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NORDIK BEAT (STEP 2): RASMUS FABER
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As far as it can be remembered, Sweden has always had a strong tradition of musicianship in the contemporary production. Tooted by the British press as the next sensation following the advent of the spaghetti house back at the end of the eighties, the so called Nordik Beat marked the arrival of a local house scene with activists such as Stonebridge, Clubland and Rob’N’Raz to name but a few. A story which was to take a new shape along those last years with the emergence of a whole bunch of new faces from SUMO and Markus Enochson to Tiger Stripes and Locktown. Not to mention DJ/producer and Farplane Records label head who’s never looked so busy… Ladies & gents, please welcome Rasmus Faber!
Hallå där Rasmus! Vad händer? (Heya Rasmus, wassup ?) How’s this Summer going for you?
Things are going well thanks! Been touring Japan this Summer, but now I'm back in the studio in Stockholm. Been working with my latest single entitled "Demanda" on my own record Farplane Records label. New remixes by Miguel Migs and Alf Tumble are coming up of that one, so been busy promoting and doing label stuff too.
Any tunes tunes/producers/performers/events which have recently attracted your attention?
Really been feeling Richard Earnshaw/Spiritchaser lately. Joey Negro is always very consistent too. Some recent stuff by Axwell have really impressed me productionwise too.
Your view of the current house scene?
I feel like things went quite confusing with electro hitting the scene so hard. A lot of producers tried to jump on the wagon and ended up making records that weren’t as good as they should be. In the mean time, the old school thing went really crazy to the point where things started to sound exactly like they did 15 years ago, which I think is a pretty weird way for a scene to develop. Luckily, now I feel things are starting to fall back into place again. Lot of producers are reinventing themselves in a healthy way, and I'm very excited about where things are going. I have a lot of new directions to explore that I am eager to get started on as well!
Some people would think that the scene suffers from a lack of support, when others would say that it’s the proper of the underground. Your position?
I don’t share any of these positions actually. I think if the scene doesn’t have enough support, it is up to the creators to make better tunes, DJ’s to play better sets, and club organizers to make better parties. And I'm not sure it’s lacking support really. I mean, house music is heard everywhere. Perhaps not always the house music of the best choice, but surely it is in everyone's world. On the other hand, if someone says house music should stay underground, I think that’s just kind of a strange thing to say. As a creator of music, I don’t really care, I just try my best to stay true to myself and to make good music.
Your view as far as the media are concerned. Your references on the media front?
I think the media to a huge extent are mirroring the general opinion, rather than creating it. I don’t really blame them for anything, but surely I wouldn’t mind some more education rather than just writing the type of stuff people expect to read. Some more indepth articles about music wouldnt hurt neither in these times we’re living.
The Swedish scene has been the subject of some serious coverage – not to say seen as the latest hype around – at the end of the 80’s/beginning of the 90’s ; the journalist using the expression of ‘Nordik Beat’ back in the days. Anything you would remember from this period in terms of producers/artists/pieces of music?
He he ! Damned I was only 11 years old in 1990 and didn’t have any idea of how and what house music was. So I don’t hoestly have any view of how things were back then.
Anyone who might have influenced you?
As far as music is concerned, I've always taken more inspirations from whole scenes/musical styles rather than individual artists. Pretty much all kinds of music have given me inspiration, except for really cheesy pop and heavy metal. If ever obliged to drop some names, I would say Bill Evans, Pat Metheny, Quincy Jones, McCoy Tyner, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway being are among the people who have influenced me a lot as a musician, and therefore made an impact on my producing as well.
Let us know about the current club scene in your country...
Absolutely nothing of interest at the moment. Luckily I can travel to other countries and play, like most Swedish producers do. Swedish clubs are filled with music more suitable for fashion shows than dancing. Electro (not electro/house), new rave, and bullshit like that. I feel like Sweden is in a state of not caring much about music at all which is sad. I really hope that will change soon.
Any place/record store you would recommand when going to Sweden? Some radio to listen to?
The Raw Fusion record label is a great stronghold to look for. Both in the shops, and with their club nights. One of the only clubs in Stockholm with really good music.
Sweden has always had the reputation of being quite active on the music front. Any specific reason?
That’s a tough question to answer. But to try and not get too deep, I think it has to do with local factors. Education is free here, so people can study music and arts, and not only have to concentrate on the things that will get them a stable job. Also, the social system allows to take sone risks rather than going for the safest career choice.
We have a tradition of starting music pretty early here, which is also a factor worth to mention I think.
And I’m not even talking about its versatility, from disco to pop, house or classic jazz…
True, it’s quite amazing. As a metter of fact, I’m able to find the best musicians here, no matter what style I need them to play. Sweden is a small country and we are really always looking out of the borders for musical influence. That’s why I think Swedish musicians can master so many different styles.
Let us know about where you’re coming from… I mean, your background, influences, heroes, favourite songs…As said earlier, there are a few names which inspired me as a musician, but I'm not really a person to have musical heroes. Never been actually. I started playing piano when I was 6 and I started playing jazz when I was about 12-13. I worked as a studio/performance musician for a few years before going into production. Back then I was doing all kinds of stuff, both the fun stuff, like playing behind a cool artist in front of thousands of people, to the really crappy stuff, like playing ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ in front of 5 drunk people at a wedding at 3 in the morning, then having to carry my Fender Rhodes back home by myself!!!
