Born from the ashes of Norweigan Grammy Award winning band Gåte, 22 is the new creative endeavour and brainchild of guitarist Magnus Børmark. After two highly successful E.Ps the group now release their long awaited debut album "Flux".
Released today "Flux" is as captivating, experimental and as appealing as its predecessors.
Est.1987 caught up with
Magnus to chat recording, the pressure they put themselves under and hidden
codes within the album!
“Flux”, your debut
album, is out on August 6th. How are you feeling about the release?
Excited? Nervous? Amongst a lot of great praise and amazing reviews, Andrew
Groves from Arcane Roots said about you; “The most excited I’ve been about a
band in a long time.” Do you feel under pressure after the acclaim that you’ve
received so far?
We are very excited. After
touring quite extensively last year it feels really, really good to finally release a
full length album. External pressure is nothing compared to the
pressure one can put oneself under, so we are done with the pressure
part. We just want to share this music now with anyone it might resonate with.
You embarked on a
Pledge Music Project to raise the funds for the album; do you think that this
is the way forward for bands to make a record?
It is definitely a new way of
experimenting with the concept of exchanging money for music-related products. And
it brings the fans closer to the band. Creatively, it is also very
stimulating to use a concept such as Pledge Music Project, because
you can muster up some really interesting products/services to sell to
your fans, that both band and fan will appreciate.
I guess it is
testament to your music and your fans that you reached more than the target
goal of the Pledge Project?
That fills us with a warm fuzzy
feeling of gratitude. We are so thankful for that.
You self-produced your
EP “Plastik”; how was that experience of having control and how has that
changed on the recording/producing of “Flux”?
I (Magnus) also produced
"FLUX" as well, so it didn't change that much. What was different was that we had matured
a bit, and that the songs had evolved. I just started producing 22
myself, because no one else could really understand what we were doing
or trying to express. So, then it is better to just do it yourself, so
that the vision is intact and conveyed through the final product.
You say that you make
your music with hidden codes, patterns within patterns, so that listeners use
their own creativity to enjoy the music; can you tell us a bit about how that
works on “Flux”?
Haha, if I told you it wouldn't
be so hidden, would it? As I see it, the experience of art has to be
credited to the one who is experiencing it, because it is their emotions
that they get in touch
with through the "consuming" of the art. What the artist must focus on, is creating art that is open and honest enough as to function as a proper environment for the aforementioned dynamic to take place. If you analyze 22-songs, you will always find several rhythmic patterns
meeting up and separating at different places. This goes for a lot of the tonal choices as well. This creates music that sounds different based on what pattern the listener chooses to place the most emphasis. This effect is most prevalent in the song "Flux".
with through the "consuming" of the art. What the artist must focus on, is creating art that is open and honest enough as to function as a proper environment for the aforementioned dynamic to take place. If you analyze 22-songs, you will always find several rhythmic patterns
meeting up and separating at different places. This goes for a lot of the tonal choices as well. This creates music that sounds different based on what pattern the listener chooses to place the most emphasis. This effect is most prevalent in the song "Flux".
You’re from
The audience in the UK UK
And finally, other
than the album coming out what else do you have planned in the coming months?
We are doing shows in Norway
"Flux" is out now
