Playground magazine

Behind Taragana Pyjarama lies Nick Kold, a young Danish producer who - as the most attentive of you will remember - we first heard of round about 2010. At that time, he was signing his productions as Eim Ick and he was in the orbit of Barcelona label Hivern Discs. This relationship still hasn’t crystallised to date (although, as he confirms in this interview, it is still in effect), but Kold has already had time to release a well-known debut EP on Fool's Gold and to sign with Kompakt to release his first album, “Tipped Bowls”, which went on sale last Monday. As he explains, it proposes to “take us on a journey” through his always-effervescent musical vision. His first two advances confirmed that he would also give us a glimpse of new facets of a sound that has so far been characterised by an abundance of light - propelled by bubbling synthesizers and vocal samples put through the mill - with special attention being paid to a pop accent. Coinciding with the arrival of the album, Nick has prepared an evocative mix for us; with room for everything from Cluster to Omar-S, including Emeralds and Moodymann. That is to say: all good things. Along with the session he gave a short interview, in which we get to the bottom of some aspects of his restless personality.

How would you define Taragana Pyjarama’s music to someone who has never listened to it?

I've tried to do so a lot of times and I'm really bad at it. I guess it's got something to do with not wanting to be labelled. I just make it—which sounds really cheap, but it's the way I like to think about the process and the result. It's something I make in that moment and I'll just leave it at that, not trying to make it something it's not.

What is your musical background? What kind of music did you listen to growing up and what was your introduction to electronic music?

Not gonna lie, when I was in my young teen I listened to all the bullshit I could get. Rap, dance and pop. Basically what everyone else was listening to at the time. When I got older I searched the net a lot for "new" music. It was things like The Jam, Roxy Music, The Stooges and all that. I discovered electronic music through friends and I think my first listen was Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada I think. My passion for music production started with Border Community. Just recently discovered Cluster, amazing.

Your alias sounds pretty curious, at least to a non-Danish speaker. What does it mean and where did it come from?

It means nothing. It's just a name inspired by the song “Pyjamarama” by Roxy Music. I was doing another thing, and I came up with this name quick because I thought it looked good. It was a side project I never promoted and never thought would move anywhere. I put up one song on Myspace called “Girls” and the next day some blogs picked it up out of the blue, and then some more did so too, and then I suddenly had a record deal with this name.

Your music has always had an important pop component, as if you wanted to make pop songs using an electronic recipe. Would you say your influences come more from the pop spectrum than electronic music? What artists have been important in developing your vision?

Thanks. Never looked at it that way, but I see what you mean. It's probably a mix. I wouldn't say I'm feeling inspired by one thing more than the other. I like free-minded music and I like communities. People who stick together and do what they believe is good. Like-minded. There've been a lot of artists and people helping me to develop, I couldn't choose one, not even a few. I'm still learning everything.

I guess that releasing your debut album on Kompakt is a pretty thrilling experience for a newcomer. How did that came up?

Kompakt hit me up after hearing the EP I released last year. I sent them some songs I've been working on and we just went on from there.

What can we expect from “Tipped Bowls”? Did you want to follow the same line as your debut EP or was your desire to explore new areas? The first two advances seemed to point to quite a diverse work.

Yeah, it's not the same. I wanted to try things out. I wanted to make an album which hopefully could move you on a journey. It's something I've wanted to do for so long, just make a lot of bits and work more into one big picture. It was great for me to do. Now I'm doing some new things, which I'm also very excited about.

Your tracks sound like a colourful mixture of samples and synths. Can you describe how you usually construct your tracks?

It's never the same method. Often I don't know completely what I'm doing, because I hate reading manuals and guides, so I just try things out. It's often melodies first and harmonies. That's what I enjoy doing most, so that's where I'll start.

In the same vein, could you briefly describe the configuration of your studio? Do you use only software or is there also some hardware involved?

Simple. Normally I work with software, but for the record I borrowed a Juno-106 and Phatty Moog. It's a guy from the band, he's been helping me with recordings as well on Lo Ng.

How, when and where was the mix recorded? Is there any specific idea or concept behind it?

It was recorded in my apartment in Copenhagen a couple of weeks ago, I think. It was the same thought as when I went into doing the album. I like music to take you somewhere, so hopefully people will enjoy the guiding.

You've included a track from Barcelona label Hivern Discs, Marc Piñol’s “Solve Et Coagula”. I understand you’re somehow linked with them. Are you planning anything with Hivern?

Hivern Discs is great. Been a big fan since I discovered them. I know them because of John Talabot, and we were planning some things a long time ago, but I'd love to do something with them at some point. Not sure when, but I have definitely been thinking about it.