Jörgen Kjellgren on Writing and Recording His New Album Bluebird - Music Production Podcast #339

Jörgen Kjellgren is a musician and producer from Sweden. His new album, Bluebird, comes out September 14th and combines singer-songwriting and ambient music beautifully. 

Jörgen and I spoke about his new album, Bluebird. Jörgen shared his songwriting and recording techniques. He went into detail about how the songs were started with lyrical writing and the production techniques he used to bring each track new dimensions.

Note: There was a glitch in the audio until minute 27. I don't think it's so bad that the audio shouldn't be released. But if it bothers you too much, please skip to 27:00 minutes where the issue is resolved. There is also a transcript below that might help. My apologies for the problem!

Brian Funk

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Episode Transcript:

Brian Funk:

Hello everybody. Welcome back to the music production podcast. I'm your host Brian Funk. On today's show, I'm very happy to be reunited with Jörgen Kjellgren. Jörgen is a musician from Sweden. He's been on the show a couple of times. He was on episode 129 when he was talking about some ambient albums he was putting out. He did nine in a year. That was pretty amazing. And he was also back on episode 171 where he did a guided meditation, which was a really nice kind of collaboration and a little departure for this podcast. But I think it came out really cool. Um, since then he's produced some new music. He's got an album called Bluebird coming out in September and I had to listen to it and I love it. And it's a little different from the ambient stuff that we talked about last time. More singer songwriter folk stuff, but there's definitely some. ambient influence peeking its head in there too. So welcome back, Jörgen, great to see you.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Thanks. Thanks for having me back. It's

Brian Funk:

I want

Jörgen Kjellgren:

been

Brian Funk:

to,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a while.

Brian Funk:

yeah, I guess we did this guided meditation. I feel like we might've been in lockdown at that point.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, I think that's why we did it.

Brian Funk:

I think we were trying to spread some peace and calm, right?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So maybe

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

what is that? Three years ago?

Brian Funk:

That's three years.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. It's so weird. Time has just gotten very odd since then.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

Definitely that's like a point though in the timeline of I guess everyone's life.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. Like a pre or post, whatever

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

happened in between. So like, mush.

Brian Funk:

I want to paint you a little picture of what I was doing yesterday because it was a beautiful day here in New York on Long Island and I decided to go to the beach, North Shore Beach, Rocky Beach and just hang out and I had your album in preparation for this episode. So I put it on and I have this little method of relaxation I like to do in the water. The Long Island sound is very calm so it's not like an ocean with big waves so it's really relaxing. And I've got a pair of Crocs,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Oh yeah.

Brian Funk:

which you kind of need like water shoes around there just because of the rocks. But I like them because they float. So I put them on my feet and then I've got like two pool noodles under my

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

arms and I'm laying back and I got your album playing and I'm just floating around in the Long Island sound. And it was the perfect soundtrack. It was just great. It felt really nice, really peaceful. It's a really nice collection of songs and then some kind of interlude pieces that kind of just set the vibe of the album. I like to talk about this a lot, like what is your listener doing when you put on their music. And that's what I was doing and it was a perfect match. So thank you for

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

a great afternoon.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that sounds awesome and that makes me happy that you had that. Yeah, I think even though this is like a folk or psychedelic folk album, it's just somewhere in my nature, I guess, that it's like this ambient thing that just keeps on coming through. I tried to avoid it a little bit, but it's not good. I couldn't help it.

Brian Funk:

Well, it's got a feeling, you know, and I like that in an album that it has like a consistent thing that goes throughout. It feels like one unified thing. And a lot of the sort of ambient sounds within even the more traditional songs connect through into some of the more interlude type songs, the instrumental things that connect everything together. So it's great for... You know, it accomplishes the same sort of thing an ambient record does with setting a mood, setting a vibe, creating a feeling.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

That's great. That's great to hear. I think it's, so when I did, let's see, when we first talked the last time, I had done all of the ambient stuff, and then at the start of lockdown, I did an EP called Hollywood, where I, so a bunch of years ago, I decided that for every new project, I had to add something or take something out, basically just do something that I haven't done before. So for the Hollywood. came out in 2020 I think. I started playing acoustic guitar which, well I mean that's sort of where I come from so I knew how to do that but I haven't done that, hadn't done it in a while. That affected the structure of the tunes even in Hollywood it's an instrumental album for the most part. And then so when I wanted to start the thing that sort of project that came, the Bluebird album. I was thinking about, okay, so what do I do now that I haven't done before? sort of next logical step was lyrics and singing, which I have done in the past, but in Swedish. So yeah, I started writing lyrics in English and that also, of course, made the song structures more folky or traditional in that sense.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I guess the sound palette. is fairly closely connected to the ambient stuff I've been doing before,

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I think.

Brian Funk:

Well, in the ambient stuff, I know you relied heavily on the OP-1.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Am I mistaken? Do I hear it kind of peeking its head in there a little bit on this?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

It's in there. Actually, I've sold it, which was a mistake. But when I started the project, I had it. And it's in there in some tape loop stuff and some of the synth sample bits that I put on the album. I'm not sure why I sold it. I shouldn't have. I think I just sometimes I sort of fall out of love with it. instruments and I don't want to be nostalgic about gear but the

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

downside of that is that sometimes they sell stuff too soon. So yeah, maybe I'll have to get it.

Brian Funk:

That's something I think that happens. We either get rid of stuff too soon or hold onto it too long.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. It's really hard to find.

Brian Funk:

I'm surprised to hear you soldier OP1 though.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

It seems like such a part of your workflow from when

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

we spoke

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

last.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And maybe that's why I sort of felt like I should get rid of it.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, just to start fresh. Yeah, that's a fun thing to do when you move on to new projects is to think of, OK, I'm going to have this new angle,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

whether it's like this time I'm going to have lyrics, I'm going to write them in English. And that right away just kind of eliminates a lot of options, for one. It sets you on a path. I think it's important if you want to actually get stuff done and have some direction.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah, I think so. Probably talked about that also last time, but I try to set up restrictions at the start of the project and sort of structure them in a way that sort of propels me forward. So. and sort of make up these fairly strict... around what I'm trying to create. And then I say, great. I start with something that's usually fairly minimal.

