Introduce us to the band! What are your names and what do you do in the band? Where do you call home?
Jonathan- I’m Jonathan, I play guitar, violin and sometimes other things in the studio. Live, I sometimes bring my Theremin also. I live in Stockholm but am a transplant from California.
Dr Space- Dr Space or Scott, I play synthesizer and manage the group. I live in the mountains in Portugal but lived in Copenhagen, Denmark for 20 years and this is area (Øresund) is the region where most of the band members have come from.
- How long have you been together as a band and how did you find each other?
Jonathan- I’ve been playing with ØSC for 10 years now, I’ve been in Sweden since 2012. Back in the early 90s I had met Scott in the SF Bay Area, I played in various bands and he taped lots of shows. When I moved to Scandinavia and was trying to find out more about the bands here, I discovered that it was him who put ØSC together, so I emailed him and we started playing together soon after that.
Dr Space- I started organising jam sessions with the members of Mantric Muse (Denmark) and Bland Bladen (Sweden) in 2004. I was friends with both bands and thought we could make some cool music together and we have for 20 years now. Although the collective is very different in membership now with only me and Mogens still playing from the earliest days. 117 different people have played with us.
- Do you have a special songwriting recipe you follow?
Jonathan- I just follow the melodies in the room, or in my head! ØSC just makes it up on the spot, but I can’t say that things floating around in our heads aren’t popping up in the music.
Dr Space- We play totally improvised music, so we just discuss a key, perhaps a style and let our musical muse take over and see what happens. That is pretty much our approach.
- How would members of your family describe your music to someone that hasn’t heard it?
Jonathan- loud electric guitars noodling!
Dr Space- Space Rock, think Pink Floyd meets Miles Davis and the Grateful Dead.
- What do you have on your(Spotify) playlists you would be embarrassed for others to see?
Jonathan- Well, I’d be embarrassed to use Spotify to begin with, but not by any of the music I listen to. I listen to a lot of types of music, I’m sure some of it is cringe-worthy, but I don’t really care.
Dr Space- I do not use Spotify or stream music, I listen to vinyl records, CDs, cassettes. Like Jonathan I listen to a lot of different kinds of music from Sandy Denny to Fela Kuti to Metallica to Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Heldon, Hawkwind, Brant Bjork…
- Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Jonathan- Not specifically, but often I do some breathing or yoga exercises before playing, especially if it’s late at night!
Dr Space- Not really.. Just try to stay focused and deliver the best and most creative show that I can for the fans and make them smile. In the very start of the band, we would all get stoned to help calm people down and get in the right mind set for the journey ahead..
- Who have you met that has left you starstruck?
Jonathan- Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares.) I was tripping though, I doubt I made a good impression. He was playing with Daniel Lanois and I didn’t care about Lanois at all, and I think Lanois got a bit hurt by that! I was only gushing over Aaron.
Dr Space- Not sure??? Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, perhaps.. 1981…
- What do you consider your greatest achievement as far as a band?
Jonathan- For ØSC? There have been several high points. Playing Jakobs kirkan in Oslo for Høst Sabbat was amazing, as was playing at the Crescendo Festival in France. We’ve played and traveled to a lot of amazing places!
Dr Space- I think each new album we manage to complete is a great achievement. We have been lucky to play some amazing festivals like Roadburn, Psycho Las Vegas, Crescendo, Roadburn, Roskilde Festival and others…
- What key elements do you believe makes up a successful song?
Jonathan- For us, since we improvise, it’s got to be when we can all click with what each other are doing and bring the jam higher and higher.
Dr Space- Since we do not create songs in a conventional way, the key elements for us is that there is unique flow of musical ideas and the music stays interesting for us and the listener.
* When writing, how do you know when it is finally done?
Jonathan- Again, this band improvises, so the best rule of thumb is if you hear an ending, take it.
Dr Space- Like Jonathan said, since all our music is spontaneous, knowing when to end the piece but I also see the questions of a song being finished. We spend a lot more time mixing the songs to make them sound great than we do making the song! Here we also have to make choices or a start or end and what instruments to keep in the mix, lower or remove and in rare cases we add parts.
* What song of yours are you most proud of?
Jonathan- Currently I think it’s “Skin Walker” from the ØSC Orgone Unicorn album.
Dr Space- I very proud of the long epic tracks we have done like Everyone is Evil, Sleeping with the Sunworm and Ode to a Black Hole.
* Is it possible to be on the road and not eat junk food? How do you keep it leveled out?
Jonathan- It’s tougher in some places than others. There are stretches of the US where it’s only junk, but there are stretched in the EU where it’s only cheese. Best thing is to get decent snacks on the rider and take them to eat along the way to the next gig.
Dr Space- It is not always easy when you are in a small band not sure you will get decent food at the venue (even though we try to specify this on the rider!). Also it takes a lot of time to go and find a decent place and traffic and so you end up at these highway places. I try to always have fruit, apples, bananas. etc..
* Are you able to write while on the road or do you need a calm familiar space like home?
Jonathan- Personally I write music anywhere, though for ØSC it’s happening as we play it.
Dr Space- Well, since we play totally improvised music, each show is creating new music, so YES!
* What’s the most embarrassing thing to happen on stage or on tour?
Jonathan- I got hit by raw meat once, it landed on my neck.
Dr Space- I guess the first time we played in Helsinki in 2007 and we had to delay the show a bit as people were too stoned! Not a lot of wild stuff really happens around us.
* What can BleachBANGS do to help you in any way?
Jonathan- I guess just get the word out that people who like long space rock jams should check out the Øresund Space Collective!
* How can everyone keep up with everything you have going on? Where can they get albums/merch?
Dr Space- Checkout our bandcamp, main web site and Faecbook pages. See the links below. Thanks for the support…
http://oresundspacecollective.com
http://oresundspacecollective.bandcamp.com
http://drspace1.bandcamp.com
http://doctorsofspace.bandcamp.com
http://www.spacerockproductions.com
http://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com
Http://auralhallucinations.bandcamp.com
https://estudioparaisonasn.wixsite.com/my-site
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