| The Vza |
Interview w/ photos
Copenhagen is neatly set on the surface of the Baltic Sea. Its land is populated by over one million and stands tall above the rest of the European Union. It’s cold temperatures and gloomy atmosphere can be compared to that of Seattle and it’s modern architecture and progressive population are unique in their own right. Two individuals who call this place home and have learned how to operate within the inner workings of the music industry are Djuma Soundsystem, composed of boyishly handsome Mikkas Skulstad and his partner in crime Lars Bjarno Jensen. The two have teamed up over the past decade DJ’ing at Weddings and playing to crowds of thousands. Their passion for music has been translated into amazing productions such as “Les Djinns”, “Small Fries” and “Bipolar.”
Gradient Magazine sat down with the duo and discussed the current and future state of electronic music with the two.
Finding the right partner when it comes to music can be difficult, some of the strangest collaborations can come at the right moments. How did you two get started?
Mikkas – We met in Sweden, at a festival called the “Norberg Festival.” We were both helping in the production of the festival. It’s an experimental music fest that has all different types of sounds being played.
LARS – The festival is set in an old part of Sweden and the setting compliments the festival perfectly. There are many varieties of electronic music played there, ranging from very experimental music everything from Gabber to Breakcore.
MIKKAS – The more experimental the better!
LARS – We were also there last year for the 10 year anniversary, and that was our 10 year anniversary as well. One night while everyone else was asleep, Mikkas and I met each other – we went into a building that still had the setup intact from the last guys who played there and we just started messing around with the equipment.
MIKKAS – The building was cathedral like and had a huge delay. If you made a clap sound it would take 5 seconds for it to disappear completely.
LARS – We were really drunk just messing around and trying to work with the whole ambiance in there. After that we kept in touch and just started working together.
Producing music can be challenging. Not being a musician myself I really can’t imagine where to begin. When you guys sit down to make a track what’s the process? How do you both work with each other?
LARS – It’s really interesting. There are so many different approaches, sometimes Mikkas would record something on his phone, for instance just a baseline. Then he will go and make it in the studio, after that he will come to me and see what I think about it. A lot of people perceive inspiration as something you get walking down the street and suddenly the hand of god reaches down and inspires you. It’s really not like that for us. It’s more like the more you work the more you get inspired.
MIKKAS – Yeaaahh, I would say that creativity is only 10% of the process and the rest is just work. We aren’t clever like that so we spend a lot of time just to make the track, we can’t do it in 5 hours.
LARS – Also In the process we are always discussing everything. If one of us doesn’t like something we make the other explain it. Music is a language, it’s an abstract thing. With music everything is very abstract and it has a lot to do with feelings. It’s really essential that we have to talk everything through in order to produce something we are happy with.
MIKKAS – There is a reason for everything, you need to find the right swing. Everyone can make a techno track but if it doesn’t have the right groove it won’t work. Like everyone else we have 50 tunes that we started with, but only one that we finish with.
Electronic music is clouded by many producers and DJ’s, but the pioneers are always recognized. Who are some of the artists that you look up to? How do you incorporate their sounds into your genre of music?
MIKKAS – I think there is a lot of talent out there – it’s really great to see so many young talents popping up around the globe. It used to be centralized to scenes in London or Germany. You don’t know where producers come from anymore, and it’s just some young guy with a computer that has endless possibilities at the tip of his fingers.
LARS – A lot of people that inspired us stem from our funk and break beat oriented background. So we like the groovy house, even though its minimal music you can hear other styles like disco in the tracks. We feel right at home with Get Physical. Guys like DJ T, you can hear in his music elements of electro, funk, and disco. Even though the music is modern, he’s using those elements to enhance the sound. We also incorporate a funk element into our music that makes it a bit melancholic. The thing that makes us tick is producing a funky bassline.
MIKKAS– If I had to pick one name I would have to say Booka Shade. They set the blue print for electronic music after the minimal wave. Now of course, that sound is a little over used not even Booka Shade plays the Booka Shade sounds. Their trendsetting abilities have been extremely inspiring to us.
