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German singer / producer Jan Blomqvist does ethereal house music for the purpose of not only making people dance, but also feeling and perhaps thinking. His last album, 2018 unplugged, inspired by his move to Burning Man, is based on the idea that, to stay focused and healthy, we sometimes need to remove all distractions.
Since November, it is tour from Europe and the United States in support of the album, as well as his live band at most dates. After finishing his second weekend at Coachella, the group will join him for three dates in Mexico, after which he will offer his support to RÜFÜS DU SOL sure many of their tour dates in the United States.
We caught up with Blomqvist from the ground up Coachella 2019, shortly after playing his one-man-show Sunday afternoon in the Yuma tent, the house and techno scene so much appreciated by the festival.
You played here at Coachella in Yuma earlier in the day. How was it? How are you?
Honestly, it was quite difficult today because my moog was totally wrong. If you know what a moog does, it's what they do. They disagree and deceive you at the worst moment, and I tried to understand, and then I was so focused on re-tuning the synthesizer that I made so many errors on the right hand with the other instrument. It was really exhausting for me, but I think my friends here liked it, and the viewers came later were happy, so I'm happy too, but a little disappointed because I would have could play better.
Did you realize that it was wrong when you started playing?
This was not wrong at first. This is the mystery of moog. Nobody knows why they do it. You can use all other synthesizers, does not have this feature. I think they make it sound more vintage, like in the '70s. So that was my problem today, and I think I did it, but I'm looking forward to next Sunday for it to be a 100% performance.
That's right, you have the second round. Was it your first time at Coachella?
I've already played at Do LaB, but some people have said that it does not matter.
It really matters. When did you play Do LaB?
I think so too. At night, two years ago. It was packed, like 600 people or something like that. It was cool.
So it was your first year in Coachella's main lineup. Well, you also have the next weekend, and at least nobody knew that it was wrong.
J & # 39; hope. I heard it right away, and yes, that 's what has stressed me and it' s never okay to be stressed on stage. It was my disappointment of the day, but in the end, it was still a good show, and it was good energy. And as long as it does not fail completely, it always leads you further.
Have you been able to listen to other music at the festival? Is there anyone who you can not wait to see tonight?
Yesterday I wanted to see Billie Eilish and Bob Mosesbut I worked too late.
You get smarter when you get older, so next time I have a free week before Coachella, before Burning Man, then I'll have time to look at stuff. This time I played three times and I was in four cities. Yeah, it was stupid. I was traveling five days in a row. It does not make sense. If you are doing Coachella or any other big festival, then you should concentrate on that and the other shows can wait, honestly.
And the DJs are also humans. They need to have fun, right?
Yes, but officially not.
Who are your greatest musical influences? What kind of music did you grow up listening to and what do you listen to these days?
I grew up with vinyls, with Bob Dylan, Stones that roll and Mick Jagger. I think it's normal in our generation. Our parents had vinyls and we just played them. I'm still a big fan of Bob Dylan. I do not like Rolling Stones as much, but I like Mick Jagger's solo project. It's still incredible. He is old and has a lot of energy. It's a kind of idol. If I am 75 years old, I want to be like that. And later, of course, I went into normal things like blur, Radiohead, Nirvana, Björk. I went through all those rock and hip hop things, then moved to Berlin and, suddenly, I was totally addicted to techno.
What year did you move to Berlin? Was it at the beginning of the techno scene there?
In 2002. Everything was there. It was just a little more underground than now. Currently, all clubs in Berlin are exactly the same age, 17 years old.
Which club is your favorite? I know, it's a hotly debated topic.
It depends on the day, really. On Sunday in Berlin, it is the best. Sunday night in Berghain is amazing. Monday at Sisyphus, Sunday at Kater Blau, Wednesday at Watergate, and it depends on who plays.
Berghain can be really amazing but can also be a sh * t show, and I do not want to talk about any DJ, but sometimes, in my opinion, it 's really good and sometimes it' s c & # 39; is really bad, but the incredible club. I have never seen a comparable club in the world. It's like being made of a Tarantino movie. You come there and you feel that you will be stung by a vampire. I went there, I do not know, 100 times, and when I come there, I always say to myself, "What did you build here?"
Do you feel like it's the same as when you moved there? What about the techno and house scene has changed in Berlin, where it has become more than a destination?
It's definitely offbeat. At first it was only minimal. It was very hard for me to have concerts, and the clubs even told me, "Yes, your music is good, but no one wants to hear this piano."
It was rather a kind of trance a little minimal?
No, it's just minimal. I want to say, Richie Hawtin did it in a very good way, and many people have tried to copy it and have totally failed, which makes the process really boring.
Berlin changes all the time. That's what I like in this city. Since 2010, the music is super open and you can play everything, and I like that. It was really difficult for me, between 2002 and 2006 or 2007. It was as if each club was playing exactly the same music for about five years, and I was wondering: "What did you do to your DJ? " "DJs should be free, right?
