Hun er kun 19 år, men hun er allerede et stort navn i hjemlandet England. Holly Lapsley Fletchers – eller bare Låpsley – karriere blev kickstartet i 2014, da hun som bare 17-årig blev booket til BBC Introducing-scenen på Glastonbury Festival. Siden da er det blandt andet blevet til en plads på BBC’s eksklusive 2015-liste over upcoming artister og et anmelderrost debutalbum i foråret, og for et par uger siden besøgte hun så Danmark for anden gang for at spille på debutudgaven af Heartland Festival.
Et besøg, som markerer Låpsleys første festivaljob efter en succesfuld album-turné, hvor Holly i øvrigt havde danske Liss med som support.
”Vi er lige ankommet på Heartland, og det her er mit første interview efter turneen, så jeg er ikke så god med ord. Men det skal nok komme,” lyder det på forhånd undskyldende fra en grinende Holly Lapsley Fletcher.
Lidt ord kommer der dog alligevel ud af den trætte brite, som sætter en stor ære i at gøre alting selv. Hun synger, producerer og skriver selv al sin musik, og det skyldes især, at musikken i høj grad bare var noget, der skete for hende.
”Jeg har aldrig prøvet andet. Da jeg begyndte at lave musik, gjorde det uden nogen intentioner om at skabe en karriere. Så derfor er projektet ikke skabt af nogle andre med det formål at tjene penge. Det er bare noget jeg gør, og så blev jeg tilfældigvis signet på et label (XL Recordings, red.),” forklarer hun.
Låpsley – Hurt Me
At Låpsley er blevet signet på et relativt stort label, har dog ikke haft nogen særlig betydning for, hvordan hun laver sin musik. For det vigtigste er musikken – ikke karrieren.
”Jeg ville stadig gøre det, selvom jeg ikke var blevet signet. Det ville så bare være i min fritid, og det ville jeg have det fint med. Det er bare en bonus, at jeg kan gøre det som en karriere. Men projektet vil altid være mig, der gør, hvad jeg har lyst til at gøre – eller også vil det slet ikke eksistere,” fastslår hun.
Netop den tilgang skinner også igennem i hendes måde at gribe livet an på. For på trods af den tidlige succes ville Låpsley ikke kunne leve et liv, hvor alt drejede sig om musikken.
”Jeg har aldrig været en af dem, som har drømt om at blive musiker, siden jeg blev født. Det var bare noget, der skete, da jeg var 17,” forklarer hun om sin eksplosive karriere.
Hvis ikke karrieren havde taget fart så tidligt, så havde Holly Lapsley Fletcher formentlig studeret fysisk geografi i dag; altså den videnskab, hvor man beskæftiger sig med vulkaner, bjerge og andre af naturens imponerende kreationer.
”Jeg var meget akademisk, jeg elskede skolen, og jeg havde en plan om at gå på universitetet. Det var dét, jeg elskede, men samtidig var jeg deprimeret, fordi jeg ikke lavede musik. Nu, hvor jeg er fuldtidsmusiker, føler jeg, at der er en del af mig, der ikke bliver stimuleret, så jeg må prøve at finde en balance,” siger Holly Lapsley Fletcher.
Ud over de akademiske og musikalske passioner er Holly Fletcher også meget sportsinteresseret, og især sejlads vil hun gerne bruge mere tid på. Og det skulle hun gerne få, når sommerens koncerter er overstået.
Låpsley – Falling Short
I første omgang vil hun dog koncentrere sig om musikken, og man kan forvente en endnu mere selvstændig Låpsley, når hun sidst på året formentlig kaster sig ud i en opfølger til debutalbummet ”Long Way Home”.
Det er blevet lidt en principsag for Holly Fletcher at understrege, at hun gør alting selv. Vi har tidligere beskrevet, hvordan Låpsley ikke blev krediteret som producer på sit debutalbum, men selvom det siden er blevet løst, irriterer det hende stadig, at hun ikke får samme anerkendelse som hendes mandlige kollegaer inden for den elektroniske del af popmusikken.
