Vor knapp drei Jahren hatten wir bereits das Vergnügen, den schwedischen (Ambient-)Cellisten und Komponisten Henrik Meierkord zu seiner emotionalen Musik und vor allem zum Thema „Stille“ zu interviewen. In der Zwischenzeit hat dieser kreative und äußerst produktive Künstler eine ganze Menge neue Alben entweder solo oder in faszinierenden Kollaborationen veröffentlicht, höchste Zeit also Henrik mal wieder zu Wort kommen zu lassen!
Fotos: © Johan Bergmark (links) / © Sabine Thiele (rechts)
In unserem Interview sprechen wir (Sabine, Antje und Anke) mit ihm über seine Inspirationen, seinen Bezug zur schwedischen Natur und die Art und Weise, wie seine persönlichen Erfahrungen und sein familiärer Hintergrund seine Kompositionen beeinflussen, seine Perspektive auf die aktuellen globalen Herausforderungen und politischen Entwicklungen, aber natürlich auch über seine fantastischen Live-Auftritte mit unserer Herzensband Agent Side Grinder (ASG). Tack, Henrik!
It has been nearly three years since our last interview with you. How have you been?
Hi there again and nice to be back, I’ve been busy as usual, lots of albums, collaborations as well as live performances!
Have you had the opportunity to achieve your dream of performing at an ambient festival where silence is the keyword?
The last few years I’ve been doing a lot of live music, but mainly together with other bands and acts at venues or concerts and no ambient festivals actually. I guess I have to dig deeper into that scene or where it would be possible. I have been talking to some of my labels and there is an interest, but of course we all have to organize and try to look for funds/budget.
This year I was playing two times at Club Akropolis in Prague with Strulgattu & Meierkord, which was very amusing, no ambient festival but still fun!
Silence is an important element of your music, but darkness also plays a significant role. In your album MÖRK, you explore the depths of dark tonalities and subtle nuances of darkness. This theme also seems to be present in your other works, such as your and Suseti’s release Atonalidad. Do you like darkness? What does darkness mean to you?
Darkness does not have to be evil or bad, on the contrary it’s a “no man’s land” between dream, unconsciousness and real life. You should not be afraid of the darkness as you are searching for meaning and your real soul. In these crazy political times where culture and music are seen as mainly commercial products and just to make people happy with a fake smile, I think that dark music is something that touches your inner feelings and let your control go. It’s like some kind of meditation and to embrace your unconsciousness. The older I get the weirder music and darker I seem to like, as beautiful minimalist music.
In what ways does Nordic darkness and melancholy shape your music and creative approach?
Here In Scandinavia the winter is long and I am every year considering going to Italy when I “retire” to escape the darkness and the coldness. The only funny thing is that when I am in Italy and it’s 40 degrees in July I am longing for the mild Swedish temperatures. But since many of my musical colleagues are from Italy it’s still a good idea! There is always something melancholic in the nordic character blended with nature, sea and forest, snow and mountains and a folk tone that we grow up with. Scandinavia can be boring but beautiful and perhaps that is why we have such a good musical export from Sweden. We don’t have so much fun and have to do something creative.
Fotos: © Henrik Meierkord
How does your relationship with Swedish nature influence your artistic work?
The forest for me is darkness and unconsciousness and the ocean is the gate to heaven somehow, even if I’m living in downtown Stockholm in Södermalm I am always longing to go to the nature to our little cabin where the woodpeckers, birds, deers are and just smell, look and listen to the beautiful forest soundscape. The soundscape of the ocean is huge, but the sounds in the forest are more interesting. But as a Scania/Helsingborger from the south, the sea for me is still where my heart is.
Last year, you shared the stage with our all-time favorites ASG. How did this collaboration come about?
As I have been playing with my musical brother Pelle Ossler and other musicians with the same DNA, I was one day contacted by Johan Lange on Instagram with the question if I would like to participate with my electric cello on the thematic concert “Transatlantic tape project on Sjöhistoriska in Stockholm last year. We had two concerts and it was fantastic! After that I had the pleasure and honour to join ASG on several festivals and concerts in Sweden and Germany and now last in Denmark. This is a milestone for me, to play at the same venue as Front 242 in Copenhagen, my teenage idols and even to meet them.
Is there any chance of releasing a live recording from these joint performances?
That would indeed be very interesting, perhaps we see that in the future!
Is there any long-term plan for you to become the fourth member of ASG?
I think I am the cellist with the right blood group in this genre for use at special occasions to get the dark velvet string mood. However, I am always open to all kinds of propositions, but I know that ASG is inviting different kinds of musicians to perform on saxophone and bass. Let’s see what comes next time!
When speaking of darkness AND ASG, the overall topic of ‚gothic‘ comes to mind. Have you already been part of the Goth scene in Sweden earlier in life?
