Some Kind of Composition: Gaute Granli
Joeri Bruyninckx
I never saw you live, but I saw several full concerts of you on YouTube and Vimeo. The more recent the concert, the better, I think.
Gaute Granli
Would be sad if it went the other way around, wouldn't it?
JB
Well, yeah.
GG
I always felt good about what I was doing at the time, but in retrospect I think form has definitely improved in recent years.
JB
Is Gaute Granli your real name or a moniker?
GG
My name is my name.
JB
Right. What I enjoy about your music is that it's wild and noisy, but at the same time it's also structured.
GG
I don't think I make a distinction between what you refer to as wild and noisy versus structure. I've never thought that what I'm doing is free improv in any sense. What I always want to achieve is some kind of composition or a song. Performing live for me will usually take on a looser as well as more performative and improvisational form which just seems perfectly natural.
JB
Do you make a difference between what you do live and what you do on a record?
GG
When making an album I'll always go for straight up songs.
JB
In our previous talks, I compared your music to Arto Lindsay, Mars and Jandek.
GG
I've listened to DNA in the meantime as well as to Mars and Jandek, but I would not consider any of them major influences. Although I find it hard to hear Jandek without being affected, whether you like it or not. One of my top influences this year has been the song “212” by Azealia Banks, which I heard for the first time this summer. I realize it's been around for a while. Also Skip Spence and Michael Yonkers have been key this year.
JB
I could also have said Mosquitoes or Guttersnipe.
GG
Don't know Mosquitoes but Guttersnipe are good friends. We did a few shows together in the UK this year. They're great! But I'm not sure I see the resemblance.
JB
Are you part of a Stavanger scene?
GG
Stavanger has some really good music people in it and I really like it here. A good chunk of recent Stavanger music can be found on the Drid Machine Records label, one of the few DIY labels in town which is run by Kjetil Brandsdal of Noxagt and Ultralyd.
The great Gaute Granli plays KRAAK Festival 2020 on Saturday 29.02. Get your tickets here!
