Hands on producer, recordist

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: Just this spring Norwegian guitarist Runar Kjeldsberg and I finnished work on a catalogue recording of all the known solo-guitar pieces from French composer François de Fossa. 5 years in the making 5 CDs in total. I was the first person to record some of those pieces, wich is quite exciting in that genre. It's been getting really good reviews as well. So that makes you happy, that other people can apriciate the effort.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Right now, I've got two projects going; We are in the editing phase of a third record with the Norwegian Flute Ensemble. This one is more of a repertoir disc than the others. 20 traverse flutes playing together is quite a sound! And the there's a Swedish psychedellic prog.rock group called HPKSM, I'm waiting for some final overdubs to fly in so we can finnish the mixes.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: My first purchase was a cassette recorder/player, when I was four. I thought it was a gift for the longest time, but it turned out I payed for it... My brother showed me the record button... Hooked ever since. Got myself an ADAT in the late 90's and started recording my own band, then others. When I got to Gothenburg in 2005 I was recording concerts on it. Lugging it on busses, I got the idea of getting a bike for it. I don't have the ADAT anymore, but I have the bike now so that's a development!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Lively, light,

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Just listen. It's all you need to do, as a performer, as a producer/engineer. I remmember a jazzgig I was at,- and the bandleader said in the end "now as an encore we are going to play something TOGETHER" I don't think a lot of people in the audience picked it up, but the faces on some of the bandmembers... Personaly I got that one when I was, what 18,19?... I was at this jazzcamp, full of chops and myself, probably, and we had a jamsession with the teachers. Freebag stuff, I was having a whale of a time and I look up at DJ strangefruit ( DJ playing with Nils Petter Molvaer) and he is playing this flushing toilet sample eying me. And I go "oh..."

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: Recordings I've done a lot of acoustic based stuff, from singersongwriters to classical. On the Live scene I've ended up doing metal, wich I find really cool because a PA is such a physical thing.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Getting drumbleed out of instrument microphones.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Space

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Recording sessions with me tend to be fast. Time in the recording space is always minimal, so I try to get a good clue about what we are doing beforehand. Like I said I love recording people playing together, so time is spent on placing amps and performers where they can hear and see each other and then placing the microphones in nifty places that sound cool.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I've just moved to Berlin, so the first thing I got was a Bullit (cargo) bike. I can fit my rig on there and go wherever in town to record. And since I've been enjoying recording ensembles (that's people playing together), you always need space for that, but not for the postproduction, it felt like a good way to go. Post production I do in my home studio. Wich is coming together nicely, I'll post some pix when it's "done".

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Those who work with what is happening in the moment. Those who can live with that and go on. Those who push themselves to be better at their craft,- People like Daniel Lanois, that seek to maximize the potential of the people in the recording room at any moment. But then can step back and say that's it.