Veteran electronic producer Digital 21 and Placebo’s Stefan Olsdal announce their first German and UK live club shows in Berlin at Berghain Kantine on 24th March and London’s Hoxton Bar + Kitchen on 26th March.
We go 1 on 1 for a quick chat:
1.Digital 21 (Miguel) and Stefan Olsdal came about as a natural collaboration between peers in the same field of music, is that correct?
Our music interests lie in many different types, from classical to rock to electronic. We’re both just passionate about music, and that is what really unites us.
- You and Miguel work on the same kind of music, using similar beats, when you work together do the sessions just flow or do you sometimes clash?
Very seldom do we clash. We write either together or in our separate studios, and we seem to be working on the same frequency pretty much all the time wherever we are.
- Are there any artists in genres apart from electronic who you look to for musical inspiration?
There is an endless list, from artists before our time to what is happening now. There is a never-ending wealth of inspiration and beauty to be taken from all styles and forms of music.
- Listening to yours and Miguel’s album ‘Inside’ I noticed a predominant theme of string instruments. Can you tell us more about why as a collaboration, you choose this as a main element in the album?
We took a long time to find the right starting point for the project. With 20 years of experience making music we wanted to work with instruments and elements that evoke a certain depth and timelessness. The sound of a string quartet definitely does that.
- Your album consists of great female vocalists from the likes of Helen Feng, and cuushe. What is it about female vocalists that you seem to lean towards when pairing them with your instrumentals?
These are voices that we are naturally drawn to as listeners, so it felt very natural to ask these singers if they wanted to collaborate.
6.If you could choose a vocalist to sing to your instrumentals, who would it be and why? And, is there a particular song on the album which you could imagine them singing on?
There are many!! For the time being we are concentrating on performing these songs live. Going forward we are contemplating all options, including more singing by ourselves.
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Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal – Placebo - ‘Inside’ grew into an album while travelling back and forth from Madrid to London. Stefan, you recently mentioned that it gave the songs a ‘fruitful journey’ ‘Like sending the tracks into orbit and slowly pulling them back to earth covered in space dust’. What was it about both the UK and Spain that influenced the sound of ‘Inside’?
Songs, like people, do not want to be held back. They don’t like to be tied to a place or a flag, they just happen to have been born where we live. And having been sent back and forth over the internet, they probably acquired even more restless souls!
- Lastly, could you describe your album ‘Inside’ using three words?
Life starts inside.
Tickets on sale now:
Saturday 24th March – Germany, Berlin, Berghain Kantine
Monday 26th March – UK, London, Hoxton Bar + Kitchen
Other Concerts:
Sunday 18th March Radio 3 Festival (Madrid)
Tuesday 20th March TVE2 (Spanish National Tv)
Watch the original “Spaces” video here: https://d21so.lnk.to/SpacesVideo
The remix by Timo Maas and James Teej is out and available digitally here: https://d21so.lnk.to/spacesremix
The whole remix album of ‘Spaces’ is available here:
https://d21so.lnk.to/remixalbum
MORE INFO:
STEFAN OLSDAL (Placebo) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_band
DIGITAL 21 (Miguel Lopez Mora) – http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/digital21
Editor/Author of Music Content: Sharna Bains.
Instagram: sweetsavage (@sharna_bains
