{"id":16627,"date":"2020-02-22T13:17:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-22T12:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/?p=16627"},"modified":"2023-10-19T22:02:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T20:02:51","slug":"interview-antipole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/en\/interview-antipole\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Antipole"},"content":{"rendered":"

Antipole is the name of the post-punk\/darkwave project with a 80s vibe of\u00a0Karl Morten Dahl together with Paris Alexander and Eirene. After releasing a first album with the Spanish label Unknown Pleasures, last year they published the critically acclaimed Radial Glare.<\/em> We had the opportunity of seeing some of these songs live during their concert at the W-Fest in 2018. We have talked with Karl about a project that was born to impress his girlfriend but has ended up impressing everybody.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>You played in a psych\/pop band called AqPop, from 2003 to 2006, and recorded Beautifully \"\"Smart<\/span><\/em> with them, right? What can you tell us about this period of your life?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>Thanks for getting in touch! In the period 2000 to 2005, I was very into psych and folk music (The Byrds<\/span><\/strong>, Steeleye Span<\/span><\/strong> and Dipsomanaics,<\/span><\/strong> etc.) and some of the songs I wrote under this influence appear on the AqPop<\/span><\/strong> album Beatifully Smart<\/span><\/em> (2004), which was released on CD by 35g Records. We did about 15 live gigs. In Oslo, Liverpool but mostly in our hometown Trondheim. I had finished my studies at the university, started to work and gotten kids so eventually it faded out somehow. I still think we released some strong pop songs! AqPop<\/span><\/strong> are still active but without me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014You were into indie rock before creating Antipole, and listened to bands like Guided by Voices. Do you think that some of your first influences can still be heard in your music?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>Not very apparent at least, but some songs like \u201cLa Vie Apr\u00e9s\u201d and \u201cLe Moment\u201d could have been arranged and recorded with the indie approach I would say. I\u2019m pretty sure the sadness\/melancholy from the folk music years have been important to my songwriting and still is. I was listening a lot to the Bel Canto<\/span><\/strong> album Shimmering, Warm and Bright<\/span><\/em> and I think at least part of the ethereal side of Antipole<\/span><\/strong> stems from listening to Bel Canto<\/span><\/strong> in the \u201990s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014The debut instrumental EP of the band (2014) is called Panoply. Songs for AC. <\/span><\/em>According to you, it\u2019s an EP of \u201clofi instrumental postpunk\u201d. AC are the initials of the name of your girlfriend. When you recorded it, did you see it as a present or just the beginning of a new musical adventure?\"\"<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>No, those 8 songs\/sketches were recorded one by one and presented to my girlfriend Anne-Christel. I was just trying to impress her. I didn\u2019t imagine anything more than that at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014You said that you wanted the songs to sound like they were written in 1983, inspired by The Cure and Joy Division. It gives me the opportunity to ask you one of my favourite questions. What do you find so special\/interesting in that period?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>It\u2019s hard to pinpoint. I assume there\u2019s a lot of nostalgia to it. I was too young in the early \u201980s to get into The Chameleons<\/span><\/strong>, The Sound<\/span><\/strong>, Joy Division<\/span><\/strong> and the early New Order<\/span><\/strong> stuff so I\u2019ve mainly been experiencing that part of the early \u201980s from old pictures, video clips and the music released back then. There\u2019s something with the old school TVs, VHS tapes though. My childhood maybe. That said, the whole pre-Internet era seems pretty romantic and nostalgic these days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014In your first EP Getting Frequent Now<\/span><\/em>, there is one song sang by Mats Davidsen, and the rest by Paris Alexander. When did you think that you needed a singer (or two)? If Antipole had started at the end of the seventies, who, from that period, do you think could have been the perfect singer for the band?