Interviews Andreas

[Fade]

Andreas Ahlfeldt is a 24 year-old Hip-Hop producer from Linkoping, Sweden. Andreas is a beloved and highly appreciated IllMuzik Staff member. He helps write music reviews, and always helps out other members in our forums, especially with reviews in the Showcase section. To make a living, Andreas works at the local cinema in his beautiful hometown.

It all began in 1996, together with his best friend - Erik Sundman. They come from Sturefors, which is a small suburb outside of Link�ping in Sweden with absolutely no action at all. So there has always been a lot of time for making beats, and so they did - all the time.

They started making beats by copying and pasting in 'Goldwave'; mostly taking bits and pieces from other tracks and adding them together - just for kicks. They were cutting and pasting, sampling and composing days on end for years. Yet, due to the obvious limitations of the program, they had to move on! Fruity Loops was their next choice. Right after graduation in 2000, Erik moved off to a life on the road in England, leaving the world of beatmaking behind. Immediately after Erik's departure, Andreas has moved away from Fruity Loops & the sample-based productions that paved his way in the early years. He doesn't use samples in his music anymore. It's all played on Rhodes, Piano, Synths, Guitar etc'. He explains:

"I left the world of sampling behind to dig deeper in my own "Music Vocabulary". I've found out that I tend to limit myself when dealing with samples; my feelings and emotions coming forth when making music from the ground up. Don't get me wrong, I don't look down on sampled music and musicians using them. I've just found my way of channeling my emotions better. And that's what my music is all about - getting my feelings and emotions out. I don't make beats to be a palette for the artist to draw from. I try to tell my own story with my music and leave it to the MC/singer to interpret their own emotions and story into the music.

I make very cinematic music in its narrative, at least I try to. I don't like bleak rhythmically tromping beats. I try to make music that I can feel in the heart, rather than music that someone else will feel in their hips, making them dance. I don't think my music is for the dance floor. It's for those of you who sit at home with headphones on. My music shall, hopefully, make you think!".

Howdy Andreas, how's it going? What a great way to introduce yourself!

Thanks Wings. I'm very glad to be given this opportunity to be interviewed by you.

And to answer your question; I'm quite good. Except that I've come down with a little hit of the fever. Sitting at home making my music and drinking my tea and just relaxing at the moment.

Can you add some further details about yourself? How would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as an ordinary chap. 24 year-old boy with a tight knit circle of friends. I hope that someone else would describe me as kind and loving to the ones close to me.

How's Sweden? Can you give us a quick "tourist guide"? What should we know about this extremely beautiful and rather quiet country?

You said it right there in your question. "Beautiful and rather quiet". That is exactly spot on. Sweden is very serene with a lot of countryside and beautiful scenery. It's a quite small country population wise. It's only about 9 million people in Sweden and the nation's capital has only about 1.8 million inhabitants. Many people that visited Sweden have remarked that it is very similar to Canada in many ways. It's great in the summertime but a bit dark in the wintertime, at least for my taste.

From your experience, what's the easiest and most creative way to create hip-hop nowadays?

I can only answer as to what I find to be true. And that is to find an emotion and to capture it and put it to music. That's what I do, when I'm happy or sad, whatever the emotion may be, I get inspired to make music. Music should be about something, that's my perspective. It should have heart and soul. Music, nowadays, seem to be formed and molded to fit categories. And to some degree, I respect that. I understand that the labels want certain things from their musicians. But somewhere there's gotta be genuine emotion driving the music.

6 essential production tips?

1. Sounds are paramount. The music will stand or fall with the sounds. A beat, no matter the intentions and ideas, will sound bad if the sounds you use are bad. In the worst case it sounds too MIDI and not lifelike at all. Nobody wants to hear a track where the singer sounds like she's singing out of a telephone placed inside a cookware. It's the same thing with sound.
2. Concentrate on the melodies. Start working on a melody and don't proceed until one is formed.
3. Create the rhythm for the beat. Make the drum patterns and bass line.
4. Now you have created an image of 2 colors. Black and white. Now it's time to layer it with color. It's time to broaden the image. To give it life by adding harmonies/sub-harmonies, filling elements and additions. It could be an organ to go with the melody you've created or some strings to give the beat a sense of space and width.
5. Take the Soundscape into consideration. Build the sounds in all directions. The dark, middle and high elements must be in balance. Too much bass or middle range elements will give a muddy and flat appearance. But if you balance your elements right and have a good rich texture of sounds that goes through the whole range, you will have a broad and big image as foundation for your beat.
6. Mix. The mix of a track is really important. It is the final stage that makes the music come to life. You don't want the illusion torn down by elements that are too high/low or are too dark/bright. When listening to the music you shouldn't see it as a technical achievement. It should sound natural and like ONE entity rather than many elements smacked and glued together. It takes a lot of practice and the learning experience will never end.

