SOUNDTRAX (A Mixtape by Lydmor) by Svanamix on Mixcloud

Singer and songwriter Jenny Rossander – aka Lydmor – creates music that transports your senses to an ethereal dimension; causing you to lose yourself to the rhythm of her melodic electro-pop tunes paired with an edge of darkness in it’s lyrics. As energetic and quirky in real life as she is on stage, we got to have a chat to this Danish queen of quirk before her first Asian show at the Bee.

We’ve heard about your involvement in the Danish Cultural Institute’s Flikrkus Project, could you tell us more about it? And how exactly would you properly pronounce Flikrkus in Danish?!

Hah! It’s actually pronounced as Fleekush.

It was about 4 years ago when the Danish Cultural Institute were having a jubilee to celebrate their 20 years anniversary. And they started this weird free project, where they rented a bunch of vans and campers and you could use the campers to do whatever you wanted, as long as it’s interactive.

So I basically packed up my whole studio into a van and recorded people. I wasn’t very good at it though. At that point, I just bought my studio and I was still getting a hang of everything, so I would make it ring in their eyes and mix it horribly. But it was a fun experience. And that’s also where I got my name! There was a girl with a flute that they used to call flute mother, so it was there that people started calling me sound mother, which is Lydmor in Danish.

So what’re you looking forward to the most on your Asian tour?

Well as this is my first time in Asia, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Asia itself and to experience the culture here. I’m also looking forward to see how people will interact with my shows. I mean the audience is definitely going to be different than in Europe. So it’ll be interesting!

You did a ‘trust tour’ last December where people could just hire you to play private shows, as long as they pay for your ticket to the gigs location. What inspired it?

I was bored! I forgot to tell my booker to book some shows and nothing was happening in my music at the time. So I didn’t have any shows to play or anything to do and I was so bored! So I thought, “fuck it! If I can’t play any shows in clubs, I’ll just play in peoples living rooms!”

On an impulse, I just posted a video on Youtube saying “hello, can I play in your living room?” and one week later I had 21 gigs in 4 different countries lined up.

It was incredible though. I played to everyone; from big student parties to a group of 3 teenage girls in a living room.

How was the experience playing to an audience of just 3 teenage girls?

It was so weird. I was sitting on one side of the sofa with my keyboard, and they were just sitting there watching me. It was hilarious as well though because they were in their early teens and wanting to look cool, so they would say things like “Oh we always party in downtown with these guys who are older than us.” I think they really wanted me to think they were cool. Hah!

What was your best and worst moment whilst on the trust tour?

The best would have to be in Holland, I spent like 5 hours just hanging out there after I played just talking to people and getting to know the students. It was so warm and everyone was so open!

As for the worst… It has to be when I was stuck in Hamburg central station without my phone. I’m a bit distraught and lose phones very often, and I lost mine then. There was this girl who was supposed to be picking me up, but she was caught in traffic and had no way of contacting me.

There I was, walking around central station awkwardly with my laptop open trying to find a hotspot, being snubbed by all these German people passing by. And when I finally found a hotspot, I needed to receive an SMS to activate it… But my phone was lost. That was such a bad moment.

I ended up having to go into this really seedy and dodgy net cafe to Facebook message her. I found her in the end though! So at least it ended well.

Would you do a trust tour again?

Yes! Since I started touring internationally my calendar is filling up very quickly, but as soon as I have time where I’m not doing anything, I know I’m going to do another one.

Would you come to Asia on our trust tour?

Definitely, but it’d definitely be very expensive for someone to buy me a plane ticket here. Unless it’s a really rich person I guess!

We’ve read that if you weren’t a musician, you’d want to be a movie producer; so what’s your favourite film?

Mary and Max!

Favourite producer?

Lars Von Trier, he’s very dark, but for something lighter, Emir Kusturica. He makes very special, weird movies.

In one of them, the soundtrack is some weird Balkan music with trumpets and tubas, and the whole time, the band is in the movie. So if the characters are in the car, the musicians would be running along side them, and there’s no explanation.

I guess the directors thought that it’d be so weird to have a soundtrack when the musicians aren’t in picture, so they’d just have them in picture all the time.

If we funded you to produce your own movie, what would your movie be about?

