And that very day I found something special, namely Geld‘s first and only demo; Livshatförgöraren. I had no clue what it would sound like, but I figured I would like it, so I bought it.

I started listening to the demo when I got home, and I really wasn’t disappointed. They were good. Damn good. I remember thinking it sounded like slow electronic punk, and that is probably still the best way to describe it. It’s probably worth mentioning that I was listening a lot to EBM and electronic music at the time.

I friended Geld on MySpace (insert clever “Dude, remember MySpace?” joke here) and told them that I really enjoyed the demo. After a while I got a reply where they said thanks and asked me if I wanted to remix their tracks. Of course I did. Even considering saying no had been a stupid idea.

So they sent me a CDR with the stems of each track, except the vocals for one track caused it had apparently gotten lost. Even so, I was looking forward to it.

At the time I had gone from using Sony Acid to FL Studio, but I didn’t feel that FL would be the ideal environment for that specific project as I was still trying to get into it. Thus, it was back to Acid.

I loaded each stem for the first track and started cutting and re-arranging everything. Big chunks of guitars were discarded, and a three-second loop was used through-out the entire track.

And that was pretty much what I did; cutting, reversing and re-arranging everything. No fancy magic, no cheap or expensive effects. But you know what, I still think the remixes are as strong today as they were when I made them.

Geld played live at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress in 2008 and that’s when they released the CDR, Livshatförgöraren Version 2, containing the remixes. Years later, they released it for free on the internet.

But not only did I make my first remixes, I also made two new friends.

It took quite a while before I started to let the tracks breathe, forgetting about them for a week or two. But I still included them on every album or EP I released.

The first CDR that I released was called Villaförortens hemlighet, and then I used the alias O2FN. It was recorded using two crappy PC speakers and an equally crappy microphone. While each track consisted of at least two, or more, recordings it was still poorly thought through and a spur of the moment track. However, it was what I could do at the time.

If I went back today to re-record or re-arrange that old material, I would of course end up with something completely different. It would also be a lot more cut-up and edited. I’m not saying it would be any better, just different and not done with the same kind of excitement.

Almost a year after the first O2FN release I had gotten a lot more into noise and also bought a couple of pedals and a mixer. That eventually led to creating the alias Reversed Obesity, which still exists, because it wasn’t what Hjorten was.

Once again I used everything I recorded, and I rarely thought twice about the material. The first Reversed Obesity release was an mp3 EP and a full-length album named World came along shortly. But on World I had actually gone through the recordings. I don’t know how many recordings I made, but there were seven tracks on the album.

Lets not talk about the noise releases that followed World, there’s no point in talking about how half of Definition was recorded when I was drunk and unemployed.

In January 2011 I suddenly found myself in a bad state of mind, so I turned to noise once again. However, this time was different. Not only did I have more equipment, I also had more experience and ideas. I experimented and improvised more than before, and everything was recorded. In total it turned into around 50 hours worth of noise.

Weeks after initial recording, I sat down and listened through all of the material, editing and cutting out pieces I liked. Once I had what I thought would be enough I started to actually compose noise rather than just calling it a track. I let the composing take whatever time it needed and in the end I had ten complete tracks.

Around three months after I knew it was it complete, I went back to it. Listened to it over and over again, and I slowly realized that it was too much, and the tracklist was off. In the end I got rid of five tracks, re-arranged the tracklist several times. And now that I’ve sent it off to a label hoping that they will want to release it, I can actually say that I couldn’t have done more with it. It is as good as I can ever make it.

Of course, that only goes for that specific album.

(Picture 1 & 2: O2FN equipment. Picture 3: Reversed Obesity equipment used in 2007.)

In this digital world, I guess I’m still thinking the old way of releasing music. I would probably get more listeners (or “fans”) if I uploaded tracks on a regular basis, but these days music takes a long time for me to make. Now, I’m not saying David uploads too much music or anything. It’s just that we have a different ways of going about it. And the same goes for another friend of mine, Manifesto, he’s even more analog thinking than I am. And I’d say that either way is the right way.

I like the whole process of coming up with a theme or just a basic idea and then see where it takes me, though usually once I get an idea, the whole project unravels in my head. One or two years ago, one idea could be long tracks (we’re talking 20-30 minutes), and that was more or less a standard I had. Lately it’s not about the length (it wasn’t soley about the length before, of course), but what I want to get through, or what I can get through. Maybe there’s something more I want to do with the track, but I just can’t, so I leave it at what it is. In way it’s incomplete, but the more I listen to it, the more complete it gets.

I may have lost the initial point I was trying to make, if there even was one, but bottom-line is: everyone has different ways of making what they do, and different paces they work in. In the end it doesn’t really matter how you get there, just that you do.

Okay, it’s half past one in the night and I need to get to bed, please excause any typos in this rant.

During the year I’ll post sporadic updates on how the project is progressing. All I can say now is that I have no idea what it will sound like, but the title is Music From Escalators, and my plan is to make it all as one track, over an hour long.

