What advice would you give to people just starting out in the music industry?
Don’t do it for fame or “likes” or whatever other shallow reasons. Do it for the need to create and communicate. Say something. Don’t bother too much with the business side, don’t calculate; chances are that if you make music you love somebody else will love it too.
What were your musical influences growing up?
I’ve always been all over the place when it comes to music that has influenced me; it is literally everything for ABBA to XTC, and everything between. All the classics like The Beatles, The Cure, Queen, Bee Gees, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, Nirvana, Bach, REM, Radiohead, Split Enz, Tom Petty, The Smiths, Mozart to the “newer” stuff like Black Country/New Road, M83, Snail Mail, IDLES and Black Midi. BUT I must say that for some reason older music seems to appeal more to me. Something about sincerity, craftsmanship, musicianship, the sound, the creativity. The core in the music seems more honest in a way. There is a lot of good music and songs around today, so I don’t mean to disrespect anyone in any way.
Who did you watch at your first ever gig you attended?
I think it was a KISS concert when I was quite young.
How did that gig you watched made you feel?
It made me think: That is what I wanna do!! Play music, connect with people, play loud and make a living out of it. So it must have made me feel very good, I guess.
What was the hardest obstacle you had to overcome to get to where you are now in music?
There have been quite a few obstacles and it is nearly impossible to single out one as the worst. At every “stage” of my career the there have been fences to climb, but the one that might was the toughest was to say out loud and stand by the fact that it was music I was meant to put my heart and life in; It was a lot of comments like “yeah, that is a great hobby, but what do you want for a real job”.
What was your best performance?
That is – again – nearly impossible to answer, because there is something to every gig. And every gig has their highs and lows, but my first gig at the end of term party in fourth grade was pure magic from start to end – throughout the whole two – songs set, hehehe.
How do you feel about sampling, do you use sampling?
Sampling can be such a cool thing when it is used right and for the right purposes and in a creative way. And we use it , both looped sequences and single sounds.
If you could choose from a historical gig, from any era who would you have seen and why?
For many reasons I think I would choose Live Aid back in 1985.
Do you have a moment you could share with the magazine from your previous gigs or recording experiences?
So many..and a large amount of them is NOT shareable..hehe. But we did a festival gig in the deep of a forest in Norway a couple of years back which was truly pure magic. We were headlining and the surroundings was unbelievable; mid August, almost midnight, moon as the main spotlight, campfires, and the stage was set by a lake. Beautiful.
Where and when is your next gig?
We have not planned any gigs for 2026 yet. The focus, at least the next six months, is to promote “Modern Age Family Business” and to record and release new songs
What’s your favourite song and why?
One favourite song? One song that I love more than any other song? That is not a fair question, and it is literally impossible to answer. It changes from day to day, no, it changes from hour to hour.
Why do you make music?
Because that is what I’m supposed to do, it is my purpose in life. Not for the fame, certainly not for the money, but the I do it out of the need and it sort of feels like “my call in life”
Talk us through your song writing process.
That is a long process from the idea to various drafts to what I call “the assembling” of the finished song. I’ve got a phone full of ideas and it can lay around for weeks, months and even years before they get used. I often “chew” on the ideas for a long time trying to figure out if the ideas are any good, are they worth putting time and effort into what kind of “musical environment and surroundings” should they be given. The ideas can be a guitar riff, a verse line or a chorus, an instrumental melody hook, all with one thing in common: they make me feel something, it triggers an emotion. Then I fumble around with it in the studio trying it out in different versions. The lyrics are personal and often quite abstract or what i like to call “feel-based” or emotional driven, but always with an intention to tell a story of some kind.
If you could offer one small bit of advice for your past self what would you say?
Just do it! Don’t be afraid. Follow your heart and do what you know deep in your soul that you should do! And don’t be so defensive, don’t be so shy, demand your space. It’s a good thing to be humble, but not to the extent where you rub yourself out – just rock, man! Hahaha….
