danish Archives - Martin Yam Møller

Tomas Høffding – HeMadeHe

1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?

I would have to say the filter cutoff on any synth. Having spent quite a bit of my life as a musician—initially as a bass player and vocalist— but beside singing, I’ve spent the last ten years playing synths more than anything else. The filter knob is just beautiful for controlling dynamics and emotion; you can make “orgasmic emotional expressions” with just a single note if you get the movement right. I often spend more time perfecting the filter motions than the actual notes themselves. You can even see on my Prophet-6 that while the other knobs are still tight, the filter knob is super worn out from so much use. And if you wanna see me sweep some knobs I’ll be playing at Store Vega in Copenhagen on the 27. May 2027.

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

My Sequential Prophet-6 is very close to being perfect. It sounds fucking amazing, and I’ve used it for three solo albums and a lot of WhoMadeWho records. It is definitely my most beloved synth ever. However, the cutoff button is wobbly and tiny. It’s not a good knob for monkey-ing around with, especially in a live setting where it has now started to feel quite frail. If I could change one thing, I’d give it a much sturdier knob so I could really work it. Like the frequency knob on my Oberheim OB-X8. Now that’s a big, bold knob!

3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?

Holiday and tours are two very different things for me. On holiday, I bring nothing if possible. On tour, my MacBook is the most important thing because that’s where I produce my music. Travel gives me “slow time”—long stretches on planes or in cars where I can work in a deeper way and really get into the details.

In the studio, I deliberately stick to a schedule of 6 to 8 hours per day, and often I have a lot to get done, so I don’t have the patience or time for slow puzzles. But on tour with a long transatlantic flight for example, I can sit for hours and puzzle over just three lines of lyrics to get them perfect.

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

I love hardware, but I use plenty of software. I’d love for the Roland Jupiter-4 I’ve been borrowing to be software because it is so tactile and ‘clumsy-in-a-good-way’. It’s old-school, hunky, and very random compared to modern, sleek gear.

On the flip side, I rely heavily on the UAD Apollo ecosystem for its Unison preamps. The difference between their software Neve 1073 and the real thing is so small it’s basically just down to the tiny variations between units, which is a total game-changer for getting high-quality input without the hassle of vintage hardware.

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I regret selling my very first amp and electric guitar from when I was 14. It was a smallish Orange amp with that hessian front, with a spring reverb, combined with a brownish guitar by Vantage. That combo would look incredibly cool, if it were in my studio now.
My biggest regret buying is a USB hub for 3000 danish kroner that was supposed to be the “best”, but it creates an annoying electrical noise that messes up my workflow. It’s a shitty piece of crap gear that I’m currently just stuck with. It is hidden away behind my outboard rack, so at least I don’t have to look at it.

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

Definitely the Prophet-6… again. It just became a central part of my sound as a solo artist. I got it right before I made my first solo album in Danish. I tried a friend’s for five minutes and immediately knew I had to get one. It feels “extra analog”—dusty, woody, and smoky. While I also have a Jupiter-4 and two Juno-60s, the Prophet is my desert island synth.

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

Well, if I can’t keep answering “Prophet-6”! Then I’d say a computer and a good sound card, specifically from the Apollo ecosystem. Being able to plug a mic directly into the card and know you’re getting professional, high-quality audio without fighting old, noisy cables or temperamental vintage outboard, is essential for focusing on the music, rather than technical issues.

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

The computer and Logic DAW. It’s the backbone of everything I do, but it’s also the thing that can suck you into technical troubleshooting for an entire day instead of actually making music.

Also I would say my voice is also kind of a piece of gear that is ‘annoying’ to me, because I spend the bulk of my time in the studio singing, so I can’t live without it. But I have had 4 surgeries to fix my vocal chords, and through so much use, I have damaged my voice and I have to be very deliberate and careful with it now.

9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

The “Village” method of gear. I’ve been borrowing a friend’s Jupiter-4 for ten years, while he’s been borrowing my double bass for the same amount of time. Borrowing and swapping gear keeps things fresh; after 20 years with a synth, it’s nice for it to “go other places” while you try something new. It’s a beautiful way to keep the creative cycle moving through your musical community and network.

