Name: Hans P. Kjorstad
Nationality: Norwegian
Occupation: Composer, fiddle player
Current Release: Hans P. Kjorstad's new album Inn is out September 18th via Phantom Limb.

If you enjoyed this interview with Hans P. Kjorstad, visit his official website for more information. He is also on Facebook, and Soundcloud.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Hans P. Kjorstad interview.



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?

I hear better with my eyes closed.

Visually speaking, often it's like a movie going on, there can be scenarios, incidents, characters, historic times etc. Bodily speaking there are probably hundreds of reactions going on at once ...

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

I like both!

The relaxing and social side of listening to a good sound system feels more natural. But for really detailed listening to a well-produced stereo image it's hard to beat a head set.

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Emotions, memory and sounds are so interconnected that it's completely impossible for me to mention just a few sounds that evoke such responses.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

Depends on the perspective really. Sounds can be right or wrong depending on the situation. It's like picking blueberries.

I have a big blueberry habit, eating them almost every day throughout the year, so I need at least 30 litres of them in my freezer. So when I pick them in the autumn I need to pick a lot, and rather quickly. Sometimes you can go through a part of the forest thinking, damn where are all the berries, but returning on the same route from the other side, you see that they are really there.

You just have to have a go at it from different angles.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

If I'm feeling balanced, everything can be intriguing, but if I need a sound to get rooted again I'll go for a walk in the forest.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

Although maybe not "extreme", one sonic space I was lucky to be part of comes to mind. I was in a hotel lobby and as it usual goes, checking me in was a long-time project.

All of the sudden I noticed that the ambience of the room had changed radically. Now looking around me, I saw this big travelling party of young people with hearing disabilities was all around the lobby. At least 20 folks. Of course, they were acting just as any other group of tourists entering a hotel, maybe coming to a new town or even a new country for the first time - full of bubbling excitement, telling each other stories and asking lots of questions.

The sound of all the hand gestures and mouth movements was one of the most fascinating I ever heard. I will never forget it.

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

I have a great studio set up in an old house just beside where I grew up, there I feel totally relaxed and comfortable.

I recorded the violin parts of my album Inn there.



Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

It certainly feels like something physical but not material as in having visual mass. More like light or air?

When I play high energy improvised music with people it's like I am listening into the middle of the collective sound, and then this can be like sculpting. But this "sum of the sound" is not figurative sculpture but something like an abstract cloud of energy. 



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'm sure it makes a difference for people’s wellbeing.

For me personally it used to be worse, getting irritated and such. Now I have been working on my zen skills to kind of "un-notice" harassing sound environments.

But yeah if you want to manipulate people into not feeling good about themselves, one way to do it is certainly to use sound.

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?

It's a daily routine, having been that for years, to pay attention to the sounds around me.

So again, hard to rank non-human-made sounds.

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?  

I grew up on a farm so I'm used to speaking to animals, speaking softly to calm them, calling them to make them come etc.

But I don't believe we can communicate with wild animals and I don't see the point in trying.



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've been lucky so far and I am cautious of having long periods of rest from sounds every day.

But I may have to stop playing with Hans Hulbækmo?



We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I need silence to think. So yeah silence is just as important as sounds.

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?

Please forward this question to world leading politicians and industry leaders.