The title is a paraphrase of Brian Eno‘s classic album Music For Airports.

My goal is for this project to be released on CD, most likely on deersound, unless I can find a label that is interested in releasing it.

One album, five EP’s and one gig.

So compared to the past two years I haven’t been that creative. Or well, I haven’t released as much.

The first release was the recording of my gig in Gävle, and in June came Bright Light which was a prelude to Staring Into Strange Eyes. The latter was, as you probably won’t remember, a long time in the making and it relieved a lot of stress.

During summer I spent some days in Ängelholm and recorded a whole bunch of sounds which turned into ÄH. The artwork for the EP was originally meant to consist of bead art and cross stitches, but there were some difficulties with that so I ended up using a map of the city.

On November 8th I curated a gig for which I not only made the poster, but I also made a video piece (and an EP with the same name). And I may or may not have been a part of a group which preformed.

And not too long ago, the birthday tradition lived on as I turned 28.

I managed to complete two projects during the year, but they have yet to be released. The main one being the new Reversed Obesity album (entitled Dirt), which I’ve been told is “damn good noise” and “rather violent”. I also finished a project based on vinyl crackling, the title for it is unknown at this time.

So what did I plan for 2011? What didn’t happen and what did? Let’s recap.

• Release of Staring Into Strange Eyes
  Yeah, in August.
• Hjorten / La Nausée collab
  Nope, but it was almost close.
• Release of a “secret” compilation project
  No, but it’s in the works.
• A full length album based on field recordings
  Not even close.
• A compilation based on vinyl crackling
  Sort of. It turned into an album but hasn’t been released.
• Gig(s)
  Yeah.

And my plans (or hopes I should say) for 2012?

• Release vinyl crackling album
• Release of the Hjort / Zetterberg / Åberg split
• Release of Reversed Obesity – Dirt
• Finish the escalator project
• Complete the “secret” compilation
• Gig(s)

My list is as follows:

• Marilyn Manson – Sweet dreams (are made of this) (Eurythmics)
• Frida Snell – Bullet with butterfly wings (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• Nirvana – Do you love me (Kiss)
• Reel Big Fish – Boys don’t cry (The Cure)
• The Prodigy – Fuel my fire (L7)

However, the list isn’t what this post is supposed to be about, it’s the way I was presented:
“sound collector from Uppsala who, for example, makes music with sounds from toilets, animals and porn.”

At first I wasn’t sure what to think about it. I mean, it’s not generally what I do anymore, but then again I still use “odd” sound sources. At least the noise maker brand appear to be disappearing, which is always a good sign.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with noise (and I have one release in the works), but it’s getting pretty tiring when people keep bringing it up “all the time”.

I don’t mind being in the paper, obviously, but I wish they would’ve asked for a more recent photo. The one they used was taken by them in early 2010 for an interview I did, and back then my beard wasn’t what it is today, and my hair was also way longer at that time.

Still, nice to get recognition.

And here’s the poster I made for the evening. It took me about two hours, while watching Child’s Play 1 and 2. Using two copies of Uppsalatidningen.

Introducing: Saltsten Mixtape.

Side A

1. Bloodhound Gang – Mama’s Boy (Hjort edit*)
2. Krumelur – The Antpeople
3. Dödfödd, DFT & Omikron – (En) Lång stubin
4. Einstürzende Neubauten – Seele Brennt
5. Beatfanatic – Jorden Skall Kalla (Earth)
6. Venetian Snares – Sajtban
7. Big Fish – Den blinde rasisten
8. Wolf Eyes – A Million Years
9. Black Label Society – Been A Long Time
10. Wu-Tang Clan – Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F Wit
11. Babylon Zoo – Spaceman

Side B

1. Kung Henry – Kanske lika bra
2. VCR – We Are VCR
3. En halvkokt i folie – Housecleaning with narcotics
4. Efterklang – Swarming
5. Mat åt far – Jämna plågor
6. Barak – Insane Tentacle
7. M-Beat – Style
8. Mat åt far – Äkta bra

* I cut the track right after Jimmy Pop says “Vagina” and then added an echo with long decay.

Introducing: Armbåge Mixtape

Side A

1. And One – Panzermensch
2. Öppenhjärna – Käken fri
3. Randy Graves – Didgital
4. Lisa Nordström – Iamsoareyou
5. Asta Kask – Psykopaten
6. Agonoize – Sacrifice
7. Carcass – Black Star
8. DODDODO – Calnenko
9. Krome & Time – Ganja Man

Side B

1. F.K.Ü. – Four Fingers Fatal To The Flesh
2. [The User] – .^.^.^%
3. Igorrr – Dieu Est-Il Un Etre?
4. Aavikko – Cafe Panama
5. Chilly & Leafy – Vart ska du ta vägen?
6. Aphex Twin – Digeridoo
7. MZ.412 – Unhealing Wounds
8. DFT – Hip poppare
9. Charles Manson – Sick City
10. KSMB – En slemmig torsk
11. Hjorten – I Kick Real Hard