Blomfelt

Despite drawing inspiration from his Finnish roots, Blomfelt’s heads is firmly placed within the London scene. After moving to the British capital to study computer science and music, Blomflet has become part of a rising tide of young, multidisciplinary artists utilising new media technologies in their work.

As one-third of the audio-visual collective Resolution – whose work caught the gaze of Red Bull – he has contributed to a series of well-received AV performances, panels, events, and acousmatic listening sessions at venues such as Sim1 and MOT Unit 18 to name a few.

His musical resume is nothing to scoff at either. Alongside friend and collaborator Narby, the pair have become familiar faces on Dutch label Atomnation. In addition to this, he also runs his imprint Heald and has produced monthly radio shows on London’s Balamii.

Im Interested In Apathy is Blomfelt’s first solo album and is a fusion of his loves and passions. The track names reflect his fondness for his home, and the music is a stylistic mash up thats sits somewhere between Burial and Aphex Twin.

A quick read through the linear notes the album show just how deeply the ideas of sound and vision are tied to Blomfelt’s craft. Drawing heavily from cinema and film stills, Blomfelt has created an emotional collection of music that is, ironically, the opposite of apathetic in its sound design.

The tracks are packed with brooding minor chords, tension building synth melodies and interesting drum programming that leave enough space to take everything in. Whilst some of the tracks on the album could easily find their home in an emotional Jacques Green set, it’s also a well-balanced project that is just as powerful at home with some good headphones. Overall, I’m Interested In Apathy is a well-produced, thoughtfully composed and beautifully mixed record.

In his interview with //SNCMAG, Blomfelt talks to us about the album, life in London, and his work with Resolution.

What was your first introduction to music?

I think it would be the music I was exposed to early on through my family. I looked up to my brother and listened to whatever CDs he had, so a lot of Nu metal like Korn and Linkin Park. My mom is also part of a Finnish choir. Watching her choir was my first experience of a concert. She also played a lot of Sibelius and Arvo Part which is now some of my favourite music. 

You’re currently based in London. What made you relocate to the city?

I originally moved to London for my studies. It has a buzzing music scene, and a lot of my favourite artists play here. I just knew I wanted to be a part of the scene here. Its pretty fun experiencing something of this scale and being so spoiled for choice with all the art and music that exists here.

Talk to us about the Resolution. What type of work do you create through the project? Are the themes explored a continuation of your studies?

We’ve done everything from multi-channel live performances to AV-DJ sets, installations, and panel discussions from a variety of musicians and artists. I started Resolution with two close friends to bring what we were learning into a real-world environment. In that sense, it kind of went hand in hand with our studies. Ultimately, it ended up going far beyond that. A fun event we did was working on the Red Bull Music Festival in London, where we collaborated with Object Blue and visual artist Natalia Podgorska to create a one-off bespoke surround sound and multi-channel visual performance.

Let’s talk about your upcoming album ‘I’m Interested in Apathy’. What was the inspiration behind it?

Rather than being driven by an overarching conceptual theme, my music usually revolves around capturing distinct feelings and moods. For me, the album is an exploration of emotions reminiscent of various phases in my life, moments of contentment, and profound happiness.

The song ‘Apathy’ paved the way for the type of sound I wanted to achieve. After working on some of the tracks, I realised that I could put together a coherent piece of work, which I found exciting. 

Consequently, that track ended up being quite inspirational for the rest of the process.

Can you talk to us about your creative process? What was your approach to sound design, etc.?

It’s largely based on instinct, with a good mix of software and hardware. Although, a lot of the time, the convenience of software results in me going with that. I tend to put as much focus on texture as melody and rhythm and love resampling with cassette tapes or using tape emulators. Additionally, I enjoy including field recordings, especially from places that mean something to me, to add a layer of depth.

Sum up Blomfelt in three records.

This is hard because I would never put myself in the same league as these artists or albums. However, they have been hugely inspirational to me and have shaped my sound. ‘Async’ by Ryuichi Sakamoto, ‘Nymphs’ by Nicolas Jaar, and ‘Never The Right Time’ by Andy Stott.

What are some of your current musical influences?

There’s a lot of stuff that’s constantly influencing me, but most recently, I’ve been massively into Vegyn and his alias Headache. I’ve also been listening back to Mika Vainio during the dark winter days and his album ‘Konstellaatio,’ which, to me, is electronic music in its purest form. Another worthy mention is Lee Gamble’s ‘Models’ album which is a great record I’ve been enjoying lately.

What’s next for Blomfelt?

I’m always working on new music and have a decent amount of material in the works that I would love to develop into a new body of work. I believe the album coming out captures the emotions I want to continue exploring in my music, but I am looking to expand on my production and musicality further and explore some more club-friendly sounds, as well as work with some vocalists.

I also release music as Blomfelt & Narby with my friend Gaspar – we’ve been quite busy and have some new tracks almost finished, which we are really happy with. We are looking to release them in a new EP shortly. 

Additionally, I co-run the label ‘Heald Recordings’ and I’m working on a charity compilation for Doctors Without Borders, which will be out soon.