Interview with drummer Emil Brandqvist. An interview by email in writing.

JazzBluesNews.com: – First, let’s start out with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music. How exactly did your adventure take off? When did you realize that this was a passion you could make a living out of?

Emil Brandqvist։ – I grew up in a small village in the south of Sweden called Harplinge. It was a lot of music in my home both my father and my two brothers where working with there music. My oldest brother is also a drummer and had a drum kit in the basement of the house, and there i started to play.

OUR US/EU Jazz and Blues Festivals 2023

JBN: – How has your sound evolved over time? What have you been doing to find and develop your own sound?

EB: – I also like to make different arrangements when working in the studio adding different colors to the sound.

JBN: – What routine practices or exercises have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical proficiency, in terms of both rhythm and harmony?

EB: – As a drummer I practice off course my technic, I’m also working on sounds with the drums trying different cymbals, gear and tuning on my drums to find a sound i like.

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JBN: – In your opinion, what’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

EB: – I work a lot with the soul in my composing, searching for things I like, and if i like them then i think its good even if i don’t look on it to much with my intellect. When rehearsing i think the intellect is more there but when on stage it’s the soul that works with the tools it has to hand.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; are you okay with delivering people the emoFon they long for?

EB: – I hope i could do that! I think that happens from time to time but of course there must be times i fale but hopefully they could then enjoy the concert.

JBN: – How can we get young people interested in jazz when most of standard tunes are half a century old?

EB: – I think the social aspect of playing together and making your specific sound and music never gets old, and the wonderful feeling of being in a group that are improvising together will continue to abstract people to play improvised music. I think that music will change and evolve and people will compose new music that are in the field of improvised music. I also think that good songs could live for many centuries.

JBN: – If you could change one single thing in the musical world and that would become reality, what would that be?

EB: – That a hard question, maybe more money to the culture sector as its in my view a very important field in our society. So that more musicians could do new great music.

OUR US/EU Jazz and Blues Association 2023

JBN: – Whom do you find yourself listening to these days?

EB: – I listen to a lot of different music hard to pick one!

JBN: – Do You like our questions? So far, it’s been me asking you questions, now may I have a question from yourself…

EB: – Yes thank you, its good and interesting questions! And I wonder what makes you inspired in the music world these days?

JBN: – I didn’t even suspect that an empty-headed person like you would not understand what the organizer of festivals and concerts in 15 capitals of Europe does. I’ll elaborate specifically for the morons, I play the role of a sanitation worker and clean the Jazz field from worms like you. And if you really understood what jazz music is, you wouldn’t have asked such a stupid question.

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Interview by Simon Sarg