The first time i got aware of Nørbak was a track released on Circular Limited. Some months after i found a demo in my mailbox (incl. “Harra” and “Lacune”). After signing him I could see that my first impression was right. The talented Portuguese DJ & producer made some remarkable steps in the last two years so it was on time to talk a bit…
J: How do you see your own way in the music scene in the last 3 years?
N: First of all, thank you Joachim for having me. It has been an interesting ride for sure. I feel like this started to get a bit more serious after my first release on Affin back in 2017 which opened some doors to me internationally, I got my first international gig thanks to it and it was in Tresor, It also got me in touch with Oscar Mulero after he played the tracks. My focus was always on doing things slow but steady, didn’t quite had in mind a precise path in the beginning but in terms of producing music and releasing it I always had in mind some labels I would love to work with like, Affin, Semantica, Faut Section and Warm Up Recordings which I gratefully had the opportunity to work with already and want to keep a long relation. At the moment I feel like my path is a bit more clear, I’ve found my place for now. I want to keep working on developing my music, new sounds and try new approaches to making music.
J: Tell us a bit about your studio environment. What’s your main gear and how you use it?
N: My studio setup is super simple, 2x Yamaha HS7, IMac and Komplete Audio 6, not much as you can see, all done in the box. That being said, in terms of software I like to play around with all the Uh-e stuff, it’s what a mostly use in my music since some time ago. Lately I’ve been trying to mix things up a bit and got myself a copy of Kontakt and Reaktor, super interesting tools as well. I try not to use a lot of stuff because in my opinion it can distract you a lot in the creative process so I try to keep it small but functional so that I can write my ideas as soon as they come and going with the flow of what I’m feeling at the moment of making music. Luckily I have my studio in my home so I can do music whenever I’m feeling inspired, which in awesome.
J: Can you explain how you organize your liveset and are you satisfied with the reactions from the crowd regarding your presentation?
N: Doing live has a big learning curve and Im still learning a lot each time I work on it. I mainly use Ableton for the performance with some controllers and a Korg Kaoss Pad 3 for some noise FX. I prepare some of the elements in advance and trigger them in the order I feel like it would work at the moment and arrange the drums on the fly. In the future I would like to had some gear to the live performance if it makes sense in the setup and if it actually makes the experience better, not just for showoff. I’ve played live a couple of times and I was happy with the result but not 100% satisfied, but I’m never fully satisfied with what I do and maybe that’s a good thing, it pushes me to try to do things better each time. My next Live Performance will be on the 24th of August in Forte Festival, it will be Ambient only, the first and only time I will do it. Can’t wait for it.
J: Let me know a bit about your private life. What’s inspiring you most living in Portugal?
N: I live in a small Village in the north of Portugal called “Fridão”, the landscapes are very inspiring and it’s super calm here, no big city stress or noise, which is great to keep focused in making music and equally as great for other things as well, of course. I love everything about my country, the music, the food, the landscapes. Besides music I’m really into movies, I like to keep myself updated on everything that comes out from studios or directors I respect and some great works have been released lately like “You Were Never Really Here”, “Hereditary” and “The House That Jack Built”. The last movie I saw is called “Suspiria”, great movie, great soundtrack, great cinematography, I can recommend all of the above. Thanks again for the invite Joachim!
Find more information about Nørbak
Joachim Spieth 