”Jeg undrer mig over, at jeg bliver kategoriseret som en singer/songwriter. Ville jeg blive det, hvis jeg var en fyr? Nej, det ville jeg ikke. Jeg er sangskriver og producer. Hvis jeg var en dreng, ville folk putte mig i samme kategori som James Blake og Caribou. Jeg forstår det ikke, for jeg kan ikke gøre for, hvilket køn jeg har, så jeg kan ikke se, hvorfor det skal have indflydelse på, hvilken slags musik jeg laver. Jeg er ikke fornærmet; jeg forstår det bare ikke. Hvis jeg var journalist, så ville jeg ikke kunne beskrive mig som andet,” lyder det meget passioneret fra Låpsley.
Men hvordan ændrer vi på det?
”Jeg ved det ikke. Jeg tror, at man skal kæmpe fra sit hjørne af ringen. Jeg har ikke lyst til at kæmpe, men indtil det er normen, bliver man bare nødt til at sige noget. Vi skal nå dertil, hvor det er fint, hvis man selv skriver det hele – men hvor det også er fint, hvis man ikke har. Man skal kunne gøre, hvad man vil. Men det er bestemt blevet bedre. Jeg tror, at folk som Christine and the Queens og Grimes har været med til at skabe et mere positivt syn på kvinder i branchen,” siger hun.
Låpsley – Station
Selvom Låpsley er god til at fremhæve andre foregangskvinder, synes jeg personligt, at hun også gør sit på en lidt mere diskret facon end eksempelvis Claire Boucher/Grimes, og trods nogle lydproblemer i starten, leverede Låpsley en pragtpræstation på Heartland Festival, hvor hun fik eksemplificeret sit enorme musikalske talent. Og jeg er i hvert fald ikke i tvivl om, at hun er langt mere end ”bare” en singer/songwriter.
I weekenden gik en stor drøm i opfyldelse for mig og min bedste og ældste barndomsven, Frederik. Vi var taget på Heartland Festival på Fyn. Og selvom både musikprogrammet og omgivelserne fremstod fantastiske, så var det et eksklusivt møde, som på forhånd stod som festivalens ultimative højdepunkt. Mødet med vores helt store ungdomsidol, som musikalsk er vokset op sammen med os. Forsanger og hovedgeniet Wayne Coyne fra amerikanske The Flaming Lips.
Vi er ikke helt enige om, hvad der er højdepunktet i bandets efterhånden 33 år lange levetid – for Frederik er det det vidunderligt støjende og eksperimenterende tolvte studiealbum Embryonic fra 2009; for mig er det det ti år ældre niende studiealbum The Soft Bulletin, som vel kan betragtes som bandets store folkelige gennembrud – hvis de da nogensinde reelt har fået et sådant gennembrud.
Men én ting er vi dog enige om, og det er kærligheden til Wayne Coyne, som i vores begges øjne må betragtes som en af vor tids største legender. Netop legender er noget af det, som har fyldt meget i 2016, hvor vi blandt andre har mistet Prince og en af Wayne Coynes egne helt store idoler, David Bowie. Det blev omdrejningspunktet for vores snak med den 55-årige verdensstjerne, som vi var så heldige at få godt en halv time i selskab med.
Jeg har undtagelsesvis valgt at skrive interviewet på engelsk, fordi jeg gerne vil have alle nuancerne i Wayne Coynes svar til at stå lysende klart. God læselyst!
When you visited Denmark back in 2013 to play at Northside Festival, you played David Bowies “Heroes”.
Oh, we did, that’s right! We would always play some David Bowie song. I don’t really know what his meaning is, but that’s a cool song. It sounds triumphant. We would sing it, because it’s great.
What is your relationship to David Bowie and his music?
Well, when we were growing up in America, there was a time where we became very aware of this David Bowie-character. You know, my older brothers, they had the “Ziggy Stardust“-record, but we lived in Oklahoma, so it wasn’t as if any of us would have seen him then.