I also hate using pop filters on a microphone. So I use the old Frank Sinatra trick of angling the mic down 45 degrees above my mouth, so that the plosives and air go ‘under’ the diaphragm of the mic. Then you can really emote and get into all the feelin’ of it… Like so:

No pop filter necessary on that Neumann U87

Artist or Band name?

Tomas Høffding (solo project) and WhoMadeWho (band).

Genre?

Indie / Electronic / Alternative… Dance-able yet sad.

Selfie?

Where are you from?

Roskilde, Denmark. In fact, when I was very young, I lived in a house under a bridge, which was a little iconic/infamous in that area. The address became the title of a song “Darupvej 109” which I wrote about that time and place.

How did you get into music?

Oh, I’ve been doing this a long while, started around age 14 when I bought my first amp and electric guitar. I eventually became a conservatory educated bass player and singer. Been in a rock band where we released 3 albums, then electronic dance-punk music with WhoMadeWho, where we’ve done 7 albums together and continue touring the club scene all over the world. Now I’m also 3 albums deep with my solo project.

Honestly I feel there was no other way for me, but to do music. It was the most natural thing for me to do, and it just kinda came easy for me.

What still drives you to make music?

The need for emotional expression and the constant drive to finish albums and songs. Balancing two full musical careers keeps me moving forward. About 7 years ago I started getting into writing songs with danish lyrics, and it has really renewed my energy, as well as motivated me, and given me a new burst of creative output.

How do you most often start a new track?

There are many way into a song for me. Could be a melody or lyric, a riff, a beat, a thought or even simply a certain feeling. But I’d say that I am very process-oriented. I often focus on the physical “motions” of the gear, like the sweep of a filter, to find the right dynamic and emotional starting point.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I have a huge library of songs and ideas and I’m forever able to bounce from one thing to the next, so I’m never lacking for something to do. And I work in bursts of energy. I get super excited to build a studio or a track, but once that initial burst is over, I prefer to be finished because my patience for the “puzzle” of it ends with that first momentum. The exception to that is the ‘slow time’ on tour, and even then it’s the deadline of arrival that focusses the mind.
But I know I have a work ethic that keeps me grinding away until its done… or I take the idea and go in a different direction with it, and find a use for it in a different context.

Show us your current studio

The studio features gear like the Prophet-6 and Juno-60, alongside vintage preamps like the Urei Teletronix LA-3A units that have a lot of history—some were even used on Michael Bundesen’s vocals (legendary danish singer in Shu-Bi-Dua) and Kim Daugaard bass! (another legendary musician).

I designed and built the interior of the studio myself. It is a curated selection of gear, furniture, pieces of art and acoustic regulation. And it has got 3 large windows angled upwards to the sky with great view of a surprisingly industrial part of Copenhagen. It’s a creative space, that isn’t sterile, and is setup for a good vibe. One of the best studio spaces I’ve had.

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Don’t disappear into not making music. It’s easy to spend an entire day on technical problems like a faulty USB hub or A/B testing gear, but the goal is always the song.

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link

Check out my latest release under my name Tomas Høffding Følelser and my band WhoMadeWho’s latest album UUUU

And find me on Instagram or sign up for my newsletter. If you’re in Scandinavia, come check out my concert in Store Vega 27.05.27

CPH Mush – Hands full of Synths

[Editor: This is an updated interview. CPH Mush was one of the very early artists on this blog, and his setup and studio have evolved so much that we both thought it would be interesting to do an update with new questions. Enjoy!]

1. Has your favourite knob/fader/switch changed since last time? Why do you think it grabbed you now?

I think quite a lot has changed since the last time (it was five years ago). Back then I had some really clever answer of a very technical note. I think that goes with how I have been changing my approach to making music in the last five years. Nowadays I enjoy playing instruments and sounds a lot more than I did in the past (those 15-min a day on the piano have really paid off).
So I see my studio as a balance on approachable and direct instruments vs. more complex and deep ones. There is of course time spent on both sides, but I am enjoying the playability more and more. So to answer the question about my favourite knob/fader/switch – I would go for the Touché by Expressive E.
I didn’t do much research before buying it, so I thought it would be something like the morphee on the Arturia Polybrute – but it is not. I keep it beside my Expressive E Osmose – and I find it both intuitive and expressive in the sense that I can tap rhythmical changes or just sweep the surface and change the color of the sound I’m currently playing.

