Interview with Oresund Space Collective

Author

Jarod Smith
January 22, 2025

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

 Dr Space- I was into rock music from about age 8-9. I played a bit of guitar when I was 10-12 but got distracted by tennis and quit. The biggest musical influence early on was the records my dad had by Chuck Berry, Beatles, CCR, Elvis…. and then there was southern California rock radio, KLOS and KMET which were amazing and the older kids in the neighbourhood were listening to Led Zeppelin, Yes, Robin Trower, Bad Company, Lynryd Skynryd, etc… I was obsessed with music, buying records, recording concerts, trading tapes, writing about music.. It was a huge part of my life before I start playing in 1999.  If I had not got into music I probably would have either got into sports or be a science nerd (I have a PhD In Endocrinology (the study of Hormones).

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

 Dr Space- Listen to music, watch movies, read books, grow chile, work in the garden, walk my dogs, mainly… Some of the rock biographies might inspire me to try something or some music that I hear but walking the dogs on the mountain side is one of the best things to clear ones head and come up with some new musical ideas.

How long has your band been around?

 Dr Space- Our first jam sessions were in 2004 and we played our first concert in Feb 2005, which I really feel was the start of the collective as we had to come up with a name, before we were just meeting every few months to jam in the rehearsal room.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

 Dr Space- The band started in Copenhagen and Malmo, where I gathered the guys from Mantric Muse (DK) and Bland Bladen (SE) to have some musical explorations.  We play totally improvised music, we do not create songs but musical journeys. Our greatest influence at this time was ourselves in the room, creating and bouncing musical ideas off each other and just going with the flow of the music and see what happens. It was super fun and we had a great chemistry.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

 Dr Space- Øresund is the name of the body of water that separates Denmark and Sweden. Since we had members from Copenhagen and Malmö in Sweden, we played Space Rock and were a collective of musicians, not just a set line up, the name Øresund Space Collective, made a lot of sense.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

 Dr Space- Over the last 20 years we have had many great shows around Europe. Roadburn Festival 2010, Freak Valley, Burg Herzburg Festival (this was the largest audience we ever played for), and the Spaceboat, which takes place in Hamburg every year….. These are some of my best memories.  The first time we played at Loppen in Christiania in 2007, we played a 3hr show with some of the best light projections we had ever had at that time (Thanks Zeppo!).  We also played many great shows at Dragens Hule, a local underground club, including our longest show (5 sets, 296 mins)..

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Dr Space- It used to be Dragens Hule in the old days, where we would play usually 2x a year.  It was a real underground place and like playing in someones living room. The vibe was just so cool and the audiences just awesome and totally stoned! It was where the music freaks hung out. Loppen in Christiania is also a fantastic venue with cool people working there and a great intimate vibe and great sound system.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

 Dr Space-  It would be a Space Rock Festival with Øresund Space Collective, The Spacious Mind, Mantric Muse, Hidria Spacefolk, and Hawkwind or Ozric Tentacles..

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

 Dr Space- If you are just starting up, get as good as you can at your instrument and be true to your musical self. Be willing to explore and try different things and make music that makes you happy and do not worry about popularity and money, as this means very little and is hard to obtain.  Gather a group of people you get along really well with and have fun. Once you have original songs, join your local music organisation (KODA in Denmark, STIM in Sweden, ASCAP (USA) and make sure you copyright your original music before putting it out on you tube, bandcamp, etc..  For example, If the songs are registered with KODA and NCB, then you will for sure get money if you are played on the radio, play concerts in Europe, or people stream your music.  Do all your own digital distribution of your music (Spotify, which I hate), etc..

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

 Dr Space- It would have been to have not stopped playing guitar and to have practice and practice and be the best that I could.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

 Dr Space- I think the long epic pieces of music that we have made are some of my favorites like Everyone is Evil, Ode to a Black Hole, the Oracle, Sleeping with the Sunworm, and 20 Steps towards the Invisible Door. Why, they are just amazing journeys in sound that you can get lost in and continually discover new things with each listen. I am very proud of them. The shortest of these tracks is 40mins!

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

 Dr Space- We never play any of our songs. Every concert is a totally new experience as all our music is improvised. I will have a favorite piece when I listen back to the show as we record all our shows and put them up at www.archive.org so anyone in the world can enjoy the show.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

 Dr Space- Our creative process is to gather in the studio, maybe discuss and idea of style, choose a key to play in and let the adventure unfold. Our biggest inspiration is each other in the room, listening to each other, playing off each other and having fun.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

 Dr Space- Our music is all instrumental, no singing, so the music has to speak for itself and create the vibe, energy and magic…

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Dr Space- The collective has had 117 people play in it over the last 20 years and we have had very few problems as we all just want to create unique and fun music. That is really the sole purpose and to have fun. I manage the whole thing and try to be as democratic as possible in the process of completing the music, what to release, where to play, how much people can be paid based on our fees, who to invite to play, always asking the opinions of the most committed and active members at the time.  If we do have issues, we discuss them openly.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

 Dr Space- We have our 20th anniversary next year and will play 2 concerts in Copenhagen on April 11-12th to celebrate. Lots of old members will come and play to celebrate. It will be a very special evening for sure. In May we will play the Spaceboat in Hamburg for the 10th time, also a special occasion of sorts. In July 4-5th, we play two festivals in northern Germany. We just released a new DVD called Crescendo, which was our full performance at this awesome Prog festival in France.  In jan 2025, we will have one of our older CD only releases out on vinyl on Space Rock Productions called Relaxing in the Himalayas.  Our next studio album, Alotta hella down in Estrela should be out in the spring. Another studio album or two and a couple more DVDs as well should make it out as well in 2025.

Going to be a great year Thanks… Check out our web sites below..

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