Trentemøller [2005] [for DJ Mag]

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Definetly the best thing that happend to electronic music in last years!!!


Great Dane
DJmag.com catches up with Danish producer Trentemøller, the bloke who's made one of the best records of 2005 so far.
Words: Terry Church

It’s a shock. Anders Trentemøller, currently one of the hottest dance music producers in the world, actually prefers rock.

"Of course, dance music is great to play and produce," says Anders from his Copenhagen home.

"But the word ‘dance’ says it all. Basically, dance music is all about getting people on the dance floor, and that’s about it," he continues.

Clearly Trentemøller has applied his simple critique of dance music to his tracks, because when DJs play them, people hit the dancefloor and don’t leave.

The Danish producer’s sublime minimal tech house track ‘Physical Fraction’ could well be the most exciting five minutes any DJ could wish to play in 2005.

Its simple, yet perfectly executed production, ruins dance floors indiscriminately, by moving from deep, nominal beats, to high octane tech stabs in a flutter of key changes.

But despite the potential of making a whole club smile from ear to ear, Trentemøller still thinks rock is better for expressing emotion.

"Moods like sadness, melancholy, and deeper emotions are better expressed in rock music," he says.

Sealand
Anders Trentemøller comes from a small Danish countryside town call Nyrad, in the south of Sealand.

When he was younger, rock bands like the Smiths and The Cure inspired him, so he decided to set up his own rock group.

Several bands later, and after years of practicing in garages, Anders became bored and frustrated.

It was during a holiday to London that he first discovered dance music - the trip hop and jungle kind.

"It blew me away," remembers Anders.

"So I went back to Denmark, bought a sampler, and started making my own."

Anders quickly became hooked, and his hobby soon turned into a holistic obsession.

"When I make the more experimental stuff, it actually is a kind of meditation for me," he says.

The 32-year-old producer uses Acid Pro 5.0 and Soundforge on a PC to make his music, plus some simple plug-ins and a hardware compressor.

He also has a micro Korg keyboard and a Virus Indigo synthesizer, and is currently working on a rock and electronica album with a Danish singer/songwriter called Mikael Simpson.

"To be honest, I think most dance music today is totally boring," Anders reckons.

"I don’t often hear a 12" that rocks my world, therefore, I try to make my own."



Copenhagen Rocks
So what’s the dance scene in Denmark like?

"Copenhagen rocks!" says Anders, enthusiastically.

"There are loads of talented producers out here with a unique sound.

"There are also lots of good DJs based in the city, many of whom are into the techy and more minimal sounds.

"Luckily, cheesy soulful house isn’t popular here and even the mainstream clubs don’t play that boring stuff."

‘Physical Fraction’ was the record that first brought Trentemøller to DJmag’s attention - our recent covermount CD mixed by Lenny Ibizarre featured the track, and reviewer Giles Smith awarded it Sureplayer status - although the producer had previously released an EP on Naked Music in 2003 that sold over 16,000 copies in the US alone.

But Anders says the sound and style of that EP was already outdated by its release date because the tracks had been produced about two or three years previously.

He has since developed his sound towards something more minimal and deep.

"In February 2005 I released a 12" called ‘Beta Boy’ on small Danish Label Out Of Orbit," says Anders.

"That’s when things really started happening for me."

DJ T.O.M.
Since then, Trentemøller, along with his DJ partner DJ T.O.M. have been playing two to three gigs a week around the world, and Ander’s loving it: "It’s totally wicked just how many gigs we’ve been getting," he says with a chuckle.

"We have just played Berlin, Istanbul, Iceland and The Netherlands, and I’m so grateful that people want to hear my music live."

Those who attend a Trentemøller gig should expect an energetic and powerful set.

"We only play my stuff plus some bootlegs and weird edits I have done," says Anders.

"I really think it is important to have a close connection with the audience, so I always play live.

"I hate seeing those laptop artists just starring into their laptops playing with a mouse.

"We’re playing for the people man!"

