Ecovillage

 Emil Holmström and Peter Wikström collectively known as Ecovillage

Like taking a stroll in a hazy summer's day, trailing across the lush foliage whilst sun beams ever so slowly piercing through the clouds. As the rays  gently brushes onto one's face, a feeling of elation radiates within. That is how Ecovillage communicated their music to me. Hailing from Västerbottens län, Sweden. The group is composed of  Emil Holmström and Peter Wikström. They both have individual music projects, Emil's outfit  Sejdman mixes electronic based ambient music that has strong classical leanings, Brahms, Mahler, Arvo Pärt comes to mind. Moving, thoughtfully crafted songs that echo's the master's work, yet  keeping his own signature sound. Whereas Peter's RadioSeed combines undulating electronics amidst atmospheric guitars. It's only at this time that I realize that dream pop can sound warm as well. Peter's soulful cathedral like vocals  is a perfect accompaniment on top of  his stratospheric programming. 

When the two friends decided to combine talents, Ecovillage was born. In 2009 Phoenix Asteroid was hailed by the music press and was also praised by Electro/Shoegaze guru himself Ulrich Schnauss.The album, with  the help of Jakob Scott of  Syntaks and Jonas Munk of Manual  - the  two talents creates music that can usher you into a trance like state or send you off  sailing in a sea of dreams. "The sun will shine on" warm gauzy atmosphere and intertwining vocals just sets my day. "The key" in spite of the melancholic background is strangely uplifting. "Lost in the tides of time" a minute of pure serene beauty. The Room was able to catch Ecovillage and was so kind enough to answer some questions from The Room's ever curious mind.

Room:  Hi Peter and Emil, I just want to say that Phoenix Asteroid is a personal favourite of mine. What other things do you occupy yourselves with when not writing music?


Ecovillage: Glad to hear that you enjoy the album. Most of our time we spend writing new music, but we are also big film enthusiasts. Right now we are really into Andrei Tarkovskys films, really inspiring and thought-provoking. All the films by Tarkovsky we have seen so far is in our top ten greatest films ever made. We also like to spend as much time as possible in nature. We live right by a lake which we sit by as often as we can and just absorb the environment.

Room: When did you both know that you were interested in music?
  
Ecovillage: Both of us have always been outsiders in one way or another and we have always had a child in us that's still very much alive and curious about exploring everything around and inside us. We often get accused of being like children because we are so enthusiastic about life in general, we think that music when its as good as it gets celebrates life, and both us have done that since we can remember. Its very important to keep that inner child alive and music helps us to keep that fire and passion burning inside of us. Since day one we both been interested in music but for us the last 2-3 years really took our view on music to another level for various reasons. When you start creating music and put your heart and soul into it you also appreciate other musicians work more, you really see how much time and how hard it is to create interesting piece of art.

Room: I understand that you both came from different bands before Ecovillage. Kindly describe your individual projects sound wise?

Ecovillage: The music that we did before Ecovillage were very different from the music we make today, we would go as far as saying it lacked a lot of soul. Some of our music project was quite rubbish to be honest and we don't agree at all with the message of the songs, we have evolved a lot as persons since those days, to spend any time to describe it would be a waste of time.

Room: Who are your main influences that made your sound what it is today?

Ecovillage: The more we evolve as musicians the less we get directly influenced by other bands, of course we get inspired by musicians even today who like us think that real beauty lies in the imperfect. Cocteau Twins and Boards Of Canada meant a lot to us when we started to create music together.

Room: Where do you draw inspiration from when writing?

Ecovillage: Everything around us and inside you can be inspiring so its really hard to say anything specific, but what we know is that we create the best music when we have been through something that we want to tell others about. Its like writing a diary. Lately both of us been a bit nostalgic, but we don't think that its good to dwell too much in the past and the best thing is to be here and now.  We think that one of the most important aspects of music is that it tells a story or say something that creates emotions. Life shouldn't be easy and suffering can lead to great things...

Room: Please describe the sound you create in your own words?

Ecovillage: That's a really hard question, because we think that the way we look at our music is very different from the way the listener perceives it. Its easy to just look at the technical aspects of the songs more then the emotional aspects. We want our sound to be organic and magic and we work a lot to achieve those goals. We are evolving everyday and we are definitely going in the right direction. The new songs we are working on are getting more and more close to what Ecovillage should be all about as far as we see it.

Room:  Kindly name a few artists that you find interesting and that I should check out?

Ecovillage: John Maus, Roedelius, BJ Nilsen, Philip Jeck, Cluster, Lunz, Harmonia, Harold Budd, Richard Skelton, John Foxx, Steve Reich to name a few.

Room:  Thank you Peter and Emil! Should you have any messages to the readers?


Ecovillage: We are currently working on a very interesting new EP, its very different in sound from the album with some fantastic guest guitar-playing from Manual and Keith Canisius.  

Please look out for the new Ecovillage EP that will out soon! Also, a new record from RadioSeed is scheduled to be released by the 4th quarter of the year, please watch out for that as well.

always underground