I grew up in Helsingborg, by the sea and we saw the ferries go to Denmark every day heading for the continent. But we were stuck there in Helsingborg, with dreams or plans or something. One thing we all had, even if we all had different political views, was the music which held us together. We grew up with 4AD, Dead Can Dance, Joy Division, DAF, The Smiths, The Cure etc so it was in our blood. A lot of people were already playing a lot, like Andreas Catjar-Danielsson (Nachruf hier), Cecilia Nordlund and my sister Åsa Meierkord as well as my brother Mattias and I was then playing my cello (classical) but still liked the goth movement. And since I’ve been doing a lot of solo albums as well as collaborations with Sam Rosenthal from Black Tape For A Blue Girl, I would say that I am quite oriented in that genre. Last time in Munich the band She Past Away played which I must say was my treasure finding for that year, incredibly good, like a Turkish Joy Division.
Fotos: © Sabine Thiele
What musicians have inspired you the most over the years and why?
Mostly I just get hooked by soundtracks but also get very inspired by different artists. My musical colleagues like Pelle Ossler, he is one of my gurus I would say that has been leading me in a good path, as well as Marco Lucchi. Both are musicians that I just play with without thinking, I don’t need a manual. Recently I had a collaboration with the drone artist .foundation from USA, which I admire deeply. Our album coming out on Dronarivm in spring is going to be a treasure, I can promise you that! Music can be simple but still interesting. Still most inspirations are the same: Pärt, Ligeti, Penderecki, Bach, Händel, Mahler, Wagner, Beatles, Kraftwerk, Biosphere, Eno, well the list can be long…
Where do you draw the ideas for your compositions from, a more biographical-emotional approach or a more conceptual one?
Both I guess, my keywords are emo-impro with a basic idea or concept overwhelmed by suggestive and unconscious textures.
How are your music pieces created? Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? Where does improvisation end and intuition begin for you?
The production of a track of mine is emotionally driven. I always start with something, I can use a foundation in a good key where I use a lot of pedals like Mood II, Microcosm, Big sky etc, to add layers within logic to use other fx there or just a dry cello. No rules, just feelings. Both improvisation and intuition as they go a bit hand in hand.
How do your collaborative projects with other artists come about? How do you bring your ideas together?
In most cases, first I take a quick listen, if it’s ambient I learn the key and just start; if it’s an arrangement, I try to fill in layers where I can fill and send as many stems as possible to the artist. The more the better, for a lot of variety. We often have feedback so I then make something new depending on what is wanted. Last time I got a free hand for a track for the Swedish rock icon Thåström “Majestätisk” on the latest album, I did my style and they used it. My goal is to deliver something with good sound quality but nerve. If they want that fabulous beautiful cello from a symphony orchestra, they better contact that orchestra. I am not that type of cellist, I do it “my way” with my nerve. Or I give my recordings to the other musician for him/her to experiment with. The American artist .foundation got cello from me. I played on his tracks. He then manipulated them a bit in reason and after that I gave him solo stems. And the result is astonishing! A musical collaboration is about trusting each other and letting each other do what they are good at. Not telling the other: I want this! Pelle Andersson is my other musical mate and friend with whom I made the album “Metamorfos”. When he sends something it’s just to start recording, no worries it’s just a match and the same key. For me it’s about trust and creativity and of course to have the same musical DNA or blood.
How would you describe your relationship with the cello? What initially drew you to this particular instrument, and in your opinion, what unique qualities does the cello bring to your collaborations with other artists?
Well, cello is the main instrument and my baby, I can also play the violin (holding it like a cello) or double bass. And as I am a sound technician originally I know how to produce. For me I am manipulating the sounds a lot and like in my last album String Drone Adagios I timestretched a lot and used different kinds of fx. I think I have some unique mood of playing and am still finding new styles. I like the harsh style and with the wooden crunch or the soft cello, depending on the project. On the latest Jon de Rosa album, I recorded some cello for a kind of dub track, which became great. It will get released in the summer.
David Lynch was your favorite director. Recently, you collaborated with Marco Lucchi on the album Fire walk with me, a sonic tribute to this extraordinary artist. What aspects of his work captivated and inspired you most?
As a sound designer and musician, David Lynch was the master of combining both tonal soundscapes and sound design together with music from Bandalamenti and other works. The audio together with his cinematography is something nobody has shown like this before and I am curious if we have any director in the future that might try something similar to Lynch. David Lynch was the expert of turning atmospheres into almost dark ambient, for example Blue velvet where Isabella Rossellini is being held by Dennis Hopper and the sounds there, incredible.
The world is currently in turmoil. Be it in relation to war and global conflicts, climate change, loss of biodiversity, or the rise of the political right. How do you perceive this difficult global situation?
