TRENTEMØLLER TAKES A PAGE FROM PORTISHEAD

Hot off the heels of a momentous gig at Coachella, Anders Trentemøller and his six piece band are set to play Spain's SOS festival this weekend. Although SOS is a smaller upstart festival, it promises to be just as memorable, with other live bands like Suede and the Kooks and DJs like Tiga also on the two-day lineup.


Trentemøller's live band have been in good company lately at their gigs. "We've been so lucky about all of our sold-out shows," frontman Anders Trentemøller tells Spinner. "The crowds have been really great."

This year's Coachella gig was the first big festival appearance in North America for the band.

"A lot of artists I really admire played the festival. It was really special. It was overwhelming," he says.

 

Their recent North American trek marks the first time Trentemøller and his band have appeared in America after two and a half years away, and their return was marked by their biggest shows yet thanks to the buzz behind their 2010 album, 'Into the Great Wide Yonder.'

As a renowned DJ, producer and remixer, Trentemøller's recent effort came as a delightful surprise. Trentemøller explains the departure, as "...just part of the development from the first to the last album that I created. I wasn't trying to get a particular sound. I just didn't want to do the same album twice."

"I am trying to mix both the electronic music world and the rock world together," he notes.

The sultry, lounge sound on Trentemøller's single 'Even Though You're With Another Girl,' is much like the ambient, jam rock sounds from Portishead.

"I was seeing them live a year ago and it was really great," says Trentemøller. "They were not your usual electronic act, they were more like a band, and that's what I am trying to do. Their latest album was a big inspiration for me -- their music really developed and it wasn't in the same style as before; they transformed into something more than just a trip-hop act."

Trentemøller is making the most of the live show setting, with his own keyboards, synthesizer and xylophone, and his bassist, guitarist, drummer and two singers. They work together to create a dynamic and well-crafted set in a mysterious atmosphere. Strips of fabric hang in front of the band during the first part of their show, providing a nice visual effect for the audience, especially when bright blue and red lights dance across the stage.

Compared with some of his past electronica-style gigs -- in which he played on a laptop or mixed CDs in clubs around Europe -- Trentemøller reveals: "It's more about the party in the club, and now were playing in better venues and it makes more sense for me right now. I have the possibility to improvise and play my music more creatively.

"Our sound has changed since we first started playing live; people gave us input and we changed. There is a freedom built into the sets we do, and we enjoy that because it makes it more fun for us to play at each show."

After many sold-out shows this time around in North America, let's hope crowds don't have to wait another two years for Trentemøller's live act to return.


 

 

Posted by Samplingculture.com
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