Marvin:
Peter, it's truly exciting to connect with you for this interview. 'Jetzt weiß ich wie' has been a hidden gem for many many years, and it's about to be shared with the world. Can you take us back to the moment when this track was created, and what inspired you to bring it to light after all these years?
Peter:
Marv, thanks for reaching out - I'm really happy to be able to release this piece on your label.
This track was created on a warm summer day back in June of 2018 in the rehearsal space of 'Ørken' a psychedelic rock band, that I had with couple of friends at the time. Prior to the recording of 'Jetzt weiß ich wie', our guitarist Niklas and myself had been on a small trip to the finish town of Oulu to attend the Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia aka UFOP (Uleåborg being the Swedish name for Oulu). Buying the tickets had been a spontaneous act and we didn't know what to expect before hand. What greeted us was a lovely little local festival with passionate organizers and different acts within the musical realm of psychedelia, primarily from Finland and northern Sweden. Sounds that were at the same time novel and familiar to us.
Back home and feeling inspired after the festival we headed to our rehearsal space to create, record and put together some drones. We had already had a number of 'noise sessions' after band rehearsals. After the other band members had left, we would often stay behind, creep around on the dirty rehearsal space floor and play around with a guitar and some effect pedals, creating an array of noise. I always enjoyed the energy between us in these moments.
And so, with those experiences in the bag, we created 'Jetzt weiß ich wie' over the course of a warm afternoon using the sparse equipment we had at our disposal.
At this point both Niklas and I had moved abroad to different countries and the Ørken-project had found its natural end - well, not quite, but that is a different story. In spite of living on different continents, we have been able to keep our friendship alive, something for which I am truly grateful, and during a recent conversation between us, 'Jetzt weiß ich wie' came up. So I had to dig it out of my digital archives and give it a listen - and I came to appreciate it if not solely for it having captured that energy between us, the feeling of that specific point in time. So when the possibility to release it on Patching Flowers came up, I felt it suitable to put it our there, as an appreciation of that - and of our friendship.
Marvin:
It’s truly captivating to hear about the origins of the recording. The energy really comes across and I’m curious if you remember any particular performances from the festival which you found most influential. Another thing I’m curious about: What’s the origin of the name (both alias and track title)?
Peter:
in addition to UFO Över Lappland, the band that due to their very cool sounding name had prompted us to go to the festival in the first place, one performance that still comes to mind is Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L. If memory serves me correctly, that is. When I look it up now, I get lost in the Finnish internet. That was a very nice show that stuck out a bit compared to a lot of the other acts, due to the music being a lot more folky. I believe it was a trio of musicians playing on self-made string instruments, singing in Finnish. It was very atmospheric.
In terms of the name Reich, it seemed suiting at the time. The noise or sound or drones or whatever you wanna call it that we were making were quite dark and quite strong. I had also begun to cite simple German lyrics over the sounds (being very fond of the German language) and so Reich came to be the name for our after band rehearsal-sessions. It is a very powerful word and quite gloomy too, something which I think comes across in 'Jetzt weiß ich wie'. The track name itself refers to a feeling of reaching realization of something grand and hitherto unknown in a trance-like state. That unsettling feeling of coming to understand how something dark, abstract and complex works. I feel like it represents the music, but it was also immensely inspired by the song 'Now See How' by Telstar Sound Drone, a psychedelic rock/drone band, which was very influential to us at the time and still is to this day. The very simple drum pattern in 'Jetzt weiß ich wie' was also shamelessly grabbed from one of their other tracks.
Marvin:
If you were to envision your dream concert, whether it's from the past, a future event, or entirely imaginary, what would it look like?
Peter:
Some of the best concerts that I have attended, have been ones, where I didn't know the artist particularly well beforehand. Like at bigger festivals with several stages and many acts. The potential for surprise is bigger and I guess I like to be blown away by surprise! I would also say, that it depends on the music. Some genres lend themselves better so certain venues and some music requires more intimacy. The combinations of music and location seem endless. Churches lend themselves well to ambient and experimental stuff with visuals, I've always had a thing for jazz outdoors and then there are all the concerts with legendary acts from before I was born, where I wish I had a time machine and could travel back an experience them.
If I had to envision one particular dream concert, then maybe I'd go with an Ørken concert! Although I feel like our music had matured to a point, where we could actually play it for an audience, that never materialized. Other stuff came in the way and each had different paths to follow. To perform out songs in a small, familiar space with lots of friends in the audience - that is a dream concert to me.
Jetzt weiß ich wie will be released on February 15, 2024.