Why do you think it was a little tight like that, and what made you make it more open?
I have no idea. I still ask myself this question.
So were you just trying to do your own thing? Did it make you want to create even more different music?
I've tried to break that because I think musicians should be free and you should give them a chance and a scene and just have them play and I try to convince other musicians to do not do that one type of music. I mean, the city is big. I can not imagine that for four million people, everyone wants to listen to the same music. That's bullshit * t.
So, I tried to work harder and get the gigs, and finally it worked. Nicolas Jaar arrived and he was, I think, 17 years old, then everybody said, "Whoa, he's 17 and he's playing such good music." And all of a sudden everyone said, "Oh, we want piano in the club, oh, what about the voice?" And suddenly, everything worked. Today, Berlin is rather open minded about music. I think it is usually an open city in mind.
It's interesting to see how sometimes a band or an artist does something new, that other people have also done, but for some reason they are successful.
I want to say, [that] was the same thing with Kurt Cobain, right? Suddenly he came and it was suddenly called grunge and there was a completely new genre. It's always like that. Someone has to open the door and then it works, but the music is there before, of course, it only misses the character who opens it.
What is the message or mood that you usually try to share when playing live music, whether in your club setup or in a supported group?
I mean, in the end, these are just all my songs and the band just plays them, so it's kind of the same music. But with a band, we play with breaks between the two and less centered on transitions and slower tracks, like 100 BPM, sometimes 110, many more voices. When you have a real drums on stage, with real cymbals, it creates a completely different atmosphere. And with the band, we have six synthesizers on stage, I think, and when I play solo, I just have one.
So if one disagrees …
Yeah.[[[[Laughs.]In fact, he was never out of tune during his recent tour with the band. Maybe that's why my tuner was not working.
"Every human has the same desire to just dance, laugh and have good music, and that's the goal, you have to make them happy." It's your mission as a musician. is a responsibility. "
What is your main goal when you play?
I want to make people cry, then laugh at the same time, give them a nervous feeling that makes them really melancholic, but then give them a positive bbad and bbad drum. Like a good movie with a happy ending.
And, of course, dancing is important and just being happy. I mean, it's what you need anywhere in the world, no matter where you are. Why do clubs exist? Why is electronic music so big? That's because every human has the same desire to just dance, laugh and have good music, and that's the goal, you have to make them happy. It's your mission as a musician. It's a responsibility. You can not go on stage and tell them, "I'm bading you, I'm plugging." You really have the mission to make them happy, and that is the job.
Can you talk about the inspiration behind your latest album, unplugged? It sounds like the songs all have a story behind these ethereal rhythms, and I'm particularly curious about "Synth For The Devil" from the Rolling Stones song.
I mean, this song just came to me. In fact, I was around the corner, about 50 kilometers from here in the [RANCHO V in Pioneertown, Calif.] studio, recording two tracks for our unplugged album. Then suddenly J [Bowman] was there and Felix [Lehmann, co-producer] and me and my studio company, we all work for fun only in the game of Rolling Stones, as a break, to have fun. And then Jay came in as, "Wow, that's the track, I'm the best solo player on this track in the world." I thought, "Okay, can you play it?" And he really played the best [guitar] never solo, not quite tight, but nice. And yes … And then the idea was raised and, "Okay, let's record it." And then we send it to etiquette for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and they said "yes".
Did they say that they liked it?
Yes, they liked it. And they answered in a day. We were like, "Ok. What's the ***?" Ok, so we do it. It's hard. I'm still not 100% convinced if it was a good idea or not, because covering pieces of these big characters is sometimes not a good idea, but when I play live, it's a good idea. ;is amusing. I think that's the most important thing.
And the unplugged album. For me, it is important to have a concept album because you will then have topics that you can talk about and all that is more targeted will be as if you had a red line to follow. It's even easier to write lyrics, write music.
I was at Burning Man and I asked myself, "Why do people who come into this desert organize this huge festival in a harsh environment? There is no water, no d & # 39; Electricity, nothing, it is very hot in the day, super cold in the night, why there? "And the only answer must be that people have to disconnect from their real life in a way or of another, and the question is "Why is it so important to run away from your life?"
This whole album talks about "why do we need to disconnect as much?" I think our generation suffers a lot from this virtual life in which we already live at 50%, and many people can not even distinguish what is real, what is not, especially at Coachella. You can see so many people who think that Instagram is more important than your true friends, and we have to ask ourselves what our generation needs to ask: "Where do we want to live in the next few years and can we do it? "We do it," and think, "What can I do, am I still real, am I wrong?"
And I do not want to give answers, I just want to give questions or words for people to think, to reflect. The album should be a mirror for the public.
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