[bandcamp width=700 height=1037 album=3444912439 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

When did you start making music and what was the contributor factor that made you to do so?

The band started as Leifs’ solo project. He’d discovered the post-rock genre and shared some of the classics with me (Jakob), like Mogwai and EITS. I got into the whole thing myself and so we decided to give it a try together.

How hard was it for you to create, record and release your first material?

It was easy because there was no pressure and we did it just out of sheer curiosity and will to experiment. As soon as we had material for a bunch of songs we just recorded them in a studio built for radio production that we had access to. Shitty mics and equipment. No retakes. Then we shared it on a couple of internet forums and that was it.

What is the main art form that influenced you in creating? Was it only music or did movies and other forms of art influenced your creative process?

Just music I guess. It’s always fancy to namedrop other art forms as influential but I think a lot of the time it’s just a facade. With lyrics it might be another thing though.

What are the steps that an idea takes before becoming a fully fledged song? And how does that idea affects the way you build an album from the ground up?

We either jam something out that serves as a base for the song or someone brings a chord progression, a riff or something else that we build from. Then we just continue jamming around that until we have enough parts for the song. Next thing is the tricky part, that’s when we glue everything together so that the parts feel unified and the song dynamic and interesting enough. From there it’s just a long road of hashing out songs that could work together on an album. We don’t theorize on beforehand about how we would like the album to sound. What comes out comes out.

What do you consider the most important traits that a song and an album must have before you consider it to be completed?

It just have to feel like it’s finished. Hard to explain or find a universal formula but you play and listen until it sounds like a proper song/album. However, we always feel like there are things to change, even after recording. It is truly never completed.

What are the actual steps that you take when you are creating? Do you need to enter or go to a certain setting in order to get creative?

Not really, but a nice room with fitting, cousy lights, always helps.

Except art are there any other external or internal factors that influence you when you create, if so what are they?

Yes, every other internal or external factor might trigger you in a certain direction. So it could be anything. Personal stuff, or whatever is going on in the world at the moment. We generally try to stay up to date with what is going on in the world.

What is your main motivation to create and be creative?

It’s just a great way to express yourself, especially the things that you really can’t express in words since it’s hard to capture in existing categories of language. Except for a very talented few authors. But for us to express ourselves, we chose this medium. It’s also a great way to hang out.

How long does it take to go from a song to an album from scratch to the fully recorded version?

It takes a long time for us if you count in cronologic time because we don’t have the possibility to get together that often. But when we do I’d say we’re pretty effective. We don’t overdo or over think the writing or recording sessions.

Do you take multiple takes of the songs before settling on the final version or do you go with the flow and just do one take?

If you mean one version then yes, we don’t line up a bunch of different ones to choose from. On an instrumental level though, how someone plays a certain melody or a certain drum pattern, we might do that. But not that often really.

During live shows what do you like to do more, experiment and improvise on the basis of the existing album and songs or you are more likely to recreate the recorded material as faithfully as possible?

Depends on the songs. Some of our older songs have been rearranged quite a bit for live shows. The songs from ISWY were written and recorded so that we could play them exactly as they sound on the record.

What are the main ingredients that makes a live show special for you?

People in the crowd that’s interested in the music and a good sound guy that’s easy to co-op with.

Do new ideas appear during live performances? If so how to do you proceed in order to materialize them?

No I don’t think that has happened. But when we’ve played a song that might be under construction live it helps a lot to assess what to do with it next and what parts that might be improved.

What is the perfect time of day and weather that makes you creative?

I haven’t noticed that any specific weather or time of the day have affected that. So can’t really say.

What are your future plans and what advice do you have for people that want to get into creating music?

We’re in the writing process for a new album so all our time and energy as a band goes into that right now. I like creating together, just jamming things to life, that’s usually how the best songs or part of songs gets made. It’s also fitting for our kind of music because dynamic build ups are such an important part of it and it’s usually easier to get a genuine feel for those parts if they are made in the moment.

61851050_2675304452498270_6323348975441149952_n

The Creative Process