Can you give a brief introduction to Elegant Machinery?
We are a bunch of guys who, now and then, have made electronic pop music together since the end of 1988. Over the years we’ve released some albums that some people would consider as classics these days.
Elegant Machinery started in 1988, in what way has elegant Machinery developed his music?
Well, it’s always hard to see the full picture when oneself is included in it, but I can at least say that we’ve gone from a somewhat naive synth-pop, to a more mature, driven sound. Also the structure of the songs have developed in a pleasant way – nowadays we dare to play around with the ideas a lot more. During the recording of our last album we transformed some songs so much from point A to point B, that you in some ways even couldn’t hear the tiniest pieces from the initial process.
Also the making and producing of music has changed a lot in 20 years, what are the most important changes for you?
I suppose all electronic instrument based musicians would agree on the same; computer technology. For me personally, who started to make synth music around 1982, it’s like another planet or form of life. Back then, since I was only around 11 years old, I was happy and fortunate enough to afford a couple of monophonic synths to compose with. Later on I even could afford to buy a decent drummachine, not being forced to use a semi-tight drummer. With Elegant Machinery in the past we could only record some eight MIDI tracks on a hardware sequencer , editing the stuff in a tiny, lo-res LCD. In these modern times, all production is computer based, being able to record unlimited channels of both audio and MIDI, keeping real hardware analog synths outside the computer, while housing massive loads of software versions inside. Also the possibilities of the Internet have made the workflow a lot more convenient – now each one of us can sit in our own private studios and work with each other in realtime on the same song. As anyone can tell, the possibilities are endless. The negative part of this though is that the former limitation in the workflow forced oneself to restrict the recording process, so one had to stop the adding of sounds. But thanks to our knowledge and experience how it used to be, we automatically work a lot like we used to back in the old, hard days…
After a break of 6 years Elegant Machinery was brought back to life, why did you restart Elegant Machinery?
Even though we split up the band back in the end of the 90’s, we never stopped performing really. We believed that the fans in every country and city that never saw us live back when we were active, still had the right to do this later on. After a while we realized that we still loved what we’ve accomplished and the production fire got lit again. First we released the single “Feel The Silence” to see if the world was ready for some new music from us. It instantly got a huge success and the story went on. To sum it all – it’s so much fun and pleasure to do what we do and we are very lucky to have such a big audience around the world who still wants us.
What did you do during the break of Elegant Machinery?
I directly went on to form what later on became Hype. I also collaborated with several bands, musicians and record labels from everywhere, which resulted in some duets and remixes released on several compilation albums. Back in 2000 I for three months moved down to Germany to record a full length album with a producer called Werner Seega – we called the band Enforce. Unfortunately some incidents ended it all with only a CD-maxi released, plus the participation on some samplers. As a matter of fact, I recently got back in touch with Werner and we are now talking about creating music together again, along with the creation of the next albums with eM and Hype. I also are in the planning of a solo project where I make duets with, for me, the most interesting artists around today. I will probably take my last breath in a studio somewhere far into the future… Ha ha ha ha!
You’ve won some prices for your music, what does this mean to you and does it give extra pressure for the future?
To some people this might seem strange, but those awards and prizes are only a bonus and a receipt on that we’ve done our job good enough. The pressure doesn’t come from there, but only from our selves – we are perfectionists and have always been. I suppose that this is the main key to getting some kind of career in the music business.
Call me crazy but on your MySpace profile there are 4 band members but on pictures we can only see 3 members, why is that?
Ha ha ha, no you are not crazy! Elegant Machinery have always had a complicated member history. We’ve always been the same four guys with only me and Richard as the steady members. To cut a long story short: Richard Jomshof (previously Johansson) and Leslie Bayne started to make music in the mid-late 80’s, they searched for a lead vocalist and I walked into the picture – eM was formed. Then Leslie found himself as a stranger being on stage, so we got in touch with Johan Malmgren and asked him to join us live. It all went so well that he became a real member shortly after. Leslie lost the lust for synthpop during the recording of “Shattered Grounds” in 1993, so he walked away. Then we were three again. When we a few years ago started to plan for our comeback, Leslie’s lust had come back, so he teamed up in the song writing and even to perform on stage. For several reasons he’s now only being a part of us in the studio. On top of this Johan Westberg, who some years ago was a member of Colony 5 and who’s also an old friend of ours, offered us to work in his country-side studio. He started to sit along with us, slowly becoming what I today would call as our invisible fifth member. He also is our sound engineer when performing live – next time you see us on stage, also pay some attention to the genius in the back!