I have in a very long time not been so worried like I am now about the turmoil in the world. The politicians are not politicians anymore but just narcissist businessmen with oligarchy manners. It’s just about egoism and money and the global peace and collaborations we used to have seem to be ending like common sense. However we are tired of war in Europe after two world wars, so I have faith. What I am worried about is the strange right extreme coming into the living room even in Germany, but everything has its reasons. Here I am also with hope, as I know if we have some kind of brain, we will make a good decision and stop thinking “we and them.” Imagine the festivals with music and beer we could have instead of these silly wars, started by dictators or greedy leaders that already have everything, crazy. There must be an immediate stop, when you are against [b]humanism[/b]. I like the word humanism. It’s a clean definition. The people will one day rise and say: STOP!
Do you channel your emotions and thoughts about it into your music?
Difficult to describe when I make music or ambient for that, but of course emotions colour the music and lead to some kind of statement. I am not a textwriter so I can’t really describe my dislike for politicians that are not politicians anymore, but perhaps my mood says something.
Your album Geschichten is about family, the past, and the concept of Heimat. The album also reflects the impact of World War II on your family. Why is it so important to you to convey these deeply personal and historical narratives through music?
Well stories are stories as Geschichten are Geschichten. For me the whole past and my stories about my German family are part of my life and will always be there. I thought it was a good idea to describe it this time through music, but always had some plans about making some kind of documentary or text about it. My father is 88 years old and experienced the second world war and he is still very traumatised by it, so I am still very careful about eventual documentation, but will do it at last. As a matter of fact me and Pelle Ossler made some recordings the other day at Christian Gabels studio for a documentary art movie by the architect Petra Gipp about her father escaping DDR and the trauma he experienced. It’s going to be an exhibition and I am really looking forward to it. Me and Petra are the third generation from the trauma and still have a need for telling our stories. I have heard my uncle and my father talk about “der Krieg” which has formed me as the person I am today. I am a true humanist and think it’s very important to remember the past and to never forget and remind people and to try to “educate” them.
How have your German-Swedish heritage, your visits to Germany and your childhood memories shaped your musical vision and creative identity?
My German family and the background has formed me, from being ashamed to being proud to be half German. I used to live in Amsterdam in the nineties, I speak Dutch fluently and in those times I had the feeling that the hatred was bigger toward Germans, but that it has totally changed now. Europe is getting tighter and especially today in the new era we are trying to keep together. In Sweden it’s still different because we did not participate in the war, but we also did… So paradoxal. But we see the need too about our coexistence. The music of Germany is one the biggest influences and has some harsher, more serious tone than other countries, it smells of more gasoline and has more dirt in the lens, could be Kraftwerk, DAF, Bach, Tangerine Dream, Popol Vuh or Einstürzende Neubauten? A mixture of trauma, culture, guilt, coolness, gasoline, coal, good food and honesty? A lot of ingredients make good culture and music. Like the movies of Werner Herzog and Fassbinder.
Beyond music, who or what brings you a sense of inner peace? How do you renew and recharge your energy?
To make music always gives me energy and to travel. And if I really want to make a cold reset in my brain, I watch a good movie on the bank and have a decent “Feierabend”. And of course to be in nature as the half Swede that I am. And my lovely wife Terese, who always supports me with my music, I admire her patience, maybe because she knows the drill since she self works in the documentary film world.
2025 – what are your hopes and dreams? What are you most looking forward to?
The releases are forthcoming, .foundation on Dronarivm in April/May, new album on Projekt Records in August, performing on the new Jon de Rosa album, to be released in the summer, more gigs, actually having a new interesting gig together with Cecilia Nordlund (Souls) at a concert with “Fullmånen från Helvetet” in Stockholm with two cellos in a theater, doing a new album with the punkband “Stormavd” And more ASG gigs please! Good productions so far together with Knivtid, Logic Moon, Ghostloop, Suseti, Lucchi, Kobak, Meipr, Michael D Tidwell, Ni! ,Mia Zabelka, James Hill, Pete Swinton, Strulgattu and many more but also together with filmmakers like Ralf Moussa in Lebanon and Sara Broos in Sweden, good people! Sara’s film (for which I made the filmscore) called “Skärvor” is a philosophical film everybody should see and won a lot of prices, it was also shown on Swedish television. The exhibition with our music together with Pelle Ossler is going to be grand as some upcoming gigs together with Pelle Andersson, my other musical mate, who has been touring a lot with Christian Kjellvander. We have got some new stuff coming and you know me, I will keep on doing that!
Fotos: © Sabine Thiele
Sound & Silence: Interview mit Henrik Meierkord hier
Katzenclub-Festival München (09.11.2024): Rezension hier
Konzert Agent Side Grinder, Sjöhistoriska Museet, Stockholm (13.04.24): Rezension hier
Album Henrik Meierkord – Mörk: Rezension hier
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