I think he came in at a time where older hippies like my older brothers’ friends would have said, “he’s a faggot!” or something and been like “what is this stuff?” It was radical for people that he was just such a weird, skinny freak. But we were young enough, so we just thought he was cool. It didn’t occur to us, him being gay or not gay. That wasn’t ever part of it for us anyway, you know.
You wouldn’t hear much of his music back then, but in the late 70’s disco was everywhere in America. It was all everybody was listening to. Bowie has this song “Fame” that was a big top-40 American disco hit. That’s one of his favorite songs of mine.
David Bowie – Fame
After that, he became popular and everybody started to know who David Bowie was. Not very many people knew about the weirder records like “Low” and “Station to station”, but then “Scary Monsters” came out. By “Scary Monsters” (1980), all of the old people who thought he was a faggot; they didn’t exist anymore. Everybody just knew he was David Bowie. By the time he does “Let’s Dance” (1983), he’s just a big mega superstar that fills stadiums.
But we always liked almost everything that he did. I don’t think there is much stuff that we would listen to after “Let’s Dance” – there would be a few things, but it wouldn’t be that much. Little by little, we would go back when the records would be re-issued, and I think “Hunky Dory” (1971) became the favorite of ours.
You know, those emotional types of songs that he does. He is just such a bizarre songwriter! I mean, when we did the David Bowie tribute a couple of months back, you’d think you know these songs, because you can drive your car and you can sing along to them, but he is such a weird songwriter, even in the way he’d record. He does these things, and you’re trying to count out how many times this happens and this happens – and you just can’t. You just have to know them and know them and know them. It’s just strange, difficult music to play and try to remember!
Of a lot of people that have died, his death really hit us. I think we had considered that David Bowie was not doing well for a long time. I think we all knew that he was sick, but then again you don’t think about it that much. And we didn’t realize how connected we were to so much of his music. Then when it was announced that he died, I remember we all texted each other: “Oh my God!” Sometimes you don’t know how much someone has affected your life until they’re gone. I think that is a powerful thing.
Now that he is dead, he quickly goes into the realm of the John Lennons and Santa Claus and, you know, Jesus and everybody that’s just so mythological. They are beyond that they were ever human, but we already thought he was like that. Then when he died it’s one of these things where you go: “Oh my God, he was a man!”
The Flaming Lips – Space Oddity (David Bowie tribute)
People would say that David Bowie, “he is like an alien from outer space.” I’d say that does him a disservice; he is a man just like me and you. And yet he was David Bowie. He did this stuff and wrote this music and that’s why we should elevate him. If he came from outer space, it’d be easy; he is just not like us. But to be one of us and still do that…
Do you think there will still be legends like David Bowie in 20 years?
I think so. Do you think there wouldn’t be?
I don’t know. We don’t have a lot of these superstars who make hundreds of hits like David Bowie or Prince…
Right, right. I don’t know. I mean, we are living in America now, where – like it or not – there is this entity Donald Trump. You don’t even have to care about him, yet you still know all this stuff about him, because he is just so controversial or just so stupid or just so whatever. And you can’t deny that popularity has its own thing. Once something becomes so popular, it influences so many other things. I think people want there to be a Jesus, they want there to be someone, where they can say, “oh, they are special” and “they are this and that – and I’m just me.”
It allows you to listen to them and believe in them. I would think it would probably always be there. I think that’s why something like Jesus and Santa Claus exist. I think that’s why it’s part of the way people tell stories, part of the way they believe in stuff. I think it will probably become even more, because if you had some music or a thing that you wanted to do, there would have been ways in the past that you’d have had to have done it to get your shit out there.
Where as now, you can really just start to do it. And if enough people think you’re interesting, you can get 20 million followers on YouTube and no one would even have to know who you are to begin with. You can just do it, and I think that’s like the greatest thing ever. It’s like you don’t even have to wait for anybody to help you; you just start to do it. I think that’s got to be good for art and music and people being individuals and all that.
The Flaming Lips – Silver Trembling Hands
But do you think people will be as devastated about legend losses in the future as they were with David Bowie and Prince?
Yeah, I do. It’s these people that you get to love from a distance. Sure, it’s painful when people that you actually know die, but with these artists… You believe these people – you sing their words.
