Anders Trentemoller and his live partner DJ. “Tom” Bertelsen have played more than 100 shows over the last 1 and a half years around the world with their raving and energetic live sets mainly based on Trentemoller`s dance floor singles. Trentemoller has now taken his performance to the next level putting together a live band featuring Henrik Vibskov on drums, Mikael Simpson (guitar/bass) and of course Trentemoller. Apart from being exceptionally gifted musicians, Vibskov and Simpson are already very well known artists in their own rights. Vibskov is a famous fashion designer with exhibitions in Paris, London, New York, Tokyo and more, while Simpson is one of the most popular Danish singer/songwriters. Elaborate visuals have been done for the entire show by video director Karim Ghahwagi which provides a highly entertaining and capturing multi-sensual live performance of an outstanding album artist. The band have played more than 15 festivals across Europe this summer including headlining the West Dance Tent at Glastonbury Festival and headlining the Main Stage at The Glade Festival. I caught up with Anders for a chat about things just before his live gig at the Kentish town forum on 8th November 2007, almost a year on from when iBeats first spoke to Anders…
So, how does it feel to now be working as part of an ensemble rather than just a solo act?
Having these two other people on stage definitely gives it something extra. As a DJ often it can be quite a lonely process as you don’t really get the chance to improvise. We didn’t actually practice that much for these live performances. In fact, we only practiced together for about 2 weeks before the tour! We had all played in bands before, and we were all quite sure we didn’t want to practice too much because we might get bored of the music. So for us, it’s actually really important not to practice too much!
How have people reacted to your new, more thoughtful approach to electronic music?
It has been fantastic. I was slightly scared in the beginning. It was hard to know how transforming this fully mixed album onto a stage would go as it is so dark and melancholy. It was difficult to judge how it would work as a live performance. But I found I could make it more up tempo, more innovative. This makes it a different experience for everyone - those who come to watch, and for us, as musicians, performing it. So far we have done a tour of The States, which was awesome - we did loads of gigs and got some really great feedback, and we actually sold out nearly everywhere we went.
So what was the most unique place you played in America?
There was this hardcore rock club in Seattle (Neumous) that we played. Of course many people who came I am pretty sure knew my music before. But some had not heard electronica at all, but the reaction was still just amazing, some even started stage diving at the end of the performance!
What do you think is most important about creating music?
Music to me is very therapeutic, and I know this sounds a bit like a cliché. But it helps you to get over problems.. Basically it’s just music to me, I don’t feel I can categorise it- and if you remember this you have more freedom as you are not trying to conform to something. You can’t always put it into one little box. It could be described as Classical to Jazz to Electronica. There is a French composer called Vikov from about 1800, and he is a beautiful piano player who I really love. It almost feels a bit like trance in a classical way, the repetition and the fact it develops in a very simple way.
What do you feel about the current scene of electronic music?
I am not so up to date about DJs. I am more living in my own world really! I guess that Headbanger and Justice seem to have good elements and are doing something a bit different. The minimal scene is becoming very repetitive in my opinion.
Are you fed up of people talking about Berlin? What are your thoughts on Berlin as `the central hub’ of electronic music at the moment?
I just don’t think this is true anymore, people have overdone themselves, in my opinion the music was getting too minimal, if you put more dark layers in the music you can go back and listen to it again and you can get more out of it.
Have there been any key events in your life that have effected your productions?
No specific key things actually, I guess I am just inspired by the melancholic vibe, even though people find it depressing and dark. For me there is some kind of hope in this sort of feeling. If you are not afraid of confronting your fears and feelings, then how is it wrong facing the darker side of life? Making a totally happy song is totally difficult. You can have more layers, dark and paranoid. Life is many things, after all.
Do you think it’s a problem that a lot of people need to take drugs to enjoy electronic music?
I wonder if people would go so crazy if they didn’t take drugs! For me its not a big problem, I do it myself sometimes. It is not the main thing about the music. But if the drugs become the main thing, then I guess this is a problem, It should be the music that makes you high not the drugs!
What was the first record you ever bought?
The Cure- Kiss Kiss Kiss
Where do most of your fan base reside?
Gosh… Demark, Australia, all over the world really. My space is v popular and has platformed me (he has 44,000 ‘friends’ at time of press). It’s just really amazing as I have just had more than 1 million visitors to my site and it has only been set up for 1 year.
What do you think about the virtual world?
People can see the difference; cyber space is just another place. For music it is a perfect place to get your self out there. You get instant feedback from people.
If you had one week to live, what would you do?
(Laughs) That’s a very hard question! I guess I would spend time away from making music on some sunny beach somewhere with some of my close friends. May be Brazil, I like it there. I would definitely go somewhere sunny because Copenhagen is so fucking cold!
How has collaborating musically with two v.artistic people (Vibskov and Simpson) helped to develop your sound? Do they have a lot of input into the direction your music takes?
Not Really. I did the whole album, `The Last Resort’, by myself, and this was very important to me. These guys really do give it a very special touch and help a lot to make it work on the stage as a live performance.
You use elaborate visuals for your show now. Is your aim to create a complete experience for your audience, and how did you decide what visuals would work?
This visual experience is really important for this album. It’s like a collage of old movies, from the 30s through the decades to the 60s. A very talented film director from Denmark that I know worked on it with me.
What is next for the next 12 months?
Tour in December, then a break to concentrate on the next album
Do you see a time when you will ever stop making music?
It is really important for me to take a break from my passion, as it can become a bit of an ego trip for me. I think I will always do some kind of music, and this will later in life develop in a way I guess I just don’t have control over at the moment…
And finally, a bit of a red herring in the questioning, what are your favourite pair of trainers?
It’s a bit boring, but I love converse black…
Interview by Anna Wharton.