I’d want to make a movie about loneliness; it’s such a complicated feeling that everyone tries to hide. And no one wants to appear lonely. Especially now with social media, everyone thinks that “I have likes on Facebook. I’m not lonely.”

I’d like to make it an art film. Not with a lot of dialogue, but with lots of pictures and some nature shots here and there. Something very visual and surrealist. Loneliness in the context of social media.

Could you name us a few Danish bands the world needs to know about?

When Saints Go Machine, they’re so talented. It’s electro-pop synth heaven. And Helmet Compass, my boyfriend’s band. They’re a mixture of psych-rock and house music. Very 90’s.

(Text & Photos : Adeline H)

Hailing from a land of female electro-pop aficionados, Lydmor is the next rising act. After having her first album, “a pile of empty tapes” release in 2012 and another one in the works, we were privileged to see her live at The Bee, Publika on the 16^th of October as the onset of her first Asian tour.

Lydmor (Real name Jennifer Rossander) kicked off her show with “Electric Mistress” – dauntlessly stepping up the electro-pop flow of the night. Initially the crowd was pretty mundane, having an invisible barrier between them and the songstress. Maybe it was the lack of anticipation from a fresh face in the scene but as soon as Jenny hit the stage, fiddled around with her laptop and sang the first note; raw emotion was simply oozing out through each song. It’s a light pleasure at how Jenny gives a brief description before most of her songs in the set – like a header of a story about to be told. From sad songs about “presents being returned” and “angry songs about angry people” its as though we were stepping into the phase of life when the song was written, and the beauty of it all is that she just adds her own musical chops while cohering them with electro dance tunes, accompanied by her serene vocals, it creates a cozy ambiance where she could connect and have a deeper musical experience together with the crowd.

The deep connection was more prominent halfway through Lydmor’s set as she chilled down and dedicated songs to her boyfriend, Andreas from Helmet Compass.  Covering “Drugs in my pocket” as an acoustic piece. Singing from the heart isn’t an easy thing to do, but when achieved the lyrics go beyond their words, and having Andreas in the room with her made it all more prominent. Picking casino it back up later with “Lampost light”, no longer was the crowd shy as it began, the void between stage and audience was gapped and fancy footwork was seen around till the end of her set. It’s hard not to get captured by Jenny’s eccentric movements on stage as she performs – how she gracefully but yet awkwardly sways her way between synthesizers and keyboard, flailing her arms around synchronizing to the melody of the songs, and how she generally occupies what little of the stage there was.

Wrapping up the night with fan favorite “Youth”, Jenny bolts down from the stage striding across the floor singing parts of it on top of a table across the room, ending her set poles apart from how it began. Her traits as a musician is really what constitutes a great performer, making Lydmor an upcoming act not to be missed and with another album to be released, we’re truly excited to see how far she matures with her music.

Show   Details  

Date  :           16th    October    2014    Time    :      8pm

Ticket    Prices    :       RM   48    (    presale    )    ,    RM    68    (    at    the    door    )

Tickets  available    at    The    Bee    outlets    and    Rock    Corner    Bangsar    Village

The    Bee    

The   Bee   is   a     food   and   drink   hang   out     space   with   two   outlets   in   Jaya     One   and   Publika,   Solaris    Dutamas.    The    Bee    is    far    from    just    a    conventional    eatery    joint,    it    is    also    a    space    for    the    local    arts    and       lifestyle     communities     to     converge,     share     and     promote     their     passion     and     work.     Regular    events     include Comedy   Kao   Kao   -­‐an     open   mic   for   local   comedians,   Feedback   Open   Mic   with    Reza    Salleh,    Lot    36    showcasing    local    and    international    musicians,    Tunes    &    Pints    and    Coffee    and    Wine    Appreciation    nights.

Upfront  

Upfront    is    a    series    of    intimate    live    music    shows    created    by    The    Bee    to    bring    fans    closer    to    their    favourite     bands   on   stage.   As   the   name   implies,   it     is   as   exclusive   and   up   close   as   one   can   get    during       a     live     performance.     Upfront     will     feature     artists     and     bands     from     an     eclectic     range     of    genres,      from    the    indie    to    the    mainstream,    establishing    The    Bee    as    a    hub    for    the    music    and    creative    arts    scene.