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>After the Panoply, Songs for AC,<\/span><\/em> I released some digital singles (Someday 45<\/span><\/em>, Narcissus<\/span><\/em>). I was excited about the songs and started thinking they would be even better with vocals and proper production. I guess that\u2019s when I started thinking doing something more with the Antipole<\/span><\/strong> project than impressing Anne-Christel! I approached Mats Davidsen (he lives in Trondheim too) which I remembered from an AqPop<\/span><\/strong> gig we did with his band Wallpaper Silhouettes<\/span><\/strong> around 2003. Wallpaper Silhouettes<\/span><\/strong> had some of that 80s feeling and he\u2019s got such a great voice. He did vocals for \u201cDeco Blue\u201d \u2014 which I loved. I wanted to do more with him, but he didn\u2019t want to do more at the time. So I just went on searching and eventually got in touch with Paris Alexander.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perfect singer from that period? Maybe a young Mark Burgess, Adrian Borland or Ian Curtis.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014Paris Alexander and Eirene are your main collaborators. Can you please tell us more about them? How did you meet them?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>Paris Alexander and Eirene are artists living in Brighton, UK. I got in touch with Paris Alexander via the Internet mid-January 2017 when I started searching for a producer\/vocalist that could make my songs sound better. He remixed \u201cNarcissus\u201d and added some vocals. I really loved it and we\u2019ve continued to work since then obviously. Later his girlfriend Eirene joined in and added vocals on many of the songs. Paris Alexander runs Blue Door Studios and releases his own music as well. And with Simon, Martin (who have all performed live with Antipole<\/span><\/strong>). Eirene has also released her own music (Jhana<\/span><\/em> EP, 2019). Check it out! Lovely people to work with.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014They also play with you live, is it difficult to rehearse and tour, living in different countries?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>It\u2019s not easy obviously. We\u2019ve got two shows scheduled for 2020. Brighton in May (with The Snake Corps<\/span><\/strong>) and at the Young & Cold Festival in Augsburg, Germany in September. We rehearse separately and rarely get to rehearse together, but we are planning for at least one full rehearsal before the Brighton gig.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014They also write the songs with you. How would you describe the creative process in Antipole?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>They write lyrics, vocal melodies and synth lines+drums\/percussion. The creative process is me writing an instrumental song with bass, multiple guitars and plain drums. Paris Alexander then uses these guitar\/bass tracks to develop a song structure adding electronic drums\/percussion, synths and arranging it. Paris Alexander and\/or Eirene then write lyrics and add vocals. Some of the tracks are perfect right away while others are edited\/redone a bit back and forth between me and them until they sound like I\u2019ve envisioned them in my head or often better. I\u2019ve also been working with IAMTHESHADOW<\/span><\/strong>, Kill Shelter<\/span><\/strong>, L\u2019Ordre d\u2019H\u00e9lo\u00efse<\/span><\/strong>, Camilla Sombrio<\/span><\/strong>\/Lory Fayer<\/span><\/strong> and, of course, Mats Davidsen. I\u2019m not a vocalist nor producer so working with other people is both a pleasure and necessity for me. Lo-fi instrumentals aren\u2019t that interesting in the long run, haha.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Northern Flux<\/span><\/em> (2017) was the band\u2019s first album, full of great hypnotic songs. How do you manage to keep the album interesting when it uses repetition a lot and keeps a very similar \"\"sound in all the album?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>Thanks! It\u2019s hard for me to say. I like to think it\u2019s due to good songs, but it\u2019s up to others to decide. The songs need to have a hook, a feeling or something else to it. The ethereal feeling and sadness\/melancholy is a central part of what I consider Antipole<\/span><\/strong> songs should have.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Why did you choose to end your first album with a cover of Joy Division. Do you know why it\u2019s removed from the Spotify version of the album?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>It was my favourite Joy Division<\/span><\/strong> song at the time and a song I used for inspiration when I wasn\u2019t sure what Antipole<\/span><\/strong> should be yet. It\u2019s been a while since I recorded that cover. September 2016, I think. It was a year before Norther Flux<\/span><\/em> was released and it later during the discussions with Unknown Pleasures Records the idea including the instrumental came up. A great suggestion by Pedro of UPR.<\/span><\/p>\n

The label took care of the necessary copyrights for the CD version. I didn\u2019t know how to do that for the digital distribution and for simplicity I choose not to include the cover. It also made the CD version have a bonus track.<\/p>\n

