Almost two-decades into their extravagant career, the energy, fun, and celebratory nature of WhoMadeWho has expanded with time. Since getting together a few years after the turn of the new century, the Danish trio have come to mature beyond their dance-rock moniker from which they were originally associated with, to become something yet more complete, experimental, and mature. While still maintaining their wild, colorful and flamboyant nature, they have evolved to a point where their energy is channeled through their industrious and manic wild shows, which stand strongly connected to their finely composed, harmonic and singular records.
To date, the Danish trio of Tomas Barfod, Tomas Høffding, and Jeppe Kjellberg have released six studio albums on such prolific labels. The WhoMadeWho of today have been traversing the array of genres that have made them successful, in a state beyond pigeonholing, enjoying all the elements of pop, indie, techno, disco, punk and funk, and more, that have been a part of their output so far. They are that rare thing, a band with their own sound.
We caught up with WhoMadeWho ahead of their performance at London’s E1 on November 9th, 2019.
Electronic Groove: Hello, guys. Welcome to EG. This weekend Watergate is celebrating 10 years with a celebration at E1 where you guys will be performing a DJ Set. What are the expectations behind this night?
WhoMadeWho: Hello there, it seems like our songs have been streamed increasingly in the UK recently, but we haven’t played there in years. So… since we always loved the British people and we hope to have a nice reunion with our British friends in London on Saturday.
EG: Adana Twins, Matthias Meyer, and B.O.T will also be joining the festivities. What are your thoughts on this roster and what makes it so special?
WhoMadeWho: A good start is that we really love what all the guys are doing musically, we just played ADE together with Adana Twins – and had an epic dinner party before which ended up in us jamming rare-german synth-pop on a glockenspiel in the streets of Amsterdam. We hope for the same adventures in London.
EG: Talking a bit about Watergate. What impact do you think the label has had on the music scene over the past decade?
WhoMadeWho: Besides releasing a lot of great music, I think their compilation series has been the most important impact. They are one of the few labels that take this format seriously and the format has morphed into some sort of mix between an album and a compilation, for example, our Watergate mix was 100% unreleased material. This is great because mix-releases have gotten less and less attention since Soundcloud, Youtube, etc, but the format deserves to survive….Watergate has had an important part in this.
EG: Can each mention one of your label’s favorite releases?
Tomas H: Adana Twins – Pavan
Jeppe: Butch – Sharzad (Mattias Meyer Remix)
Tomas B: Jimi Jules – Abandoned Soul (Recondite Remix)
EG: Moving into your current projects. How’s the end of the year looking? Any new productions?
WhoMadeWho: We have loads in the making – some really interesting collabs and projects – they are secret for now, but really looking forward to sharing. Our next release is gonna be out Jenia Tarsol and Chaim’s Blue Shadow Records in January. So far we play it in our sets – and it’s kind of a bomb.
EG: Going a bit back in time, can you share with us how you guys met and how did this music venture happen.
WhoMadeWho: Jeppe and T (Tomas Barfod) talked about combining electronic music with live disco, but we needed a bass player. Jeppe knew Høffding from a jam session at a wedding – where they connected musically, so he suggested hooking up with him. We met in the studio and in one night we recorded 3 demos, got a record deal, and we have been stuck with each other since.
EG: What does each of you bring to the table? Answer separately.
WhoMadeWho: Within WhoMadeWho there has always been diversity within the group. Tomas Barfod has a spectacular producer-ear and holds the overall vision for the project. He also plays the drums and is an inspiring music aficionado/DJ. Deeply founded in the fields of electronic music. Tomas Høffding, bass-player, and singer. With a background in more song-oriented music, he brings his beautiful falsetto voice and great showmanship to the table. Jeppe Kjellberg, guitar player, and singer. With a background in jazz and more experimental music.
EG: And Who Made Who?
WhoMadeWho: See, we get this a lot – and never learned a smart answer 😉
EG: What advice would you give to those who are venturing into the music world?
WhoMadeWho: Work hard. Keep focusing on the music. Keep an open mind and exploring new ways, that’s the key to finding your own path. Listen to advice obviously but always consult your own guts before taking any action. We as a band have always been most successful when we focused on the sacred creations done in our modest studio-space. There is this amazingly randomness in the creative process, and it is very important to allocate loads of hours to stay in that space. Stay humble and patient. It’s a demanding process. A process that on rare occasions can be divine and extremely rewarding. These moments are the essence. Why we keep on.
EG: Thanks again and nothing but the best!
WhoMadeWho: Thanks for having us and for you too!
Catch WhoMadeWho at E1 London on November 9th. Grab your tickets here.
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