06/16/10
Text: Nik Mercer
Photographers: Stian Andersen
A few weeks ago we brought you the club-ready kraut- and cosmic disco-infused single, "1987," from diskJokke's forthcoming sophomore LP, En Fin Tid, which drops on Smalltown Supersound on June 22, and now we proudly present you with a comprehensive Q&A we had with the man a little while ago.
En Fin Tid is a sort of departure for the Norwegian DJ and producer: Joachim Dyrdahl has moved on from his computer-only closet studio to a more sophisticated live setup, is generally in a very happy place due to recently becoming a father and enjoying an increasingly successful career (the name of the record means "a happy time" in Norwegian), and at his self-confidence peak in terms of artistic style and aesthetic. En Fin Tid aurally articulates all of this through the epic journey of sparkly disco to brooding prog rock to heated dance floor numbers it embodies. In the artist's own words, "the record begins at being alone at the beach in the morning and ends up being alone at the beach at night, going to all sorts of strange places and meeting all sorts of strange people in between." Pre-order the masterpiece right here and read on for our exclusive full interview!
What inspired you to sit down and create this new album? Its name means "a happy time," but what exactly focused you on making a full-length since 2007's Staying In?
After finishing Staying In I felt somewhat done with the small, naive melodies; it felt like a part of me had some sort of closure, at least for the time being. I was getting more "professional" and interested in exploring different genres and techniques and found that through doing remixes I was able to do all this and at the same time get paid! So I did around 15 remixes before I felt it was about time to sit down and make a new album. I guess I felt that I needed to pin down musically where I had come in the time since Staying In.
I like how the album follows an unusual path. It builds up to "Big Flash," a song ready for the club, and then folds back in on itself with slower songs like "Bastard Alliance" and "The Bund." How is the thing a cohesive whole to you?
One of the things I've noticed through travelling the last couple of years is that Norwegian DJs' style is quite different from DJ's in the rest of the world. Of course we play many of the same tracks that other DJ's do, but we tend to play them... differently up here. It seems to me we like to play more up and down in both tempo and style than most of the DJ's I've heard. Moreover, its the Norwegian crowd that demands variation. So instead of going from A to B in 8 hours we rather go from A to K moving via almost every letter in the alphabet in no particular order. After being a DJ for 15 years in Norway it came naturally to induce that backbone feeling into this record. However, in pictures I would say the record begins at being alone at the beach in the morning and ends up being alone at the beach at night, going to all sorts of strange places and meeting all sorts of strange people in between.
What sort of recording and production process did you incorporate for this record? Is anything live? Did you collaborate with others?
Staying In was made in a couple of different studios, but mostly in my home studio, which wasn't even a studio, just the corner area between the entrance, the toilet, and a bookshelf in my old flat. In this studio/corner I had a mountain of screens and some Creative PC loudspeakers. My only "gear" was a Rode microphone which I didn't use much, and a huge midi keyboard. As for En Fin Tid, it was made entirely in my new studio, in which I would say everything is different. En Fin Tid is all live, most of the themes are the result of jam sessions rather than midi scribbling... so before the release I was even unsure if it would be regarded as electronic music! And no, after doing remixes for some time I felt the need to see what could come out of my head if I had a blank screen as the opening scenario.
The sound quality of the LP leads me to believe you used some pretty bizarre synthesizers and gear. Tell me about some of the pieces you utilized the most. Any stories behind them?
The equipment I tend to use the most is a Teisco 60F―a small but extremely powerful monophonic synth. A lot of people use it for bass, but I feel it comes into its own when it's used as lead with the Memory Man delay. The same goes for my Moog Little Phatty, but I also love my Oceandrum, the white noise and strings on the Korg Delta, the DX7 drenched in boxes, and the Roland RE-201.
The record, as a whole, has a very retro feel to it. There are some pretty straightforward dance songs, but for the most part, it's overloaded with prog and kraut themes. What draws you to this genre? How do you modernize it for today's musical landscape?
Hm... that's a difficult question... To me, this genre is all about combining old and new material, not sampling but recreating, taking whatever you like from each genre throughout the times and putting it into a new structure. In short, making a (in my head) red pattern into a (again, in my head) green one.
Your adoration for artists like Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream shines through your work for sure, but most everything you release is higher tempo and dancier than their output. How do you merge this club aesthetic with headier music by your heroes?
I think I'll let my music answer this question. [Laughs]
I firmly believe that the environment in which one lives dictates the manner in which they create something. How does the Norwegian landscape affect the way you make music? Does it at all?
I live in the city, so the stuff you see on pictures are far away from here. However, the effect of having four seasons and the year split into light and darkness has had and will always have an impact on us. The road to the studio half the time goes through a blizzard and half the time it is drenched in sun with us wearing Hawaiian shirts.
Whether you like it or not, you're seen as being part of some loose collective of Norwegian producers (Lindstrøm, Prins Thomas, etc.) Do you like being a part of this community? How does it help you? How does it hinder you?
Of course I am honored being mentioned in the same breath as those guys, although journalists don't seem to notice that we are all in different genres this time around. I guess its more convenient to place us as a movement rather than to mention the current direction of each artist.
You're quite famous for your remixes. My favorite one may still be the "Breakfast In Heaven" one you did for Lindstrøm. You seem to have established a signature sound―do you agree? Also, what do you like about remix work?
Thank you for that, the "Breakfast" remix was one of my first and it sort of paved the way for other remixes. It is pretty extreme, and since I got away with that I felt more self confident with the following remixes, meaning I acquired the nerve to do an 86 BPM remix for Lykke Li just after doing a techy 125 BPM remix for Ost & Kjex. My favorite thing about remixing is being able to have the luxury of production hindsight, meaning I have the possibility to emphasize the parts I consider to be the core and possibly take the song one step further. To measure the success of this is, of course, a matter of opinion. Oh―look out for Discolated 2 [a new diskJokke remix compilation] sometime this fall. I havent been sleeping.
You seem in a very good place right now. You play out frequently, you have released some exceptionally lauded work, and now you're a family man with a child. What's the next goal for you to tackle?
The next goal... well, at the moment I am working on a very special project with five Gamelan artists for the Øya Festival in Oslo. I went to Bandung in Java last year and spent two weeks in their studio recording and playing around. I have been producing the concert since Christmas and am now very much looking forward to start rehearsing with the guys in July. My nerves are [shot]; it is the main festival in Norway, and we are playing the main stage on Saturday...