\u2014In 2018, you published a remix album called Perspective<\/span><\/em>, how did you get the idea for this? Most of the artists have also collaborated with you, right?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>It started late 2017 when me and Paris Alexander remixed IAMTHESHADOW<\/span><\/strong> and soon after Hante.<\/span><\/strong> I really liked doing those. Then I approached friends and\/or artists that I really like about remixing Antipole<\/span><\/strong> songs. When having 5\u20136 done I started to think it would be great to compile all of them together. Which we did releasing Perspectives.<\/span><\/em> Having other artist\u2019s perspective\/take on Antipole<\/span><\/strong> songs have been really exciting. Many of the remixes add something that\u2019s not so obvious or is absent in the original. We\u2019re releasing another remix album this spring. 12 songs and 12 new remixers. None of them on Perspectives<\/span><\/em>. Got about 10 finished now. Really thrilled about many of the remixes!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014You have also been remixing (with Paris Alexander) other artists too (Hante. Agent Side Grinder, Clan of Xymox, Geometric Vision). Which one of the remixes done by you do you like the most? What do try to add to the original when you remix a song?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>I try to add the Antipole<\/span><\/strong> touch or feeling to it \u2014 whatever that is. I approach a remix much in the same way I work on my own songs \u2014 trying to add interesting guitars with a certain feeling or hook. Then Paris Alexander gets my stems and the stems from the original version and add synths, arrange it and produce it until we\u2019re happy with the result. Eirene has added beautiful backing vocals on some of the remixes (Buzz Kull<\/span><\/strong>, Clan of Xymox<\/span><\/strong> and more). I remix only songs I really love. It wouldn\u2019t be any interesting for me nor the listeners if not. And of course, there is only so much time to do it. It\u2019s impossible to pick a favorite, but the Hante.<\/span><\/strong> remix was special since it was one of the first remixes me and Paris Alexander did. I still come back to that one regularly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014The new album Radial Glare<\/span><\/em> has received really good reviews. How do you think that the sound and the songwriting of the band have improved in these years?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>I think it sounds more accomplished and more the way I\u2019ve been aiming for it to sound. I think me and Paris Alexander working on all the remixes have benefited to how Radial Glare<\/span><\/em> sound. Some of the songs on Radial Glare<\/span><\/em>, like \u201cPart Deux\u201d and \u201cDecade Apart\u201d were written around the time Northern Flux<\/span><\/em> was released while others like \u201cSyndrome,\u201d \u201cJuly Supine\u201d and \u201cLe Moment\u201d were written not long before Radial Glare<\/span><\/em> was fully completed. I don\u2019t think the songwriting is that much different. I don\u2019t \u201cwrite\u201d songs, they come to me in a way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How was working with Marc Lewis from eighties band The Snake Corps in the new album? They are going to play with your band in Brighton, right?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>It was a delight working with Marc. He\u2019s got this perfect 80s wave tone to his vocals and wrote a beautiful melody and lyrics to my instrumental tracks. Paris Alexander added synths and produced them as he did with all the other tracks on the album. Yeah, we will do a show with The Snake Corps<\/span><\/strong> in May in Brighton, UK. Excited about that!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What are the band\u2019s plans for the future? You are going to play at Young and Cold 8, aren\u2019t you?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>Me and my girlfriend went to last year\u2019s festival to see Actors<\/span><\/strong>, Minuit Machine<\/span><\/strong>, Rue Oberkampf<\/span><\/strong> and more. Great location, people, bands and label! The plans are to do these two live shows. There will be the second remix album coming in the spring and a few of the remixes me and Paris Alexander have done will get a proper release. I\u2019m working on new material, but no new album scheduled yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What can you tell us of the band\u2019s past concert at W-Fest?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/strong>We did our 3rd<\/span><\/sup> show ever in the Wave Cave at W Fest August 2018. And sharing stage with bands we adore like Clan of Xymox<\/span><\/strong>, She Past Away<\/span><\/strong>, Chameleons<\/span><\/strong> and Ash Code<\/span><\/strong> was surreal. We did a 45-minute set with mostly Northern Flux<\/span><\/em> songs and a couple that were later part of Radial Glare<\/span><\/em>. A big stage, great audience and an amazing lineup. I\u2019d recommend any band to perform there and, of course, people to go to the festival!<\/span><\/p>\n