The Merging of Musical Brains. Thomas Knak is working with Björk

The Merging of Musical Brains.
Thomas Knak is working with Björk.
Remee is producing hits for Safri
Duo and the young Indie musician
Christoffer Høyer was recently
spotted by a Japanese world star
who wanted to make music with the
Dane. There is an increasing
collaboration between musicians and
composers when the songs of today
are being created.
“If you like it say yes, if you don’t like
it, say no.”
The 56 year-old Japanese super
composer is sitting only a few
centimeters from his new Danish
friend. The friend encourages him to
go on playing. The beat is hard and
firm but the melody is effortlessly
and tunefully playing on top of the
cool guitar beat.
We are in a hotel with a world star.
An April night at the Hotel
D’Angleterre. It is the first meeting
between the Danish Indie musician
Christoffer Høyer and the Burt
Bacharach of Asia, Hiroaki Serizawa
– with his gilt-edged hit career,
millions in the bank and more than
50 number one hits on his creative
conscience. And, moreover, he is
kind. This elegant gentleman,
dressed in black, who seems to have
taken a strong liking to the music of
Christoffer Høyer.
The meeting has been organized
after the Music Festival, MIDEM, in
Cannes where Hiroaki’s friend and
collaborator through out a number of
years, and former top boss of
Polygram in Japan, Alexander
Abramoff, meets with Høyer’s
manager, Michael Hoffman. The two
of them exchange experiences and
talk about music. New music. Hiroaki
is looking for a European composer.
A young musician with whom he can
write music for the European market.
A co-writer.
“It has been very exciting” I didn’t
know anything about Hiroaki until
Michael Hoffman introduced us. But
he is really lovely person. Very
inspiring to be around. His approach
to music is very much based on
imagining and sensing the music in
your mind before you play. Other
musicians often sit with the guitar
and make the music and lyrics as
they go along playing. But Hiroaki
feels that it is better to create and
live inside the music through your
imagination instead of playing your
way into it. And several times he
would say, “stop” and then remain
quiet for 20 seconds, thinking with
his eyes closed. After which he
would play the whole section that we
would be looking for”, explains
Christoffer Høyer.
Normally he is a part of the Indie
band, Envelope, who released their
debut album, “Stay”, in the autumn of
2001. The music appealed to the
Japanese star composer who is
behind a large number of hits in
Asia, film themes as well as the
music scores to around 500
Japanese animation movies.
A Creative Exchange of Ideas
However, the Japanese connection
is not exceptional. Danish musicians
are collaborating like never before.
It’s all about listening to each other’s
material, discussing tunes, themes
and moods – “a creative exchanging
of ideas” says the producer Remee.
The former member of the rap group
Sound of Seduction, Blachman
Thomas and the 80’s cult name, Dr.
Baker, has had his fingers dipped in
many international hits for names
like Britney Spears, the boy band
Blue and Safri Duo.
“After ten minutes we had found the
melody for All the People”, Remee
says.
Working with others is extremely
important. To most composers it’s a
question of keeping the creative
juices flowing. You give and you
take, and thus you develop as a
songwriter. Creatively, I would die if I
didn’t get that punch once in a while.
I have grown a lot through
collaborating with others who can
offer something else than me,”
explains Remee whose current title
is “hit maker”.
He often meets up with his steady
collaborators, the producer team,
Cutfather and Joe, who, among
other things, have produced their
way to success with songs like
“Superstar”. The song became the
turning point in the career of the
teenager from Gilleleje, Christine
Millton, who entered the world of pop
through the television show
“Popstars”.
“You might call it a regular day job.
We get together at almost the same
hour every day. We then listen to a
few beats and I sing the melody that
I feel fits in. Both Cutfather and Joe
are very disciplined. They work
concentrated and fast. So on
average, we can do a track in a day.
I have learned very much by working
with others, but in the beginning it
was hard. It requires that you let go
of your own ideas and that you are
completely open”, says Remee, who
also thinks that Danish musicians
have learned a lot from the music
scene abroad where collaboration
has been practiced for many years.
American rap artists are working with
each other’s lyrics as well as coproduce with one another.
“At home there has been quite a lot
of jealousy if someone became
successful. But it’s not like that
anymore”, Remee says.
Musicians open up
The composer, Thomas Knak is also
familiar with the benefits of opening
up. A great bulk of his music is being
created in collaboration with foreign
producers who are working in
electronic worlds of sound parallel to
his own. For the time being, Thomas
Knak is working with the German
sound artist, Carsten Nicolai, on the
project “Alvanoto” But his musical
collaboration has also involved the
world star, Björk, for whom he
produced two tracks on the album
called “Vespertine”
“It transformed me quite a lot. Not
only because you can use the
collaboration on a commercial level,
but our work pushed me from only
being an instrumental music
producer into also incorporating
songs with vocals. I also think that
she got something out of it.
Originally, she is a singer. She has
needed to meet other creative
people from whom she could learn
different things”, says Thomas Knak.
In the North Western part of town,
Christoffer Høyer goes on working.
The studio is quiet because of the
muted ceilings. The biscuit-colored
hangings on the walls, a cozy couch
and an old mixer that belongs to
Anne Linnet is placed side by side
with various instruments. The
monotonous humming from a
powerful Mac-computer that collects
the notes blends into the
atmosphere, which is calm and
friendly.
“It hasn’t been finished yet”,
Christoffer Høyer ensures us as we
are listening to the initial demo
recordings from Hiroaki Serizawa’s
recent visit to the studio. Pure guitars
and vocals. The plan now is for
Høyer to finish the lyrics to all the
songs that the two of them did during
the visit to Copenhagen.
“A very good opportunity I would call
it. Japan is a great big market, so it’s
a fantastic connection to get. I hope
it will create new possibilities for the
band as well as my self”
Hiroaki Serizawa (fact sheet)
Hiroaki Serizawa is borne in 1948
and started composing in 1978.
Through out his 25 year long career
he has written more than 3000
songs. Many present as well as
former Japanese pop stars have
worked with him. Among others: The
Checkers, Akina Nakamori, Chiemi
Hori, Yoshimi Iwasaki and TOKIO.
He has sold more than 15 million
records, written the scores to a
series of animation movies and had
more than 50 number one hits.
Now he is collaborating with the
Danish musician, Christoffer Høyer.
Hiroaki Serizawa visited Denmark
four days in April where the two
played and composed together. The
songs are hopefully going to end up
on a CD.