Name: Akmee
Members: Andreas Wildhagen (drums), Erik Kimestad Pedersen (trumpet player/music audiator), Erlend Albertsen (bass), Kjetil Jerve (piano)
Current release: The sophomore Akmee album, Sacrum Profanum, is out via Nakama.

If you enjoyed this interview with Akmee and would like to know more about their music, visit them on Facebook.

We also recommend our earlier Kjetil Jerve interview about his creative process.  



When did you first start getting interested in musical improvisation?  

Erlend: In 2004, at the age of 17. My teacher told me about the concept, and I understood it as creating my own melodies.

Erik: In 1999, upon hearing John Coltrane's Blue Train. I was in shock and still am.

Andreas: I started getting interested in jazz as a teenager. I had other friends who shared my curiosity, and we quickly got into improvised music, free jazz, etc. We went to as many concerts and festivals as possible; a lot was happening, and I was lucky to hear many great improvisers from all over the place. It was sometimes perplexing also, which I liked.

It was a lot of exclamation marks, but also some question marks in the music, which left space for the listener to get different things from it, also upon repeated listening in the case of records. I was drawn to this attitude to music-making.

Which artists, approaches, albums or performances involving prominent improvisation captured your imagination initially?

Erlend: Jaco Pastorius, Arild Andersen, Weather Report, Masqualero, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.

Erik: John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Øyvind Nypan, Tore Bråthen, Andreas Hoff.

Kjetil: The piano playing of Elton John first caught my attention regarding improvisation. I started listening to different live recordings and bought bootlegs by snail mail from the US to further my studies. My favorite band of his is the first trio with Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson (1970-1971) – a compelling, improvisational interplay.
 
Focusing on improvisation can be an incisive transition. Aside from musical considerations, there can also be personal motivations for seeking alternatives. Was this the case for you, and if so, in which way?
 
Erlend: Finding new ways for improvisation reflects an ever-changing consciousness we all represent in our own ways.

Erik: This question is too deep, and I need to gain knowledge about myself to give an adequate answer. It has never been an active choice for me - I only listened to the messages from the void.
 
What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to improvisation? Do you see yourself as part of a tradition or historic lineage?
 
Erlend: I relate significantly to Wayne Shorter and his approach, especially in his quartet. "Zero Gravity" is a philosophy of spontaneously creating music out of thin air – music that is based on melody, harmony, and rhythm.

I try to understand the tonal and rhythmic gravity to make new stuff. The better your understanding of the basics, the more possibilities you get.

Erik: Absolutely a part of a tradition - still alive.
 
Tell me about your instrument and/or tools, please. How would you describe the relationship with it? What are its most essential qualities, and how do they influence the musical results and your own performance?
 
Erlend: I have been very focused on basic techniques. I play different instruments, double bass, saxophone, hand drum, and vocal, inspired by the north Indian tradition.

Lately, I have been interested in microtonality, so singing with a tanpura and playing the Tonal plexus (an invention by Andrew Aaron Hunt that has microtonal buttons instead of keys) have been practical tools to train my ear and awareness of this aspect.

Erik: The trumpet is my instrument, but I have never considered myself a trumpet player. I audiate the music. Audiation is to music, what visualization is to painting. Playing without the instrument.
 
Can you talk about a work, event or performance in your career that's particularly dear to you? Why does it feel unique to you? When, why and how did you start working on it, and what were some of the motivations and ideas behind it?
 
Erlend: Playing with Akmee is a revelatory experience. The key was that we got used to challenging our notion of what music making is, and we had the excellent opportunity to do so over a decent span of time. Playing in that group is so clearly connected to the phenomena of social interaction.

Erik: We recently did a project with Akmee interpreting the music of my great-aunt. It was a celebration of her 100th anniversary, and she was there to hear it. Profound!

Kjetil: The Motvind Festival, run by Andreas Røysum and Hans Kjorstad of Motvind Kulturlag and Motvind Records, commissioned me to make last year's opening concert. I chose to include Akmee in a 12-piece ensemble, also consisting of Christian Meaas Svendsen (double bass), Stian Balducci (live sampling), Kit Downes (pump organ, cello), Ina Sagstuen (vocals), Adrian Waade (violin), Heida Mobeck (tuba), Kasper Værnes (alto sax) and Rob Waring (vibraphone).

