Interview
Earplug
March 2008
Raised on a family farm an hour outside of Oslo, Norwegian producer Joachim Dyrdahl has a definite appreciation for the quiet life. While his work under the name diskJokke certainly has its share of raucous moments — enough so that he’s earned frequent bookings at Oslo’s famous Sunkissed club night — his music remains largely melodic and restrained. His new album, Staying In, is a set of fluid, organic beats filled with subtle and shifty transitions. It’s music so ideal for headphone bliss that some have begun to label it “fireplace disco.” On the eve of his first visit to the United States — which includes stops in New York, Chicago, and Austin — Dyrdahl rang up Earplug’s Patrick Sisson from Norway for a chat about new directions, writing the perfect track, and his Doc Brown-like knowledge of space and time.
Earplug: What do you think of the “fireplace disco” tag?
Joachim Dyrdahl: I think it’s pretty accurate when you’re thinking about the intention. It’s not down in tempo, but down in intensity. It’s pretty melodic. My girlfriend listens to it at home.
EP: What is a typical night in for you?
JD: I’m going to have to say I go out, a lot. No doubt about it. I’m playing out two times a week. Good things happen here Sundays and Thursdays, so I play Fridays and Saturdays. My newer music is more club-oriented, like the remix I did for the band Lil’ Wolf for a label called Rebirth. When I put the album together, I had a lot of melodic stuff. I want to focus on the club stuff from now on. I’m not playing my own stuff at clubs. When I play out, I feel like it’s a bit messy.
EP: You just finished eight years of studying mathematics. What’s the most complicated thing you know?
JD: It’s the notion of dimensions. One dimension is a line; two is a plane; three is a space; four is space and time. But beyond that is abstract — all theories. Fifth-dimensional space theory is coming, but I don’t know if anyone really understands.
EP: What was the thought process behind your remix of the Bloc Party track “Sunday”?
JD: Well, it’s a British rock band, and the song is really sweet and small. But it had a great chord progression, so I started out with that. I wanted to do something British, and British dance music is a little more rough than what I play. It’s really big and monstrous, meant for a big club. I’ll never play a dance floor that big. Hopefully someone else will, and will play it. On the whole, it’s one of the most perfect songs I’ll ever make.
EP: You’ve said that Norwegian DJ Olle Abstract’s radio show turned you on to dance music when you were a teenager. What were his shows like, and why did they influence you so much?
JD: He played music I’d never heard before: Carl Craig, Felix da Housecat, Underworld. But where I came from, it seemed like something more experimental. I fell in love with it. He was a really funny guy and still has a show and plays out a lot. For most of my generation, he’s been very influential. He’s still around, and he’s become a friend.
EP: You’ve listed Cerrone and Ennio Morricone as big influences. What about their music touched you the most?
JD: From Cerrone, it’s the transitions and the synths that he used, and the beats. But my music isn’t that happy. I took the melancholy from Morricone. He uses a lot of strings, and I haven’t gotten that far yet. I played a violin, but I haven’t gotten around to recording myself in the studio.