Oslo’s Sommerfeldt has been cooking up fresh Scandi-sounds for more than 10 years now, with releases on Beatservice, Paper Recordings and Prins Thomas’ imprint Full Pupp under his belt. Following the release of his latest EP ‘Tell Me What To Do’ on badabing diskos we sat with him to discuss the release and the year ahead.
Sommerfeldt - Interview
Hello Sommerfeldt and welcome to Minimal Mag. How has your 2023 been so far?
Glad to be invited! It’s been a hectic ride, with some major ups and downs, while also taking the step forward trying to make a living out of music again, and quitting my daytime job!
What can you tell us about your latest release ‘Tell Me What To Do’ on Badabing Diskos?
It’s typically me… melodic house, uplifting and yet sometimes melancholic. All the tracks are indicative of stuff I would play or hear out and want to dance to!
The lead track from this release features vocals from Toshybot. How did that collaboration come together?
Torstein is a good friend of mine, he plays in a really cool new wave electronic band, Legs 11. We regularly meet up for a drink, to talk about the important things in life, and that’s when I showed him the demo. He liked it, obviously, and did some really cool vocal-takes. His voice and lyrics are always on point and kinda leftfield, which I think fit the track perfectly!
Are there any other artists or vocalists you’d particularly like to collaborate with for future records?
Oh, there are so many! Bicep, Ejeca, Paula Tape, Young Marco, Daphni, Bonobo, Cinthie, Vince Watson, Røyksopp…
What inspired you to start making music?
Me and some of my friends in middle school were set a music project so we decided to make our own house-track at home on one of the first DAWs from Reason. We sucked at school, but for this particular project we received straight A’s from a really cool music teacher! I guess it kinda came to me then, but it took probably 4-5 years before I started actually feeling a bit more confident about it.
Sommerfeldt - Interview
What does your recording set up look like? Any favourite bits of studio kit?
My Electribe (2.0) is my main starting point. I always use both the sampler in it and the sequencer to write down an idea. The Arturia Micro Freak and the new J6 Boutique from Roland are both my favourite synths at the moment and with Arturia’s new update on the Micro Freak, it’s even better than the previous version! I usually do everything outside of Ableton, but the processing stuff from Soundtoys is essential when it comes to get the right sound afterwards!
How do you feel the house scene in Oslo compares to other scenes around the world?
Well, it’s a bit different from the huge clubs and major festivals in the cities as the biggest clubs have around 300 – 400 people capacity and there are not many of them. This means we usually do a lot of bar-gigs as well as playing everything in between, which maybe makes the scene more versatile in a way? I mean, in about 50% of your gigs you can’t play a thumping 4/4 for 5 hours, so it kind of invites you to dig deeper and try different styles and moods. That being said, there are lots of good people involved in this small intimate scene!
Are there any other Oslo-based artists you think more people should check out?
So many to mention, but here we go:
Boblebad, Vinny Villbass, Legs11, Palace of Pleasure, Trulz & Robin, Frifot, From Beyond, Center Of The Universe, Nikki Oniyome, Ost & Kjex, Sex Judas, Boring Crew (Anders Hajem, Perkules, Henrik Villard, Casablanca 303, Olefonken…
There are so many good artists per square meter here.
Sommerfeldt - Links
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