Facts to Fiction

Describe the experience of working on FICTION and what it was like to work with Ian Isiah?

Fiction is a part of a new solo project that I’m currently working on, where I collaborate and write songs with friends and artists that I admire. I made Fiction with my long-time friend, producer Robin Hannibal and Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon. For a long time, the song was just a demo with a few synths and drums, and then gradually me and Robin got into recording a myriad of layers for it. I recorded some of the piano on a Steinway grand piano while I was recording a score for a ballet piece in New York, and then the middle 8 piano part was recorded later on my iPhone in my basement studio. That part turned out to be one of my favorite moments in the song, I like that feeling of pulling away the rug underneath the song and then this deep slow space appears below. I had been dreaming of collaborating with Ian Isiah ever since I heard their Shugga sextape which I really loved. I got a chance to meet them when I opened for Blood Orange in Copenhagen. Ian was singing backing vocals in the band, and I remember I heard them at sound check ad libbing these amazing old jazz tunes and was completely blown away. We went on to finish the song together - remotely via FaceTime etc. because it was during the pandemic. I feel like the remoteness shines through in the lead vocals somehow, it has a futuristic loneliness to it which goes really well with the song’s theme.

How would you describe your sound?

I grew up playing jazz piano from when I was 6, and It was always the chords that moved me. I’ve carried that interest with me always when making music. I love chords and melodies, I like a bit of melancholy; something to cry or dance to. I can literally start crying from a good set of chords. Like when I hear jazz pianists like Bill Evans and Jan Johansson, very harmonically rich and super melancholic at the same time. Artists like Air, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell have also been hugely inspirational to me when it comes to chords and harmony.

What was it about the piano that drew you to it?

I'm from a family of musicians and artists, so there was always music being played at home or at my grandparent’s house, and it feels like everybody would always pull out a violin or play piano when we were together. My grandfather was a pianist and I would always watch him play and be amazed at how he knew which keys to press without watching his hands. He taught me how to play in this very playful way, and I sort of never looked back, I always knew I wanted to be a musician from then on.

When did you start composing your own music?

I started making songs when I was 7-8 years old, I had a teacher in pre-school that would let me bring songs to class and school plays. It could be short melodies or sometimes a jazz standard like a Thelonious Monk song. I remember I once brought an instrumental from Wu-Tang Forever that I wanted to perform in class. And they let me, thankfully. I recorded and released my first jazz piano album on my own label when I was 20, and from there I’ve made several instrumental albums in my own name, as well as composing music for film, theatre and performance. Recently I’ve also composed the music for New York based visual artist Jesper Just’s exhibitions and films at a.o. BAM, The Met and Palais De Tokyo.

What can you tell us about your upcoming album?

I’m currently working on a new full length album of songs; it’s a pop album, which I have never made on my own before, but it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, after making mostly instrumental music and sitting behind a piano for so long. I’ve been collaborating with a lot of super talented people on it - friends and artists that I adore, some that I’ve been a fan of for years. I’m very excited about it and it’s completely reignited my fire for making music after the pandemic. I’ve produced the most part of it with Robin Hannibal (Quadron, Rhye), who I’ve made music with for the past 10 years, so it also stems from the musical friendship we have together.

What are the themes that you are touching on in your new album?

Community and relationships are definitely at the heart of the album. The songs are about all shades of relationships. Not just love relations, but people you try to avoid, people you want to be closer with, people you help get better, people you fall out with. There’s a lot of closeness and distance in relationships.

What do you feel when you’re in the process of composing your music?

Composing music is a way for me to practice concentrating, up to a point where you lose sense of time and space. It sounds old, but with so much of life being online, I can feel my attention span shrinking each day. When I work on music I can sometimes block out that feeling of high alert and just concentrate endlessly on a chord or a melody, something that’s both emotional and communication. I’m in love with that feeling.

Your last album was a joint project with another composer, Cæcilie Trier. How will this new album feel to listeners?

I made a collaborative album with Cæcilie Trier (CTM) last year on Posh Isolation. That album was special because it was a score for a performance and exhibition, “Celeste”, that we created with the visual artists, Ea Verdoner and Lea Guldditte at Copenhagen Contemporary. So it was a lot about a specific space, an architecture and a performance narrative. This new project will feel very different; and at the same time I think there’s a clear red line to my previous solo projects.

What are you looking forward to most about this new project?

I’m definitely excited about sharing something new, I’m using my own vocal in my music for the first time. I always kept quiet a little bit about singing. I’d been thinking a lot about amazing musicians like Patrice Rushen, being a jazz pianist, making these amazing arrangements, and having a very honest vocal. I’m side-stepping piano for a little bit to discover something else.”