We share a few words with Denmark’s King of Nowhere about the sound spec and artistic vision behind his current smash, ‘Down the Line’.
Interview by Chris Sharpe
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris LITM) Hi King of Nowhere, nice to meet you. What's been happening over the past six months? Update us, please.
King Of Nowhere) The past six months has been about making a living while trying to finish songs and gain more attention. Lately, for the first time, I am trying to get into the whole promotion aspect of the music business. It's such a hassle, so I appreciate just getting to do this interview.
Your track 'Down the Line' is a big mash-up of influences, Who inspired it?
I've always been into ‘big’ sounding recordings like early Broken Social Scene (David Newfeld era), Beach Boys, etc. So I always seem to end up trying to do that type of music. But I suppose the biggest conscious inspiration for this song must be Springsteen. I tried getting some sort of primal, desperate vocal performance. Capturing some sense of urgency.
Is there a story behind the song?
Well, yeah, there is. But I actually prefer not talking about that.
You have an EP coming out. When is it dropping and what can we expect?
I haven't set a specific release date for it, but sometime around September. It will share much of the same aesthetics as my previous work.
What town are you from and what’s the music scene like there?
I was born, raised and spent most of my life in a little town called Skaelskoer, which doesn’t really have a music scene. I now reside in Copenhagen which has a lot of different music, as most big cities do. But I don’t really listen to a lot of music, nor do I really feel like I belong to any scene – not that I find my music that original.
What drew you to the music industry?
Just the love of music. That must be the main reason why the vast majority of people do it. It’s quite difficult making money from it.
Looking back on your career so far, is there any advice you would offer new bands out there to help them on their way?
Well I wouldn’t call it a career. Perhaps someday I can, I hope. I’m 32 now and I spent most of my twenties depressed and insecure about what I did. I wish I’d just released more music and stopped being so self-conscious about flaws and mistakes. It’s all forgotten, the good and bad, in the long-run.
For the musical techies out there, what gear did you use in the recording of the single?
A lot of different gear. I do a lot of layer-by-layer recordings with my UA Solo 610 preamp. I love my SE Electronics Titan microphone. My TEAC 144 cassette recorder, and various plug-ins like Echoboy, UA Studer A800 and Altiverb. I wanna give a shout out to Fiverr, which, among other things, is a great platform for hiring musicians around the world. I wrote some music-notation sheets for trumpet, which was then sent to trumpet player using Fiverr, it turned out really good, I think.
Any gigs you have coming up that we should know about?
Not at the moment. I really hope to play some shows this year, so if anyone reads this and likes my music, please contact me. I would love to play.
Anything you would like to add?
Any attention or recognition of my music is much obliged. So thanks for this interview!
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