Brian Funk:

And what were your parameters or did you have any rules for this particular release, Bluebird?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, well, I started doing this. I had this idea with like, okay, so I want to make like proper songs with lyrics, singing and based around like acoustic guitar. So kind of funky and structured. And then, so I started doing like morning sessions with just a note pad and like scribbling lyrics and like they used to write songs in the old days.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I had a bunch of tunes that I liked and... After that, it was probably just like starting. I had them like on my phone, just voice memory sketches. And then it was time to set. I had a few sounds that I wanted to use. I wanted to get a particular drum machine in there and I had found this sample instrument. There's this thing, I think it's called the orchestra. It's like a relative to the melodrum. It's like

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

maybe it's vinyl based instead of tape based.

Brian Funk:

Oh wow.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

That was early.

Brian Funk:

Sampler type of things.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. I got the sample back from what's this race. I can't remember. He has the hanging out with audio files podcast.

Brian Funk:

Oh, Jamie Liddell.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Exactly, yeah. I really love that sound. And I, so I wanted to use like that drum machine. And then my guitar you can see. sort of just went from there.

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And then I mean, running stuff too.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

May things sound worse.

Brian Funk:

The sounds are great on the record. There's, I

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Oh cool.

Brian Funk:

mean, at points, you almost start to blend the guitars with the synth sounds in a way that, I guess through the pedals, like you said, and maybe just

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Hmm.

Brian Funk:

how you're programming the synth, sometimes you kind of lose track of what's what.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's a win for me. I wanted to get I wanted to make this. I don't know how to describe sort of a cinematic or dreamy sound. World of sounds universe or something. I think I think I was successful.

Brian Funk:

Yeah,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Hopefully

Brian Funk:

I'd say so.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I wasn't.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. If you're floating in the Long Island Sound anyway, it feels that way. Ha

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

ha

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

ha.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

But I think the lyric part is interesting because I'm not that kind of a songwriter. I don't have like stuff to say. I don't have topics that I'm like, at least not on a conscious level. So I had read this book by Jeff Tweedy. It's called How to Write One Song.

Brian Funk:

Love it.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I really loved it. methods in it. to sort of, yes, get started writing, finishing lyrics and songs. So I used a few of the methods. I think one that I liked the most was I picked like words from like one page of a book or something like that and just like a word or a sentence or a half of it. sort of filled in again.

Brian Funk:

Mm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

When I had something that looked like, say, two verses and a chorus, I started rearranging lines, almost like sort of cut out poetry, to get something that I enjoyed singing that sort of sounded like a song, but I wasn't sure what it was about.

Brian Funk:

Mm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So in a way, I wanted to... Because I didn't have anything like, oh, this album is gonna be about this and that and the other thing, this song, tell this and that story. I didn't have anything like that. So I just sort of tried to play around with word, with the lyrics and stuff, just to see if there was like stuff. It's getting a bit pretentious now, so fuck off. But if there's like, if there was a story I was trying to say that I didn't know, like what stories am I telling when I'm not sort of, when I'm sort of looking the other way?

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So there, I don't really know what the album's about. I mean, I have a few clues, but I kind of like that. Keep it interesting. Hopefully, if I come back to this song in a couple of years or so, they'll have a new meaning. I'll see something in them.

Brian Funk:

Hmm. That's a cool way to write. Um, because I think a lot of people feel like I need to have a big message. I need to have something

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

that I'm. I, or then that can often lead people to thinking like I need to have had something bad happen to me. I need to be suffering.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

And of course that can lead to great music, but it doesn't mean you have to be. Um, you can still find stuff. We're all interesting. people with a lot going on and if you just

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

explore,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah, yeah.

Brian Funk:

you find the things to say.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, and even in the sort of most mundane stuff

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that we all go through, there's a sort of snippet.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I think actually, I think Jeff Tweedy does this really well, but I imagine it's sort of unpredictable. Because there's so many songs of this that I absolutely love, that I have no clue what they're about. But they

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

still sort of connect somehow.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I don't know what it is that does it, and I don't think he can control it either. There's something that happens. probably hard to describe. Maybe it's just like mostly luck.

Brian Funk:

I think there's a lot of luck to it, honestly.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

And you have to show up to get lucky, right? You gotta

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

be in it to win it kind of thing. So if you keep

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

at it, sometimes cool things happen.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, for

Brian Funk:

I

Jörgen Kjellgren:

sure.

Brian Funk:

like using those techniques. I love that book, by the way, it's great. But sometimes even just singing gibberish and by getting... free enough to sound stupid and

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

not care.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

That's when a lot of interesting things happen. And it's like you said, I like the way you put it, telling the stories I tell when I'm looking the other way.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Cause it sort of gets at your subconscious, I think on a level too.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. That was sort of the goal, I guess, or intention. something I was hoping. Because it's really, I don't enjoy it so much when, let's say I've written a song and someone asks me what it's about. And if I know what it's about, and I'm able to sort of communicate that, say, well, this song is about that one time when I was... sort of takes away the magic. It's better if you don't know what it's about, but there's still something in there that connects.

Brian Funk:

Hmm. Yeah, sometimes that can spoil it for listeners too.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

Oh, I thought it was that, but I guess it's not.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. Yeah, I think in this way too, meanings sort of emerge and they're more flexible. I've

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

looked at songs of mine where they're, I've kind of write like that a lot too, where I'm kind of using chance to produce the lines and then work around that. And sometimes I look at them and I learn stuff about myself. And then other times I realized like, that's not really how I feel. It's

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

maybe

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah.

Brian Funk:

a fleeting, you know, flash in my mind.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

are fun to follow too.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, absolutely. I think those are the like, it doesn't have to be, I mean, songs, or lyrics and maybe songs in general. They're not like, they don't have to be. It's not like a school recital where we sort of show what we've learned so far. It's,

Brian Funk:

Uh-huh.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that would make it fairly boring for us. There's something else there that was like, okay, this is the idea I had on the day I wrote this. Yeah, I kind of like it, you know, I'll write something else tomorrow or, you know. So they're like, I guess, snippets or snapshots.

