by Sandra M. Heinzelmann | 5 September 2017 |
SSM – How did you work on “panic in slow motion”? Could you describe the process?
It’s been a long process making the album. It’s pretty easy for me to write songs, but the production part took some time. I couldn’t figure out how the established acts get the sound that they do, so I just made the hole thing over and over again untill I felt satisfied. I’m not sure if I am there yet, but I feel fairly comfortable with the sound now.
SSM – Which synthesizers did you prefer to use?
Actually I want to keep it as simple as possible, so I don’t have my apartment filled with synthesizers. I only used some pretty main stream soft synths. On the other hand I used a lot of effect plugins to colour the sounds.
SSM – What is important for you in a song?
It’s hard to say. It’s a combination of the melody, the lyrics, the chords, the sounds and the atmosphere. It’s not just one thing and it differs from song to song.
SSM – Are the lyrics as autobiographical as they seem to me? What happened to the girl on the staircase from 1982?
Aha – I don’t know what happened to the girl. I’ve tried to find her on Facebook without any luck. I got to know her for some time after the episode and I was madly in love with her for a couple of years, but we almost only communicated over the phone (it was way before the internet) and we never became lovers. It was my first painful unhappy love affair 🙂 Yes – the album really is autobiographical up to a point. It just doesn’t make any sense to me, not to write about my own experiences, feelings and thoughts.
SSM – How do you see the big Swedish synth music network? (I read online that you moved from Denmark to Malmö)
I am not sure. I’ll have to say that I don’t know too much about it, but Swedes have something going on, haven’t they? Not only with synth music, but with pop music overall. Since ABBA they have been one of the big pop countries. I would like to get much more into it. It’s just hard for me to find the time.
SSM – How do you notice the subtle or not so subtle differences between Danish and Swedish habits?
The Swedish and Danish habits in general? I think that most people from around the world couldn’t point to any big differences between Danes and Swedes if they visited the two countries. We are very similar and we almost share the same language, but of course you notice some differences if you are either a Dane or a Swede and visit each other. In general I think that some of the stereotypes are true up to a point. The Danes are more loose and say what they think, while the Swedes are more correct and polite. A danish friend of mine who lives in Stockholm said to me, that his view was, that the Swedes are like the Germans and the Danes are like the British. I am not sure if it’s completely true, but I think there might be something to it.
SSM – What’s coming up? What are your plans or hopes for 2018?
I don’t know yet. Let’s see how the album is received. Does it get anywhere and are there any people who will like it? I will definitely continue to write and produce songs.
SSM – What does Elvis Presley mean to you (and yes, I got triggered by your email-addy)
Haha – I was a bicycle messenger for some years and Elvis was my radio name. Apart from that I listened a lot to Elvis Presley when I was a kid. He was just a great pop star and singer.