Any specific thing/reason which has decided you to invest yourself on the music front?
There was never really any choice for me. Starting from the age of 14 I never had any other idea than being a full time musician. So I had no choice but to make it!
Your debut?
As a musician I can't remember, I was too young. But my first house music release was in 2002 on Black Vinyl, and that was the original version of ‘Never Felt So Fly’ (later remixed and rereleased on Farplane Records in 2004)
Looks like you’re strongly linked with people such as SUMO and Markus Enochson. Could this been seen as THE Swedish connection???
I'm not so musically linked with them anymore, though I used to play piano for their productions, but that’s ages ago now, about 7 years or so. But it’s true, we have a pretty tight network of people. I've also helped a few members of the Swedish house mafia with some piano work on some occasions. We have a good vibe amongst each other, and I feel producers are really supporting each other, no matter what style they are making.
Anyone else as a part of this? Any emerging talent to watch out?
Some more names that I feel are a big part of the Swedish dance music thing are Tiger Stripes, Tyken, Locktown, and probably some more which I forgot the names of at the moment. But as far as the general networking goes, I'd say we're pretty much all a part of it, from the house mafia guys to the deeper crew.
The globalization has obviously abolished the frontiers as far as music is concerned, with a bit collaborations from a country to another… Let us know about some of those you’ve been working with, beginning with Danish upcoming producer Ron Gelfer who’s recently been the subject of heavy attention with ‘Your Beat Sounds Like’ originally released on your label…
Yeah, Ron’s contribution was such a great track to have on the label. Other artists on Farplane such as Feet and UPZ have been a delight to work with as well. Not to mention the remixers, Jay-J, Reel People, Axwell, SUMO, and forthcoming Miguel Migs and Alf Tumble.
Melo who heavily features on your 2 Far album released on Japanese Victor Entertainment label…
Yeah, Melo is the person who I collaborate the most with both in the studio as well as live. A fantastic artist, and we should be able to hear his own work released pretty soon too.
Let us know a bit more about this album of yours...
In fact, there hasn’t been one but two albums released in Japan in 2006, compiling my originals and remixes. Part 1 is called So Far and Part 2, 2 Far. They are unmixed compilations. It was fun to hear all my stuff in an album format. I think it worked great!
This leading us to your recent tour in the Empire Of The Rising Sun. How have you lived this experience?
I've been to Japan 6 or 7 times during the last 2 years, and it’s been a blast every time. My albums were really successful over there, so the tours have been fantastic. It’s a really friendly country with great interest in music. And knowledge! They really know their stuff so its a delight to play to a Japanese crowd!
I've been getting a lot of opportunities over there, such as starting my own compilation series, which have allowed me to present some friends of mine to the Japanese audience such as Simon Grey and Richard Earnshaw.
What about Clara Mendes who’s been the vocalist on many of your 12’’ releases?
Clara Mendes is a newcomer on my label. She’s the one who sings on my new single, ‘Demanda’. She just moved from Brazil to Sweden. I think she is gonna have a great career here.
About RaFa?
RaFa is a pseudonym I came up with when I made the remix of Junior Jack's ‘Esamba’. It was promoed as a secret vinyl and Defected didn’t wanna give away my name before the official release. Then I kept on using it for some of the dubbier mixes I did, and lately I've been seeing more of those. So expect a lot of RaFa in the future!
I also have a thing called RaFa Trio, which is me together with singer Melo and percussionist Thomas Eby. We are doing DJ gigs with live elements as well as studio work together.
How do you perceive the remixing process on itself? Being in the position to have one of your productions reworked? When relifting the work of someone else?
To me, remixing is quite an interesting process. It’s somehow possible to be more brave in the approach you take on a tune than you would with a song of your own. I really like remixing. And to have a track of your own to be remixed is a great feeling as well. To see what elements in a song a remixer chooses to focus on is very interesting and sometimes very surprising!
As a producer, do you tend to work on the basis of some preestablished schema, like having the lyrics and create the melody or whatever?
That varies a lot, but I usually sit by the piano and try to write most of the song before taking it into the studio. Most producer let the singer come up with either the lyrics or the melody, often both. But I prefer to do it myself if I can. Guess I'm a bit of a control freak. I write a lot of songs for other things than house too so the songwriting bit is definitely an important part of what I do. But I like to sometimes just start with a kick drum and see where I'll end up too!
Last but not least, your forthcoming projects?
I have so much music and musical projects in my head at the moment that it’s almost hard to decide what to focus on. What I can say is that I will come up with some things that are both softer and tougher than before, so you can expect a lot more variations from me. Also, I hope to be travelling to DJ in a lot of places I haven’t been yet.
One thing never asked to you which you'd like to express?
Ha ha… Another one! Can't think of anything right now, guess I've been asked too many questions.
Tack so mycket, speak soon. MFSB
RASMUS FABER featuring CLARA MENDES - ‘Demanda’ (Farplane)
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