Published
Name: Andrew Collberg
Occupation: Singer, Songwriter
Nationality: Swedish-American
Recent release: Andrew Collberg's new album Hi Hopes is out via Papercup.
If you enjoyed this Andrew Collberg interview and would like to find out more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and bandcamp.
When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?
When I listen to music, the goal is always to try and push the rest of what's around away and attempt to be taken over by whatever the music may be. There are so many different kinds of music that I enjoy that can also have completely different modes of trying to achieve or trigger this for me.
I’ve never had the experience of visual colors or shapes when listening but when something works or moves me it’s very much a body experience that gets triggered.
Have it be laying down with my eyes closed or standing in a crowd at a concert, if it’s working I can sometimes sort of get floaty and forgetful of what's around.
How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?
Listening to music through speakers vs headphones is a very different experience for me and I guess serve different purposes.
When I’m working on recorded music I've always had the feeling that headphones give me the most clear representation as well as a more divided stereo field. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I grew up working like this, be it in a bedroom or in a small untreated room where I felt like I couldn't trust the speakers or didn't have the luxury of playing music through speaker. I usually end up checking mixes with headphones while laying on the couch at home and try to zone out any other stimuli to feel all the details. I also do this with albums.
That being said I definitely enjoy listening to music on speakers as well but I find this to be more of a passive listening experience for me, though on occasion I will stand in the middle of my living room (where the best listening spot is) and try to focus in.
It always feels a bit silly but I think the act of saying to yourself “now I will ingest music this way” is also a way of being an active listener.
Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.
I’ve always tuned into the drum sounds of a recording first, maybe since that was my first instrument.
I really like the drum sounds from the Serge Gainsbourg & Jean-Claude Vannier albums and others like them from the 60s and 70s for the dry and minimalist approach which is endlessly pleasing for me to listen to.
There is a wonderful quality there, full but thin at the same time not over hyped.
I’ve always been a huge fan of John Convention & Jaki Liebezeit’s drumming and sound which are kind of the opposite but to me maybe similar in that they both came from a Jazz background and then created a sort of new style for themselves.
The sound of their playing isn't just a production quality, genre or an album decision it’s the sound of them. It's them in a room.
This to me is something that I’m always drawn to soundwise because it’s inherently so unique to that person or group and that specific moment in time. Especially in these times now I feel myself gravitating to music where the setting and people are central to the overall sound.
Other favorites that move me in different ways sound wise in no specific order include: Harmonia & Michael Rother, Air, High Llamas, ABBA, YMO, American Monoxide, John Cale, Fenster … and the list goes on …
[Read our Michael Rother interview]
[Read our Michael Rother interview about improvisation]
[Read our AIR's Jean-Benoît Dunckel interview]
[Read our High Llamas's Sean O'Hagan interview]
[Read our High Llamas interview]
[Read our Harmonia's Roedelius interview]
Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?
I find myself quite often getting into sounds like passing cars or city sounds, the clicking of some annoying machine, really quite a lot of stuff that I know drives others insane or maybe becomes a wash of sound and is unrecognized.
The rhythm of the city setting I find very interesting, it can turn into an instant beat or song popping out of nowhere without any effort at all, and then it’s gone.
What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?
I’ve been lucky enough to record and play in some really special places over the years but I always feel most comfortable in modest places.
Studio wise I find it interesting because though I am always in awe of studios with amazing gear and setups I never truly feel at home in them and most of the time have the feeling that I’m not worthy in some way and maybe therefore I’ve never been able to make the most of it or live up to them.
Same goes for venues, a small club or diy space where everything isn't perfect but the vibe and people are right makes me feel so good and makes the click happen.
Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?
Very much so. I work alone much of the time at least in the beginning stages of creating music and much of the time I’ll build stuff in a layered way.
Sometimes the ideas are intentional or specific ideas but I find that the most fruitful and best results come when it’s all quite free idea wise and in that sense I feel like I am sculpting. I’m reacting to the movements that were just made and sculpting out a physical body or idea.
In my mind each song also has its own physical shape in a way, it’s abstract in form but also unique and recallable, it looks the same way each time I hear it. That shape changes as I work on it either subtracting or adding to the form.
It’s interesting because when I work on something of my own it has this physical quality but music I listen to from others doesn't.
How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?
I have the feeling that it's not taken so seriously in a lot of environments. For instance at the grocery store, or in many public places for that matter, there is always background music. Much of the time this isn't intended for people's enjoyment or wellbeing.
I see this as a sort of mirror of our “acoustic health” on a social level because we’ve kind of also learnt to accept it. It’s a form of pollution that affects our mood and lives without having any say about it.
Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?
Yes. Communication with sound is part of our own human world and also how we interact with other species for sure.
I would say there must be a creative element due to the trial and error aspect to it. Just like music creation you have to find sounds or parts that work together to show what your intention is.
I would assume that communication interspecies is not achieved directly and only through intuition.
Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?
I should but I don't. I always try to not play too loud but of course this isn't always possible depending on the setting or group.
A few years ago I was tuning a snare drum and was being quite careless. I put my head right up to the head and struck it not even that hard and almost fainted in the moment as something seemed to give way in my head. For about 10 months following this I had a strong ringing in one ear which drove me mad.
I guess I’m lucky that it eventually went away but from what I remember reading, it’s your brain that readjusts itself in a way. I wonder how many times my brain has readjusted itself without me knowing and if there is a limit.
I've tried playing with different ear plugs in but it never feels good and always unpersonal.
Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?
I think it would be huge. It’s evident in the way that visual aesthetics play such a huge role in how we consume music. The first thing that touches a listener much of the time isn't listening, it’s seeing. First aesthetic impressions can be a positive or negative interaction which may or may not have anything to do with the musical part itself.
When I was younger I listened to the radio all the time which was all I had at that point (besides my parents albums), but no visual input from modern music which I was listening to. I didn't care that much about anything besides the sounds, which was super magical!
Then, when I get a bit older and start checking out music magazines and started buying CD’s and tapes, the whole thing changed. I remember buying a Metallica tape because I thought the cover was so cool looking then coming home and not really digging the music but still listening to it on repeat because I thought aesthetically it was cool.
I think many people can relate to this and look nostalgically to their youth as an untouched kinda phase of artistic appreciation. I still think this kind of freeness is there and possibly it’s the visual side that pushes us to shy away from listening to certain music and embeds us with preconceived notions.
