Here are some pictures I took using my phone camera. Nature is a big inspiration to me, when I dj in radio, doing corporate events, sound tripping in my room or what not. It gives me the same natural high like when I discover a new artist or listening to my favorite music tracks. Everytime I'm out on the field my Mp3 player is just an arms length away. When exposed to these type of breath taking views like the pictures above. I mix it with music which heightens the experience. You should try it.
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.
A dizzy encounter would best to describe the music of Keith Canisius, coming from Denmark, him and Tine Louise Korterman came into the music scene through his vehicle Rumskib under Darla records. Released in 2007, produced along side Jonas Munk of Manual a collection of seminal dream pop, shoegaze and electronic music that is catchy as the summer sun. Haunting tracks such as "Ferris Wheel Blackout" leave's me breathless, whereas "Hearts On Fire" plainly reaches for the stars. In 2008 he then released his first solo album "Ferris Wheel Makeout" under his own name via Quince records. This time around, though still utilizing the elements of the later album. Ferris Wheel turned out to be a more dreamy fanfare, leaning towards ambient inspired compositions. Tracks like the quiet sparkling tune of "April Star" to the bright eyed shoegaze of "Watching Old Films with New Eyes" to the stark beauty of "You and I Sky" and the rush of a cool winter's breeze on "Dizzy Encounter". A remarkable and note worthy debut album. In 2009, we see the release of "Waves" under Quince records. A stellar sophomore effort, the music is more definitive in approach and structure, adding psychedelia to his well defined repertoire. As a result, a myriad of tracks that's beyond categorization. A song can either be ambient, shoegaze, psychedelic, dream pop or electronic all at the same time, track's like "Ocean Ocean" a tune that's very accessible, yet if you break it down one can find all the elements I have mentioned above. "Sleepwalking" is a gorgeous psychedelic, shoegaze track. Whereas " I Stayed 25" is psychedelic and dream pop with an awesome back beat albeit his wistful voice. He took it up a notch with "We Are In Reverie" finely plucked guitars with just enough delay and chorus effects yet performed at heightened emotions can render the listener vulnerable. But it's two the minute ambient tracks that really get's me "You Want To Touch My Eyes" and "Before We Dive" are mini master pieces. The Room was able to catch Keith and exchanged some pleasantries.
Room: Hi Keith, how are you? I have been listening to your music for quite sometime now, I think it's fantastic! What other things keep you busy aside from writing music?
Keith: That’s a good question since I had to start figuring out other things to do, to get a little away from having music on my brain 17 hours a day. Or at least getting music down to a more normal level in the sense that I can put it away in my mind, when I’m not doing it. I’m usually pretty good at having hobbies and getting new ones from time to time, but these last couple of years, music took over everything. I guess being in love with music almost my whole life and suddenly discovering that you can make good albums in your bedroom, had me recording and producing a lot in order to learn how it’s done. I was lucky to release 2 solo albums (Waves & Ferris Wheel Makeout) in this learning process.
So I would say that I’ve reached a point where I’m starting to be pretty satisfied with my work. Especially the new work I’m doing for my 3rd full length release and the EP coming out June 6th is satisfying, because I can feel that I’m getting better all the time and trying out new things all the time. But now where I learned doing my own music, I can relax a little more and do other things I used to do with full enjoyment, like playing Xbox, chess, going running, go fishing, reading & perhaps start skateboarding again.
Room: When did you know that you were interested in music?
Keith: Some of the earliest private music moments I have are from being 4 years old watching videos of Van Halen (Jump) and Howard Jones. I remember I wanted to have the same haircut as Howard Jones and be like him when I grew up. My parents wouldn’t let me have a Mohawk haircut though.
Room: You debuted into the music scene as Rumskib in 2007, a really fine tuned record, I must say. Is there a difference between Rumskib and your previous solo works musically?
Keith: Rumskib was maybe more guitar fixated from my point of view. Since I didn’t sing that much on the record all though I wrote a lot of the songs, I guess I wanted to do some nice things with the guitars a little more than on my solo albums. On the new album I’m working on, the guitars are even less present than of Waves (2009). The synths and vocals are more in front on the tracks. I guess it all comes down to doing something nice for each song I make. Creating something I feel is special to me.
Room: Who are your main influences that made your sound what it is today?
Keith: I try to change my sound from album to album. But Cocteau Twins, Sonic Youth, MBV, Boards of Canada, 80’s electro pop, Neil young, Animal Collective, Ariel Pink among many others have done things where I found it interesting and perhaps wanting to incorporate something they did into my own thing. Either producing my vocal in a similar way, coming up with strange chords, using my Whammy bar, idea’s to synth sounds etc. Things like that I guess producing musicians pick up on from other artists that inspire them.
Room: Where do you draw inspiration from when writing?
Keith: It is always a hard question to answer. I guess I react a lot on moods, settings, people, movies and nature. Sometimes I Imagine the world without sound on and I have to put sound on things to understand them, myself and also be understood by others. I feel a lot in moods. Moods I want to generate into sound. It could be moods from a picture an expression on a face, a landscape perhaps? Something that is hard to put concrete words on, but makes me feel something intense or interesting, I want to put into sound or capture in mood for music.
Room: Please describe the sound you create on your own words?
Keith: I created some different things these last years. I guess I’m always searching for ways to create these special moods like I tried to explain. In a way the genre of music doesn’t always mean that much in order to get there and then again it does, but as long as people try to think what’s behind genre I’m happy. Genre is just the label on the book that perhaps makes you want to read it. I always flirted with 80’s dream pop. I grew up in it, so it’s hard to get out it, but on the new album I almost have done, I would say it sounds way more like psych pop with some dream pop & Shoegaze undertones to it. I set one rule for my new album and that was to leave chorus effects off on the guitar this time, to try something different. I want to try lots of things out, rather than labeling myself into a certain genre. I will let other people do that.
Room: Kindly name a few artists that you find interesting and that I should check out?
Keith: The last couple of years I’ve been inspired by artists like, Animal Collective, Ariel Pink, Boards of Canada, Steve Reich, The Beach Boys, Deer hunter, Atlas sound and others. I don’t think I’m the best at discovering new bands. I usually take time to understand and get the feel for a few at a time and then I move on to new ones, hopefully, but without saying completely goodbye to the ones I loved. The point is to move and develop yourself without getting stuck with the same thing all your life. I would be bored doing the same album every time.
Room: Thank you Keith! Should you have any messages to the readers?
Keith: Come to Denmark, summer is coming and the music is getting better and better.