There is probably some artist now, but since I’m older I probably wouldn’t have this subconscious connection to it. But if you get exposed to it, when you are young and it becomes part of your life, I don’t think you have that much control over it. I think if you believe it and you love it, it goes into an area that is not up to you to decide.
When John Lennon died, it was the first time that my older brothers and older sisters and their friends were truly devastated. Before then, there was a lot of the John F. Kennedys and all these, but because I was born in 1961, I didn’t really care about them, because, you know, they didn’t speak to us.
But you want to get affected by these things! I think it would be a great loss not to have these things in the world that makes you think: “Aw, man, they are cool. I want to be like them!” And probably better that it’s not someone that you get to know. The minute you start to know someone, it’s just not as magical, you know. I would think there is always going to be a good escapist need for that kind of fantasy entity. Otherwise, we would make them up! We’d want there to be. But what do you think? You think maybe not?
I hope so. We talked about someone like Miley Cyrus with whom you’ve been working with. Do you think any of the people you have collaborated with will turn out to be legends or mega superstars?
Well, some of them. We collaborated with Nick Cave and for me Nick Cave is one of those. He is one that you think would already be dead by now. It’s like, “Nick Cave? He is gonna die.” But then he lives forever and Prince is dead…
But yeah, Miley Cyrus could be one of those. When I have been around her and she’s with her fans, which are young; a lot of them are girls and a lot of them are young. She is not speaking to me and you, she’s speaking to them. It’s love. It’s not a pose.
The Flaming Lips & Miley Cyrus – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
I think that’s the thing with Justin Bieber as well. I don’t know him that well, but even being around Justin Bieber; it’s not a pose. It is absolutely the real thing! It’s just not music that you dig, because you’re an older dude, but to those people it’s real.
He came to Oklahoma City – that’s where I’m from. My older sister’s daughter was about 13 years old, when Justin Bieber came into town, and one of the guitar techs invited me to the show. He said, “hey, come to the show and you can meet Justin and whatever.” So I went to the show with my sister and her daughter, and she wanted to get a picture with him.
And there was this line of 500 girls waiting to take a picture with him. And part of you says: “Well, what is this?! How can this be?” But I can tell you, to every girl that was in line this was the greatest experience they had ever had. They came out crying and they just couldn’t believe it.
Some people want to devalue that, because “oh, that’s not real”. It’s real when you are 13, it’s real when you are 14. To say that his music isn’t real; it’s real to them! It may not be real to you, but it’s real to them. Music is like that. It doesn’t really matter what it is.
Your brain is so fucking good at compartmentalizing music. You really can’t help it. And I think that’s why it works. It gets in you, and then your subconscious gets to take over. If you’re young enough that shit gets in you. If you’ve played someone’s music 10.000 times and you believed it. That’s in you, you know. I’ve done that. That’s what music does; you get so addicted to it, and it tells you so much about your identity. So I’d think it’d always be here. We would want it to be here.
What makes someone like Miley Cyrus so special to you?
She is smart; she is so smart, but she was very young when all of her stuff started to happen. She’s 23 now, and like anybody, if someone had you make music when you were 13 and it became popular and you got to make more and more and you got to decide what it was gonna be, you’d probably be quite embarrassed by it now that you’re 23.
Luckily, we didn’t make music when we were 13, so no one knows what it would be. But I swear, if you were around her for five minutes, then you’d just get it. You’d get her this second. She’s so cool; she’s so badass. And when she’s with her fans, she’s so amazing. She’s cool; she’s really cool!
Miley Cyrus – Milky Milky Milk
She’s quite talented too, right?
To me, she sings in a way that I like. I don’t really know talent, but if I like someone that’s good enough for me. I just like her vibe; I liked her before I became friends with her. We just thought she was saying some crazy shit for as young as she was. Just to see the things that she stands up for. When she fucks up, she’ll say, “hey, I’m stupid, I’m sorry, I fucked that up.” I think the world would be a better place if there was more of her out there. She really does stand up for what she believes. It’s cool.
