BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE FOR LEVEL AND GAIN
As composer of the hit TV series The Killing, Frans Bak is considered a pioneer of “Nordic noir”. His music has also been used as a powerful storytelling tool in other series such as Doctor Foster, Lilyhammer, and Disparue.
In 2020, though, Frans weaves his own narrative. His new Dharma Records release Piano is filled with more personal compositions that offer a reflection on his childhood and life of music.
Remarkably, he also records these works on his old childhood piano — an instrument he was once forced to sell, before he later discovered and salvaged it, welcoming it back into his life once again.
Frans, congratulations on your solo album Piano. How’d you find the time and energy to work on your own solo project amidst such a flourishing (and presumably very busy) screen career?
When I started in the music business, I played a lot live and made albums. But when film music became such a big part of my working life, I had to focus on that. I found out I really missed [my own music-making] – so I decided to make a change and to focus on both sides now, and I really enjoy that.
How has COVID-19 affected your ability to work? Specifically, screen productions have stopped filming, and travel bans are preventing tours.
Just before the COVID-19, I pursued a long-life dream of travelling around the world – playing concerts with local string quartets – such a great experience.
In April and May, my calendar was totally crazy. I had to play two tours in Denmark, compose music for a circus, and finish a German film. I didn’t know how on earth I would manage that.
But both the tours and the circus got cancelled – so I spent a lot of time on the German film.
Let’s talk about your new music now. Having spent so much time working to visual cues, how would you describe the process of composing when you have complete freedom over your own structure within the music, as you have in Piano?
Totally — freedom is of course different from working on a film. But even though it is your own project, there is always — in my world — a story you want to tell. So you make a structure and some boundaries or boxes for yourself.
I have been working closely with my assistant Keld Haaning Ibsen who was very involved in this album, both as a producer and arranger. I enjoyed very much to have him as a sparring partner on this.
How do you feel your screen career has impacted the way you make music? For instance, do you ‘see’ visual ideas or even narratives in your mind with each piece you write?
I do sometimes feel that ‘this phrase’ or something belongs to a person or a place – but I don’t know if that actually comes from my writing for films. But I have definitively learnt from working with films to simplify the message in the music – not to overdo things – and not letting my own ego overshadow the music. I still have some learning to do on that.
For this album, you chose to record on your childhood piano. How did this affect your mentality while writing? Often, nostalgia has a way of reminding us who we used to be, so were you drawn back into that sense of yourself that existed long before your successful career?
It was, in a way, a weird experience to revisit my childhood piano. I hadn’t had room for a grand piano in our house. [When I finally had access to a home piano], I got inspired to write a lot of new music focusing on the piano.
It was the melodies and atmospheres that came to me and led this album. Also, a red line to where it all started — just playing the piano and seeing what happens.
Talk me through the themes of your album on a broader level. Does each composition reveal a story of its own, or are they bound by an overarching theme — perhaps even best listened to in one sitting?
I think all of the pieces are inspired by a place or a feeling and belong together.
On the album, about half of the pieces are written down, leaving no room for improvisation. This is new to me. I have always been improvising, so this was a way of challenging myself. I also do that on the concerts where I play with a string quartet: this also gives an opportunity to give the music a new space and follow the flow in a different way.
Some of the other pieces come from me noodling at the piano – waiting for a new cut of a film I was working on – and I kept going back to this and decided to include this on the album.
Then another part is and old idea, A Little Piece of Summer, I wanted to include – and my assistant found a great new flow to it.
Read the full story at Level and Gain, our sister publication about all things screen music.
Images supplied.
