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Erlend Oye: 'My Body Is My Home.'

Erlend Oye: 'My Body Is My Home.'

28.11.2014 17:47

The Norwegian musician is a master of multiple genres, from acoustic to electronic. He tells us about his new album, his time in Berlin and everyday life in Sicily. DW: You recorded your new album "Legao" with the Icelandic band Hjálmar. How did you find them? Erlend Oye: They were playing at a festival in Norway, and I instantly loved what they are doing. They're not interested in reggae as a lifestyle, just as a kind of music. It works for them and with their somewhat slower songs. To make a slow song danceable, reggae is the only thing that works. On "Legao" there are references to "soft rock" or "yacht rock" of the '70s and '80s. Was that a kind of master plan for the album? I like a certain aesthetic from the era when recording studios were at their peak, in '78, '79, '80 - before people started programming music with computers. I want to play with good musicians, to make the kind of music you'll want to listen to time and time again.

The Norwegian musician is a master of multiple genres, from acoustic to electronic. He tells us about his new album, his time in Berlin and everyday life in Sicily.

DW: You recorded your new album "Legao" with the Icelandic band Hjálmar. How did you find them?



Erlend Oye: They were playing at a festival in Norway, and I instantly loved what they are doing. They're not interested in reggae as a lifestyle, just as a kind of music. It works for them and with their somewhat slower songs. To make a slow song danceable, reggae is the only thing that works.



On "Legao" there are references to "soft rock" or "yacht rock" of the '70s and '80s. Was that a kind of master plan for the album?



I like a certain aesthetic from the era when recording studios were at their peak, in '78, '79, '80 - before people started programming music with computers. I want to play with good musicians, to make the kind of music you'll want to listen to time and time again. It's also so much more fun than sitting and moving stuff around onscreen. That's just not very sexy.



… and you get a feeling for how to perform the songs live.



Yes. A lot of famous people nowadays in this blog music world have made some kind of track using computers mostly that then spreads through the internet. Then they're invited to play at some festival, and it's like: "Oh crap, what do we do now?" So you'll see some dude at a computer and a drummer who tries to play along. That's not the music world I want to be a part of. I want start from the idea of Woodstock, where bands play, people listen and things are spontaneous.



You've done everything from acoustic guitar to electronics. Do you get bored with a certain sound quickly?



At the moment I'm trying to disassociate myself from electronic music completely. I can't live in that world anymore because it hurts my ears too much. And I don't want to play music at three o'clock in the morning. It really gives you a bad lifestyle. The important thing is to work with what inspires you at the moment. If something feels old and you feel like you're repeating yourself - then it's time to stop. I just wish the world was able to follow me, but it isn't.



When you lived in Berlin, it was becoming the epicentre of youth culture and hipness. Did you want to get away from the hype?



No. Berlin is a lot better now than it was in 2002. When I lived there, Berlin was a real rock 'n' roll city. I would have appreciated having some hipsters around. At least I would have had something to talk about. I actually moved away because I couldn't take the cigarette smoke indoors anymore. I'd have to go outside after twenty minutes. And if you can't be social in Berlin, maybe there's no reason to live there.



Why do you think Berlin is better now than it was in 2002?



Because young people who had ideas have now made some of them happen. It's exciting to live in a place where people with cutting-edge ideas are able to do something. That's what young people in Italy and Spain long for and why they dream of Berlin.



Which you can also do in Norway, with all the arts funding there. Why do so many Norwegian musicians go abroad?



Does all that funding makes the music any better? I don't think a musician should have to be good at writing applications. I went other places instead, met people in the music business and didn't have to sit and wait for months for my application to go through. Everybody needs change. At least I do. I went to London several times with my bands. And when I started working in Kings of Convenience, I went to England to find contacts. But in retrospect, I see that the real reason I went there was to put myself in a position where I could write a lot of songs. Life in London is hard, and you feel really lonely, so you have a lot to write about. And that's really important.



You're a great stage performer. Did you find that out early on, or were you rather shy as a kid?



I've always been the guy who goes on the dance floor first and starts the dancing. From age ten.



Were you the class clown too?



No, I was the guy who knew stuff. I was very good at school and was the teacher's pet. I didn't connect with the other kids in my class. I had a very lonely childhood.



And when did you realize that you're actually a funny guy people like to be around?



When I went to Italy the first time in 2001, I thought, "Aha! I'm not the strange one. It's the Norwegians who are strange." And not just Italy. There are many places around the world where people are much more extroverted.



You have two Italian musicians in your new live band, and in interviews you enthuse about Italian pop music.



Yes, Italy is a musical universe all on its own. Almost all the music that existed in the US and the UK in the 60s and 70s also existed in an Italian version. Before England and the US, Italy was the main exporter of music. Songs like "Volare" were popular all over the world. But in the 80s they started making some stupid pop music, people singing with those coarse voices.



Sicily is still widely seen as the epitome of machismo culture. Or is that just a cliché?



Partly, yes. People there really appreciate things that are sweet, or funny. And behavior that would be considered gay in Germany is normal there. You see guys hugging and kissing. The problem with Sicily is the women. It's hard to hang out with them, because most young women are looking to get married, and you can befriend only very few of them because the boyfriend would get jealous. That's a bit strange there.



After having lived in Germany, Brazil and Norway, are you planning to stay a bit longer in Sicily now?



I have no other plans. But who knows what they're gonna do for the rest of their lives? At the moment, I'm living in Italy but tour a lot. I am never really in a particular place. You can see that with my album and everything I do. There's inspiration from Brazil, I make a video in Korea, but my home is inside my body. So where I stay is unimportant.



Erlend Oye, born in 1975 in Bergen, Norway, generated an acoustic revolution around the turn of the century with his guitar duo Kings of Convenience. In 2003 in Berlin, he founded The Whitest Boy Alive, whose unique profile combined electronic music with a live band sound. "Legao," Oye's second album, was released in October 2014. The artist spoke with Philipp Jedicke.





 
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