Skatebård comes from Norway, loves music, used to skate, hang out with Annie and has a new album, “Cosmos”, out on Digitalo Enterprises. It’s some of the sweetest electronic music in recent memory. He gives you exclusive tracks to download, his top 5 of italo disco songs, Tak Bård!

Who are you and where do you come from?
I’m a music enthusiast, a semi-young man from the West coast of Norway. Originally from a very small town, but now living in Bergen. Also a pretty small town, but mostly big enough. Musically I come from both synthie-pop and trash metal in my youth. I started as a rock drummer when i was 13 years old.

What’s up in Skatebård’s world, what’s coming soon?
My new CD album ‘Cosmos’ is coming October 27th, and also Annie will release a 12-inch the same day that includes a Skatebård remix.

What’s the concept behind your new album “Cosmos”?
It’s a package of romantic and epic sci-fi synth-disco/techno tracks, with cover art to go with it. Inspired a lot by French cartoonist Moebius.

How is the scene in Bergen?
It’s pretty good for such a small town.

Any place you like to recommend to us when?
The mountains and the fjords… Also the town itself is a beauty to look at, especially if it’s not so clouded that you have no view.

As both artist and label manager how do you see the future for artists and labels?
Both more freedom and more work for the artists, I know that for sure…This debate is a huge one, it goes on and on elsewhere.
I think in the future you’ll be able to get pretty far with just yourself as an artist and/or a small label and/or management. But if you want to make it really big I think you need the economical resources that only the major labels have, to make videos and promote your album on TV. And buy you a spot in the ‘top 10 recommended records’ in the shops etc. It’s incredible what’s actually on sale in this business. You can buy yourself a good review with quite many newspapers.

What kind of services do you expect from the internet?
I expect one or more good digital music store that has EVERYTHING, in minimum 320kbps mp3’s, and to never more than 2 dollars per track. Beatport is good, going a good way, but it’s only dance music. iTunes is total crap, with their closed-format 192kbps m4p files. I’ve bought one track on iTunes ever, and neither could I burn it to cd with Nero, nor could iTunes find the cd burner on my computer. At least when using PC it’s no good. Using only standard, open formats is the way to do it.

How important is the internet for you and where do you see it going?
It’s important for me, I love receiveng digital promos, and communicating directly or almost directly via e-mail or chat. I also entertain myself via the net, like many people, streaming tv-series from the net (I don’t have a TV set).
I see it going further, towards more online services, streaming music and films, storage of big and small files etc and more of that kind. Just like not many years ago it was considered not serious to use e-mail from an online service, you ‘had’ to use Outlook.. Things are going more online, and things will go longer in that direction.

What has been you best night out so far, and what would be your dream team line up for a party?
We had both Casco and Alexander Robotnick in one night, that was legendary…I don’t really dream of a dream team, one big artist for one night really is enough. Perhaps one live band and a good warm-up dj. That’s enough for one night. If I were to make a festival, I could start saliva-ing.

What’s your top 5 sleeper classic italo disco?

1. Wish Key – Orient Express
2. Sensitive – Don’t Stop
3. East Wall – Eyes of Glass
4. Frank Tavaglione – Tumidanda
5. Mike Rogers – Just a Story

Any typical Norvegian joke?
The classic ‘jokes’ are just lame and tame, but there’s a new school of underground Norwegian humour coming…

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