What kind of connection do you have with your MCs?

I must say that the impressions are very varying. To make a track with an MC like Agent Smith is a pure joy. It's professional and it's a balance between two wills. But both are prepared to compromise. "That sounds a bit strange or that chorus should be this or that way". You must be willing to listen to critique and compromise in a collaboration. It's a give and take. That is the ideal connection.

Please share your creation process with us� How do you usually produce a beat? From A to Z.

I must say that the process of finding the music can come in different forms. Sadness is a muse of inspiration. It may sound a bit bad but strong emotions of any kind give me inspiration to make music. But it can also come under more curious circumstances. Some beats have come to me at nights. I dream of a melody and when I wake up it's just a matter of trying to put it out of memory onto "paper", so to speak. And hard work can never be overlooked either. Hard work and a lot of time spent in front of your equipment will also generate. Even though I prefer to be struck by inspiration rather than force it forth. From that stage it's just a matter of implementing the 6 stages mentioned above.

You ( + Agent Smith) had a splendid piece on the ILL Compilations Vol. 2 CD (16 - Andreas & Agent Smith - Lofi Dreams). Can you give us all the details regarding this song? How did it come to life? Can you give us the recipe to your wonderful beat?

That track was pure joy. I contacted Agent Smith and asked him if he would be interested in making a track together, and he was. He mailed me back and said, and I paraphrase. "Can you make a beat that gives you the image that you're standing on the top of a mountain overlooking a serene snowy landscape through a pair of scratched lenses". It was really funny to put an image to music. And I think we succeeded rather well with it. The recipe of that track was just joy and a very fruitful collaboration that let us both use our talents to the best of our abilities and have our best sides come forth.

Hey, what's going on with Erik Sundman at these days? Give our readers a short update?

Hehe, sad to say I don't see much of him these days. He's restless and never stays in one place very long. He has not been at home very often since he left. He moved off to London, then Barcelona, India followed by Finland. And now, he lives with his girlfriend in Malm, here in Sweden. I met him 2 months ago at a party with all of the old friends that grew up together and it was great fun.

Do you also sell beats? What's your policy?

I don't. Not that I wouldn't if someone contacted me that I liked. But I just haven't vocalized that idea at present.

What equipment/software do you utilize nowadays?

I use Cubase to make my melodies and Reason to program the drums. A lot of VST instruments. Rhodes, Organ, Strings, Brass, Piano etc'. And this is my list of hardware:

• Computer with only music programs installed for optimal performance
• Audiophile USB Soundcard
• Rokit 5 Studio Monitors
• AKG K240 Studio Headphones
• Terratec Midi Master USB keyboard
• MicroKorg analog synth
• Guitar
• Extern drives for backups

Do you also collect music? What's in your CD-player at this moment?

I must say that I'm terrible at keeping up to date on the music scene. When I listen to a lot of Hip Hop, I tend not to be making as much music as when I keep myself on a Hip Hop diet, so to speak. I listen to more Movie Score Music actually. And in that genre my favorite composers are: Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore and James Newton Howard. You can really get good insight to composition and layers, from listening to more classical pieces. But when I listen to Hip Hop, I listen to: Zion I, RJD2 and LoopTroop.

How did you find out about IllMuzik? What does IllMuzik mean to you? In your opinion, as a Staff member, is it more than merely an online forum + hip-hop portal?

I actually found out about IllMuzik, when I was googling for beat-battles. It sounds very corny, but IllMuzik is more of a way of life than just a Hip Hop comunity. It's a great place to spend some hours whether it is for talking about music production or just talking with friends. It's a very tight-knit community. Of course, there are visitors that don't frequent the site every day, but a stem of people that you come to know and respect highly reside there.

Do you get inspired easily? What/who inspires you?

I get inspired by events in my life that move me. It could be in any direction. It could make me sad, happy or angry. But once a strong emotion comes, I tend to find inspiration and the will to produce. Face it, if you're sad, there's no better remedy than to force it out into music; to get it out of your system.

3 records to listen to when: you're depressed, you want to temporarily disconnect, you travel.

• Depressed: Saybia - These Are The Days
• Disconnect: LoopTroop (Any album)
• Travel: Zion I (Any Album)

Inform us about your forthcoming projects/collaborations etc'.

I am in the process of sending out a demo of my beats to some labels in the pursuit of finding a steady workflow. Other than that, I have some small projects going. I have produced a track for Abb-D's forthcoming album currently named A.D. I'm also in the process of making a track with Swedish MC Orazio Del Core, as well as some other projects that entails making a track with an Icelandic MC. But I better not go into that too much, I don't want to jinx it.