That’s all about legends.
Oh yeah? Fuck ’em!
Ha ha. Let’s talk about you instead. You’ve been doing your thing for more than 30 years now. Don’t you ever get tired?
Well, no, because I really love it. I guess I’m obsessed. I don’t really think about it as being something that I’m doing…
We love to record, so we get to spend a lot of time always fucking around with our recordings and other people’s recordings and all that. We never get tired of that. Then you get to perform. We are not really performers, but we get to make this whole thing, and then we get to sing our songs. As time has gone by, there is more and more things involved, where you get to make videos and movies and things that just compel your visions.
You’d think that it would be like: You make a record – that takes you a little while – then you go on tour for a couple of years, then you do nothing for a couple of years. But I’ve never done that. I’m just always doing something. It doesn’t seem that weird. Most of the people that I’m around are the same way. They get up and they do their thing and it’s never, “oh, I can’t wait for this shit to be over.” I just never considered it like that.
I really do get to do my thing and I go for it all the way. If I get to wake up and spend part of the day recording, part of the day working on videos, do some painting and stuff every day, I’d do that. But I think most people are like that. They like being in their element doing their thing. When it’s all working and people like it, it’s great.
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1
When I was younger I used to think, “will I one day wake up and just not be interested in this?” But I don’t think that happens. I think the more you do it, the less you’re doing something else. It’s the only thing you’re doing. Your world becomes very much just about you doing your thing; everything that works for you, you include, and everything that doesn’t work for you, you just get rid of.
I’ve never really taken a break. I don’t really want a break. If I have to go on a vacation, I’ll always include, “what else do I get to do?” I can’t just sit there; I’d have to do some drugs and just kind of don’t give a shit. Which I think is great! I think there are some drugs that really do help me, because I think I’m just too intense. I’ll just always go, go, go!
Can you be too intense?
Definitely. You can’t do anything just from intensity. It has to be from love. Love will show you that intensity isn’t love. Intensity is just: “My way! My way is better than your way!” That’s not love. People want to do stuff with you, if you love them. And people will love what you do, if you love them. I know that sounds hokey, but just being about you and being intense about it; that doesn’t work.
I don’t think I’d wanna be too intense. I don’t think I’d like our music, I don’t think I’d like what would happen. It’s definitely not part of my personality. I like our music a lot more, when we don’t know what we’re doing, and we’re vulnerable and we’re scared. Whenever we feel like, “yeah motherfuckers, we know what we’re doing”, our music never works very well. It only works when we’re like, “what just happened?”
Yeah, what can I say? The music has probably told us more about who we are than we’ve done to the music. We’ll do something, and it’s just, “oh wow, that’s so cool.” And then we’d think, “oh, but we made it! Oh, oh, cool!”
Speaking of making music, do you have anything coming up in terms of collaborations?
Yeah, there is this comedian/musician-guy in America. His name is Reggie Watts. I met him six years ago. He’s fucking funny!
Oh, he is the one with the big…
…the big afro, yeah yeah.
I sent him this spoken word thing about a week ago, ‘cause I’m trying to insert it into a couple of these new tracks that we’re doing. And he said that he’s going to do it and I kept bugging him. And finally on the way flying here – I don’t have my phone or I’d show you – “Bing!” I finally got it. I think this thing that we did will lead to us doing a few more things, so we can just keep going.
Oh, will that be on a new album?
Yeah yeah, it will hopefully be on the new Flaming Lips album. And there will be one more song with Miley Cyrus on there. So there will be a couple of collaborations. I don’t want to do too many, because when we’ve done the Sgt. Pepper’s record or the Pink Floyd record, there are so many people involved that you can’t really do anything. Everybody is just waiting and getting permission. As much as I love that stuff, it’s just like trying to get all your friends together at the same time. It fucking takes forever. By the time you get there, everything that you were trying to do is already over.
But the Miley Cyrus-thing is great. It’s a song that we’ve been trying to finish and get on her record, but we couldn’t quite get it. And then in the last month or so, we finally got it in a way that is really great.