2. What’s a piece of gear you didn’t expect to love, but now you rely on constantly? 

This might be the most boring piece of equipment ever, the old Mackie Big Knob. It is just a monitor controller (I bought it as I have the idea to add some old hifi speakers as well as some other listening to the studio. But as it has both dual phone amplifiers and lots of connectivity it has made life a lot easier, especially as my new studio is much bigger than what I have had in the past. The Big Knob just makes it quick and easy to mute speakers for recording acoustic stuff simple and having the phone jacks in an accessible position, means that it is much easier moving around compared to using the soundcards jack in the rack.

3. Which piece of gear in your setup has aged the best — and which feels the most dated? 

The best – my first purchase, back in 1993 when I had just turned 13. My Korg MS10. It is a very simple synth, but it is extremely playable and has a unique character that just seems to fit with whatever I am doing. My personal move towards more playing vs. sequencing has made it shine brighter than ever.

For the most dated it leads me to drummachines as a category, and the older ones specifically. I have tons of drummachines and drum modules, and I think I like the idea of them, more than I actually use them. To be sincere I don’t use them much at all, as I prefer to build rhythms by other means. So the answer here is a tie between the old 8bit digital Korg machines and the Roland CR78. If you record these unprocessed it will sound like a time capsule to the years straight after their releases.

4. What’s the last “happy accident” that happened in your studio? 

I think my synths in general and the modular ones in particular is “happy accident” machines. When I turn on a modular synth, I usually have an idea of something I want to explore, but 10 minutes in, I am somewhere completely different. I know that there are a lot of people working their modulars into playable live instruments – I admire that patience. For me it is just a luxurious idea generator – I am operating it, but it is also operating me and we end up in interesting places all the time. For regular synths, I am taking a lot of the modular thinking with me and when I make patches I like to work with modulation busses as much as I can.

Making patches is usually something I make when I am not making music – the goal is to explore a synth and save as many interesting patches as possible on the way. (I have a video or two on youtube exploring this).

Example – Moog Muse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njJGOoCizfI 

5. If you had to banish one category of gear from your studio (pedals, drum machines, plugins, etc.), which would hurt the most? 

Well, the drummachines would hurt the least, as I mentioned before. I like to play instruments, so banishing all keyboards would be brutal. I don’t think I would spend time in the studio if I only had sequencers, guitars and touch surfaces.  

6. Has a new bit of gear changed the way you think about making music, not just how you sound?

I have just bought an old Hohner keyboard at a flee market – it is an old digital PCM thingy with internal speakers (it is likely a rebranded Casio). It does nothing unique, it lacks velocity on its keyboard, but it is immediate in a sense. Whenever I play with it, on its own or playing around with it over a tune I am working on, it just brings ideas. The internal speakers is creating a nice, soft distortion too, and the sounds have some stereo motion. The limitations makes me much faster, but it also moves my focus to the tonality instead of the sounds. To be honest, I have likely used it more already than I have used my Arturia Polybrute12… so 20 euros well spent.

*The Hohner keyboard is mid-bottom in the image*

7. If money and space weren’t an issue, what ridiculous piece of gear would you add to your studio today? 

I’d love a Fazoli F308 Grand Piano or an EMS Synthi 100 – likely the first over the second. However, my piano chops or space is inadequate for such a gem of an instrument.  

8. What’s the most “you” sound or technique that came directly from your gear choices?

Interesting question – my wife passed the studio a few days ago saying “wow, that does not sound like your usual stuff”. The day after she came in “well, now it does sound like you”… I had added some rhythm elements….

I am not great at programming beats – it has never been my thing (weird that I have so many drummachines…). It has never been the thing I listen to in music either. But rhythms are important to music – so I have found ways to make stuff that I find interesting – and apparently it is the “Rasmus” sound… (I have a video on Youtube showing how I use the Monomachine to create rhythmical textures).

