Name: Kjetil Husebø

Nationality: Norwegian
Occupation: Composer, producer, pianist
Current release: Kjetil Husebø's new album Sequential Stream with Arve Henriksen is out November 25th via Smalltown Supersound/Boomkat. He has also announced a new full-length for early 2023: Years of Ambiguity with Eivind Aarset and, again, Henriksen, on NXN. A first single off the latter, "Inhale", has already been made available via streaming.
Gear Recommendations: Slate & Ash – Cycles; Waldorf Iridium Keyboard

[Read our Eivind Aarset interview]

If you enjoyed this interview with Kjetil Husebø and would like to stay up to date with his work, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.

To keep reading, we have an earlier Kjetil Husebø interview about his creative process.



What was your first studio like?

Among other things Roland D-50, Roland W-30, Yamaha TX-7, Roland D-20, Roland TR-505, a Boss mixer, Atari ST with Steinberg Cubase, etc.

This was in my boys' room at the end of the 80s when I went to primary and secondary school.

How and for what reasons has your set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear for you?

I started using Steinberg Cubase in 1990 when I was 15 years old. I still use Cubase (version 12) in my studio now in 2022.

I started using Ableton Live in 2005 and this influenced the ability to combine electronics with improvisation. Initially together with other improvisational musicians and eventually in my solo project with grand piano and live sampling.

Some see instruments and equipment as far less important than actual creativity, others feel they go hand in hand. What's your take on that?

They go hand in hand for me. I can buy and explore new music equipment and get inspired. Or I can get completely lost. But I always try to make some music while exploring.

At the same time, it is easy to focus more on equipment than on the music itself. So it is about finding the right balance.

A studio can be as minimal as a laptop with headphones and as expansive as a multi-room recording facility. Which studio situation do you personally prefer – and why?

I like both. It depends on what I want to do and achieve. If I'm going to record a grand piano, I need a good instrument and a good studio. But if I'm only going to work with synthesizers, samplers, plugins, etc, then I can work in my own studio or I can even sit in a cafe and make changes in Cubase and Ableton Live. It depends a bit on where in the process I am.

For example, the song "Slow Fragments" (Arve Henriksen & Kjetil Husebø – Sequential Stream, 2022) was largely edited at a cafe



From traditional keyboards to microtonal ones, from re-configured instruments (like drums or guitars) to customised devices, what are your preferred controllers and interfaces? What role does the tactile element play in your production process?

It depends on the project. I can say a little about this in relation to Piano Transformed.

Piano Transformed is the name of both a project, an album from 2017 and a setup that I have created over time. The setup in Ableton Live is quite large and complex. There are many tracks in Ableton Live and with Max for Live and various VST plugins.



I control it all via Touchable and Lemur on three iPads and several hardware controllers. I also use this setup in other contexts.

In the light of picking your tools, how would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I am inspired by many different musicians, composers, tools and approaches. I have a background in both classical music, jazz and futuristic electronic music.

My expression is certainly a kind of symbiosis of all this in a way.



Most would regard recording tools like microphones and mixing desks as different in kind from instruments like keyboards, guitars, drums and samplers. Where do you stand on this?

Microphones and mixers are not my area of expertise, but I am into instruments and workflow (synthesizers, samplers, DAW, effects, plugins, etc). And I use a lot of EQs, compressors, limiters, etc in both Cubase and Ableton Live. I have a list of all my equipment on my website.

When I record grand piano in professional studios, I trust that the sound engineers use what is optimal for grand piano recording.

How would you describe the relationship between technology and creativity for your work? Using a recent piece as an example, how do you work with your production tools to achieve specific artistic results?

I think it's fun to test out new equipment, especially when it's inspiring and can largely help to positively influence the creative process and workflow.

Within a digital working environment, it is possible to compile huge archives of ideas for later use. Tell me a bit about your strategies of building such an archive and how you put these ideas and sketches to use.

Interesting and relevant question. In 2021 I started with a new concept where I always spend 1-3 hours in my studio to create a brand new sketch from scratch. Since 2021 I have probably made over 200 unfinished sketches. Some of these have been developed into songs.

I have many unfinished sketches with things that can be developed further or that should just be left without further work. Some of these sketches were used on my upcoming album Years of Ambiguity.

How do you retain an element of surprise for your own work – are there technologies which are particularly useful in this regard?

Nowadays I use, among other things, the pedal Hologram Microcosm as a sampler / looper to change pitch, tempo, etc. and process this further with various plugins.

Generally speaking, I am very fond of granulation technology with some use of randomization.

Production tools can already suggest compositional ideas on their own. How much of your music is based on concepts and ideas you had before entering the studio, how much of it is triggered by equipment, software and apps?

I think it's a good mix. Sometimes I have concrete ideas independent of the equipment and other times it is in the meeting with the equipment that the ideas emerge and are developed.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly changed or even questioned the way you make music?

Absolutely. Sampling in general. And more specifically: Ableton Live, Max for Live, has meant a lot to my Piano Transformed project. I could not have done this in, for example, Steinberg Cubase or other DAWs.

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. Do you feel as though technology can develop a form of creativity itself? Is there possibly a sense of co-authorship between yourself and your tools?

Absolutely. Randomization and generative music can contribute to inspiration and as a starting point for new ideas and sketches.