Oct 14

Oct 14 Danish Singer, Producer, DJ & Composer ASTRID ENGBERG

Culture, Dj/Producer, Creative People, Interviews, Music

Astrid Engberg’s album Trust finds the Danish singer, producer, composer, and DJ paying tribute to motherhood. Spanning contemporary soul, nu jazz, and electronic the LP sees her collaborating with L.A.-based Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, known for works with Ray Charles, Flying Lotus, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige as well as his esteemed orchestral reimagining of J Dilla’s back catalogue titled Suite For Ma Dukes.

“After meeting Astrid and discovering her music, I immediately felt like I met another member of my musical family. I love how earthy and celestial her voice, compositions, and productions are. I love how uplifting her music is while still feeling authentic and coming out of the realness of what seems to me like the suffering of any awakened and caring individual. At a time when I feel that the world desperately needs more female leaders, Astrid in my opinion is a perfect example of someone whose voice needs to be amplified and enjoyed."

- Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

“The reason I make music is because it’s my best language,” Astrid candidly states, while adding that singing brought her a sense of being at home. In her debut album Tulpa, which Bandcamp Daily listed as one of its Best albums of 2020 and brought national acclaim with winning Best Vocal Release of The Year from Danish Music Award Jazz, she was able to give words to her mental and physical recovery from a head injury in her young adulthood which still impacts her everyday life over a decade later.

Greatest inspirations or influences.

What my greatest inspirations, people and artists, have in common is that they are brave, and share themselves with the world. Through honesty, as well as constructed setups, they allow us to explore the world beyond how we know it. My inspiration also comes from nature, voices, sounds, the interval between the sound of a fridge and the neighbor’s washer -everyday life.

A major inspiration to me has been the Suite For Ma Dukes orchestral album which saw J Dilla’s amazing beats arranged for orchestra by LA-based composer and conductor Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. When I heard the album and watched the concert on Youtube I felt both very inspired and at home, like never before. It’s been such a joy to collaborate with Miguel on my music as he is someone whose musicality and vision I really respect.

Tell us about your musical creative process.

To me, music unfolds from an emotion or from a sound/melody piece in my mind. It’s very intuitive. There are things I need to express, and then there’s the fun and work of producing it in a way, I feel sonically expresses the emotion the most clearly.

I begin by working alone, building the piece, and then inviting amazing musicians for one-on-one sessions in the studio, replacing midi files with organic instruments as well as integrating whatever magic they bring to the session and enjoying the process of sharing. Then I go back to the studio alone and sing, cut, move, pitch, delete, and duplicate files. This is so much fun. Then I keep layering until I know that it’s done.

Tell us about your experience working with the American Innovators Philip and Bobby.

As a child/early teenager, I sang in a girl’s choir where I had the great experience of being conducted by Phillip Glass and Bobby McFerrin. Phillip Glass, I mainly remember the music and his presence. The complexity of the music and the joy of feeling it unfold with a big orchestra and everything.

The experience with Bobby McFerrin was deeper in a different way. I didn’t always feel at home in the classical world; I wore different clothes and didn’t really fit in. Suddenly there was this amazing conductor/singer/musician that looked different than most of the other conductors (white males). For a little girl, it was such a relief. I remember the feeling; ahhh he can do it, I can do it. There’s a place for us in all this.

What's next for you?

Right now we are touring with the album in Denmark and going to Cairo to play at Cairo International Jazz Festival in a few weeks. Really looking forward to this experience. And then I’m super inspired to work on music, which is a wonderful feeling.

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