Example – Monomachine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uerNSMSGGcY

9. Looking back at your answers last time — what’s the biggest shift in your relationship with gear since then? 

I had some really good answers back then (read it, if you don’t believe me) and I still don’t think the “what gear” is important. The important thing is to be creative and to use whatever is around – having a studio filled with inspiring instruments is a luxury, but being able to move from idea to recording fast is much more important to me. I don’t think there is any pivot here for me, but I thought a lot about how I would build my new studio – and what would be important… So I am going to use this question to write about something else – how to build a space to be inspired and productive in…

Three year ago I moved from a small apartment with both a basement and a livingroom filled with instruments – to a big house in the remote suburbs of Copenhagen. A semi-old house that used to be both a home and a plumbers workshop. I love DIY for various reasons, so I have been spending lots of time renovating the place and bring out all its character. The last part was the old workshop that I started working on in the beginning of the year – that was to house a dining room, a second livingroom and my music studio. As I was without a studio for like two years, I used my home office (which houses my Kawai piano) as a mini studio. With a growing collection of gear as I kept buying stuff (while most of the old stuff was still packed down).

Well. It was not an ideal space in any way, but it made it easier to focus on individual instruments, to get to know them in depth. (I also added a keyboard stand in the livingroom, so I could just make patches and stuff with one machine at a time). This lead me to think about that I might prefer having a different kind of studio than I ever have had before. I started thinking about having just a DAW in the middle of a room with a table to put one or two instruments on – and storage units around the walls, where I could store all my other instruments and boxes. The idea was to take out one at a time to not feel overwhelmed. I explored this path for a long time, until I came to the conclusion that I would likely not fit me that well. Partly because I like to look at instruments (some synths just looks sooo good) – and I remember to use different stuff if I see it…

I kept the idea of a table in the middle of the room and kind of building islands or stations for the more stationary instruments around the room. For the more portable stuff I keep the other idea – having desktop stuff, pedals and tape machines available on open shelves, that I bring down to the table and that I can connect to the DAW in a few seconds. This hybrid model seems to work quite well for me. One of the main things I have noticed is that I actually enjoy walking around the studio, moving from one island to the next while the music is playing – trying out different stuff on different instruments… For keyboards that I want to explore deeper – I do have a keyboard stand (with the Buchla Easel in the pictures attached) that I use for synths I want to play more with. At the moment it is the Easel that I haven’t gotten my head around yet. So regarding my change in relation to gear – I want a closer relationship with every unit I have. 😀

Artist or Band name (still the same? any side projects or aliases we should know about?)

I don’t really make music in a serious way, it is more something between a personal diary and creative release. But there is some old projects up on the big streaming platforms. The stuff that shows me off best is probably the songs “A Home” and “MDMA” from an album in my own name “Rasmus Nyåker” as well as the album “Illiterate Poetry” under the moniker “Fejld” . I keep thinking about reviving Fejld, but the music I am working on at the moment has vocals in Danish and a bit of a folk-electronica feel, so I need to get that out of the system first… 

Genre (has it shifted, blurred, or deepened since last time?)

I think most of my stuff fits in either neo-classic or ambient-acid-rock. But I don’t know much about genres – it is a bit like the old library sorting system, which is irrelevant if you just like to enjoy a good book every now and then. (That is my relationship to music – I just try to enjoy it) 

Selfie

Where are you based these days? (and how’s the local scene treating you?)

I moved from the city of Frederiksberg that is located inside Copenhagen, to the absolute outskirts and a sleepy suburb named Hedehusene (very close to Roskilde). I don’t think there is a local scene out here – there is a guy making a yearly “Jarre Experience” thing in a local church on a yearly basis, but I never visited. Basically I am too busy and old to have any musical ambitions and be part of a scene…  

What’s changed the most in your creative process since your last interview?

I rely much more on playing stuff, than sequencing – I don’t even use midi anymore for my synths – as I think the process is much more efficient by just recording the audio directly with all of its flaws and character.  

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome as a musician recently?

I don’t see myself as a musician, so I can’t answer this. ;) 

What continues to push you forward when music gets difficult?

