Anders, welcome to iBeats it’s a pleasure to speak with you today. Let’s get things started, your career has blatantly sky rocketed in the last few years. You’ve established a clicky, throbbing, sound that is wholly Trentemoller; completely unique. How did your sound evolve, was it a beast of chance or was the Trentemoller sound something you worked on perfecting for a while before releasing your first track?!
Anders: Thank you for the great description. Yeah, I worked on my sound a lot before releasing my first EP. I spent a lot of time on every single sound, so it’s important for me that the production is clear but without being polished or boring at all.
How long have you been producing for and what got you into music production in the beginning? who are your main inspirations?!
Anders: I have been playing music for the last 10 years, but started with electronic music about 5 years ago, I think.
I used to play in rock bands, but after a trip to London, where I, for the first time, heard Trip Hop and Jungle, I bought a sampler. Then I dropped the rock band, and started to make music myself.
My inspirations come from a lot of different music, not only electronical. Many influences come from indierock to classical to jazz to dub…you name it…there is so much beautiful music out there.
With the rise in softsynth / software users and brands such as Ableton, Reason and Cubase flying around in producers studios, where do you stand, What are your weapons of choice?! Good old hardware or software tools? Or a combination of the both?!
Anders: Mostly software, when we are talking about synths, I must say.
But I use mixtures of acoustic and electric guitars and bass and acoustic drums when I make music. Not for the dance music, but for example for the album, I used a lot of acoustic instruments.
I use a program called Acid for making all my music on the PC.
Now to your live performance exploits, many musicians have a certain anxiety or some apprehensions about performing live; others the complete opposite, they thrive off the live experience and the rush that it provides. Would you consider yourself a musician or a performer? Or would you share the love equally?!
Anders: I am both, but I mostly like the composing and producing process, I must admit. For me it’s the most creative part. But playing live is also great. I love it! But it’s just a whole different thing for me.
When you perform you have your friend Thomas (T.O.M) DJing with you? How does this interaction work on stage?!
Anders: Thomas is doing scratching and efx and he is controlling the laptop, so I have free hands to jam and improvise with my keyboard and efx’s . I don’t like these `lap top-artist’ that just stare into their lap top without having any connection to the crowd. I love the near contact! And the energy!
Have you been performing over the summer, any festivals or white isle gigs you have fond memories of or are excited about playing soon?! Where have you enjoyed playing the most?! You favourite Club?!
Anders: I am a bit tired of all the transportation, so now we have decided not to play so much anymore. From now on, Trentemoller Live is a more exclusive thing. And we will max play 1 or 2 gigs every month,
Doing this, I have more time to make my own music, and I can get the quite and calm atmosphere I need to concentrate on composing and producing.
Now back to your production body for a minute, you’ve recently finished work on your new artist album The Last Resort; due out in October. You’ve been quoted as saying that this is not a club album and the album is somewhat of a melodic listening experience. What was the idea behind that? Was this more of a challenge? Was there any pressure crafting your first artist long player?!
Anders: No. I felt no pressure at all. I have always been making the kind of music you hear on the album, but people only know me from my dance production of course. So it was great finally to have the chance to do a whole album.
And I did not want to do a dance album, as so many other dance producers do. I wanted to take the listener into my world of music and emotions. So doing this album has really been a pleasure for me. Of all the music, I have done, this is the music that I am most proud of!!!
Why the name, why was it called `The Last Resort’ ?
Anders: I think people have to find their own meaning in the title….heheheheh……
Lastly, Now that the album is done, what are your plans for the rest of the year Anders? Will you be out on the road promoting the new album or can we expect more from you in the studio in the next few months?!
Anders: I will not promote this album with playing it live, because as it is right now, we only play on clubs. And this album is definitely not suited for the club crowd. But I am already working on my next album, so let’s see what happens (-:
Thanks for your time today Anders, it is an absolute pleasure to speak with you and we look forward to hearing from you again in the future.
All the best, iBeats.