Lots of people say synth-pop is dead these days but to us you are the living proof that there are still bands that are going on very strong, what is the future for synth-pop in your mind? Would it be more club orientated?
I’m one of those who’ve founded it harder and more complicated to describe music in genres. Of course we’re making what back in the 80’s best would have been described as synth-pop, but today it’s a confusing description. I mean, in these days there’s a lot of music made in the very same way as ours; pop structured songs, delivered in a sleek, electronic package. Also the usage of non-electronic instruments like electric guitars, bass guitars, strings or whatever might be used. Even though I find it hard to believe that eM would use any of those instruments anymore, even though we did on “Hard To Handle” – I mean, there’s still haven’t been any logic reason for us to do so – most fans of electronic music wouldn’t raise any eyebrow not even a micrometer if we would do it. So my conclusion is that there will still be a lot of club orientated synth music, parallel to the stuff we and others alike are doing. It all started with the lust of creating sounds never heard before to great songs. Then it doesn’t matter what other package we all put it in. Limitations is the death for synth-pop!
How do you create your lyrics and melodies because they are always very catchy, what is the secret of writing great melodies and hooklines?
First I have to make it clear that in Hype I’m writing everything together with David Elg, with the important input of Sanna Lundberg, while most music in eM are written by the other guys, even though I’m severely involved even there as a side-kick or whatever it might be called. Both bands are very equal and democratic where we all do our best to get it all going. In eM the lyrics are usually written by Richard Jomshof, even though I of course get the freedom to apprehend his words in my own way. But back to the question… I believe that the “secret” to be able to compose something interesting and catchy is to also be able to really listen to other great classics and dissect them into its smallest fragments. If one isn’t able to analyze every building block of great music, one won’t be able to create it either.
What’s next for Elegant Machinery?
Since we all are family men, with other jobs to do, we don’t have the time to work with the next album as fast as we wish to do. But there are new songs put together and in a not too distant future we will start the process of pre-production, which in a indescribable way warps into the final versions of the songs. One thing is for sure though, we all agrees in that we will and have to come out with a new album in a not too distant future.
You are also a member of Hype, did you found that band or joined them?
I found it and together with Sanna and David shaped it into what today is a wonderful unit.
In what way does singing in Hype deviate from singing in Elegant Machinery?
Since I’m taking such a big part of the song writing in Hype, I’m also able to direct the evolution of each song, so I can play around more with alternate vocal techniques. We also have worked with several guest vocalists, such as Toril of Alice In Videoland and Pascal of the legendary band Trans-X. Also Sanna are doing some lead vocals – on the next album she will take the full lead on at least one or two songs, since she’s got the power to do so. Me and David really love her voice!
In what way will the new album differ from the first one?
It will be slightly harder, heavier and more experimental. Not in a weird way, but we have started to take advantage of David’s and Sanna’s skills as bass and guitar players. Enemies of those instruments may remain silent until they’ve heard what we are able to do with those instruments. What makes them so useful is the way you can express the dynamics of each tone. When I formed Hype, I had the idea of in a way continue the legacy of eM, at the same time as I wanted to create sounds never made with eM. Now when we in eM are active again, it would be kind of annoying to do the same in Hype as well.
In Hype you work together with David Elg and Sanna Lundberg, what are their unique and strong points?
I must say that both of them has very open minds. They both have great skills in playing several instruments. As I mentioned before, Sanna’s voice is out of this world compared to most other female vocalists in other electronic bands and she’s just getting so damn much better and better. David is extremely good in spitting out humongous amounts of song ideas and fragments of those. On top of this, he’s adorable when it comes to create crazy ideas become sane in a weird way. I’m very lucky to be surrounded with such talented people in both bands!
Are there any plans for either Hype or Elegant Machinery to do a small tour in the near future?
The lack of time makes small tours the only option for us now. eM will most likely visit South Europe, as well as South and Mid America, as well as the west USA in the beginning of next year. However it all are loose plans so far – things might change, so I can’t promise anything. Concerning Hype I believe that we really have to get out a new album first, but then everything might happen. Then still I’m by now used to that there always might show up some offers from any promoter, good enough to make it worth it all.
Any last words for the readers?
Well, it’s you all out there who are making it all worth to continue in this sometimes dirty business! Keep the scene alive and ignore any prophetic words about that your favourite music is less good than others. Believe in the new, unheard noises and tunes. Keep it up!