Photography by Vincent Urbani
Efterklang in Danish means “remembrance” or “reverberation” and this word perfectly defines this core three-piece band’s music. The unique mix of indie folk, electronica and synthpop that Rasmus, Casper and Mads perform (with the addition of live band players when they are on tour), makes for a mind blowing experience. Schön! Talks with Rasmus and Casper about inspiration, touring and the future.
Let’s start talking about your new album Piramida. Why did you choose to visit this ghost town and to turn it into the title of your new work? (Piramida is a Russian settlement and coal mining community on the archipelago of Svalbard, in Norway, that was closed in 1998 and has since remained largely abandoned with most of its infrastructure and buildings still in place)
We thought for a long time about the title of the new album, we were not sure we wanted to talk about our trip, ‘cause we didn’t want to make a concept album -we preferred to keep it open. Our idea was to go there just to be inspired and to get started, but then when the project came to an end we looked back to the songs and it made a lot of sense to tell this story and to name the album Piramida
What was your experience like on the trip?
The trip was really intense. They were only 9 days, but full of inspiration. A lot of material came out of that experience. It’s a place that provokes you to think about certain things, like the concept of time, or your own specific identity in your little world. You realize how small you are in the bigger picture. At first you get very scared, but then you become calm and you get used to the idea and it’s a really interesting process.
Photography by Vincent Urbani
What inspires you most?
The most inspiring thing is music. We actually picture what we could sound like and it’s an inspiring thought process because you can put so many things in there. Music really edits itself, it’s incredible. We are very lucky ‘cause we are not typecast as a specific kind of band, so we feel so free to experiment. We even like to put ourselves in different spaces and places and think: What kind of music can we make in this hall? Or in this house? Cause we think that music really belongs to a place, so it’s really important for us to find the right place because in this way we get the inspiration we need.
What are the main differences between your previous albums and Piramida?
I think the previous ones were a combination of different layers and in Piramida we gave more space to the individual instruments and used fewer layers. Piramida is a little more focused, condensed and direct. Live performances taught us to give people the opportunity to create their own space into our songs. When we were younger, we just wanted to feel fine and make the craziest record, the most ambitious thing, and that’s what we actually did in our first 3 albums. They are very unique, but I think they are like a perfect sculpture. It’s beautiful to see, but hard to put on as a coat, you know what I mean? So we tried to make something that people could use, it’s a social thing. When you feel the need of making music of course you don’t think of anyone else, but what we are doing now is trying not to overdo it, or make it too nice, ‘cause when you do that you get a little too far from the listeners. We want to create a “space” where people can enter with their own thoughts.
What future projects are you working on?
At the moment many nice people are inviting us to do big and small projects, from an opera, to a tiny music college. We are in contact with a lot of artists from museums, and the theatre and the film world. Music is one thing, but it’s made by sounds and if you take those sounds you can use them in different spaces. We want to make some tests and experiments now. So we will focus on different collaborations, and then we will get back to the studio and make a new album.
Photography by Vincent Urbani
For more info please visit: www.efterklang.net
Words / Vincent Urbani
Follow him on Twitter @vincent_urbani
