all the time, where’s the fun in it all ?

Despite the strains of producing, running a label, Deejaying, promoting and co-booking Tim still enjoys his everyday life and is content with being able to get paid to practice his hobby on a full-time basis.

His new single, the aptly named “New Era” has rocketed to number 37 on the Traxsource.com listings and with the likes of Trentemøller, Nic Fianciuli and James Blake all booked to play at the venue, things are definitely looking up in 2012. The house scene in Denmark is continuing to grow and Tim feels that there’s a lot of passion and indeed a lot of love and open-mindedness within it that is heartening to take note of.

My mate Edoardo and I  stumbled on the opportunity to interview the French composer and multi-instrumentalist Yann Tiersen back in May after his concert at Rust, Copenhagen.  The interview was shot immediately after an epic, sweaty and packed-to-capacity performance that showcased snippets off his forthcoming album “Skyline.” The interview was published in the last issue of Roskilde University’s “Papaya magazine,” which you’re more than welcome to check out at www.thepapayamag.com