Based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, this duo takes singing and production to another level. A listen to ‘Lost U,’ their latest single, listeners are met with enchanting melodies balanced by a heavy-hitting beat.
Catch them live in the states at SXSW. Rangleklods are slated to hit Lucille in Austin at 11pm on Wednesday, March 18- don’t miss it!
Before heading off to SXSW, Rangleklods found some time to share some insight with me into their sound, their wild night performing at Lunga Festival and details about their next album. Read the interview below to discover Rangleklod’s must-see acts and what their plans are while at SXSW...
Click 'Read More' to check out the interview↓↓↓↓
Esben: I started Rangleklods back in 2010. Gradually Pernille became a bigger part of it and now it’s a full blown duo.
You have a unique sound - how long did it take to perfect your musical style?
Esben: It’s been a long process of experimenting and trying out a lot of different ideas without caring about fitting into any specific genre. We’ve never been the kind of people who only listens to a specific thing. We’ve been heavily into 60’s folk at the same time as loving garage club music. Or 80’s Pop and african Highlife. We hope to never end this experimental approach. We see the computer as the perfect instrument for this sort of approach.The fact that we can record any instrument and manipulate it to death or present it ‘as is’ gives us the ultimate compositional freedom. For this next album we’ve been influenced by a lot of early 90’s rave and industrial alongside mid 90’s rap music while keeping our love for David Bowie, weird modern club music and psych rock alive.
That voice! Pernille, how old were you when you realized you could really sing! Have you ever taken voice lessons?
I started singing in a classical girls choir when I was 12. It was a total coincidence since it was my little sister who was encouraged by her music teacher to attend the tryouts for the preschool of this choir. Since me and my sister were always singing together my mother thought I might as well try as well. That led to many years of singing classical choir and a lot of classical training. I never really sung lead vocals until I met Esben. I spent a lot of time finding my own voice since a big part of singing in a choir is to just blend in. The first couple of times I heads ‘Lost U’ after it was done I didn’t really believe it was me.
Who are some musicians your sound is influenced by?
David Bowie, Portishead, Gorillaz, Burial, Caribou, Blawan.
Esben, please tell me about the instrument you created. I heard its similar to a theremin, the coolest instrument ever. Can you describe how you made it and how it works.
It’s kind of like a theremin, yes. But it doesn’t create sound - it creates midi values. It’s three distance measuring sensor attach to a diy computer. I can freely assign any of the three to whatever I want. The pitch of a note, a filter on a synth, a reverb… It’s a very tangible way of playing the instruments on the computer - much more so than a fader or a knob. That’s why I was so interested in making it since I’ve played guitar and drums. I built it with three amigos 4 years ago. It’s actually the longest running piece of equipment in my setup. It just won’t break!
What’s your most memorable story before-during-or after a show?
Pernille: We had a completely crazy month of touring two summer ago with big shows, a lot of traveling and no sleep which ended in Iceland where we were playing Lunga Festival. It was the most incredible outdoor location with great mountains and a big river - completely Lord of the Rings landscape. We had to play at 1:00 AM at night and by then our Icelandic audience was completely wasted. There was a sort of mosh pit in front of the stage and fights breaking out. Pernille barely dodged a full bottle of beer flying next to her face. Someone got overly excited. The funny thing is that these kids were dressed to impress - super indie and good looking all of them. But put alcohol in their system and they will become good ol’ vikings instantly. God damn. The next day, we flew to Reykjavik to stay for a couple of days. We went to see a lot of the country and it’s like nowhere else we’ve ever been. So wild and so beautiful.
What are you excited about most about SXSW?
We have heard so many good things about SXSW from friends who’ve played there and we can't wait to be a part of the energetic atmosphere, play killer shows and hear a lot of great music. We really look forward to play a handful of new songs from the new album. This will be the debut of playing these songs live. Perfect start of our tour.
After your SXSW performance at Lucille, what are your plans for the rest of your time in Austin? Anything exciting?
Honestly, we would tell you if we knew. All we’ve put together so far is the dates, times and locations of our own shows and everything surrounding it. We’re not big planners. And when we are we usually don’t have as good a time as when we just let things happen. So that’s the plan, to just let things happen.
What acts are you trying to catch while you’re out in Austin?
Kelela, Iceage, Sleep Over, Run The Jewels and Twin Shadow just to mention a couple.
Are you touring anytime soon? Where can fans catch one of your shows?
We’re in early talks about an American tour later this year. Nothing is settled yet. But hopefully that’s something SXSW can change.
Can you share details about your next album? Title, vibe, release date?
The title of the next album is ‘Straitjacket’. The European release date is 18th of May, but we’re not sure we’ll be able to release it in the states at that date. But soon, very soon. The vibe of it is a perfection of what we’ve done so far. We’re so absolutely psyched about how it turned out.
Where did you record it?
We have a tiny studio in Copenhagen where every single thing was composed and recorded. It’s like 3x3 meteres. Just enough for us. But claustrophobia kicked in a few times, no doubt.
When you’re not making music what are you up to?
Luckily that’s all we do these days. Make new music or perform it live. We’re also getting into producing and writing for other artists which is a good challenge. But music is it right now. But we worked a long time to get to that point.