Anders Trentemøller may prefer rock, but there’s only one place his music should be heard. On the dancefloor.

Trentemøller is playing live at The Key in London on 16 July 2005.

His remix for Matthias Schaffhauser's 'Coincidance' is wicked, plus his remix of Martinez 'Shadowboxing' on Audiomatique is quite brilliant. Both out now.

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dodatok:
05.novembar



Trentemoller

Written by Marksman

An interview with Trentemoller who recently played @ Asylum, Mint Club in Leeds on the 5th November. Interview by Marksman


Trentemoller had just flown in from Milan, but that didn’t seem to faze him at all, still looking forward to his first gig in Leeds ever (hopefully not his last). We met up just after their sound check, when Trentemoller plays out he has his mate Thomas on the decks scratching, which works really well with the deep tech sound that’s so unique for Trentemoller.

So what have you been up to lately?
Well the latest I’ve been up to is a Royksop remix, which have just been released two weeks ago, and its going really well. I have kind of stopped taking on remix projects, because I have done so many the last six months, and I really need time to focus on my own album. I’ve had to turn down some really big names, but I don’t just want it to be a remix artist.

So what do you think about the UK house scene?
To be honest I’ve never really liked the UK house scene, I think that for too long, they have been a bit up their own arse, with the whole UK garage/house thing.
And then now you got this German electro thing going on which kind of made the UK wake up a bit, but that said a lot of good things have come out of the UK like jungle, 2 step, speed garage. It’s just not my kind of thing. So it’s nice to see new things melting in to the UK scene.

Have you got any big gigs on in the near future?
Yeah in March we are going to Oz for 8 gigs, and in April we are going to Brazil (Sao Paulo) And then we lots of other dates round Europe, one being London @ the Egg.

How are things on Pokerflat?
Really well, as I said I’m working on my album right now, which is going to be very different from what people know me from now, its going to really melodic and down beat, no big techy drums, a very much a sit and listen album. I think you need more down beat things when you put a CD on at home, I cant listen to a whole album of full on deep tech, that’s for the club. It’s so very dreamy and with some vocals, I got the guy from Swayzak singing, so that’s cool.

Did you play any big festivals this summer?
Yes, we played Roskilde (big festival in Denmark) which was just fantastic, we had about 15.000 people. It was one of our best gigs this year. And then we played at the Dance Valley festival in Holland which was really good too. But my favourite gig this year was 3 weeks ago in Moscow, people were so in to the music, just like the old days when house was still underground, it was super!

How’s the Danish house scene compared to the English?
Well I don’t follow the English scene that much, but the Danish scene has had a transformation in the last 3 or 4 years, we actually got quite a few DJ’s who are doing really well around the world just now, but some of them sound kind of the same, like I said the UK was really hyped 4-5 years ago and now a lot of DJ’s are trying to sound German, and that can get a bit boring, I wish more DJ’s would just believe in their style and sound like that, just sound Danish.

Who inspires you?
That’s hard to say really, I’m more inspired if I see a good movie with a certain mood to it, or if go for a walk on a rainy day, it’s all very poetic, and not at all from the clubs I kind of hear that enough when I’m out playing. Right now though, there are some guys called rhythm and sound like German dub mixed with a bit electro that I really like.

What do you think about your nomination in DJ Mag?
Well I still haven’t heard from them, I heard from some people, I’m of course happy about it, but for me it doesn’t mean that much really. What counts is playing out and seeing people go mad.
I’ve won best producer of the year in the Danish music awards and yes its very nice with that kind of hype, but its about the gigs and people.

So what about Danish bacon and cheese?
Ha ha! I like the both, but would rather have English bacon and French cheese.

Any last words?
Yes I think that when you go out to a tech or garage or any electronic night, its only that for 5 or 6 hours which can get a bit boring. I wish that more DJ’s would push the boundaries a bit more. So that it’s not its not just one straight line of DJs playing the same records.

What a sound guy, thanks for a really good show Anders and Thomas.
And again thanks to Tom and Steve @ Asylum.

By Marksman
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