Can you tell me about how moving from Norway to London impacted your musical and aesthetic trajectory?

After growing up in a quiet village in Norway, London felt like the opposite side of a coin—everything felt different even though it isn’t so far away. There were so many people here, with different cultures, styles, and interests, the different underground scenes—it felt alive. It didn’t take long before I got to experience bass music in abandoned warehouses, staying up dancing until the sun came up. These experiences drastically changed the trajectory of the music I was making at the time. I wanted to make music that could be played in the scenes I got exposed to, such as Drum and Bass, Jungle, Dubstep, Grime, and even a bit of Drill. But for me, it wasn’t only genres of music; it was the culture which I wanted to be a part of.

Although London had a lot of beauty to offer, I couldn’t help but notice the darker side of it all. Back home, I could take walks wherever, whenever I wanted, through forests and up mountains, but here, everything was behind barbed wire fences with cameras mounted on every corner. It was a shock at first, but as I got more comfortable with my surroundings, I took this as an opportunity to see what was behind these walls. I set out to explore the parts of London that were not advertised or showcased to the general public, and through that, found a whole new set of scenery that was inspiring to me.

As I got more engaged with these explorations, I got more intrigued by the sounds of these areas. Machinery, rubbish, or even arguments on the street—all the sounds fascinated me. Maybe it’s because I’m an outsider that I pick up on these sounds more than the people who have grown up here, but these urban sounds have become a big part of my musical expression. You can hear sounds of London throughout my discography, both in old and upcoming projects, especially in the East End EP.

How did your novel perspective of the streets of London influence the East End EP?

Unlike previous projects where I had access to a wide array of digital synths and samples, for the East End EP, I wanted to be solely inspired by the streets and my explorations. I wanted to explore London as if it were a forest, the kind of exploration I had done as a child, touching things as I go. I felt like I could do the same in London if I just went for it. What does all the rubbish sound like? What kind of conversations could I hear? The sounds of the city—the streets, sirens, conversations, machinery—all became integral elements in my music. I set out to solely use sounds recorded in London for the entire EP. I wanted to go out of my way to use the real life around me as much as I possibly could, which helped capture the energy and atmosphere of my surroundings in my music.

So each track was inspired by different locations on the east side of London?

Yes, each track on the East End EP is inspired by a specific location in East London.

Before starting the EP, these locations already inspired my music, capturing what I’ve loved about living in London. These areas are lively, some colourful, others industrial, and there is a variety of communities and cultures living in all of them. For this project, I wanted to delve deeper into these areas, not only to pay tribute to them but also to explore their differences. I immersed myself in these areas more by socializing with locals, exploring abandoned warehouses, and seeing sides of these places I never knew existed.

The field recordings were all done in a day in each location?

All the recordings for each song on the East End EP were done in a single day as part of a series of constraints I had set out for this project. I wanted to explore how limitations could drive creativity, particularly within making left-field bass music. This meant that I had to record all the samples needed for each track in just one day. It was a process of dedicating time to fully immerse myself in the soundscape of a specific area of London within a short timeframe, capturing everything from conversations to ambient noises like car sounds and police sirens, and items that had been left behind.

Your work seems to depict a certain kind of intentionality behind it that's more subtle than dance floor bangers. Can you tell me about your philosophical ideas behind music and art?

My whole journey into art really started because I wanted to provide more depth to my music. I’ve always strived for my music to be more than just another DJ tool or content to fill up a portfolio. I want it to have a story or to start a conversation, much like a lot of fine art. I'm not into making music just for the sake of it. I hear about all these templates people use to pump out tracks or the unlimited drag-and-drop samples that can completely finish a track, and I find it kind of sad to hear. There's so much potential with the tools that we have, but so many producers are happy reusing and remaking the same old sounds we’ve heard before. Why not question the process a little bit? Why am I using this material? Why this sound? A snare doesn't have to be made from a snare sample, it can be made from anything. That's why for this project I explored the sounds around me and found new ways to use them in my own productions.

How does this intentionality influence your visual aesthetic and choices for live performances?

I want my visuals to capture the same rawness as my music; therefore, I film most of the footage for my projects myself with whatever device I have available at the time. For the East End EP, I specifically used self-recorded footage of London to complement the music. All the footage is recorded in the same places as the samples were recorded to help build a world for the music and help tell a story for the sounds.

I’ve done this to engage the audience in the world that I’m trying to build as an artist and performer, and offer something new and exciting to contrast a standard DJ performance.

How does the type of music you’re making affect your approach to sound design?

I’m a huge fan of concept projects, a goal, purpose, or story behind what’s being created, which most often affects my approach to sound design. I like to explore themes or approaches, which helps me gain direction and purpose for what I’m creating. For the East End EP, I used constraints as a concept to determine the way I did my sound design. By limiting myself to only using my Behringer Neutron for all the synth sounds, I got weird tunings, more complex waveforms, and new rhythms in contrast to my previous projects. By limiting myself to only field recordings for percussion, I found that I had to get creative with the way I both recorded and implemented these sounds in my projects. I got new sonic characters, noises, and a variety of textures, which added depth to the music—helping give it the raw feeling that I was after.