LARS – Suddenly we were like Techno is ing boring and then Booka Shade came out with more mid range funky melodic stuff , not trancy, but melodic and funky and we said to ourselves that we like this again!
MIKKAS – We were never really all about underground music we have been DJ’ing for a living for a long time. We were playing House music one night, then Jazz and Funk another night. In Coppenhagen, the Jazz and Funk theme were very popular, so that was kind of what we played. We did it all, We played everything from weddings to experimental parties.
LARS – We appreciate artists that show that they love music. There are a lot of new artists coming out now because it’s so easy to put out music. Some people will just program a drum machine and say this is my track! It’s a cool thing that everyone can make music because there is so much talent, but there is so much crap out there as well. It’s up to the DJ’s and record labels to pick through the garbage.
What are some of the most interesting places you guys have visited during your careers as DJ’s? Does traveling ever get boring? What are some of your favorite places to play?
MIKKAS – We enjoy playing in Juarez, Mexico. Mexicans know how to party and they scream from start to finish.
LARS – Last time we were there we were really tired. As soon as we landed we had to head directly to our gig. Once we got to the party, the audience grabbed our record bags and moved it along to the front of the stage. They were clapping us along through the club, till we got to the front of the stage. The energy the crowd had really motivated us to play. It was amazing!
MIKKAS- It’s awesome to see all those little things we would never see. We love being tourists and seeing places, we try to get a few days of leisure time so we can do our thing and sightsee. We went to Georgia (the country) two times last year, and that is a place we would never have gone to if we weren’t playing there. The people there love the music, we do live set there which starts off slow and then gets really into it. It’s very inspiring place for us. We played in India – I plan on moving there and living there for a few months, that’s the type of effect it had on me. They have a huge techno scene out there. You would be surprised, India has a very cool crowd that is very into the music and they find everything out about the music. Everyone there wants the latest tracks and you can’t underestimate the crowd and play what you were playing there last year. We played 10 cities out there on our last tour.
What are some countries in Europe that you think were on the forefront of creating the sound of Electronic music currently being played?
LARS – It’s a bit strange because influences come from everywhere of course. Everyone will think Germany because they have had a fusion with Detroit, and several electronic pioneers came from there. Belgium had a huge BPM thing, and the development of industrial came from that. Holland as well played their roll. Britain has their own sound, Spain has their own scene as well, and France never had a scene until now. There are a lot of good things coming from Scandinavia. The sound from Scandinavia is different from Germany. You can not be a producer in Scandinavia and not be able to make pop music. That is why a guy like Trentemoller is big he understands this type of thing.
MIKKAS – I was really into the British sound in the 90’s, I thought that was really cool at the time. But Eastern Europe is really developing a strong scene. It is really funny to see the post communist generation is very much into electronic music. They didn’t grow up with the rock thing, and it seems that electronic music is their sound. There are a lot of hardcore fans there and they know what they want.
LARS – It’s funny, you could be playing the most obscure minimal track with no melody just a bassline and a strange sound, a girl would walk up to you and say “that’s the national anthem of Romania and everybody is listening to that sound right now”. They know their !
What are some of the characteristics you like to see from your tracks? Do you think the sounds of techno music will improve over time?
LARS – The cool thing about electronic music and underground music as a whole is that it’s not played on mainstream radio, and it’s a bit of a secret. You need to find it on your own and explore. You buy one record and then find another record that sounds similar to what you like, and this whole new world opens up for you. You never read about it in a normal paper or listen to it on the radio.
MIKKAS – Electronic music is an extremely progressive genre of music, it’s all about the next thing all the time. You don’t play the old tracks, you always play the new music, it’s hard to be progressive all the time so that’s what I love and hate about it. A lot of the minimal guys now play house, and then there are people that jump on the retro Detroit sound. That’s when the music starts going in circles but what we try to do as producers is we try to make music that is strong and works at the moment. As DJ’s we like to play stuff looking ahead. It’s very interesting to see electronic music’s influence on mainstream music such as R&B and Hip Hop, which has taken many elements from minimal music.
LARS – It’s cool because it opens up the music to new people. |
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