Do you know when the album will come out?
We talked about it coming out in October, but now people are talking about maybe January. We’re always trying make like videos and things to go with it, because we don’t always like doing all the promo stuff. Sometimes we just wanna make a record and not worry about all this stuff, you know.
Other times you kinda embrace that you get to just talk about your shit with everybody. Sometimes I think the music really needs that, so people can understand and grab a hold of what we’re doing. But I think all that stuff is fun. It’s like talking to you guys; it’s not that bad. I mean, I’ve had better for sure… I’m joking, of course!
Ha ha, we are really looking forward to the album. Will you have time to see anything, while you are here at Heartland?
We are gonna go see what that Brian Eno-thing is all about. I would have loved to have seen him talk tomorrow (lørdag, red.). He is one of the great. He just says it.
The Flaming Lips – The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Is he a legend too?
He is indeed. I would be very sad, if he died. I think as he gets older, he is just wiser and wiser and wiser. You need people like him. You need people to talk. Otherwise, you’ll be thinking and you won’t know, “is this real? Am I stupid?”. And you’ll hear someone else that you know is not stupid say something similar and you’ll be like, “yeah!”. When I hear Bryan Eno talk, I’m like, “fuck, yeah! He is right.” It just helps you along.
I like the idea of articulating. You’ve got all these things in your mind, but until you have to actually say it, they just sit in your mind. But when you’re doing what I’m doing now – trying to articulate – you have to connect all of these things. And that coming out is a cool thing. Because it’s like you’re saying it before you’re even thinking it. It’s not like I’m sitting here thinking; it’s just this magic in that you can put together things that you wouldn’t do just by contemplating it.
I met Brian Eno about five or six years ago, and we were all partying backstage; getting drunk, taking some drugs and stuff. I don’t know, if he was taking drugs, but he was having fun. He had just done his first Coldplay record. And I said: “What is it like working with Coldplay?” And you could sort of tell; he was like (demonstrating lifting a beer to his mouth): “Oh, let’s not talk about Coldplay. Let’s get wasted. Let’s not talk about that.” I was like, that’s enough. What could you say? I’d say he tried, you know…
Ha ha, that’s a funny story. Thank you so much for your time!
No, thank you!
The Flaming Lips – She Don’t Use Jelly
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Det var alt fra vores møde med Wayne Coyne på dette års Heartland Festival. Nu er der ikke andet for end at vente på det kommende album fra The Flaming Lips, der som nævnt nok kan forventes omkring årsskiftet, og som kommer til at indeholde numre med Miley Cyrus og Reggie Watts.
Hvis jeg skal vælge én ny artist, som har fyldt meget for mig i 2016, så må det uden tvivl være danske JÆRV. Jeg hørte Amanda Glindvad og bandets dansksprogede elektropop for første gang i slutningen af november sidste år, da de sammen med nogle andre af mine yndlinge, Velvet Volume, gæstede Ideal Bar i København. Dengang var de fleste kommet for at høre Velvet Volume, men på SPOT Festival forrige weekend var det anderledes. Her gav JÆRV koncert alene på Godsbanen. Eller alene var hun bestemt ikke, for der var tæt på stuvende fuldt i det mørke lokale med den perfekte størrelse, som både tillod, at de mange fans kunne komme til koncert, uden det gik ud over den intime stemning, som er en forudsætning for Amanda Glindvads musikalske univers.
“Jeg vil rigtig gerne lave nogle sange, man kan mærke, som man kan føle, som kan sætte gang i noget. Jeg tror, at Mathias Pedersen Smidt (kreativ partner og producer i JÆRV, red.) og jeg er enige om, at det værste ville være at lave kedelig musik. Så vil vi næsten hellere lave noget, som frastøder nogen, og som nogen synes er dårligt. Men kedeligt må det aldrig blive!” understreger Amanda Glindvad, da jeg møder hende nogle timer inden koncerten.
