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Lars Pellarin

Lars Pellarin is an upcoming artist from Denmark who has recently signed with Couchblip Records. Ahead of his forthcoming appearance on the :1 compilation on re:mote core records, he was kind enough to talk with us about his music.

Re:mote Induction : Can you start by telling us a little about the history of your music? How long have you been composing and what was it that prompted you to start to write your own music?

Lars Pellarin: Why I started? I had ideas. I thought I could do better that many of the bands I had on record. I thought there was a better ways to express what they tried, so I started doing it. I'm not saying I succeeded... yet...

Ive been attending training for the flute from I was 3 feet tall and up to 4 feet. Then I started playing guitar for a few years. Just the usual chords and well known songs - no theory yet, but then I had 3 years in high school with 5 lessons a week of basic harmonics and note writing and Beethoven and all that.

When I was in high school I started out with an AWE64 with Ram extention as a sampler, and quickly moved on to other systems, and enden up with different kinds of modular soft synth systems - like Orangator, Puredata, Reaktor and a bit of SAOL. And here I am today, using nothing but Buzz (almost nothing).

Re:mote Induction : We previously reviewed your demo CD that contained 21 songs. How long was the writing/recording process for you? How do you feel about the end result?

Lars Pellarin: I think that's a 9 month period you got there. I feel its in the past. Not that I'm not pleased with it, but in the experimental genre, the evolution is so fast. I try to keep moving on, and not sticking on to my old tracks, so actually I don't really remember which tracks you have, but I have an idea about what we could be talking about.

Its a demo. Not an album. Each track represents a little idea. Some are quite different from the others, but they all fall under the same umbrella, cuz they were all done with the same thing in mind. But I found out that I actually ought to seperate the tracks, and do two different projects/alaises. So it's just a demo of my work - schitzophrenic or not.

Re:mote Induction : Have you received feedback/responses to the material on the demo? How did you react to those responses?

Lars Pellarin: I have recived feedback. Like 10% (3 or so) of the demos I sent out, resulted in a resopnse. I got good response from a record label here in denmark, but they wanted to hear more tracks. Then I got a little better response from an Austrailan label who actually are going to publish some of my music. They are CouchBlip (www.couchblip.com). This autumn I'm gonna be on a charity compilation with Funkstørung, +one (Plaid I think), Thug, Yee-King and some others. And in the winter they will press an album.

Finally Fatcat responded, that it was not the music they were looking for. Of course I got feedback from friends and other musicians, but that's just the good old 'its wierd, but its good' kinda feedback.

Ive gotten fed up with sending demos around to all the big ones (warp, planet mu, ao) cuz as they state on their web sites 'we receive hundreds every year'. Also because I'd rather be on some little label where I know the people behind it, and can feel the energy they put into it. I'd rather do it my self (not publishing that is) - take part in the start-up process. So we started doing some parties around here where I live - started building a little community around the things we create here. Thats really nice! I highly recommend it.

Also because id rather be on some little label where I know the people behind it, and can feel the energy they put into it.

Re:mote Induction : Can you tell us something about your creative process? Are there any particular methods you use or particular influences that allow you to create music?

Lars Pellarin: I'm very inspired by error and what the computer can(t) do on its own. Thats actually my comcept for my new alias (DaNoise). Like timestretching noise. I like to build a set of drum sounds on that. The wierdest sound comes from that. Thats it for the tricks!

Also, I'm very inspired by Nathan Owen Snider's mathematical angle to music. I really respect that, and try to use it myself, as much as I'm able. But usually I try to learn different techniques that I can work conceptually from. Like re-recording (long story), re-synthesis and other fuck-up techniques.

But sometimes, I just strive for the ultimate beat. But I'm not the best at that.

Re:mote Induction : Have you ever played your music live? Is this something you enjoy, or would like to explore? How does, or would, playing live differ from the recorded sound of your music? Or maybe this is something that doesn't interest you?

Lars Pellarin: Yes, I think its very interesting. I just wish it could be more interactive from the crowds perspective. Live is a very new world for me. I recently joined a band (Printer - look out for us), and for the first time had to do drums on a loud PA, with out my headphones. Its two different worlds. Different things are important.

But I'm very scared of stages. It comes from living in the country, and in Demnark. Out here, you can't be different. You are not allowed - not with out they are sure you know what they think about it. So my early stage experiences are very traumatic. But I've gotten over it. Its just still a very subconcsious thing. Especially here in Denmark. They actually have a name for it: "The Law of Jante"... But I don't give a fuck anymore.

These days I'm preparing a setup where I use re-recording. Like play back a sample, fuck it up, record the fuck up over the original sample and then you have a circle of fuck ups. Its just very hard for the machine, so crashes are very likely to occur, but I'm learning to control it more n more. That is something I'd never record, cus the process is very slow, and the result will depend on what the people want. Its a technique I first saw when I heard Jake Mandell in Barcelona. I think that was what he did anyway. So I wanted to see if I could do it, and I'm very surprised how different it sounds on my system. So maybe I just got the wrong idea - but hey, it worked. Thats really the difference between copying and inspiration.

Like play back a sample, fuck it up, record the fuck up over the original sample and then you have a circle of fuck ups.

Re:mote Induction : What other music do you listen to? Any favourite artists or releases that you are listening to just now? What about music that you listened to during your formative years?

Lars Pellarin: I listen to my own stuff a lot to look for good n bad. Then I listen to some friends stuff (couchblip). Warp is very nice. Cologne is nice sometimes (mouse on mars, Pole, Jan Jellineck), I go to the library much since they opened their vinyl collection for the public. Get familiar with old danish music concrete artists like Gunnar Møller Pedersen and Fuzzy. Snd is very good. AFXAFXAFXAFX!!!!! Cant wait for his nu album in october! But I also like Manu Chao, Stan Getz, Bjørk, and others that make good tunes. Lots of stuff.

My heavy rotator these days would be Mouse On Mars's new album. Their first track rok.

Re:mote Induction : What is next for you? Do you have any forthcoming music or projects you can tell us about?

Lars Pellarin: yeah. If you get near Roskilde, put your ear to the gound for the next party we throw underneeth an old factory. Really nice n cosy.

And then I got an album out soon on couchblip, and dont forget to support the 'other animals' compilation (also with me on it).

Re:mote Induction : Finally, thanks for taking the time to do this interview, are there any last words you'd like to leave us with?

Lars Pellarin: DIY !

Fuck the big labels, and get your own thing going! Most of you are masters of some digital media anyway, so why not DIY?

NTVWR: j0hn
August 2001

More Information

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