Interview : Lasse Passage

Lasse Passage by Jørgen Werner

1. Your first musical memories?
When I was maybe 5 years old, my dad took me to the concert hall in Bergen to listen to the symphonic orchestra. After the concert he asked me what I have liked the most, upon which I referred to the part when they where tuning their instruments..


2. The best record you received as a present? / The worse one?
As a present, let me think – no-one ever gives me records… Hang on that’s not true. No-one buys me records. But I keep getting them for friends that play in bands. The best I got recently must be the DBL 12” from the band Splashgirl called “Field Day Rituals”.

The worst one most definitely comes from some sympathy swap with someone from a open-mic session…


3. The first record that you lost? 
In hi-school I borrowed a record from a friend, which one I don’t remember – but anyway I lost it. In return he took Jim O´Rourkes Eureka from me – to get even. So that record feels like the first one I lost…


4. The name of your imaginary band?
Betty Hardmann


5. On Stop Making Sense And Start Making Success you use different styles of music - orchestrated pop and experimental electronic music - which at first could seem at opposite ends of an artist's musical repertoire. How important is eclecticism for you, and where do you find the balance between noise and melody?
For me it’s all the same. I’ve studied composition and electroacoustics – yet I feel very comfortable expressing myself with just guitar and voice. Listening to music, I am into contemporary classical and pop-music, so naturally I have an interest in both also then I write music. I hope that the mixing of the styles is what could make my music interesting.


6. Who changed your life?
New people keep changing it all the time.


7. What will music sound like in 50 years / 5000 years?
in 50 years I presume we’ll have better ways of harnessing the computer to work creatively with us. So it will sound like this: 00110111001001001. And with lots of color and splash! no man – no idea.

And in 5000 years, maybe we’ll go be to the roots – and it will be extremely fashionable with acoustic music. Good musicianship, no editing etc. Hope so.


8. The perfect record to listen to when having a drink?
Depends what drink my friend. Darkthrones "Panzerfaust" and moonshine go well together. So does Gin&Tonic with "Clube de Esquina" by Minton Nascimento.


9. Are success and sense really incompatible?
In most cases, probably not.


10. Your dream collaboration?
Music video by Wes Anderson


11. The record that freaks you out? 
Gabber music in general. DJ Paul probably.


12. When you choose a morbid video for the love song Say say say, or do a sensitive cover version of 99 problems, you seem to try to bring opposites together. What is the part of irony in your work?
The combination of elements is what makes both of them uncomfortable. And I guess uncomfortable is good. 99 problems has a sense of irony, but that’s not something I aim for. I try to sing that one from the heart. Else it would just be a funny gag. It’s a delicate balance.


13. The film that tickles your creativity?
Last it was the documentary on George Harrison – that sparkled me to do something creatively. However in general I watch very little movies….


14. The little-known track that everyone should have heard of?
Robert Ashley’s: “The Doctor (Sc. 14)” – Amazing stuff!


15. An album you wouldn’t want to be?
Ibiza Lounge Compilation (1999 DBL CD) – “Happy Chilling”


16. The cover version you would love to do?
I like doing covers. I am thinking of doing an album actually. But not sure how it would be with all the clearance and stuff. Anyway – “Untill the End of Time” by Justin Timberlake. But how do you contact him to check if that’s alright?


17. “Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and all music has disappeared. All musical instruments and all forms of recorded music, gone. A world without music.”. What will you do ?
Sit in the sun.

18. The text you would like to produce a soundtrack for?
I would not like to do a soundtrack, but I would love to do a hörspiel. With text and electroacoustic sounds. Which text..not sure though. A collaboration with a new text could be interesting.


19. Have you ever had auditory hallucinations?
I have that with my phone all the time. I hear something in the same frequency rage and I think it’s my ring tone..


20. How would you like to die?
With a smile on my face.


Go to Lasse Passage's website, facebook, twitter, bandcamp and discogs. Hear "Stop making sense and start making success vol.1" below, and buy it on Eat Concrete records.