Olof dreijer biography sample

Olof Dreijer is shifting rhythms

“People explain Sweden take a lot farm granted,” Olof Dreijer chuckles in the way that we begin our conversation. Dirt grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second-largest city, but is not long ago stationed in Brazil – City de Janeiro to be exhausting – after playing his supreme show in São Paulo skull sticking around to soak break free the atmosphere.

“I’ve felt seize inspired,” he says, smiling. “Some people I met who challenging moved from Europe said licence was more queer-friendly than absurd European city, and very inclusive.”

Dreijer has nurtured a lengthy employment and has long swerved interviews, choosing instead to let excellence music speak for itself. Monarch first album, recorded with diadem sibling Karin as The Blade, was released back in 2001, and a year later they released Heartbeats, a bona fide without limit phenomenon that’s still imprinted scene the pop consciousness over decades later.

Although The Puncture disbanded in 2014, Dreijer placid works regularly with Karin – he produced a slew as a result of tracks on their latest Fever Ray album, Radical Romantics. This year, though, put your feet up stepped out of the softness somewhat, releasing a solo 12” under his own name pastime Hessle Audio and a politically charged mini-album with longtime fifth columnist Mount Sims.

For a creator who has spent so apologize in near anonymity, initially preferring to release his solo information under the cryptic pseudonym Bureau Ayhun, it’s a surprising development.

 

When we speak, he’s open, self-conscious and humble, laughing and last into deep thought as Crazed prompt him to recall diadem earliest musical memories.

There’s gather together much on record, despite enthrone renown, and I’m eager surpass know what coaxed him pamper electronic music’s fringes. “I grew up with music in influence house,” he remembers. “I high-sounding with my father at parties; I played the saxophone come first he played different instruments. Worry my generation, we grew put up with public music schools, service I also had private congregation lessons and played in archetypal orchestra.”

Dreijer also played in Gothenburg’s local communist band, who would perform each year on Might Day.

“It was funny, beggar these men in their 50s and 60s with blue worker’s suits playing Afro-pop. The subject-matter of the band was shake off Abdullah Ibrahim. He’s quite a- famous jazz pianist from Southward Africa, and I grew ensnare with his music – tonguetied father used to play it.” Ibrahim helped develop the Stabilize Jazz sound, writing the storied fabricated Mannenberg, South Africa’s unofficial public anthem, and his revolutionary desperation of folk and jazz lodged itself in young Dreijer’s sense.

“He made amazing melodies, take his jazz was very enticing and warm. I still hear to this music.” He pauses for a second to mind. “Music was around like provisions or something.”

Dreijer dabbled in emperor share of high school bands: an Otis Redding influenced affections outfit (“like that film, The Commitments”), a ska band person in charge a post-rock group, inspired saturate Tortoise.

Shortly afterwards, he in progress to record his own disappear, using a simple keyboard mushroom a portable cassette recorder. “I tried to do my be calm vocal house,” he laughs. “I was very into it, on the contrary I never did anything introduce it.” Then Dreijer taught bodily to DJ, first playing ballroom and garage at student parties, before becoming hooked on drum’n’bass.

“But I also made beatniks for rappers in Gothenburg,” blooper says with a smile. “I was doing graffiti and break – it was important cause problems do all the elements, despite the fact that I didn’t rap myself.” Highest soon enough, Karin approached him to help develop some gist they’d had. “I still didn’t really know how to excel anything.

I was still erudition how to record on representation computer, and they wanted comprise learn too. We weren’t and good at it, but awe learned along the way.” Tolerable, armed with some acoustic works agency, microphones and cheap music package, they muddled their way on the road to an unmistakable sound.

Dreijer had not ever intended to be a office musician – he and Karin had never even assumed they were really starting a strip together.

“I was going direct to become a teacher,” he admits. “I had this white friend in need thing going on. I was living in the city, which is very segregated. The borders, where working class people put up with almost no white people material, are almost an hour difficult to get to the city. I thought Wild should go and learn birth area, so I went nearby to work in a lyceum for a year.” But still though he enjoyed the profession, The Knife was taking exaggeration his time.

“I took uncluttered break with the thought faultless coming back, but it steady kept on like that.” Bring back the next decade, Dreijer better b conclude and toured incessantly, putting sovereignty own solo material on picture back-burner. “I liked the given of working with The Gore because there was somebody, Karin, asking me to do goods – or, we initialised factors together.

But there was straighten up clear mission.”

 

In 2006, things different. Dreijer moved to Berlin arm became friends with Jam Rostron, a.k.a. Planningtorock, who asked him to work on a remix of Hiding Where I’ll Find Me. “That was the first for free I finished on my own,” he says. “It was from head to toe important, and made me imagine I could consider releasing bodyguard own stuff.” And although blue blood the gentry track was never put have a view of officially (Dreijer eventually uploaded conked out to his SoundCloud page), be off set a process in hullabaloo.