Brian Funk:

Hmm. Sometimes it's nice to put out something a little abstract and then

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

kind of let the music also be part of that. And then, then the listener gets involved in determining the meaning, figuring out what's going on.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

That's really cool that you still went forward with the writing of the lyrics and didn't feel like first I need this thing. Because I think that gets us stuck all the time. Even in music, first I need to know what kind of song, first I need some gear, first I need this. It's just, no, you actually don't.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. And maybe, I mean, for me, my day job is as a copywriter. So I don't have trouble putting words to paper. So I can just scribble and be playful. didn't really mean anything to me. It didn't, it was sort of risk-free.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And then sort of after a while, teams started to do stuff like that. And I actually enjoyed the ask just for sort of the fact that it was sort of abstract at the workflow. I enjoyed that in my day job. Things are usually very, very clearly formulated

Brian Funk:

Right,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

tasks

Brian Funk:

very specific,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

and yeah,

Brian Funk:

yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly. Goals and problems to solve. So.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I really enjoyed getting away from that. naive.

Brian Funk:

Right. Make people read between the lines a little

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Exactly.

Brian Funk:

instead of spelling it out for them all the time.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

That's a funny contrast.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah. I think this album took me... It's been sort of a long and... I mean, it probably took two years from start to finish. And in between, we bought a house and moved and all that stuff. So it was fairly long periods where I didn't work on the music or where I actually felt like I had sort of abandoned the project. slumps where I didn't like any of it at all. It was a bit of a journey in that sense. But something, I think that I had maybe let's say six or seven songs and I was like okay we're close to an album now but I don't think I have that much more in me for this project.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

You know how you long enough that you get start getting ideas for the next project.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And that sounds then that starts a lot more appealing than the thing you're working on. But so for this, for the Bluebird project, I started somewhere in the middle. I started sort of as a hobby to play. I've always wanted to be able to play these like solo jazz tunes, like Joe Pass and Jim Oll and all of those old legends.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So I started working on some of that stuff, more like a hobby. And some of that ideas from that way of thinking became these interlinks, like on the etudes, these like instrumental guitar things. I felt like they maybe they didn't tie the whole thing together, but they sort of created this sort of I don't know background. private. I think it's sort of they gel the album together in the sense that you describe when you were floating in the sound. Even if it's nine tracks or ten songs or whatever, it's still a sort of coherent experience.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

That's how I felt when I saw the thing.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, I think very much so. And to the fact that there were times where I didn't really know how far into the album I was, what song I was

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

onto. Cause they kind of, I don't know if they exactly blend into each other all the time, but they definitely like those etudes. Is that how you say it? Etude.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I think so.

Brian Funk:

They kind of, they're like little bridges. They're little pathways.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

And, um, in. They help really because they have a similarity too. It gives this kind of like recurring theme that happens that we, and it also gives you some breathing room between the songs. So

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, like,

Brian Funk:

they kind of soak in a little bit.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah, the idea was for them to work as sort of palate cleansers,

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like the like what is it? The ginger you eat between sushi bites.

Brian Funk:

Right. Yeah,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

something

Brian Funk:

I think

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like

Brian Funk:

they work well like that. They kind of keep you in the spot, in that place for the album. And then sometimes when you have song after song after song, it's a lot to take in every two and a half, three minutes. That, OK, here we go again.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah. And I've always liked album that has some of that stuff. Like, you know, I don't know, let's say track six or seven is just this thing that wasn't really intended to be a full song. It's like someone was jamming in the studio, something fades in and out. and it can be sort of a piece of music that isn't so in. isn't so sort of fully focused on being like, here's a song, here's a tune, it starts and it ends. It's just like a piece of music that floats in and out.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like that which maybe it's not a surprise

Brian Funk:

Yeah, it's very nice. And I can hear that guitar work you were talking about, the jazzy stuff. I really enjoyed the guitar work on this album. Uh, lots of like nice combination of sounds from acoustic to electric and some really tasteful playing going on where just some stuff, uh, really kind of, um, not many notes at a lot of times, but a lot said with those notes.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

and just

Jörgen Kjellgren:

well...

Brian Funk:

some great voicings and really on a guitar level is a great lesson.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Thank you. Thank you so much. That means a lot. I mean, I was going as fast as I could.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I've never been a very technical player, but I like those sort of vibey, big-ish sounds.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So yeah, I'm glad that worked.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, it definitely helps give it a mood and a feel, breaks up the lyrics a bit,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

keeps things moving. And the vocals too, just want to say while we're at it, you know, sound great. Really nice register you're singing in, really relaxed with great melodies without being so over the top. You know, sometimes melodies dance around a lot and you have a nice balance of keeping that relaxed enough feeling. but still it's not just a very like monotone delivery either. Some

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

nice melodies.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Well, thanks. I appreciate that. Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Catchy

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I guess my

Brian Funk:

stuff.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

singing is a bit sort of conversational in a way, but I, yeah. The thing with the, with actually recording the lyrics, I had done all of them on, at home, on my own, like all the lyrics, all the vocals, I should say. But I... When I had like sort of, I felt like, okay, this is a finished album now. I sort of realized that, well, the lyrics don't really. From a, I guess, recording technique or sound quality standpoint, they didn't really cut it. So I read it all of them with a friend of mine as a studio. So. I went in there for, I don't know, a day, a day and a half or something, and redid all the vocals. And it was just so liberating, I think is the right word to work with. He's a good vocal producer, but just to have an engineer there that starts

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

and stops the, not the tape, but whatever you're, the DAW, I guess. And you don't have to think about any of that because that sort of, it really sort of takes me out of the zone when I record lyrics or record some vocals myself. And you have to sort of

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

press the space bar and go back and do all of the, you know, thing

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

in Ableton. So that was really good. And since I had I'd been singing the, all the vocal tracks while I had already done it, done it once I could just sort of redo it fairly quickly, but with a lot better sound and

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

the monitoring and all of that stuff. So that was a lot of fun. I felt like a proper singer for a day, which doesn't happen a lot.

