Q&A: Anders Trentemoller

You started out as; I hesitate to use the term, a “real musician.”

Anders Trentemøller: No, but that was actually the way it started. I’ve been playing in different rock bands since I was 15 and just 10 years ago, I bought a sampler after a trip to London where I heard drum and bass and thought, ”I want to do that.” It gives you more control over the music compared to being in a rehearsal and rehearsing four or five times a week. I mean, that’s a drag… So I guess I started 10 years ago.
And for me, on the new album, it has been about going back to playing instruments. I felt like doing that since it had been such a long time and I have that background and it is cool being able to use that instead of just programming everything. I thought it would be fun to mix things… But the past 10 years I have mostly been making electronic music.

Your new album will be released on your own label. Did that influence your process at all?

Not the process itself, but it was important to me that I had my own platform where I could release my music, because the first album came out on a more techno-oriented label - I just wanted complete freedom to do whatever I wanted... I wanted to send a signal that you can’t expect a DJ record or a techno record – it’s just music and there are electronic references, rock references and film music references. I wanted a platform free of old history, I guess.

You mentioned that you play a lot of the instruments on the new record. How has it been working that way and what was the reasoning behind that choice?

One thing I knew, though, was that I didn’t want to make the same record twice, which was inevitable since it had been three years since the last album. It just sort of happened that I started playing more of the instruments, so it wasn’t really something I had planned. I just thought it might be fun, especially drums - to play the drums instead of programming them like I had been doing for ten years.

Did this pose a risk for you?

It was more of a need to not be "navel-gazing.” This new album is more dark and brooding than the first and I wanted to put vocals on it. Sometimes that makes you able to identify more with the music and it gives it another tone. The great thing about instrumental music is that you are often able to put your own pictures to it – there are no lyrics to dictate you

Did you write the lyrics?

No. They were written in collaboration with the vocalists on the record. I gave them free reign since I’m not super strong at writing lyrics. I mostly did the melody and chords and then they worked on the lyrics. But, of course, we talked about what would work for this song and then the mood and tone of the song led the way. A lot of the lyrics are quite open and I like that they are very abstract.

You said that the new sound is more organic and warm... what is your process working with "sound” and what inspires you?

What I actually did here was to avoid the whole computer thing because I did it on the first record. So, I actually recorded directly onto old cassette tapes and a lot of it is recorded on old reels, too, in order to get that dusty, dirty sound… but still warm, which I love on old records from the sixties and seventies. That was the technique used back then and I thought it would be fun to take something from the computer and then put it into the analog domain and then back into the computer. It gave me something I wasn’t in control of and sometimes it’s cool to lose control, because everything is so controlled when you’re working with a computer. It might sound like a cliché, but it can sound a little cold when it’s all electronic. I like the clash of something being completely cold and electronic, something being recorded on tape, and instruments being played. I wanted that contrast of something beautiful and something spookier that might be hiding under the surface. It’s not right there in your face, but requires something from the listener. This record definitely is more challenging to the listener and might require a couple of listen-throughs.

You have used various other samples from different places. Is there something like that on this record?

Yes, I gathered some fun things – my parents’ fireplace, for example. It sounds amazing.

Fireplace?

I visited my parents – they live in the country and I have this little tape recorder I always bring with me when I’m traveling. I realized that if I put the recorder close to the flames, it had this great sound – like a deep bass and a sparking sound. I used that on one of the tracks and I recorded some things out in the forest. It’s more a mood thing placed far away in the music. You can’t really tell it’s there unless you know it, but I found that if I removed that piece of sound from the music it loses that extra dimension. These sounds are in the music to tease the subconscious.

Besides music, what else inspires you? Images? Certain moods?

Yes, of course, very much moods. Hmm… and what happens in your life. I mean, it’s often when I’m melancholy that those creative things come out. I have a very hard time writing a happy-go-lucky song. I don’t do that at all – it doesn’t inspire me. It gets too one dimensional and the artists I listen to are often more dark. I mean, it’s not because I’m not happy – there are just more layers in those dark, sinister moods, I guess.

So you’re a sensitive boy?

Definitely. If I didn’t have the music I think I would go crazy. It’s my outlet and it sounds like a cliché but the music is probably a little therapeutic for me and gives me an outlet for things I otherwise wouldn’t be able to get out.

Is there is anyone else you’re still really interested in working with?

Yes. I am a huge fan of Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval. She put out her second solo album last year. She has an amazing voice. Working with her would be the ultimate to me.

Will we see you in Los Angeles?

Yes, we have a tour in the US next year. So in March next year…

Trentemøller’s new album Into the Great Wide Yonder is released May 31st. F