EBM LOVERS
Henrik Iversen NANNAMBULU interview by Guillermo Coronel i 15/08/2013
For the beginning could give us a short presentation telling about your music career. Thanks My music career...well, that story is rather short. I never really planned a 'career'. I have been told before, that I had a singing voice by teachers at school, but you know how that is. You cannot judge it yourself, and that was not something important I would plan my life upon. At high school, NamNamBulu was founded by Stefan and me. Both not having any experience or knowledge when it comes to music. But we had one thing in common - we liked EBM/Synthpop or whatever was in the 'scene' at the time. NNB remained a instrumental project, with no real potential I must say So my music career has been a coincidence, where I happen to run across Vasi at a point during my work experiences, and he happen to hear that I was able to sing. We picked up the band name NamNamBulu, because I had a relation to it from back in time, and because we figured, that the name is so unique, that it will stick with people‌ once they know how to pronounce it. NamNamBulu was basically a lucky punch. Back then, Vasi was making completely different music, and I was not thinking that my voice could be anything special. I don't know why we ended up trying. I don't really think that either Vasi or me believed that NNB would be something that could interest people... That was 10 years ago - funny what life holds in the backhand sometimes.
How could you describe NNB's music? To me, NNB is a combination of Synthpop with catchy hooklines, melancholic chords, danceable beats, and lyrics with more to say than "I love you". Mainly NNB's music lives of the very recognizable way Vasi produces the songs. But that's just my point of view.
Have you traveled for many countries on NNB's tours? We happened that we was lucky to see a little of the world. Mainly we were in Germany of course, but aside that we had Norway, Scotland, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands of the list of concerts. But there are many countries that would be fun to see still‌
From your point of view: What a Futurepop Singer should have to be good? There is no such thing as a Futurepop singer I think. Either a singer has a voice that you like, or a voice that you dislike. What's the difference? Hard to tell. Of course there are differences from a technical point of view, but at the end of the day, I guess it is just something that happens to come together and which appeals to a majority of people.
Please tell us about your role in stage design at NNB's Shows. I have always been responsible for most of the things that were on stage. Today I am doing the video projections, but when we started, I build the keyboard stand and additional lamps to have some identity on stage. The problem is, that we never really knew how much space we would have on the stage, so it needed to be flexible. Another problem its the transportation. As we normally go to concerts by car, train or plane, there is not so much material that you can take with you. That makes possibilities rather limited. If we would do a tour and had a proper tour bus and so on, then we could do much more, but who knows what will come. It's definitely something that I would like to explore much more, as I think it is important to have a visual identity.
Are there special themes in the lyrics of NNB? Which things in the universe inspire you to write lyrics? Most of my lyrics are about human interaction and the way we are behaving on this planet. I am not really proud of humanity when it comes to the way we treat each other. I would not consider myself to be any different than the rest of us. But I have spent a lot of time in my life to think about the things that a disturbing. I guess I will never run out on inspiration and input to keep writing for many more songs.
How is your relation with the others bands in the scene? In general we have a good relationship to other bands. It's sometimes hard to get to know other bands, unless you happen to work together. At concerts you hardly have the time to sit down and talk, because you're busy with getting your own things done.
How do you see the connection with the people at NNB gigs? When it comes to the people... you can normally tell when your on stage, if people are there with you or if they don't like what you are doing. I try to look at the people that are there. The best that can happen is, that you see people singing your songs... that's as good as it gets.
Tell us something about your partner Vasi Vallis. To me, Vasi is a very talented composer, who has the ability to adapt and understand what makes music work. He has a hand for melodies, and that is the most difficult part of it all… I always look forward to hear what he comes up with.
And lastly…Would you like come to Argentina? That would of course be a nice experience. But normally I am too nervous before a show, in order to enjoy where I am. It's after the show, that I would be relaxed enough. But that is normally the time, when I have to travel back. But at the moment, I try to keep traveling to a minimum, as I have a young family to take care of. I don't want to leave all the care-taking to my wife, while I am out traveling the planet and have fun… that would just not be fair. But who knows, what will come in the future (pop)…
Thanks Guillermo for putting your heart into music.
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