EFTERKLANG

Producer Mads Brauer explains how the experimental Danish trio have gone back to basics for their latest album – and back to nature…

- Mads Brauer

Mads Brauer’s Copenhagen home isn’t far from the beach. Even in the middle of this busy, 21st century city with its 10 million tourists, he likes the idea that there is still a small connection with nature.

“Something as simple as the smell of the sea can make that connection for me,” explains ‘electronics’ chief Brauer. “The salty air… the strong breeze. Without it, I think the music of Efterklang would suffer.”

Along with Casper Clausen and Rasmus Stolberg, Brauer is part of the core trio that has existed at the heart of Efterklang for 20 years. The experimental soundscapers have been friends since school, growing up in a preinternet rural Denmark that was dominated by the Top 40 and daytime radio.

“When you think back, it’s amazing how limited our access to music was,” remembers Brauer. “The only alternative music I got to hear was grunge when Nirvana became huge. At the time, I was playing the guitar, so I was at least able to have some fun. Turn up the amp and make some noise.

“We were just young kids who didn’t really know too much about all the other music that was out there in the world. It sounds kinda scary, really. All this music was happening, but we didn’t know about it. It was only after we all moved to Copenhagen when I was 18 that things started to change. Suddenly, we had more record shops and clubs to choose from, and the internet was beginning to give everyone access to music from around the world.