What did your synthetic toolbox look like when you first started making music?

When I first started making music I was just writing patterns and motifs on the piano and miserably translating that into soft synths, a lot of programming on the computer. Then I slowly moved into a more hardware-centered routine, first with the Octatrack, then with an MPC and Machinedrum, and now back to the Octatrack. By this point I have expanded a bit with using both hardware and software. Using one to process the other and vice versa.

Your work is characterized by a very refreshing approach to structure. Tracks evolve, shrink, expand, mutate. A bit like an adventure. When composing, how much is improvised and how much is deliberate programming and conscious tweaking?

Much starts from improvisation that gets bottle necked by deliberation, and then I have to break the bottle a bit as well so I don't overdo it.

Occasionally your voice is an element in your work. When writing lyrics, does the music affect the lyrical content? Or vice versa? Or is it a dialectic process?

It's all three. Usually lyrics are fit to pre-existing melodies, but words can also be a starting point for moods from which certain sounds/music naturally come. And I like when words and music are in tension with one another and the actual content is in the middle.

How important is obtaining a good mix for you? That is, how a track sounds in terms of frequencies compared to the actual melodic/rhythmic arrangement.

The mix is extremely important, though I think there's a distinction to make between sonically correct and unique. Whether or not your mix is correct it needs to exude a unique feel. I find I'm working on the mix while working on the arrangement at the same time, production and composition are pretty much the same, which makes things very slow sometimes.

Do you recall your first encounter with an Elektron instrument?

Yes, a friend had an Octatrack and lent it to me for awhile. It was the first hardware sampler I'd used.

Do you prefer working in different studios, using different gear, setups and routings, or would you rather be completely self-sufficient studiowise?

I like getting in different studios when I can because I don't have the money yet to get into crazy AD/DA, compressors, filters, et cetera. Plus it's nice to try different instruments, drum machines, synths. Of course I would rather be self-sufficient studio wise but that is years away still though slowly getting there.

How much control do you want over your productions and how much do you let the different pieces of gear you're using guide the outcome?

It's often that I'm surprised by something that gear can do, and then I explore that and push it. I exert a lot of control with programming and arrangement, and soundwise I know what I'm getting into when I decide to use certain instruments. Of course using specific pieces of gear has a particular sound that has a particular result, as with using certain types of synths, FX, et cetera. Though it is fun to try and break that expectation of what you think something will sound like - to try and make it sound not like what it normally is.

What is the most inspiring aspect of working with the Elektrons?

The depth of what you can do with the machines. They're easy to play with and just make ideas. My favorite aspect of the MD is the resampling feature. You can get some good polyrhythms and feedback from that. The LFOs on all Elektron instruments I've tried are amazing.

Please tell me your first impression of the Rytm. In what way is working with it different than working with the MD? Is it a replacement or a complement?

The Rytm is a different creature, there's much more flexibility. The ability for the Rytm to do unquantized recordings, the physical pads...it's daunting how many options there are, considering coming from using the Machinedrum for the past couple years. I miss certain aspects of the Machinedrum, but I prefer the sound of the Rytm at this point simply cause I've rinsed the MD sounds and there's that magic to analog percussion, plus the sound design potential with layering your own samples with the internal synths. Plus the kicks and toms on the Rytm are much more up my alley. I look forward to finding new favorite methods with the Rytm.

If your set were a Hollywood film, what character would the Machinedrum be? The Rytm?

Rytm has replaced Machinedrum in live set but I still use both for recordings. Something like Toy Story meets Face/Off meets Dead Ringers?

Interview by Jon Mårtensson & Daniel Sterner