Amanda Glindvad er i høj grad inspireret af kvindelige artister med et stærkt univers og et klart musikalsk udtryk, og det er også i den retning, hun håber, at det unge projekt vil bevæge sig endnu mere. Hun nævner blandt andre Kate Bush, Bjørk, Joni Mitchell og Fiona Apple som nogle af de kvinder, som har præget hende musikalsk.
“Jeg synes, det er svært at sætte ord på JÆRV-universet. Man skal opleve noget ærligt og noget intenst. Musikken leger meget med det spinkle og nøgne samtidig med, at det har det storladne i sig. På sigt vil jeg gerne arbejde mere med et hårdere, mere råt lydbillede. I den sammenhæng måske fokusere og dyrke sammenspillet mellem min lyse stemme og de dybe, buldrende trommer og den tunge bas noget mere.”
Det sammenspil vil man kunne opleve på JÆRVs kommende EP, som efter planen udkommer sidst på året. EP’en bliver opfølgeren til debutudspillet “Dit Hav”, som jeg har skamlyttet til, siden det udkom i marts. Allerede under koncerten på SPOT Festival kunne man få en lille smagsprøve, da Amanda Glindvad – uden i øvrigt at oplyse publikum om det – sang sig igennem “En anden drøm”. Et nummer, der ret paradoksalt er det nummer, som er længst væk fra det dystre univers, JÆRV vil bevæge sig i retning af.
“Det er mere drømmende i sit udtryk, så det understøtter overhovedet ikke, hvad jeg lige har sagt. Så det er bare super,” griner Amanda Glindvad, da hun inden koncerten skal forsøge at beskrive nummeret.
“Det er sjovt, at man prøver at sige, at nu skal vi lave sådan nogle sange. Men hvis det ikke er det, der kommer til en, så kan man ikke presse det frem. Hvis jeg eller Mathias får en idé, som brænder i en bestemt retning, så er vi nødt til at følge den. Man må bare indse, at man bliver nødt til at gå de veje, som kalder på en musikalsk.”
I det hele taget har Amanda Glindvads unge karriere båret præg af en stor impulsivitet, hvor hun i høj grad bare har ladet sig føre i den retning, som hendes musikalske inspiration har ført hende. Det var også sådan, JÆRV kom til verden.
“Det var en lille smule tilfældigt. På et tidspunkt gik jeg fra at skrive på engelsk til at skrive på dansk, fordi det lige pludselig bare kom ud. Jeg kan vildt godt lide både at skrive og synge på dansk, fordi jeg kan udtrykke mig mere ærligt og ægte. Jeg havde aldrig lavet elektronisk musik før, men jeg begyndte at lege lidt med det i Ableton Live.”
En dag sendte hun sangene til producer Mathias Pedersen Smidt – som er på bas synths, når JÆRV spiller live – og han producerede i første omgang det nummer, som skulle blive til debutsinglen “I Staver”.
“Vi var ret hurtigt enige om, at der var et eller andet her, som vi havde lyst til at arbejde videre med, og så har det bare udviklet sig. Faktisk blev “I Staver” udgivet, fordi Mathias en dag skrev til mig, at “nu lægger jeg den op.” Jeg tænkte først, at det kunne han ikke bare gøre, men til sidst gav jeg ham lov alligevel.”
Herfra skal der lyde en kæmpe tak til Mathias Pedersen Smidt for at have været med til at kickstarte et projekt, som har formået at skabe et udtryk, hvor sammenspillet mellem den gode melodi, de velskrevede tekster og et bemærkelsesværdigt nærvær får musikken til at løfte sig op over den ordinære popmusik og skabe et produkt, som jeg – på trods af de sproglige barrierer – sagtens kan se bevæge sig uden for Danmarks grænser. For når det kan lade sig gøre for artister som Sigur Rós, så kan det også for JÆRV, hvis musik rummer de samme kvalitet: Ærlighed, inderlighed og nærvær.