Brian Funk:

You sound like one, I'll say

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Well,

Brian Funk:

that.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

thank

Brian Funk:

It sounds

Jörgen Kjellgren:

you.

Brian Funk:

great. You make a good point. When you're recording vocals, for me especially, it's the most vulnerable thing I'm doing.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Any instrument I'll pick up and if I don't know how to play it, I'm not embarrassed about it. But sometimes when I record vocals, I'm just like, oh God.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

And when you're recording it yourself, you have to be so cognizant of if it's actually a good take, and then you

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

also have to be in that zone where you're not worrying about if it's a good take and you're just feeling it and you're getting into the music and it's just like at odds, those mindsets.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. It's really hard to sort of jump between them.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So that was really, really good to use an engineer for that. I think I'm going to do more of that. If again, whenever I make another album, I'm sure I'll make another album. I just don't know what it'll be yet, but.

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Maybe spend a day recording acoustic guitar or whatever, just to like. to be able to be just like fully a musician, someone else can be an engineer, produce

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a little bit for a while.

Brian Funk:

It's easy to forget that when we record our own songs, you know, laptop musicians or home studio stuff, we're doing the jobs of what used to be many people.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. Which

Brian Funk:

You're the

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I mean,

Brian Funk:

talent.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

it's a good skill to have.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

It can be really useful, but it was very... It felt very sort of luxurious to just stand in a vocal booth and,

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

you know, be an artist.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, just go for it. Someone

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

else is going to take care of it.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

Yeah, that

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that

Brian Funk:

is

Jörgen Kjellgren:

was

Brian Funk:

nice.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a good feeling.

Brian Funk:

What was your recording process like? Were you... I'm guessing you kind of had the songs written first before you

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yes,

Brian Funk:

started to record, right? Based on what you're saying.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah exactly I did. So for some of the songs I had like I guess production ideas. Let's say I knew I wanted to try a drum machine or something like that and then I so then I recorded probably like scratch vocals and acoustic guitars to a click track and so then sort of build things up

Brian Funk:

Thanks for watching!

Jörgen Kjellgren:

from than some... So that's, I guess, fairly straightforward. as a recording process. I did because looking back, especially on the ambient music I've made earlier, it's fairly minimal in terms of how many tracks I use. Maybe... If I'm making ambient music and I have like five channels of synths, that's like a fully fledged track, like a production to me. And I wanted for this album to make the effort of like adding more detail. things to come in and out and like work with stuff in the background, stuff in the foreground, left right, you know, weird things that like someone else might take out, all of that, you know. So I guess putting more effort into the production basically, that was also a lot of fun, but because my sort of natural inclination is fairly minimal. And it's not like the Bluebird album is some sort of a overblown, um,

Brian Funk:

Oh no, not at all.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like a giant project or by any stretch, but it's probably the most ambitious I've worked on, I think, in terms of how many channels I used and what I did to the sounds and all of that stuff. So that was, uh, that was also fun. And to let it, to let it sort of take time. Yeah, that was another thing I learned. Maybe I learned it from your podcast or from somewhere else where like if I had a rough version of like I've started work on a track, I had like some basic recording to just put it on my phone and go for a walk and listen. After a while you start feeling like, well, there's something should happen here or this part is too long and that shouldn't like those lyrics doesn't work or the things that you can feel intuitively while you're away from your computer, like not looking in your door to see where there are, you know,

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

clusters of tracks or whatever. So that was also something I did early on and then I had like notes that said stuff like add a weird sound to the second verse or whatever and

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

then I could sort of go back into the studio you know go find a pedal that I didn't really know what it does and uh you know you know like just make up some weird stuff and see if it fits that was

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

really fun

Brian Funk:

That's cool. Yeah. When you step away, you get this kind of, you can take the music in as a whole more, especially

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

if you're

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

sort of occupied. I

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

often like to be kind of doing something else while I'm listening.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Hmm?

Brian Funk:

And this way, because at the computer at, in the studio, you're, you've got the microscope out, the magnifying glass on everything

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

and you don't see the big picture sometimes you lose sight of that.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

It's weird thing that when you're sort of looking in your computer, you don't really experience the music as music, I think. You're looking

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

at it and you go, OK. two more bars and then the hi-hat comes in. And then you just hear the hi-hat coming two bars later,

Brian Funk:

And

Jörgen Kjellgren:

but you don't

Brian Funk:

you

Jörgen Kjellgren:

really think about, yeah, exactly. It

Brian Funk:

just

Jörgen Kjellgren:

just

Brian Funk:

see

Jörgen Kjellgren:

scrolls

Brian Funk:

it coming

Jörgen Kjellgren:

by.

Brian Funk:

along the screen.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. But you don't really think about, should it be there at all? I just hear it coming in or dropping out

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

or whatever. But when you sort of, if you're not looking at it, you can hear it in a

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

quite different way, I think.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, it's almost like your sounds are on a conveyor belt and they're just coming across this play head.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

And I've had that feeling where like the music sounds like it's just coming along. It's just

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

like floating by, I guess.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

And

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, it starts and it stops after a while and then it's just, right. What was that? Yeah. It looked good on the screen. I guess it's a good song. Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, I like that way of working though that kind of putting down like the scratch guitar, get the idea of the song there and then

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

build around it and then you replace as you need. It keeps you focused on what's important because I've definitely had this experience where I If I don't do that, if I don't have like the vocal line there, the kind of vocal element, all of a sudden I start building everything up. And every stage

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

of my process is like, I got the drums and the drums sound perfect on their

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm.

Brian Funk:

own. And then we add the next part in and now I got to adjust the drums a little bit because

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

they can't take up that much space. And when you have those... big picture elements, those focal points ready. Then you can, and you mentioned it kind of, you thought about it like foreground, background, and

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

left and right, you can place things much better.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah. And I'm, I'm not like a great mixing engineer or anything like that, but I really had fun working on that stuff, trying to see where I could fit things in, where there was gaps or where there should be a gap or, you know, all of that. So that was a lot of fun.

Brian Funk:

Right. Well, it still has a nice minimal vibe too. It's

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

not

Jörgen Kjellgren:

cool.