I never feel that music is difficult – when I was younger and had ambitions, I struggled with trying to sound better than any artist I was currently in to, and with maintaining a feeling of getting better. The last part is however one of those things I have realized is often a false observation. As humans we seem to believe that we are constantly progressing, getting more clever, improving our musical skills, etc. But when we start to analyse old recordings or reading old notes – it is quite clear, at least to me, that it is kind of a false narrative. To make an example from something completely different. I planted a Magnolia tree in my front yard like two years ago – and when both me and my wife observe it, we mention to each other that it seems like it is growing in a decent tempo. But when we look back at pictures from when I planted it in the ground – it shows that the growth has actually been tiny (a bit depressing). It seems the wish in us to see it grow in our garden is influencing us to believe it. So, what is the conclusion to this – just trust your skills and make the most of them – art is never a competition – it is a way to let yourself or the listeners come in contact with themselves in new ways. 

How do you usually spark ideas now — same methods as before, or new rituals/tools?

I have no problem getting ideas – just grabbing an instrument and play some notes always rewards me with something. 

What’s your current marker for saying “this track is finished”? (has that changed?)

I don’t think that is important to me – the joy and almost trance like state that can appear during the jam and recording sessions is what I am after. I rarely finish tracks – if I do, it is usually to have kind of a diary of the time (listening to old recordings of mine has a way of bringing back all the emotions and feelings I had at the time). 

Can we get a peek at your current studio — what’s new in the space?

Well, the space is new. It has a nice dark blue hue on the walls and the ceiling. The floor is covered by a nice wool carpet (wool carpets are great at making a basement feel less basement-like). And since last time I did an interview, I have gotten lots of stuff. My eurorack has grown, without me noticing (I made that 2 meter x 1 meter eurorack case that is hanging on the wall, and thought that it would be enough together with my DIY Buchla style folding case and the keyboard case with 4x168hp). It wasn’t enough. So I had to buy a few more cases (and I am still waiting for 2 more cases that’s going up on the wall shelves). But let’s talk about a few of the pieces I have picked up in the last couple of years.

Keybird X1 – a portable budget unacorda piano. It was designed in another suburb of Copenhagen, and I like supporting the locals. It is a different instrument to the Kawai I have in the home office – and it works very well with different effect units.

A lot of synths, either bought out of curiosity or because I had them in the past and missed them: Arturia Polybrute12 and Matrixbrute, Korg Polysix, Akai AX60, Waldorf Quantum, Kawai K5000s, Waldorf Microwave 1 and XT, DSI Prophet12, Tempest and Pro2, Moog Muse, Novation Summit, Quasimidi Polymorph, Expressive E Osmose, Buchla Easel, Kilpatrick Phenol, etc. Of these my favourites are:

Moog Muse – I just enjoy playing it, making patches with it, writing music with it. It has a very mellow and dark character and is just great.

Novation Summit – This synth does not have a unique character but makes it up by being both direct and versatile and its sounds just works in almost any musical context. It also has the best arpeggiator in the world. (A tip for some fun with it – setup the same patch on both layers, change the arpeggiator settings on one layer (rhythm for example) and press some keys down) 

Best bit of creative or life advice you’ve picked up since your last interview?

I am usually not a fan of inspiring quotes, but I recently had one stuck in my mind “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” (Supposedly a quote by the late french writer Anaïs Nin). 

And finally: what’s the latest thing we should hear from you, watch, or support? Drop a link.

If you find me interesting I would suggest you to follow both my youtube and my instagram. My last post on Youtube (at this moment) was a little nice jam with my Keybird x1 and the Machinedrum (plus some synths) and is a good pointer on what I do in my studio 90% of the time…. Link to mentioned:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euZ2Nc3quZE

My YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@copenhagennoiselab

My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cphmush/

Kaspar Kaae – Cody-licious

[Editor: Okay… this interview is with someone who has got to have one of the greatest collections of vintage guitars (and music gear) in Denmark. The fact that this person is also a busy film composer and the main songwriter/singer in a very influential danish indie folk band is just perfect! Enjoy!]

1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?