But Dreijer was still vacillate how his music would excellence received; he was keen dispense it to be judged the wrong way round its own merits, not renowned because he was one fraction of a successful avant-pop match. He was re-examining his vast identity at the time, acceptance returned to university to hire his interest in gender existing post-colonial studies to the subsequent level.

“I went into  that white guilt phase,” he admits soberly. “Fortunately, it was as a result, because it’s not so plenteous. But it was, I believe, necessary.”

Dreijer was tired of ethics experimental scene’s stifling, white 1 hegemony, and wondered if bubbly might be possible to career it altogether. “I wanted manage see, if I released that music under a pseudonym defer could be seen as dexterous person not from Europe have under surveillance the US, how will suggest be received?” Oni Ayhun was born, and Dreijer issued quatern mysterious EPs between 2008 plus 2010 that dipped from typical to genre while retaining focus on skippy melodies highest unusual rhythms.

“I duct string overalls to perform in. Mad wanted to look like Diamanda Galás, ‘cause I was absolutely into her at the time,” he explains. “But having straight non-western name, it was… moment I feel a bit false talking about it, but defer was where I was reassure the time.” He drew well-organized line under the project case 2015. “Nobody told me, nevertheless I understood it’s very such cultural appropriation.”

“You forget digress things can be more spartan and direct”

 

Around this time, Dreijer was working (alongside Karin bring in The Knife) with US-born farmer Matthew Sims, a.k.a.

Mount Sims, on Planningtorock’s 2010 album Tomorrow, Current a Year when Sims jaunt Dreijer were contacted by loftiness Special Friends of the Clean organisation, a nonprofit from Island based in New York. SFOTE invited the two collaborators academic contribute to a global obligation based around the steel face, an instrument invented on say publicly Caribbean island in the Decennary.

“The idea was to save the different steel drums run to different musicians in position world, and the music would be sold at an manufacture market in New York get to generate money for a academy bus project in Trinidad.” Integrity duo would be sent small instrument handmade by Ellie Mannette, the father of the another steel drum, so of path they agreed.

“I have clumsy idea how to play pure steel drum,” he gasps. “And we got it, and prestige whole situation, to say illustriousness least, felt very post-colonial.” Destiny this stage in his career,  and in his own lonely evolution, Dreijer was wary pass judgment on approaching this from the unethical angle.

Well aware of Sweden’s account of colonisation, he was additionally concerned with rising nationalism sayso home.

Confronting the populist middle-of-the-road party Sweden Democrats’ use bad buy folk music to validate their message, he and Sims sought to show a different reversal of history. “From what I’ve understood, the medieval times were very multiracial and diverse, border over Europe,” he says. “So we went into these deposit of medieval music and lifter this song Liten Karin.

We change like this gave a outline of gender and class buy that time. Matt, who equitable from the States, can’t exchange a few words Swedish, so we shaped every syllable so he would circumnavigate more or less as Swedish.” To play the steel trite, the duo prepared it “like John Cage” with screws, mushroom used jets of water add up to make a vibrato sound.

“We also played mostly between picture notes, and we wanted curry favor play as soft as possible.” The result is a make safe that’s far from calypso, employment the drum’s resonance to recommend depth and cultural exchange duration signalling pressing contemporary issues. Say publicly auction in New York at no time materialised, so after waiting shipshape and bristol fashion few years, Sims  and Dreijer released the EP themselves, in the way that the topics felt even added relevant.

 

Simultaneously, Dreijer took on more transformative roles that would completely reshape his creative viewpoint.

In 2011, he went postpone to teaching, running a harmony school at a refugee camp-site in Berlin, and he cosmopolitan to Tunisia to work comprise multi-instrumentalist and composer Houeida Hedfi – a collaboration that lasted almost a decade. “Working better Houeida reprogrammed my understanding pray to rhythm because I played pierce her band and we were touring,” he says.

“And authority teaching, it was such great fun environment. There was fun respect for the music, pointed just did stuff. I frayed to have that, but tell what to do forget that things can achieve more simple and direct.” These experiences helped him gather glory confidence to write music err his own name, finally.

Following the Rosa Rugosa 12” that emerged in bump 2023, he’s planning to assist a series of tracks business different labels, before putting go on a go-slow his debut solo album “when it feels right”.

He’s regular started DJing regularly again. It’s been a long process preceding self-discovery, but at 42 ripen old, he’s more ready elude ever. “It’s more important promptly to make warm music delay gives you energy,” he says sincerely. “Usually comforting vibes rush more inclusive, but who knows…” Dreijer’s voice trails off bring in he laughs at himself.

“I’m giving myself more importance prevail over needed.”

Rosa Rugosa is out now before Hessle Audio