Det var nogle af de ord, færøske Konni Kass gav mig med på vejen, da jeg mødte hende i fredags under SPOT Festival i Aarhus. Ordene kom som svar på spørgsmålet om, hvad man skulle forvente af hendes koncert – og her en lille uge efter koncerten må jeg sige, at hun fik ret. Konni Kass skabte sammen med Per Højgaard Petersen på trommer, Torleik Mortensen på bas og Knút Háberg Eysturstein på synths et inderligt og følsomt pusterum midt i en hektisk festival. Man følte som tilhører, at man blev taget med på en dramatisk men samtidig meget meditativ udflugt gennem den færøske natur. Ubetinget et af mine personlige højdepunkter på årets festival.
Det er seks år siden, Konni Kass forlod Færøerne for at gå på jazzskole i Sverige. Senere flyttede hun til København for at læse medicin, men ophavet fylder stadig meget for den blonde færing.
“Man føler sig som en lille bitte sten i et stort univers, når man vokser op deroppe. Det er et kæmpe landskab, som er så voldsomt med hav og med bjerge og med vildt vejr. Man føler sig virkelig ikke så stor, og det har givet mig en meget stor respekt for naturen og alt det rundt omkring sig.”
Hun fortæller, at man i det hele taget har rigtig god tid til at tænke sig om, når man bor deroppe. Det kommer til udtryk både musikalsk og i hendes væremåde, hvor det er tydeligt, at hun tager sig god tid til at finde de helt rigtige svar på mine spørgsmål.
“Færinger er meget eftertænksomme. Vi er nogle mennesker, som tit går rundt og tænker over ting uden at sige så meget. Vi bruger meget tid på at observere og lytte til hinanden, kan man sige. Vi har det også sådan, at vi ikke laver noget, medmindre der virkelig er brug for det.”
Det kan man mærke i Konni Kass’ musik, som trods den til tider storslåede lyd er skabt med få elementer, som så til gengæld får plads til at udfolde sig på sine egne præmisser. “Alle skal have plads, alle skal høres”, som Konni Kass udtrykker det.
Netop den filosofi har skabt et meget eklektisk musikalsk univers, fordi bandet består af fire medlemmer med meget forskellige udgangspunkter. Det kommer særligt til udtryk på det kommende debutalbum, som vi har fået lov til at få en forsmag på. Den indeholder alt fra den meget soulede single “Surrender” over “Make Me Forget”, der kunne være skabt af britiske sangerinder som Duffy eller Amy Winehouse, til “Race”, som med lidt god vilje godt kunne være soundtracket til den næste James Bond-film. Og så en række numre til sidst på albummet, som er i familie med flere islandske artister og landsmanden Eivør, som Konni Kass var support for under hendes nyligt overståede 2016-turné.
Eivør & Konni Kass – Nothing Compares To You (Prince cover live)
“Jeg kommer selv fra jazz-verdenen, så jeg har lyttet meget til gamle jazz-sangere. Men også til færøske artister som Eivør og Teitur – og til meget islandsk og dansk musik. I Sverige blev jeg introduceret til rigtig meget neosoul; D’Angelo og den slags,” fortæller Konni Kass om nogle af inspirationskilderne.
Konni Kass er som sagt klar med sit debutalbum, som udkommer til september, og det er gået stærkt for det unge band, som blev dannet i maj 2015. Men det er ikke unormalt, at det går meget stærkt, når man først begynder at lave musik på Færøerne.
“Der er ikke langt fra, at man starter, til man er midt i det hele. Man bliver hurtigt introduceret til alle og bliver venner med alle dem, der spiller og skriver musik. Det er nærmest en lille familie,” forklarer Konni Kass, som var på sin første turné til Island som 16-årig, fordi hun var en af de eneste på Færøerne, der kunne spille saxofon.
Netop den lille familie og det nære forhold trækker stadig i Konni Kass, hvis tre andre bandmedlemmer stadig har deres base på Færøerne. Og hun kunne bestemt godt overveje at flytte tilbage til der, hvor det hele begyndte.
“Jeg kunne sagtens flytte hjem igen. Jeg har ikke planlagt, hvad der skal ske, når jeg er færdig med at læse, men jeg er ikke blevet grebet af storbyen. Jeg savner det der med, at man lige går ud og hilser på naboen, og at alle kender hinanden. Det gør jeg…”