[Read our Hans P. Kjorstad interview]
[Read our Christian Meaas Svendsen interview]

I named the concept "Harmonic Consciousness," a method of premeditated group improvisation with an overarching timeline that asks each performer to seek and bring forth "your tone" – sustain it extensively and allow it to develop according to the conduction and real-time influences. It was a provoking premiere that touched the attending audience, musicians, and personnel across a swelling spectrum of experiences. I am grateful that I have such kind friends and colleagues who are open to my ways of exploring the world of music.

Ken Waxman from Jazzword, who took the opportunity to go from Canada to Norway for the 2022 Motvind program, seemed to enjoy the experiment.
 
How do you feel your sense of identity influences your collaborations? Can you express yourself more fully in solo mode or through interaction with other musicians? Are you "gaining" or "sacrificing" something in a collaboration?
 
Erlend: I "gain" from playing with others. Musical ideas and just the sheer presence of another person quickly snowball into unpredictable terrains. Again the social aspect - you could say that music is the sound of social study.

Erik: Always way more through the interaction with others. The monologues I have with myself tend to circle around the same issues.

Kjetil: The human context of any musical situation is the primary influence on my expression. I bring my voice, but how it sounds (to me) depends entirely on the music around me.
 
Derek Bailey defined improvising as the search for material that is endlessly transformable. Regardless of whether or not you agree with his perspective, what kind of materials have turned out to be particularly transformable and stimulating for you?
 
Erlend: The quality of sound, overtones.

Erik: Functional harmony.

Kjetil: The Piano.

Andreas: Any material can be stretched out and evolved in various ways - experimenting with speed, sounds and orchestrations, meters, dynamics, abstractions and so on.

In the case of the drums, I think it's a lot about how you use a more or less common material, basics, and rudiments. I listen to and adapt different music and material that I feel drawn to until the point where I don't have to think about what I'm doing, so that it can come out freely and naturally. Also, to really pay attention to other instruments and try to imitate some of what they do has inspired me.

I, of course, don't like all music, but I like music from different places all around the world and from different periods of time; it all affects me in ways known and unknown to me.
 
When you're improvising, does it actually feel like you're inventing something on the spot – or are you inventively re-arranging patterns from preparations, practice or previous performances?
 
Erlend: Yeah, on the practical level, you refer to musical rules, etc., but the sounding result and feeling should feel inventive.

Erik: I feel this is a leading question, and I have to question its motivation. Is there a difference between the two? I mean, every moment is improvised. We are good at anticipation, but ultimately we cannot know - therefore, we improvise.
 
To you, are there rules in improvisation? If so, what kind of rules are these?
 
Erlend: You could say that improvisation needs to emerge out of something. That something could be an unbearable everyday life (slaves singing).

Erik: Yes, I believe there are rules. Even in the emancipation phase of a consolidating art form.

Kjetil: Do no harm, according to common law.

In a live situation, decisions between creatives often work without words. How does this process work – and how does it change your performance compared to a solo performance?
 
Erik: Again, this question is very, very hard. I can recommend some papers:

George Lewis - Improvised Music After 1950: Afrological and Eurological Perspectives
M. F. Schober & N. Spiro: Jazz Improvisers shared understanding: a case study
A. Pras, M. F. Schober & N. Spiro: What about their performance do Free Jazz improvisers agree upon? A case study

Kjetil: Consciousness is not limited to the material body. Anyone present will change a performance, not only the ones on stage.

There are many descriptions of the ideal state of mind for being creative. What is it like for you? In which way is it different between your solo work and collaborations?

Erik: I think we are already in the ideal state but not aware of it. This being said, the most fresh music I produce is when I am audiating, trying to fall asleep.

How do you see the relationship between sound, space, and performance, and what are some of your strategies and approaches to working with them?

Erik: As I wrote, the most authentic music comes when I am about to fall asleep, and there is nothing else than just the imagination of sound, space, and performance.

Kjetil: My favorite performances were never the most comfortable ones.

In a way, improvisations remind us of the transitory nature of life. What can music and improvisation express and reveal about life and death?

Erik: Yes. Of all music - improvised music is the one that comes closest to my subjective perception of being alive and how I understand consciousness described by the Eastern and Western philosophers.

Kjetil: Music as a holistic practice leads my life experience like a compass.