What’s your story with music ?
My dad worked in a record store when I was a kid, so there would always be records playing at home. All kinds of stuff really, but I remember Elvis being played a lot. I love Elvis. But I never had any big dreams of being a musician or songwriter or anything like that. I wanted to make movies, which I guess is kinda naive coming from a guy who’s very disorganized. Anyway, after throwing in the towel on the whole movie thing, to my fortune, my old friend Folke Olsen got me into songwriting and later on singing and performing. I stumble unto it you might say.

What are your projects for the up coming months ?
Well my current project is about 55cm and weighs 4,6 kilos. I’d like to watch him grow for a while before doing anything else.

Is there a new album to come ?
I’m planning to be back in the studio with my band by the end of the year or the beginning of 2010. Peter Von Poehl is gonna help me produce it which I’m very excited about. But I don’t have any release date yet or even a label. Maybe I’ll put it out myself. We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.

Do you have any plans to tour ?
It looks like I’ll be back in the UK in October or November. I would really like to come back to France too, but dont have a booking agent there at the moment.

What are you doing when you don’t play music ?
I try to make ends meet. Kinda like what Charles Bukowski did before he made it. Although I probably dont drink as much as he did.

What are you currently listening to, any recommended records ?
Some one gave me the Allison Krauss/Robert Plant album a while back. There’s some really good stuff on there. Fantastic players and a killer production. The latest Jolie Holland album is a good one too. And Neko Case of course.

Did you ever plan to sing a song with someone else ?
I actually did a duet with my good friend Jason Freeman at Electraphonic Studios in Memphis last year. The Cuckoo Bird it was. Jason is an amazing artist, out of this world really. You should check him out. I’m sure you’ll love his music !

Are you involved in the engineering process of your recordings, do you enjoy and care about sound recording or do you just like playing and singing ?
I think it’s really important to be involved in all aspects of producing a record. I mean, if you’re gonna put up the money and you even have your name on the cover, you have to take it serious. So many records that come out now sound like shit. And they all sound the same too. They have no dynamics. For some reason people think they can let technology do all the work, but if you don’t have a great sounding band you’ll never have a great sounding record. What’s very important too, is you need a good sound engineer. Just because you want to make record doesn’t mean you know how to engineer one. Even though you bought the newest mac computer with all the right plugins and software.

Why do you choose to record your last album in Sweden rather than Nashville or Memphis ?
The studio I used for both Mutineer and Tennessee Theft is only a 45 min drive from Copenhagen, so it was very convenient. Since everybody in my band are danish, it’s easier on the wallet to record closer to home. However I got both those records mastered in the states. Mutineer in California and Tennessee Theft in Memphis. I go to Memphis as much as I can. Memphis is a great town.

Is there a song you wish you had written ?
I don’t think like that, I just write songs. But I must say Pancho and Lefty by Townes Van Zandt is a really powerful song and I guess it was kind of his golden egg too. I wouldn’t mind have a golden egg myself.

Listening to your music, it’s really impossible to imagine that you’re Danish. Is it a reaction, a kind of rejection of your own culture or an immoderate love for american music ?
I don’t reject anything. But like most people in Europe I’ve been exposed to American culture all my life. Some people get into Rap Music, I got into Country, Blues, Rock N Roll and all the rest. And it’s not a new thing either. Look at the Beatles. They grew up listing to all that great stuff that came out of America at the time. Take some one like you own Johnny Halliday. Wouldn’t you say he’s very influenced by American Music?

What do you find & love in the US that you don’t find in Denmark ?
People here in Denmark especially, can’t seem to understand that a Dane or European for that matter, can write and sing in the style that I do, without it being a Bob Dylan rip of. People in America couldn’t care less. If the music is good they like it. That’s what I love about America.

What do you find and love in Denmark that you don’t find in the USA ?
I live in Copenhagen and it’s my home. Most people like their home. So do I.

As an european singing traditional american music, is it difficult to exist as an artist in the USA, is there prejudice against you ?
All I can tell you is, I’ve never had that in the US. Never. Being prejudice towards something is a European thing, not American.

What are your relations with music business ?
I don’t really have any relations with the music business. I make my own records and I’m not affiliated with any label. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to. I would. But I just haven’t met the right people to work with yet. As far as money and music goes, it’s easily managed when the only one you have to look after is yourself.

http://www.myspace.com/emilfriis

http://www.emilfriis.com

Comments are closed.