Brian Funk:

over the top. Um, and I think I have the opposite problem of you. My temptation is to try to just keep adding stuff cause I can. I have all these tracks and

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

a lot of

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

the best stuff I do is after I start deleting things away.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, but yeah, I think that's probably very common.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, I hear that more than I hear. I tend to do too little.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

People have like all these capabilities, so they want to use them all.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

That's, that's like, that's good to know about yourself though, too, that this is the way I tend, you know, these are

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm.

Brian Funk:

the mistakes I tend to make or the, um, preferences I tend to have.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, I think that's my sort of natural way of like, I add some stuff. I had a few basic tracks and something that adds maybe a bit of interest. And then I just like, all right, cool. Well, that sounds about done. And it's like, I don't know, 11 tracks or whatever. But then I had to catch myself and go, well, yeah, but what if there was more? And then,

Brian Funk:

Heh.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

and, and. It's still like if I add what I feel like a lot more things to a production, it still probably maxes out at, I don't know, 22 tracks or whatever. So it's

Brian Funk:

Thanks for

Jörgen Kjellgren:

not

Brian Funk:

watching!

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like, you know, huge stuff. But I had fun sort of disciplining myself to be a little bit less minimal

Brian Funk:

Well,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

this time.

Brian Funk:

there's songs that you can get away with it. Minimalism

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

too. So that's

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

always

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah,

Brian Funk:

nice

Jörgen Kjellgren:

for sure.

Brian Funk:

when you're working with material that is going to stand up on its own.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm.

Brian Funk:

You know, even if it doesn't have all the bells and whistles.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, that's true.

Brian Funk:

Were you kind of like performing these songs for a little while, working them out before you actually put them down?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I've played them live, no actually I had them all recorded before I played them live first. So if I were to go on tour now or play a few gigs, I think there are a few evolutions sort of to the songs because I was rehearsing them. We did a, I did a show sometime before the summer. and I played them a lot at home because I was doing... It was just me and then I had a sampler with a few bits and bobs on. And

Brian Funk:

Mm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

then the songs started to change a bit, or some of the songs at least, which I really enjoyed. So I feel like performing them live would be a lot of fun. And I think they would sort of grow sort of away from what the album sounds like

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a little bit. I think, I

Brian Funk:

Are

Jörgen Kjellgren:

think.

Brian Funk:

you playing alone solo or do you have anyone playing with you or any?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I did, I did, that was solo shows. I started, I had the idea to have like just me singing and playing guitar and then using the push to trigger stuff. But it got, once I started sort of working on that, it got a bit fiddly with playing guitar and trying to be

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a good guitar player and singer. So I moved. A few of the electronic elements that I felt like I had to have in the live set, I moved them over to a sampler, so it was just a lot less to

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

mess up, basically.

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So I had a few

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

backgrounds going, like loopy stuff. You know, like the... things that are not sort of time sensitive. So I didn't have to like make sure I could hit a beat or things like

Brian Funk:

Right?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that.

Brian Funk:

So you're not, you don't need to be playing along to like a metronome or anything like that.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Exactly, yeah.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, that's nice.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

But I

Brian Funk:

It's

Jörgen Kjellgren:

would

Brian Funk:

hard,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like

Brian Funk:

but

Jörgen Kjellgren:

to... Sorry, what?

Brian Funk:

I was just gonna say it's hard when you, you know, your hands are full with a guitar, so.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I actually I wanted to I wanted to play. I wanted to I wanted to the live guitar playing to be really good. So I had to sort of be fairly focused on that and also the singing so I didn't have time to like, you know, tweak a

Brian Funk:

Mm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

filter on the push or whatever.

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Basically, I had to have to simplify a lot. But it was good fun. It was really good fun. I'd like to do more of that.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, yeah, that's cool. I like the idea of kind of giving yourself those sort of beds to play over that

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

you don't

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

necessarily need to worry about, like you said, being right on time and just... That's fun.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I think that's also... I'm not like the world's biggest Wilco fan. I feel like it's starting to sound like that in this podcast, but they have a thing, especially probably on the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album. where they have a lot of really weird soundscape-y stuff happening underneath what are essentially folk and rock songs. It

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

makes for a really interesting mix.

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And the songs can be fairly straightforward, but the sounds underneath can be weird as you like. I like that combination.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, they do that very well where they have

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

a pretty straight ahead song. But

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

then

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

there's all that fun chaos.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah, it's good stuff.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, it's something you did really well on the record. What, and the thing I always find challenging is balancing acoustic instruments with electronic ones.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

You know, sometimes they're just so starkly different. It's an acoustic guitar is so dynamic and

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

has so much range. It's not played on a grid, even if you're playing to a metronome, it has so much fluctuation. I always find it very challenging to make that work. And I think you did a really nice job even incorporating like some drum machine elements. It sounds like some drum machines anyway, I think some acoustic drums as well.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah most of it's

Brian Funk:

It's really nice.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

sample what's that the C78 drum machine.

Brian Funk:

Okay, cool. Yeah. Old school.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

some old piece, yeah.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

But I think you're right, probably it's because my guitar playing is sort of sloppy enough that it sort of plays against the sort of stiffer elements of a drum machine. So it sort of comes alive a little bit just from that. I think that might be it. If

Brian Funk:

Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I were a better rhythm guitar player, maybe it wouldn't

Brian Funk:

Well,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

work

Brian Funk:

it doesn't

Jörgen Kjellgren:

so well.

Brian Funk:

sound sloppy, you know, I wouldn't,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

No, but I guess

Brian Funk:

but

Jörgen Kjellgren:

naturally

Brian Funk:

like, um,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

is a better way to say it.

Brian Funk:

yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

But

Brian Funk:

I guess.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I also, I've been thinking about it, like in theory for a while, I've sort of tried to start a few projects where I had what... wanted to do like, okay, it's gonna be like acoustic guitar, the Moog Minotaur for bass, and some like 808 drum machine or whatever. But I haven't been able to make it work yet, but I have a few of these like, I'm interested in finding that mix because I like the idea of a... a fairly sort of traditional folk singer artist persona that just found a few new gadgets like,

Brian Funk:

Mm hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

oh, it is a string synthesizer. Probably it sounds like crap, and then they sort of make it work somehow.

