Where to Go from Here?

Last month I played an electronic live jam together with Donna Maya and Aschka. Three women, three laptops, two Ableton Pushs, one Akai APC40 and zero rehearsing. We’d never played together before or even seen each other’s gigs. We only had a quick Skype group call two nights before the gig to get an idea what each of use could prepare.

Donna Maya, Aschka & me having fun (from left to right)

It was so refreshing and exciting. The total opposite of my usual concerts which require lots of preparation and rehearsing. Often they are only paid by what’s put into a hat. During the last five years or so, I could see how DJs started replacing live concerts while getting paid more in comparison to the hours of work that goes into it.

The live jam was not only tons of fun, our audience really loved it (including kudos from Robert Henke a.k.a. Monolake). I loved the moments of surprise when we built up something amazing soundwise, the freedom of just creating in the moment.

It made me wonder how I could combine it with my usual live set. A live remix of my songs intertwined with electronic live improvs? I’m not sure, yet, the ideas are brewing inside my head, but not quite ready to come out… One idea I recently had, was to do shorter live improv sets on my balcony or in the studio (depending on the weather) on a fairly regular basis and broadcast them via UStream. Basically, doing the trial and error live, figuring out what works well and what doesn’t and maybe get your input (if you’re so inclined). Starting first with pure jams, then slowly adding my songs after I’ve figured out a good way to include them.

What do you think?

x,
Mads