Name: Astrid Engberg
Nationality: Danish
Occupation: Singer, composer, producer
Current release: Astrid Engberg's Trust, featuring Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, is out via Creak Inc.
Recommendations:
Music: Nala Sinephro - ‘Space 8’. “Celestial soothing space vibes for the soul.”
Art: Farshad Farzankia - Women, life freedom. “I think Farshad is an amazing painter and artist, and I really respect the way he uses his platform, life and work to keep focus on what’s going on in Iran.”

If you enjoyed this Astrid Engberg interview and would like to stay up to date with her music and projects, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, 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?

At home I often move when I listen to music, doing life or listening to records with family and friends, so that’ll be eyes open.

But when possible I’ll be lying down in the grass, eyes closed, floating away.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I remember discovering all kinds of music at the local library. Their CD section was my first big musical education.

On being an artist, I think that no matter what you do, time and hours will take you to a deeper level. Both in the understanding of yourself, as well as helping unveil and harness whatever skill and talent is in you. That goes for everything I think.

Plus staying open and curious. To me that’s the main ingredient.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Sanctuary. Music was, especially at that age, and still is my sanctuary. A kind of holy place of freedom, play and expression.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

I feel music is my best language and my healer when I need to figure out what’s happening within, and in the world around me.

It’s really about creating a space where I can hear the music that’s inside of me, and then doing the work of writing it down or recording it.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I never feel that I create an idea. I don’t think I can even say that I discover an idea. “Getting” an idea seems about right.

To me it feels like it’s about creating a life filled with things that inspire and do the work. From that arrives the idea - as a kind of gift.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I can definitely relate in the sense that my first impression is all about overall sound and feeling.

For my own sound I try not to define it. Not to analyse it or think about what it is or isn’t. I don’t want to judge it, or force it into a small box. I want it to just fly large and free.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

Everything is music and the deeper and the longer you listen to a sound, focused and without interruption, it will change.

I remember sitting by a river for 30 minutes just listening and suddenly hearing the river speak. For real.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I like contrasts. I’m realising this more and more. The combination of organic instrumentation and electronic manipulation of sounds, or a scream on top of a big epic orchestral build up.

I think that serves as a response or at least a translation of the complexity of being human and able to feel.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

My album Trust that I just released last week was very intuitive and fluid to make.

It was a lot about recording voice memos of melodies that arrived when I was walking my baby girl, then going into the studio, recording midi strings, various instruments etc, finally inviting other musicians to re-record the midi files or sheet music.

Next step was being super inspired by the sessions and finally chop things up and move them around. I didn’t ask myself a lot of questions, just tried following the music and my intuition.

It was really a fun and beautiful process.  

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

I always experiment but I try to do it intuitively.

For me it’s more about making sure to bring the zoom recorder to that party or catch an idea when it arrives without judging it. Having fun trying things out.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I try to play in all areas of life.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Everything that’s made with love is better. So in that sense, I guess it’s the same for all.

But music has this magical access to us on an emotional level that I haven’t experienced with (almost) anything else.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

Radiohead’s ‘Everything In Its Right Place.’ There is this melody that has been passed down by the women in my family for generations. It’s really strange.



Nobody can write it down, it can’t be written down. But my beloved 15-year old step-daughter noticed it again the other day saying: “that’s the one your mum was humming last week.” It gives me a deep feeling of peace.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I’m trying to stay open and curious, not to expect or fear.

If anything, a small wish could be a slowing down of things. Not the music, not talking BPM, but everything that’s around the music. The way we listen. That we take more time, that we stay curious, that we explore and take chances listening to something we might not understand at first. That we try to surrender and see what it might feel like.

Listening with the body, ears and heart first. And that we remember to dance.