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

But you're right, it doesn't happen. It takes a little bit of work to get the machines and the non-machines to sort of work together, I think.

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm. Yeah, sometimes it's just the quality of the sounds. I don't know how else to put it, but

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm.

Brian Funk:

they just, you know, an acoustic guitar exists, it's recorded on the microphone, and then a lot of the other stuff is directly in, or it's not even going into the computer, it's already in the computer,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

you know, so it doesn't have that life outside of the DAW.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, but that's a good point. I did a lot of stuff where I had like MIDI synths and samples and stuff, and then I ran them out of Ableton and then like through some like lo-fi making guitar pedal or the SP-404 sampler that has like a great, like a vinyl simulator and all that. And... fairly aggressive compressor and stuff like that to make it sound less clean I guess.

Brian Funk:

Mm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And that I felt like that worked well with the acoustic instruments. It doesn't sound so pristine.

Brian Funk:

Right. You let it get out of there. You let it escape.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. Hey, I was talking to, uh, Lyndon Williams. He makes music as Divorce Court.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Hmm?

Brian Funk:

And he loves that SP-404 too,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

as

Jörgen Kjellgren:

it's

Brian Funk:

well.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

great.

Brian Funk:

And he talks about it like that. And it sounds like a cool use of it, just to bring you some life. There's something about when things travel through a wire and then

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

come back

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly. And

Brian Funk:

and...

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah, I don't know what that is. The SP-404, it really has a sound. I mean, I don't use it for any of the like lo-fi hip-hop, you know, I don't do any of that, but it's really nice to hook it up as an external FX in Ableton and just run stuff through it and use the FX.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I really like the reverb in there. It's not... It's not very sort of high-fi or

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

classy reverb, but it really works.

Brian Funk:

Yeah,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So,

Brian Funk:

that's

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah.

Brian Funk:

cool. And again, like you just find your way of using stuff that works for you.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, that's some good tactics to help things have some more cohesion. Just

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

to... get them out. And it's fun. You know, sometimes it's very easy to say, well, I've got all the stuff in the computer. I've got a reverb. I've got a vinyl

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Eh?

Brian Funk:

effect. You know, why not just put the plugin on and not have to get up and move? I can do that just by

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah, sure.

Brian Funk:

wiggling my fingers in a certain pattern and it happens. But the little bit of effort it takes to plug in something else and just... take it out, give it a little adventure, bring it back

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

in.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

It comes back weathered and experienced and

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yep, yeah, exactly that.

Brian Funk:

more

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And I

Brian Funk:

wisdom.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

guess, I mean, yeah, and if nothing else, it sort of slows you down a little bit and that can be good.

Brian Funk:

Hmm. Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

It takes you

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

out of just adding stuff just because you can or like your fingers move faster than your, like

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

you do stuff on autopilot and yeah, I always add this to this thing and so why not do it now? And you know.

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

sort of breaks your thought patterns a little bit, I think, which is good.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, and I bet also if you set that up, then you probably have it set up.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

You can leave it set up and then that's a flavor you can add across different songs

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

if you're looking

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

for some cohesion.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's been a good method for creating that sort of making it sound as a cohesive collection of songs that you sing. There are a few sounds that are maybe not on every song, but like that come and go throughout the album. And that can be, yeah, the orchestra on sample instrument I mentioned, for instance, using that as, as I would probably use like a pad synth and just like running, always running something through, you know, I don't know, my old tape delay guitar pedal or something just and

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

it sort of brings the album together. I think.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, I think so. It doesn't

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

have to be much.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

No, exactly.

Brian Funk:

But just letting your sounds out, resampling them. I've even just, I've even put a microphone up to my speakers, my

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

monitors, you know, and soloed

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yep.

Brian Funk:

a sound and just recorded it back in.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

And it's obviously not a very hi-fi approach, but it comes back different. It comes back... You know, like I said, like an adventure and I'm starting to think of it that way. Like these little pieces of sound went somewhere. They had a life. They

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

came back. They are,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Exactly.

Brian Funk:

they're like, you know, full of experience now and they're

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

here to add some knowledge or feel to your track.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I like that idea. I've been meaning to do that thing, putting a mic on the monitor. I'll do that next time. It's a good idea.

Brian Funk:

I've one of my favorite experiments I did was with a micro cassette recorder even. Just one of

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mmm,

Brian Funk:

those

Jörgen Kjellgren:

nice.

Brian Funk:

old ones from, you know, 90s, early 2000s, probably with the tiny answering machine cassette.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brian Funk:

And

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Oh, that's good.

Brian Funk:

they sound terrible. I mean, compared to everything we have now, the phone is so clear and clean, but those

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah.

Brian Funk:

tapes, they record the motor sound and everything of the mechanism. But it sounds cool. It takes it somewhere else. And if you're okay with something coming back, pretty low, fine, gritty,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

it's.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah.

Brian Funk:

And even like, you can kind of like wiggle it a little and it kind of, as you're recording

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Oh nice,

Brian Funk:

and get some weird

Jörgen Kjellgren:

get

Brian Funk:

phasing

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a chorus,

Brian Funk:

and stuff.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. And

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Oh

Brian Funk:

those

Jörgen Kjellgren:

cool,

Brian Funk:

sounds

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah I'll

Brian Funk:

just.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

try that for sure, that sounds great.

Brian Funk:

I think when you hear your songs, maybe it's only something that happens for you as the creator, but it's like, oh yeah, I remember when I did that sound. I did this weird

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

thing. As opposed to maybe like all the other sounds that you've done in your life where you just dropped them in and

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

sequenced MIDI or something. And they just, they don't stand out from each other.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a good point. Yeah, to know how you... It could be also like just remembering what mic you used for an acoustic guitar or just like how you made something. Yeah, that's... Yeah. I'll keep that in mind going forward. That's a good idea.

