Text: Olaf Adam Photos: SEN Promotion, HFN Music
This article originally appeared in 0dB - The Magazine of Passion N ° 2
His stage name is simply his last name, his band is also called that and the first EP he called simply “Trentemøller”. What at first glance sounds like the typical approach of an egomaniac turns out to be more of a kind of soul striptease on closer inspection. For Anders Trentemøller, music is a very personal thing and he brings his whole personality into his own music. So it is only logical that he does not hide behind any designation, but stands for it with his own name.
Are you born a musician? Maybe not, but Anders can still remember exactly when he first noticed that music can be something much more powerful than background music. “The first song that I can consciously remember is probably Venus In Furs from Velvet Underground. I must have been around ten years old at the time and music didn't play a special role at home, there was just some pop station on the radio. And suddenly this piece is playing that totally blew me away. Of course I didn't understand the lyrics, but there was something mystical about the music, almost threatening, that immediately fascinated me. That was the first time that I was really interested in music and wanted to know more about the band and this kind of music. "
Listening to music always comes before making music, also with Anders Trentemøller. By engaging with music of all kinds, from punk to techno, the young Dane developed knowledge of, understanding and, above all, love of music. “Good music is music that touches me. Style and genre do not matter, that can be anything. Music is especially good when it touches me without my being prepared in any way. So if I don't know anything about the artist, the band or the song the first time I listen to it, but still get goose bumps, that's a good sign. "
For Anders, whether a piece of music achieves this effect is primarily due to a skill that has almost been forgotten - good songwriting. “In the past, you could still find really good music on the radio. Unfortunately, when I turn on the radio today, I rarely hear music that touches me, as popular music is dominated by a kind of commercial songwriting that doesn't have that quality and may not want it at all. It's more about serving current and short-lived trends, so everything sounds kind of the same. Of course there is still good new music to be found - it's just not that easy to find anymore. "
Touching other people with your own work is the goal of the musician Trentemøller. Thanks to his very own style, which he has developed over the years, he often gets by without words. “Music doesn't usually speak to you through your brain, but through your heart. This is especially true for instrumental music. When there are no lyrics, only the music speaks. We play a lot of instrumental tracks live and they work the same all over the world, whether we play them in Canada, Europe or China. Music is really a global language. "
Trentemøller's music evades the usual genre thinking in a peculiar way. Acoustic instruments are combined with elegiac electronic sounds, lulling pop singing alternates with complex, tricky instrumental pieces. But perhaps precisely because of this independence Trentemøller often finds himself pushed into a certain drawer by others, mostly one that is labeled with electronic music . “At first I shouldn't really care - if someone likes my music, it's up to him whether he thinks it's electronic or some other kind of music. Personally, however, I would never want to be restricted by a genre name. I started with rock music and continued to develop musically. Today I try to use all modern possibilities so that the music that I want to write is created. If I need the sound of an electric guitar in a piece, then I record a real electric guitar in the studio. For other parts of the same piece, I then tinker with electronic instruments until I have the right sound. I then combine all of this on the computer and build up the song layer by layer. "
As a multi-instrumentalist and detail-obsessed producer, Trentemøller recorded many of his albums alone, and his remixes for Yoshimoto, Röyksopp, Moby and the Pet Shop Boys have made him famous. But for him, the focus is actually on working with the band. “Sometimes people come to one of our gigs and expect a kind of DJ set from me. Then they are very surprised that there is a real band on stage and that this kind of music can come across like this live. The music is made for that! "
Trentemøller has released four studio albums as well as various compilations and numerous singles since 2006. If you listen to your way through this work, you will find a wide musical spectrum, but also a basic mood that is difficult to name and that runs like a red thread through the work of the Dane. Some reviewers take it easy and identify this mood as "dark" or even as "gloomy". An interpretation that somewhat surprises the artist himself. “I would call my music melancholy, but not dark. For me, gloomy always has something to do with hopelessness and hopelessness, and I don't see that in myself or in my music. The mood in my tracks is certainly often thoughtful, sometimes also sad, but never hopeless. To me, being melancholy means allowing the thoughtful moments in life, but not forgetting that life also has its good sides. Seen in this way, melancholy is something very beautiful, I think. "
ABOUT ANDERS TRENTEMØLLER
Anders Trentemøller, born in 1974, grew up on Zealand and has lived in Copenhagen since the early 1990s. After starting out in various rock and indie bands, he began to experiment with electronic music and quickly developed his own style. The first EP “Trentemøller” (2003) was followed by a number of successful remixes (including for Moby, Röyksopp and Pet Shop Boys) and the debut album “The Last Resort”, which stayed in the Danish charts for 37 weeks and received international attention. Trentemøller has been touring extensively with his band since 2007 and has played at numerous well-known festivals.
PLAY TIPS - THAT'S WHAT THE MUSIC OF TRENTEMØLLER SOUNDS
MOAN (Trentemøller Remix) - 2007
Single (Poker Flat Recordings), also available from Tidal, Spotify etc.
Trentemøller remixes Trentemøller - that fits perfectly with the concept of trying again and again that the musician pursues.