The Delay Multiply knob on the Lexicon Primetime. There’s something tactile about it that just draws me in—it’s not just a control; it feels like a direct line to shaping the space of a sound. On the Primetime, every tweak transforms the ambience in a way that feels alive. It’s not about perfection; it’s about responding in real time to what the track needs. The character it adds, even in subtle doses, inspires me to experiment, sometimes in directions I wouldn’t have imagined. I spend hours just playing with it, seeing what weird reverbs or delays I can coax out.

Chase Bliss Gen-Loss and Hologram Electronics Microcosm

It’s a lot like the Hologram Electronics Microcosm, in that I can put nearly any type of sound into it, and it just spits music out.

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

My Flock Audio patchbay, digitally controlled analog routing, it’s incredibly practical.

Flock Audio digital patchbay and UAD Apollo soundcard

The 2 units were expensive, but they quite literally tie the whole studio together. It’s one of those bits of gear that costs a lot, but when you finally invest in it, you wonder why on earth you haven’t done so earlier!

3. What setup do you bring on holiday, tour, or commute?

I usually take a small pedalboard with an Apollo X4 interface, a UAD DSP core and a Shure Beta 58 mic. With a MacBook, it’s compact but allows me to capture ideas quickly anywhere. The Apollo lets me keep recording quality high, while still being portable, and the Beta 58 is rugged, reliable, and works with pretty much everything.

When working abroad I travel light, because I want to be able to experiment without being tied down by too much gear. It’s about having enough to inspire creativity, but not being weighed down too much.

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

Honestly, I’ve tried to build a setup where I have all hardware duplicates of favorite software. I like having the tactile, hands-on experience of hardware while also keeping the flexibility of software. For me, the ideal is not to wish one was the other—it’s to blur the lines, so that I can get the best of both worlds.

Eventide H3000 and Gyraf Audio Gyratec II

I also really learn a lot from having something in both hardware and software form. Like the PrimeTime is also emulated by SoundToys PrimalTap, and when I got the hardware it helped me understand the VST even better.

Roland Space Echo RE-201 and Lexicon Prime Time

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I regret selling my mahogany 1953 Martin O-15 acoustic. I bought it in New Orleans when I first toured in the USA in 2008. It had a tone that was intimate, warm, and unique—it was almost like it had its own personality. I sold it in 2011, and then in the winter of 2024, I was out with a friend who wanted to check out a vintage Gibson for sale from a private collector. And I found that exact guitar again! But the guy didn’t want to sell it.
After quite a bit of wrangling, and showing him my photos of me playing the guitar on stage back in 2009, he eventually agreed to sell it to me again … at quite a good price … for him!
But I just had to have it again… over the 13 years that I didn’t own it, I often thought about it. And I took it as a sign from fate, that I was meant to play it again because of the sheer coincidence of stumbling across it again.
I wrote and recorded all the songs on my debut album on this guitar, and it’s a part of my history.

No regrets buying anything, though. Every purchase I’ve made has either shaped my sound or taught me something about what I want. Even when a piece of gear doesn’t end up being central, it informs my decisions in the future.
Like these small portable plastic keyboards, the CasioTone and the Yamaha VSS-200. They have a unique and crunchy sound, that works well in a few situations.

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

Definitely my Louis Zwicki upright piano, Roland Juno-60, Telefunken Neumann U47, and Fender Jaguar. The piano is the foundation of everything; it’s the place where melodies and harmonies emerge…. But again – all my instruments do that. This is just my immediate answer to a rather big and unfair question, cause tomorrow it might be something else 😉

The Telefunken Neumann U47 captures emotions in a way that is almost human—it’s not just recording sound; it’s recording presence. A cellist I work with said to me, that this particular U47 makes her cello sound better on recording than it does it real life.
The Juno-60 gives me warmth and unpredictability that I can’t get elsewhere, and also I’ve used the Juno so much that I feel very much at home with it. So much so that I gotta admit that I actually have 2 units, one in Copenhagen and one in Berlin!

The Fender 1964 Jazzmaster allows me to explore textures and tonalities that are immediately inspiring. Together with my pedalboards and stompbox fx, these instruments aren’t just tools anymore – they are like a part of me, since I’ve been playing Jazzmasters for more that 20 years. It’s the guitar I’ve played the most.