Brian Funk:

Do you remember how you mic'd up the acoustic guitar?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I had... On some of the tracks it was just like an SM57 I think and on some of them it was probably the Neumann TLM103 something like that. Just like a

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

pretty clear

Brian Funk:

Is it?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

good for vocal mic.

Brian Funk:

Is that at the same time or dual mics

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I

Brian Funk:

or

Jörgen Kjellgren:

don't

Brian Funk:

separate?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

know. I don't I think I just

Brian Funk:

Different

Jörgen Kjellgren:

did

Brian Funk:

times.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

either or I've

Brian Funk:

The

Jörgen Kjellgren:

been

Brian Funk:

old

Jörgen Kjellgren:

thinking

Brian Funk:

57,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

for the next project

Brian Funk:

amazing.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

to Sorry

Brian Funk:

The trusty old 57.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly. Don't need anything else. But for the next project, I think I'm going to invest in like some sort of a ribbon mic and see

Brian Funk:

Okay,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

how

Brian Funk:

cool.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that works.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. Yeah, I don't

Jörgen Kjellgren:

interesting

Brian Funk:

have a ribbon

Jörgen Kjellgren:

to see

Brian Funk:

mic

Jörgen Kjellgren:

with that.

Brian Funk:

myself, but I've talked to a few people actually that have been really into them and I actually had a guest on once that makes his own and got me wanting them. I still haven't pulled the trigger. I figure

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I

Brian Funk:

I

Jörgen Kjellgren:

guess

Brian Funk:

should make

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that's

Brian Funk:

more

Jörgen Kjellgren:

the

Brian Funk:

music

Jörgen Kjellgren:

thing,

Brian Funk:

first.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like when you start recording acoustic instruments, your gear sort of curiosities shift a little bit

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

away from getting a new plug-in or getting a new synthesizer or sample pack or whatever you can get. Like, maybe I should just get another mic and that'll transform my whole sound.

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm. Right. Something to run that mic through.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, it never stops, does it?

Brian Funk:

No, it doesn't. It doesn't. Well, I guess that's why you have your policy of getting rid of stuff after a while.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Matt. Yeah.

Brian Funk:

It probably makes the time a little more special, you know? I've certainly got instruments lying around that I haven't played in a long time that I know I

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

like, but Maybe if I knew the time was coming up soon,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

get

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah,

Brian Funk:

some more

Jörgen Kjellgren:

you'll

Brian Funk:

use out of it.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

find a use

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

for them.

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

I should figure out like some kind of system, like maybe like after a year, if I haven't played it, it's gotta go. So it might encourage me to get to it, you know,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, well, yeah.

Brian Funk:

it's been eight months. I better play that thing or it's gotta go.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Exactly, yeah. Master the... yeah. But I guess you make so many sample packs and stuff, so you could basically, in a way, keep everything.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, and I've done that. And a lot of times when I make those packs, I don't feel a need to use the instrument as much anymore. Especially

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

if it's something that's kind of clunky to program

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brian Funk:

or isn't necessarily fun to manipulate while you're playing

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm.

Brian Funk:

it. Like a lot of that stuff, it's just like, I'd rather just open it up in the computer. And.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

When you sample stuff, it does that thing we were talking about. It gives it that journey, you know,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

especially if

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah,

Brian Funk:

you have

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

a little fun with how you sample it,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

it has that life a little bit, but at the same

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And

Brian Funk:

time,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that's cool.

Brian Funk:

I find too many of those sounds together. Sometimes then they start to sound the same and they don't sound special from each other anymore.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Okay.

Brian Funk:

So,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, I guess.

Brian Funk:

and a lot of what I, I've discovered is that. Just having things that are different from each other makes a big difference. So if I'm recording things with say like nice microphones to then record something with like a really cheap mic,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

it has its own little spot in the mix and its own life.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

That's a good trick, I think.

Brian Funk:

It's worth

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I think

Brian Funk:

keeping

Jörgen Kjellgren:

it's something

Brian Funk:

some cheap

Jörgen Kjellgren:

to,

Brian Funk:

stuff.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I guess it's easy to get into that. Like if you're recording a lot at home and you're on a budget and stuff, maybe you have one nice microphone and then use that for everything.

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Which I mean, it can absolutely work. It works for a lot of people, but it's nice to have these sort of character pieces that could be a mic or a dictaphone or, you know, something that doesn't

Brian Funk:

Yeah,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

quite work or whatever.

Brian Funk:

yeah, that's a good way to look at a character pieces.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the album, seriously. I've always really enjoyed your work and found it inspiring and the way you work is really cool. It's... focused and it has direction and that's something I'm always trying to figure out in my work. I talk so much about it on the podcast and it's still hard to get down. It's

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

hard to find direction when you can go in every possible direction at all times.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, I think I might be... weird in a way that I don't have. I sort of I'm I don't have all that many ideas in a way. I guess I'm just wired for a for minimalist minimalism. It sounds like a humble brag. I know I'm sorry but

Brian Funk:

No,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I

Brian Funk:

no,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

don't have

Brian Funk:

no.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that sort of the curse of like too many ideas. I don't have that

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

which is uh

Brian Funk:

It can be a good

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a blessing

Brian Funk:

thing.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I guess.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. Yeah, well, I spent a lot of my time trying to decide what to do next.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

And sometimes even just in my daily life.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

I did it yesterday before I went on that beach trip. I kind of... stood around and paced. Maybe I should play some music. Maybe, well, that's nice out the... I probably

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm,

Brian Funk:

wasted

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah.

Brian Funk:

a half hour of my day just wandering around trying to decide.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, that happens to me too. And I have plenty of other issues, but

Brian Funk:

Hehehe

Jörgen Kjellgren:

the one about overloading music production with stuff, I don't have.

Brian Funk:

That's a good thing.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

It definitely shows itself in the music and makes for some really nice cohesive listens. I mean, you've got a ton of these short commute ambient albums,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

which are really fun. They just create a space, create a world to inhabit for a little while. And I think you did a great job. transitioning to the album too, where with the singing and the lyrics, where sometimes it's easy to get scattered with that stuff, but it still stays

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

really focused and has this nice,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

That's cool. Thank you. Thank you for

Brian Funk:

yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

seeing that.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, I really enjoyed it. And are you planning on doing any shows? Are you looking to play out or is it just here and there?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I'm not sure. I feel like I should.

