Há dias o Opus Sound publicou a sua crítica ao disco de Ugress e agora aproveita para conduzir mais uma pequena entrevista. Gisle Martens Mayer respondeu a algumas questões acerca do seu estilo musical, das suas influências, do cinema e dos planos para o futuro, deixando antever um 2010 muito movimentado.Mostrando-se bastante simpático e falador, Gisle mostrou ainda que tem uma forte ligação com Portugal, país a que espera poder voltar em breve. A entrevista segue em baixo, no original.
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Opus Sound (OS): Hi, Ugress! First of all, tell us a bit about yourself and your musical background.
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Gisle Mayer (GM): Hello, how are you guys! Thanks for having interest in my music. My name is Gisle Martens Meyer and I'm the person behind the Ugress project. I have the best world in the job, to write cinematic electronica for you, me, films, TV and computer games! I do not have any theoretical (or practical) music education, but I have worked with music and sound on computers all the way back since the Commodore 64. I grew up simultaneous with the digital music revolution, I became professional simultaneous with the Internet as the music distribution platform, and since 2002 I have made a living from music in some way or other.
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OS: You’ve been lunching some albums for a few years now, but “Reminiscience”, your latest, seems to have reached a larger audience. What has changed in your sound between the first record and "Reminiscience"?
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GM: Good question. I'm not sure but perhaps the answer is simple; I keep developing as an artist and I grow slowly and patiently. I experiment and fail and I sometimes I release good stuff and sometimes not so good stuff, but hopefully over time it all gets a little bit better. I think my sound changes all the time.
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OS: Who are your main influences, the ones who really define the goal you want to achieve in and with your music?
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GM: That shifts all the time, there isn't really one obvious influence. I am constantly inspired and influenced by movies, perhaps more than contemporary music. From time to time I can fall in love with a recent release and be inspired by that, and I do sample a lot, constantly checking out old music and unknown weirdness, and I love finding little treasures in the least expected places. From a historic perspective, I grew up with a fascination for computer game music, and the Amiga demoscene, so for the first years that was important. During the 90'ies I listened a lot to industrial music, darker eletronica and things like that. Then I moved onto film music. So that sums it up I think...
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OS: The Nordic countries have been giving us some of the best music around. What’s your secret?
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GM: Introvert society and long winters where everyone sits at home in front of the computer making music. Also, my hometown, stuck between high mountains, is famous for it's eternal rain, and if it doesn't rain, the smog lays thick, so we even sit inside making electronica during summers...
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OS: I’m a science teacher myself (biology and geology). Is there science in (your) music?
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GM: Yes. There is science on a superficial level, where the setting or title of a track (or album) maybe sets up a scientific or science fiction based premise. Also, I'm sometimes kind of academic or scientific in my approach to production and work, which might not come across in the music itself but it's still there.
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OS: Some of your music has been compared to that of Röyksopp. Does it bother you?
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GM: No it doesn't bother me at all, but naturally I have the very common human envy of their skills, and their success. But I have no problem with this envy, it is healthy to have greatness to compare with. They are excellent makers of electronic pop music, I especially think their instrumental tracks are fantastic.
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OS: Your latest album is rather eclectic. How does one puts together pop, funk, dub, cinematic soundtracks and techno and make it work?
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GM: Another great question. And thank you for the compliment! I think, but I am not sure, it could be because I have my own "voice". Or "sound"; I'm not sure what the word is in English, but; I think I have a sort of sound, or method, or whatever, which is "me". I can then put very much different, even genres, into that formula, and it somehow works. I should do better research into that, regarding the previous science question!
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OS: “The Bosporus Incident” has guitar elements which remind me of Fado, a music style born here in Portugal. Have you ever heard it and was it intentional?
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GM: I am quite familiar with Fado, I have some old vinyl records of it I picked up in Lisboa a few years ago. I haven't experienced it live, I'm too afraid of ending up in a tourist trap so my only experience is on LP. My searching it out was intentional, yes. I had read about it before going to Portugal a few years ago, I love nostalgia, just look at the title of my latest album, it is a wordplay on that. Fado is a music style, or tone, that very much speaks to me, I love the haunting nostalgia of it.
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OS: How does cinema influence your sound?
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GM: Very much, as mentioned above. I watch a lot of movies, I listen very much to film music, and I even like to listen to movies playing on my iPhone while walking, instead of music. I am very inspired by the sound of movies, not only the music but how sound and dialogue all fits together to create a world. I think you can spot attempts to that atmosphere in some of my tracks (hopefully).
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OS: Name three movies you would have liked to score.
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GM: Ubik, from the book by Philip K Dick, not filmed yet, but if someone ever made it, I'd love to score it.Avatar, because I think the music was a little bit too new age and tribal (not dissing Horner which is a great composer but I think the music should be more scifi and futuristic). The third movie is a secret, but I'm in the talks for doing a full length movie this summer and I really hope this works out, so that's the third movie.
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OS: Two words: “blogs” and “web”. Do you think they are helpful tools for artists (even if in a passive kind of way) or do they just hurt more than they help?
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GM: If you are active, they can be very helpful, or at least, there is a lot of potential there. The potential of course can be mis-used. I think the most important aspect of the web opportunities is the direct link between artist and fan. I removes a previous barriage, there is no longer a record company and a newspaper or TV station deciding which artists get to say what to who. But it can be challenging. It takes a lot of work, and like with music, you have to do things "right", you can't just do it, there needs to be something special there. I'm not particular good at this yet, but like with the music, it's a constant improvement situation. Try, fail, try again, fail a little better, try again, maybe succeed :)
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OS: What are you currently working on?
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GM: Wrapping up the music for Norwegian TV series. Next Ugress album, coming later this year. Debut album for chiptune artist Ninja 9000.
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OS: Name three albums your listening to at the moment.
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GM: Devotchka - How It Ends; Steve Jablonsky - Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (music from the video game, my guilty "ooh thats a nice effect" pleasure); Front Line Assembly - Tactical Neural Implant (this album I am ALWAYS listening to).
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OS: Any chance your visiting Portugal anytime soon?
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GM: I would very much like to. Been to Lisbon several times (there are pics from the Jardim Botânico in my blog!), its a few years since last time, I really miss it and I really miss the Ginja... The plan for 2010/2011 is to do more touring and less scoring, a concert or two in Portugal is very high on my wishlist.
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OS: Thanks a lot, Ugress, for taking the time to answer these questions. Opus Sound truly hopes you have lots of success. Looking forward to know about that secret movie project you're into. See you soon!
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