Give us a list of your older projects/collaborations

• Agent Smith - IllMuzik Compilation Vol 2 Album
• Rawstarr, a German MC
• Eiore, a Swedish group of MC's
• Maine One - WalklessTalk track
• Abb-D - Searching, the A.D album
• Abb-D - Things We Talk About, the I Quite Like The Noise album

The ultimate tip to all the ambitious producers out there?

There are a lot of producers out there trying to emulate and imitate. Find your own style and stick to it. That makes it real, and when it's real, it sounds good. After that, it's just a matter of work, work and more work.

How's the Hip-Hop scene in Sweden? What's going on down there as far as music is concerned? What's popular? How's the crowd?

The scene is actually quite good. There are a lot of gifted artists out here but the quality is really varying. There's a lot of boring music being made as well. As far as for what's popular, I guess the general consensus is quite similar to that of the States. What MTV brings, the crowd swallows. The crowd and interest of Hip Hop is big in Sweden and around the clubs.

Please express your opinion:

• Religion: Cause of a lot of love and hate, grievance and joy. When not being enforced upon others it can be a great foundation of assurance and confidence.
• Karma: Even though you might not believe in it, it's something all people should aspire to reach.
• Astrology: Not a big fan. I'm more into astronomy - a big passion of mine.
• Graffiti: 99% of the time it's just a nuisance and plain ugly. It's quite sad actually... But when an artist has been in action, there's nothing better. Flowers in the city. It's the same as with music. Most of it isn't worth the attention, but when it's good it's really good and you know why you have dedicated so much time and love to it.
• Women: Cause of a lot of inspiration. Sad to say the spectrum of emotion tend to be a bit unbalanced as of late.
• Dance: Haha, I seldom dance. But every blue moon I get my dancing shoes on and comb my hair and swirl.
• Trance: No matter the style, I like it when it's melodic and harmonic. A lot of trance has elements that I like very much but it just doesn't hold my interest for very long periods of time.
• Scandinavia: Great place. A bit bleak and dark in the wintertime, but the best place to be and to grow up.
• Childhood: I had a great suburban childhood with an amazing crew at my side. Friends forever.
• Music: Creative and emotional outlet. Without it I'd burst. Astrid Lindgren: Nah nah, let's not go there
• Space: One of my big passions. Astronomy is so amazing and helps put my worries in perspective. It humbles and assures me. The cyclical nature of the universe assures me that all things will always come around. When I'm feeling down and out, it makes me remember that it's just a phase. The Balance will shift. Apogee will become Perigee.
• Film: Great way to make a living. I work at the cinema. It's a way of escapism. Just float away.
• The Internet: A great place to connect. Right now I'm having an interview over the net with a good friend of mine, Wings Of An Angel, and that couldn't have been possible without the internet. I wouldn't even know most of my circle of friends. But in the meantime it tends to suck hours out of my schedule that you could have placed a bit more wisely.
• Meditation: Could probably need it. It has been a bit hectic lately with a lot of work and tension. I should learn it.
• Literature: At the moment I'm reading "Off Magazine Street" and "The Heart Is The Lonely Hunter". It's art just as well as good music or a painting. You get absorbed and you are given a chance to peek into somebody else's life for a moment.
• TV: I try not to spend too much time in front of it. Of course I loaf about in the couch once in a while but I try not to have it steal all evenings. I wouldn't be willing to part from the Discovery Channel though. I'm a sucker for all that space and science.
• Drugs Vs. Alcohol: I don't do drugs. I drink a beer or two once in a while. Sometimes more. But I have a stomach disease that prevents me from drinking hard liquor. So I don't.
• Software Vs. Hardware: Hardware 9 times out of 10. Sadly it's so expensive, that it's just not a possibility to sit on a set of hardware synths all plugged into a Pro-Tools hardware set. You've got to make due with what you've got and make it sound hot.
• Rhodes piano: Ah, you know me Wings. I love the Rhodes with a capital "L". It's so warm and lush. It's my number one favorite instrument. Just give me a Rhodes and ship me out to a deserted island and I'll be just fine.
• Funk Vs. Soul Vs. Jazz: you can just sit back and be amazed at the skill of these musicians. But given the choice, I'd listen to Soul. It just lies closer to home for me.
• The IllMuzik Staff: What other group of people could you wish for to run a site? I have utmost respect and admiration for all of them and it's an honor to be a part of the staff.

Anyone you'd like to thank? Any death-wishes?

Yeah. I've got a tremendous amount of thanks due to my best friend Erik Crona. Who has elevated my skill tenfold. He's a pop producer and has been in the game for a long time professionally. And it's great to have him on my corner. Furthermore I wish to thank the whole IllMuzik community, especially its staff. And my friends and family, of course, who I love and that has my back.

This is my only death-wish: To have this inscribed on my headstone.

"And were an epitaph to be my story I'd have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover's quarrel with the world"

(A quote by Robert Frost)

Andreas, thank you very much & good luck!!!

Thanks Wings, and all the best in the future.