Rangleklods, hailing from Copenhagen, is the brain child of Esben Andersen. Together with Pernille Smith-Sivertsen, and sometimes accompanied by other musicians, he brings his well thought out electronic music to stage. Rangleklods was one of the highly acclaimed artists at the Eurosonic festival and this thursday day he will play at EKKO in Utrecht. We are very much looking forward to this gig and wanted to know a bit more about what to expect, about Esbens experiences as Rangleklods and about the Nordic arts he likes.
NV: Who are you bringing to your gig at EKKO, Utrecht, next thursday? And what can we expect?
Esben: At EKKO the setup is the basic one with Pernille and I mangling with all sorts of electronics. Just about every concert outside Denmark this year will consist of just the two of us. It’s an economic thing. As soon as it’s possible we’ll be thinking about bringing more people with us. However, I’m pretty sure that the live setup with change very often as long as we do Rangleklods. We just like messing things up and never becoming too certain about how things should be. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about bringing musicians with a jazz background into the Rangleklods equation. Maybe that will never happen, but I like the idea. Anyways, you can expect a concert where we give it our all (cause we always do), where it’s not just about listening but feeling the music physically as well, and where you’ll walk away with a catharsis of sorts (best case scenario).
NV: How do you write your lyrics?
Esben: The lyrics are the last piece of the puzzle for us. It very important to us that the lyric and the atmosphere of the track itself fit each other somehow. Maybe not by choosing the most obvious subject matter, but by sort of realizing what made you decide on the sounds you did. For instance ‘Clouds’ was to me a picture (in sound format) of the city I grew up in. At a quite specific time as well. So the lyric naturally had to reflect that. Often we also base our lyrics on ramblings during test takes, by which I mean whatever subconsciously comes out when you try out vocal melodies early on in the process.
NV: Your lyrics are quite cryptic sometimes. Can you explain a bit what they are about? Does it have a theme, maybe?
Esben: On ‘Beekeeper’ the primary theme was the early teenage years. We didn’t set out with an intention of doing that, it just happened. But it wasn’t a strict theme, so some lyrics are totally unrelated to that. I would say that we generally don’t believe in dogmas or strict rule based creativity. We definitely come up with our best work when we don’t have a prior idea about what something should be like. Also, to us lyrics that are too specific are not interesting. We don’t see our self as singer/songwriters that pours out our hearts. What we sing about doesn’t have to be personal to us. What’s important is that it’s relatable. We want the listeners to feel like we sing about something they experienced.
NV: Nordic Vibes is about all cool things Nordic. Do you think you have a typical Nordic sound and why?
Esben: I guess we do. Neither of us have a specifically close relationship to Nordic music, but of course the culture you live in shapes who you are. I think there’s a certain kind of melancholy that Nordic artists are often very good at expressing. The kind where it’s not necessarily about heartbreak or death but more a general state of mind. Maybe it’s the dark winters. I would say that we are very honoured to be a part of an incredible generation of musicians in Denmark right now. So many great bands and artists. And that really means you push yourself as much as you can.
NV: Nordic Vibes is not just about music, but also about design, fashion, fika and more. Do you have a favourite Nordic artists/designer?
Esben: We both really like Michael Kvium, a gifted Danish painter. His work is very unsettling and sometimes a bit humorous as well.
And the old school Danish furniture designers of the 50’s and 60’s are still tough to beat today.
NV: What are your favourite places in Kopenhagen?
Esben: Christiania. Not for the weed but for the architecture and park-like atmosphere when you get away from ‘pusher street’ which is run by rockers and gangs. The outskirts of Christiania are wonderful. There you can almost sense what it actually once was. Also, Amager Strandpark, A recently build beach that’s a nice getaway from the city. And Von Fressen at Vesterbrogade is a nice place to get coffee and a rather cheap but good dinner.
NV: What places in Kopenhagen would you recommend visiting when someone is there to explore the city like a local?
Esben: It’s cracy, we’ve lived in Copenhagen for a couple of years but practically never go out to enjoy the cultural life of the city because we’re always touring. But it really is a beautiful city with so many sweet spots. If I was a tourist I would go on a boat trip around the canals, go for a stroll around the square lakes between the inner city and Nørrebro, visit Jægersborggade which is full of nice little shops. For a night out, the club Culture Box is great. And ‘Store Vega’ (store means big) is perhaps the best venue we’ve ever been to. And if you’re super rich go to Noma. We haven’t been there, obviously, but it’s on our wish list. (Pernille is a total food fanatic!)
NV: Any Danish artists you’d like to recommend?
Esben: CTM. She released an EP called Variations this fall. That’s been on repeat! And: Kenton Slash Daemon and I Got You On Tape.
NV: What is the craziest thing that happened to you while on stage?
Esben: At SPOT Festival in 2012 this very heavy dude – who is a very dedicated fan – came on stage, made a bell like dance move and crowdsurfed his way back to the dancefloor – and actually managed to stay in the air for a few seconds. And he was ecstatic because he had tried to succeed in crowdsurfing his whole life with no luck! That concert was a lot of fun and had the best punk’ish vibe. One to remember.
NV: Imagine it’s 2018 and you are sitting down to write a new biography. What do you hope you can write down?
Esben: That there’s nothing to regret and that opportunities have been exploited to the fullest. That we continue to challenge ourselves and grow as composers, producers and performers and aren’t stuck in past achievements.
NV: Anything else you would like to share?
Esben: Stay classy!
Rangleklods
Donderdag 16 mei 2012
Poppodium EKKO
Bemuurde Weerd WZ3
Kassa open: 20.00
Aanvang voorprogramma The Benelux (NL): 20.45
Entree: € 7,50
———————
(LP)
Leave a Reply