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

I would start simple, probably with my holiday travel board. Something portable that still allows you to explore sounds and ideas. I’d probably get bored of that simple setup and then I’d slowly bring back the vintage gear, piece by piece, layering textures and capabilities. The temptation is always to chase the “perfect setup” but I think starting small encourages creativity—you’re forced to solve problems and think musically rather than technically.

All the stuff in my studio is kind of a lifetimes worth of collecting. It’s a bit painful to imagine it all gone.

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

Rack Flock Audio, UAD Soundcard, Heyman and Heritage Preamps

I’d have to say the Flock digital p a tchbay. It’s annoying because it was manufactured with a low quality threading for the d-sub connectors on the back, so now it is broken and the connection is glitchy. But it’s so essential to my working process that I don’t have time to un-patch it, send it to repair and re-patch the whole studio.

I also have a 1965 Gibson Firebird that has a glued in neck. It’s got 3 P90 pickups and a fantastically dry sound. However it just doesn’t hold tuning and the intonation is terrible. You basically can’t play a whole song all the way through. But it records really well.

9. Most surprising tip, trick, or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

Enjoy the parts of the sounds that are ‘faults’. This is something I’ve realized over years of experimentation. Imperfections—whether it’s a synth that drifts out of tune, a reverb that rings out in unexpected ways, or tape hiss—can be incredibly inspiring. Instead of fighting them, I embrace them. They add character, unpredictability, and a human element to recordings that otherwise might feel sterile… or worse ordinary.

Artist or Band name?

Kaspar Kaae

Genre?

Cinematic indie folk.

Selfie

Where are you from?

Bornholm, Denmark. It’s an island in the Baltic sea and it’s quite far from the mainland of Denmark. Moved to Copenhagen when I was 19.

How did you get into music?

When I was around 10 years old, a school friend named Rolf at school started to play on the pianette (small upright piano) that we had in our classroom, and I was fascinated by it. So of course I had to start playing myself.
He then started to play acoustic guitar and we learned together for a while. He showed my Am, C, D and F. So I immediatly put those together and said to my parents “Hey, I wrote a song!”

Kaspar Kaae with his vintage 1948 Martin D-18 acoustic

Couple of years later, I was allowed to trade my mom’s acoustic for an electric guitar … and since then, it’s just been music, music, music.

What still drives you to make music?

Curiosity and not knowing the answers. Every track starts as the question: “What happens if I try this?” That uncertainty is still exciting. It’s not about finishing a product—it’s about discovering, exploring, and reacting to sounds as they evolve.

How do you most often start a new track?

Blank template in Logic. I rarely begin with a pre-conceived idea. Starting empty forces me to listen, respond, and experiment. I’ve tried making a template with a bunch of sample libraries, but it makes the whole process a bit more boring for me. Doesn’t feel creatively exciting.
I have ‘workshop’ days with my musical collaborators, where we spend a day just trying out a lot of different ideas and crazy experiments. Most don’t work, but maybe 1 out of 10 become a composition that is an idea that you would never find any other way.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I really don’t. It’s hard to be objective about your own work. I rely heavily on collaborators like directors, producers or editors —they can tell me when something feels emotionally or conceptually complete. Often, a track evolves far beyond my initial idea, and outside feedback helps me recognize when it’s “done enough” to either be useful for a film scene or as an independent musical release.

Robotron ‘70 Deluxe Distortion/Compressor Big Muff

Show us your current studio

It’s a hybrid of vintage but still practical. The Flock Audio patchbay, Lexicon Primetime, Juno-60, piano, 1953 Telefunken Neumann U47, Fender 1964 Jazzmaster—all of it is central to my workflow. The space isn’t flashy, but it’s alive. Every cable, knob, and surface has a purpose. It encourages experimentation and allows me to move quickly between ideas. It’s not just a studio—it’s a creative ecosystem.

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

“Have an idea, but be open to new things.” It’s deceptively simple. An initial idea is just a starting point; the magic happens in letting the work transform itself during the process. Tracks often end up somewhere completely different from the original concept, and the best work comes from embracing that evolution rather than trying to control it.

Promote your latest thing…

My latest release is with my band Cody. Our new album is called Everything Falls Apart.