Brian Funk:

Hehehe

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And I enjoy it when I do it, but it just takes a lot of head space.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, well, it's a lot to you have to get ready and rehearse.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

And

Jörgen Kjellgren:

but

Brian Funk:

I'm often

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I mean,

Brian Funk:

relearning songs.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah, exactly. And all of that stuff. I'll probably do a few gigs, but we're not talking world tours or anything

Brian Funk:

Yeah,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

like that.

Brian Funk:

nice. Hey, that's cool though.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

You get to do enough where it's fun before it starts becoming a drag. Hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

So I know it comes out in September. Do you have a date on the release?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I don't... If you give me a half a minute I could probably find it in it's

Brian Funk:

Yeah?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

queued up in Spotify.

Brian Funk:

Oh, okay, nice.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Music upcoming.

Brian Funk:

Spotify knows.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Exactly, Spotify knows. Okay, so there's another single coming out August 31, 31st,

Brian Funk:

Mm-hmm.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

and the album is September 14th.

Brian Funk:

Oh, cool.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

That's actually quite close. I'm looking forward to that.

Brian Funk:

It's

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

getting close, yeah. August 31st is the next single and you said September

Jörgen Kjellgren:

14th.

Brian Funk:

14th. Nice. That's exciting.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I'm excited.

Brian Funk:

Yeah. Well, is there anything we should talk about before we go or what do you think? Anything we missed?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I have an Ableton tip or trick

Brian Funk:

Oh, cool.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that I used for one of the tracks on the album. You used to be able to do it with tape machines but I had like a full mix of a song. I bounced it and then I... What's it called in Ableton? When you pitch it down, I pitch it down a full octave and also put it in half tempo.

Brian Funk:

Okay, like warp it?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, warping. And then I sang background vocals on top of that. And when I pitched it up, everything back up again, I had this smurf, a tiny smurf choir.

Brian Funk:

Oh, you know, I was wondering if you had other people singing on that because

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Now

Brian Funk:

it

Jörgen Kjellgren:

it's

Brian Funk:

had

Jörgen Kjellgren:

on

Brian Funk:

these

Jörgen Kjellgren:

me.

Brian Funk:

like different voices. That's great. So

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

you stretched it out and slowed it down. So I

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yes.

Brian Funk:

pitched it down and slowed it down and

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

sang over

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

that.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah. And then

Brian Funk:

Oh,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I

Brian Funk:

cool.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

want to

Brian Funk:

So

Jörgen Kjellgren:

brought

Brian Funk:

there.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

it back up again. It sounds like a

Brian Funk:

Right,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

bunch

Brian Funk:

so they're

Jörgen Kjellgren:

of smurfs.

Brian Funk:

not just pitched, they're also sped up as well.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

Nice, I

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I

Brian Funk:

gotta

Jörgen Kjellgren:

really,

Brian Funk:

re-listen for that.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

yeah. Yeah, it's not, yeah, it'll be in one of the tracks on the album, so mid-September you'll get to enjoy it. But it was a

Brian Funk:

Yeah.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

good, I didn't need to buy like a tape machine to do it.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, yeah. Or hire anyone or any of that stuff.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

None of that stuff.

Brian Funk:

It sounded cool. I'm not sure which track, but I noticed that there were some voices, some background vocals, some nice harmonies that

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

to me, I thought somebody else was singing, maybe even a female.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, it's all me. But it's like a few different octaves and a bit of sort of Simon and Garfunkel inspired harmonies and

Brian Funk:

Yeah,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that type of thing.

Brian Funk:

that's so cool.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

And we used a bunch of different mics for the vocals. So they sound

Brian Funk:

Okay.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

a little bit different just from that. But it's

Brian Funk:

Right.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

just still my voice.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, that's smart. Cause sometimes when you're blending your own voice, it's so, it's so close. It's so exact. And even just the

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

way you

Jörgen Kjellgren:

exactly.

Brian Funk:

say words is exactly the same way.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

So to change the mic is a smart move just to give it some separation.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

That was one of the benefits of using an engineer for the vocal tracking, because he had a bunch of nice stuff and he knew how to use it.

Brian Funk:

knew what

Jörgen Kjellgren:

So

Brian Funk:

to do,

Jörgen Kjellgren:

that was

Brian Funk:

right?

Jörgen Kjellgren:

good.

Brian Funk:

And you could just stand there and do your thing.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk:

That sounds fun. Awesome, man. Let's see. Where do you like to send people to find your stuff? Is it just through, I know we have a band camp.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, I think you probably if you just want to see what I'm up to during my week it's Instagram. I guess Spotify is a good platform for this album now. It'll be on Bandcamp eventually but I'm not sure when because it's like a this small label who's releasing the music so

Brian Funk:

Oh, very

Jörgen Kjellgren:

I'm

Brian Funk:

nice.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

not sure what their plans are.

Brian Funk:

Cool.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

But I can get you all the links.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, yeah, we'll put them in the show notes so people can get right to it. I love it. Congratulations. It's not easy to finish a project and especially one that's a bit of a departure or maybe

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

a return to some of your older roots.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah.

Brian Funk:

So well done. Thank you for doing it because it proves to the rest of us that it's not impossible, even when it feels like it.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah,

Brian Funk:

And it really

Jörgen Kjellgren:

well,

Brian Funk:

came out great.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

thank you, thank you. That's lovely to hear and thanks for talking to me again.

Brian Funk:

Yeah, anytime. It's always nice to catch up. We'll do

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk:

it again the next time you come out with something and we'll talk about what brought that on.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Yeah, for sure. I'll be faster next time.

Brian Funk:

No pressure.

Jörgen Kjellgren:

Alright, cool.

Brian Funk:

All right. Cool. Well, thank you and thank you to everyone that listened. Go check out Jorgen's work. We'll put all the links in the show notes. And have a great day.

 

podcastBrian Funkmusic production podcast, jorgen kjellgren