GimmiJapan is a Danish band that merges dreamy female vocals with guitar, bass, drums (among other instruments) and structured electronic noise to create harmonious, complex songs that are easy to listen to. With two releases (a demo and an EP) so far, and another EP on the way we recently had the pleasure of speaking with drummer and laptop programmer, Casper, regarding the band, its influences and some of their favorite foods.

PE: How did GimmiJapan form?
GIMMIJAPAN: The Bass player, Ruben and I knew each other from school, and Ruben moved to London for a couple of years, but when he got back a mutual friend had started a band with this weird girl who just got out of Jehovah’s Witnesses and became a lesbian for a period. This woman turned out to be Therese of GimmiJapan. We tried to form something great for a year or so back in our hometown (Aalborg), but could not agree on the terms, so we split up and moved to the Capital, Copenhagen. Ruben, Therese and I agreed to give it another go, and began to make music as a trio with the computer as a forth partner. It worked out ok, but we needed a guitar player, and tried different people out until we found Morten who fit in perfectly and had the right approach. After that we became GimmiJapan. By the way, we are planning on recording an EP over the summer, and rerecord some of the tracks from our myspace profile. We want them to be more sensual and with less effects on vocal and drums. Also, we are planning a tour through Sweden and Finland in the fall.

PE: When did you first get into music? First band? How did the computer enter the scene for you?
GIMMEJAPAN: I (Casper – laptop, drums) started playing ´cause my dad was a drummer as well, and I kind of looked up to that. Ruben (bass) started cause he heard that it is a good way to pick up girls, unfortunately he picked the bass instead of the guitar! Morten (guitar) liked the Pixies and grabbed a guitar to be like them. Therese (vocals, organ) started in school and has a background strongly inspired by the early trip hop scene. GimmiJapan was the first real band for Therese, Morten played in some indiebands in his hometown, me (Casper) and Ruben played in a Jazz band together.

PE: What motivates you to play music?
GIMMIJAPAN: We have got a lot of stuff that needs to be said and a lot of feelings and moods are projected via the songs.

PE: How would you describe your sound?
GIMMIJAPAN: Melodic, dreamy and innovative

PE: And your influences?
GIMMIJAPAN: Wide spread between Portishead and Björk to Interpol and the Cure to electronic stuff like Lali Puna and Jazzy acts like Tortoise.

PE: What instruments do you play?
GIMMIJAPAN: Ruben Ben-Yedidia: Bass and synths/Organ — Casper Hegstrup: Drums/Laptop (Programming and Samples)/Bg Vocals — Morten Sandvall: Guitars and e-bow — Therese Bindslev: Vocals and Synths/Organ

PE: Do you compose the songs together?
GIMMIJAPAN: As a band we always make the tunes together starting with a sample or a loop. Everybody puts layers on top and we evolve towards a final track. Everybody is free to come up with ideas for melodies, structure and parts. Normally we are most attached to our main instrument and guiding each other from there.

PE: How would you best describe your process during production.
GIMMIJAPAN: In the studio our technical producer has been very good at understanding where we want to go sound wise. We usually go to the studio with finished songs but ahead of that lays a long process of selecting and trying different structures. We always record our new ideas and listen to them at home, that brings a nice progression and gives each person the space and time to work on new ideas. When we believe a song is done we ad the final programming and practice the given structure for live and studio use.

PE: What facets of this process most interest you?
GIMMIJAPAN: We all get a kick when we have a collective feeling that a song has got the right feel but sometimes there is a long way to reach that point. Between those parts, live performances are always great, and new ideas appreciated.

PE: How has releasing your EP affected you or your approach to music?
GIMMIJAPAN: First of all, it is nice to record stuff to get an outside view of the music. From there we seem to make progress. Second, it is so cool to get the positive feedback from people who listen and that is a very nice motivating factor as well.

PE: What are some of your favorite things to do?
GIMMIJAPAN: Playing live shows, recording and to make music in general. Concerts, reading books, watching movies, study.

PE: Favorite foods or drinks?
GIMMIJAPAN: We have a meat lover, a vegetarian, we like a beer, and everybody likes a chilly coke and a falafel sandwich on Sunday rehearsals.

PE: Where are some of your favorite places and why?
GIMMIJAPAN: We have played some cool shows in Finland, which have been a great experience for us as a band it has strengthened us as a band and as friends. We are going back soon and we expect it to be as cool, or even better than the last time.

PE: What are some artists you enjoy listening to?
GIMMIJAPAN: Right now we listen to The Band, Cult of Luna, Cocteau Twins, dEUS, Tortoise, Spleen United, Rufus Wainwright, Lali Puna, Magenta Skycode, Björk and Arcade Fire amongst others!

PE: What part does collaboration with other artists (either sound, visual, etc) play now or in your future plans?
GIMMIJAPAN: We see it a big force to connect with other artists. It is always a joy to help each other arrange gigs both at home and abroad. We have got good contact with other Danish bands and a few abroad as well.

PE: Do you experiment with other modes of expression?
GIMMIJAPAN: It is only music and lyrics. Two of us are collaborated in side projects. I (Casper) am involved in two other side projects, one being Amstrong, and the other Knob A Siesta.

Amstrong is a band that started out as a trip hop act back in the mid nineties, and I joined as their new drummer in 2002. Around that time they were planning the release of their 3rd album and we spend some months making new songs and planning the recording - The band had BIG plans, we were going to America to record the album with award winning producer Malcolm Burn. He had made albums with Emmylou Harris, Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan and so forth, so, as you can imagine, this was a big deal! Some of the other guys had been recording with Steve Albini on an earlier occasion, so they remained calm, but of cause we all looking very much forward to it. So we spend a month in his house recording and enjoying life, but unfortunately our German label went broke so when we got back we had no label to release the album on! It took a couple of years to Finnish the album in Denmark and to find the right label, but the band found a new German label, and the album “Lack of You” is now out in German and the Benelux countries and Denmark as well. I am not in the band anymore though. - We kind of drifted in different directions, and I did not feel that I got the best out of it.

My Other band “Knob A Siesta” is a duo project with an old friend, Chistian. We are both drummers but in this project we are concentrated on various effects, mixers, keyboards, laptops, amplified objects and so forth in order to create experimental ambient soundscapes with a noisy edge. Or something like that..Ahem, the music is semi-improvised and since we live in different cities we do not play together that often, but we actually have a rare show tomorrow at a Copenhagen Festival. This is a very cozy project with a narrow audience, but we love it and find a great pleasure in moving some borders in our expression. Christian is joint in lots of projects ranging from Dub to free jazz groups. We have new songs on the way that will be available on our muspace profile soon.

I just have to mention, that I am planning to release a solo album in the fall on a small label that one of my friends is starting. Not much is planned yet, but it will be electronic music as well, but with more structure than knob a siesta, and some voices and stuff as well. Hope it will come to life, let’s see.. That concludes my side projects.

–

Popexperiment would like to thank Casper and GimmiJapan for taking the time to answer our questions and we’ll certainly be looking forward to their upcoming EP.

For more information please see:
www.gimmijapan.dk
www.myspace.com/gimmijapan

Ciao!