Part 2
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 ? What balance is there between forgetting and remembering in your work?
On a good day I feel very flexible and free to go with the flow. But sometimes it is me re-arranging patterns and trying to copy something I already did that worked in a different situation.
Sometimes you are also forced into doing something others think you feel comfortable with and write music to bring you in that zone. That can sometimes be great and acknowledge what your are good at - but sometimes it is also annoying because you feel like moving in circles.
Are you acting out parts of your personality in your improvisations which you couldn't or wouldn't through other musical approaches ? If s o, which are these? What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to improvisation?
I normally am not loud and extreme. But I sometimes love to be that way whilst playing.
In improvised contexts I feel that every musical choice is allowed and accepted, if everyone keeps an open mind. That makes it possible for me to show more emotions.
In terms of your personal express ion and the experience of performance, how does playing solo compare to group improvisations?
To me, improvising alone is an interaction purely with time and the space you are performing in, whereas improvising in a group is a democratic practice that has its difficulties when the group doesn't feel like equals, but can be highly inspirational and lots of fun, when all are interactive and listening.
Therefore I mostly improvise with a group.
Playing solo means a stream of consciousness. I sometimes find it difficult not to get lost in it and my own patterns and musical preferences. But if it succeeds it is a highly rewarding thing to do.
In your best improvisations, do you feel a strong sense of personal presence or do you (or your ego) “disappear”?
I feel like the music takes shape quasi automatically and I am more or less forced to follow the energy and play what I feel is right for that situation. In those moments mostly the group is fully in sync and nobody stands out (even if someone might be in focus).
I think that a certain form of ego or personal presence is needed to reach that level in a group – I would want to play in a group of musicians, that don't have that need to express themselves through the art but it requires a lot of empathy to find that sweet spot between presence and overdoing it and taking over the performance.
In a live situation, decisions between creatives often work without words. From your experience and current projects , what does this process feel like and how does it work?
After playing together for a while you get a common sense of time and energy which is wonderful, but it does take time. Sometimes everything works out while playing for the first time – but I witness this rarely.
I love to talk about a performance with the other musicians but I don't need to listen back to every concert. I love to just live with what happened and keep the performance in mind even if it is a cloudy memory. On stage a lot works with cues that are either musical or sometimes visual. Most of the time one decision dictates a response that moves the music further. I love that!
Sometimes with arranged music - such as the music we play with Nordsnø Ensemble - it is harder to go places. But since we have been playing for over ten years now, I feel we are getting better at finding a good balance between playing the compositions and following our intuitions .
Stewart Copeland said: “Listening is where the cool stuff comes from. And that listening thing, magically, turns all of your chops into gold.” What do you listen for?
Rhythmical textures, melodies and energy. I love hearing someone doing something daring and then I sometimes just take the mouthpiece out of my mouth for a while and listen.
Whatever I play next is formed by what was played before.
There can be surprising moments during improvisations – from one of the performers not playing a single note to another shaking up a quiet section with an outburst of noise. Have you been part of similar situations and how did they impact the performance from your point of view?
I have witnessed both happen a couple of times and the impact on the performance was always different, related to the reason for that choice.
Especially in an academic environment improvised music is sometimes mistreated as something funny and that often comes from insecurities. In this case it can be disruptive, but coming from a point of choice it can transform the piece in a good way, too.
I have always been fascinated by the many facets of improvisation but sometimes found it hard to follow them as a listener. Do you have some recommendations for “how to listen” in this regard?
My newborn son listens to all sound with pure fascination. I think that we get used to patterns, structure and harmony to such an extent that we have a hard time listening to free improv and other more experimental music.
I definitely recommend listening to the music live before starting to buy lots of records, because it is a trip joining the musicians on stage and you will be an important part of the performance through your presence and the energy coming from you.
Next, try to forget everything you want to hear in music or think you know about music. If you start with a clear sheet, you will find something beautiful, like my son does in aluminum foil and rattles …
One thought about performing more complex music connected to this question: sometimes I feel concerts particularly with more complex music tend to be very long, because it is so much fun playing this music. I prefer listening to one set of intense music and maybe a second band playing something different instead of long concerts and I think it is easier to follow these.
