Creating Negative Spaces With Trentemøller

Trentemøller is a music journalists' worst nightmare—his music is mercurial and indefinable, leaping from electronic to punk rock in mere seconds, leaving his critics at a loss for how to eloquently describe the Danish-born multi-instrumentalist's layered masterpieces. I walked into the interview expecting to meet a quiet, introspective artist, possibly even shy. After all, I figured, most of his work is tinged with a particular brand of soulful melancholia I most often associate with moody young men with penchants for dramatic pauses. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Trentemoller met me on the empty dance floor of the Mod Club before the doors opened for the 7 PM start, bouncy and full of energy despite being near the end of a grueling two-year tour promoting his most recent album Lost. He talked a mile a minute, sharing personal photos from previous shows, even bonding over our mutual lifelong love of The Cure. The most immediately striking thing about the artist though is his extreme curiosity, which is probably the secret ingredient to his success.

"Daily routines inspire me, a walk at the beach by my studio inspires me, a walk in the rain, a conversation with a friend, seeing an art film, listening to other artists, all of it comes into play when I'm creating." I asked him about the seeming disparity between his happy disposition and his melancholic music, wondering what that dynamic was like. He laughed and then explained that his music is always a personal account—his albums are a reflection on his personal feelings and tastes over the period in which it was created. "I'm not good at writing down my thoughts and feelings, so it all comes through my music." A serious David Lynch admirer, Trentemoller explained that the music he finds enticing are the tracks you listen to again and again, each time finding new details. "I love the complexity and the openness of [David Lynch's films], they're like a dream and a nightmare at the same time. He doesn't tell the audience what to think. I think that's so important to film and to music—leaving negative spaces for contemplation and interpretation."

Using his music as a platform for actual self-expression is not just a cathartic experience for Trentemoller—it's also what keeps his music moving forward, and him exploring and creating sounds outside of what he has become comfortable with.

He doesn't try to force anything. "I can see during the creative process if there is a particular sound that I pick out and work on and develop, but it always comes from an organic place, it presents itself to me. My music is a reflection on my personal life and tastes, all of which changes over time, so when it comes time to developing my sounds for the next album, it comes fluidly." Although it comes fluidly to Trentemøller, sometimes his fans/critics aren't quite so accommodating. "That's also what makes it so confusing for people," he conceded. "The critics sometimes don't know what to do with it—it's not indie rock, it's not strictly electronic, it's not kraut-rock—sometimes people aren't too happy that I jump around, but to me it all comes from the same place."

While some people have described Trentemøller most recent album Lost as an antithesis to his previous work, Trentemøller hesitates at the assessment. "I don't ever think that an album should be something that is opposite the former album, or should somehow react against the original stuff that you were doing," he said thoughtfully. "But that being said, I don't really want to do the same album twice, so I always try to just see where the music takes me and not force it. If I start thinking about what a record label is going to make of it, it's all done for me. Game over."

The album came about in a bit of a reverse order, according to the artist. Initially setting out to make a fully instrumental album, four weeks into the project Trentemøller found himself writing songs with specific singers in mind, eventually leading to a massive collaborative effort. "I started to write the songs, and early on in the writing process I had specific singers in mind for the tracks. Then I went out and tried to see if I could contact these artists," he explained. Admittedly shy about sharing his rough work, Trentemøller was anxious about getting the vocalists to say yes to the project. "It was quite a nerve-breaking time—I started contacting these artists and I was lucky in the end because everyone said yes, and I think maybe because the tracks were made for them from the beginning. If one artist had said no, it really would have been a problem for me to be honest." The challenge with the album overall was to create one which was Trentemøller's work being given life by others, rather than a feature album loaded with guest names. "That's why I also did an instrumental version of the album, because the tracks work really nicely on their own. It was definitely a huge challenge making a homogeneous album with five different contributing singers on board."

Sadly our chat had to come to a close, as the doors started opening and eager fans started lining up outside. Finishing up I asked Trentemøller what was next. "A lot of sleep," he said laughing. "No, I plan to stop touring for a year and a half and focus completely on the studio. It's just me in the studio when I work on my music—I really love that loneliness, it helps me so much."