Interview with The Great Escape: Offering escapism with creative grace
The Great Escape are a trio from Venice, California, comprising of Ingrid Andersson [vocals], Kristian Nord [drums/bass] and Malte Hagemeister [guitar]. I was instantly taken with their originality and how polished their sound already is. Incredible production and smart structuring of their songs create listening experiences that draw the audience deep into the emotion and motion of the music. Paired with vocals reminscient of such powerhouses as Paloma Faith, Lisa Hannigan and Regine Chassagne in their individuality and engaging tonality, the sky is the limit for this group.You can check out their amazing stripped down rendition of All You Got is Gold- recently featured on the Netflix series 'The Haunting of Hill House', below.
I caught up with the band to find out a little more about what drives these intriguing artists in the interview below.
Interview:
1. How did you three meet and decide to form The Great Escape?
Malte: Ingrid had been a part of what we call the Venice tribe, our Venice Beach community of fun artist & surfer friends. A few years back she played some songs at a house party of mine. A room full of beer drinking rambling party folks suddenly dropped dead silent as soon as she whispered a few words into the mic. I’ll never forget that quiet intensity - and my good buddy Kristian and me knew we’d have to create some music with her. It still took two years or so - than we did a session that turned into the recording of a while album within 4 weeks. Bam!
2. The eclectic styles of Universe in Bloom display a deep affection for music. Which musicians or artists do you feel influence the way you approach your music?
Kristian: Well we all love the classics of the 60s & 70s. The Beatles, Nina Simone, Sly Stone - but also Björk or Amie Winehouse. We love the rawness of expression I guess, less polished than some pop today. So we try to capture that magic moment, that first take, rather than overthink it. When an idea is good than it’s almost like you channel some eternal truth or something.. Powerful. That’s what we’re after.
And even though we embrace modern technology - we love the idea of capturing as much human magic as possible, hands, breath, touch, sweat, pain, love.. And keep those little imperfections, they make it special!
3. It's your dream gig. Whose sharing the billing?
Malte: Oh we would have to resurrect some folks! Let’s have The Doors play first (doors open, right?), Gil Scott Heron next, def singing “Lady Day And John Coltrane”. Jimi Hendrix finally joins Miles Davis with an eclectic set they always wanted to play, Prince and James Brown hop on for a song or two. They all join us for our set. The Beatles play after us - so we can just party. Ah come on, let’s have the Beastie Boys unite with RCA (RIP!) for a jam with the Fab Four!
4. Do you have any funny facts or strange tales from your adventures as a band?
Malte: I guess it’s kind of funny that the two German boys in our band live in LA whereas Ingrid, born in the US, lives in Berlin, Germany. If that isn’t a great escape I don’t know what is ;) Doesn’t make rehearsal easier - but we manage to meet a few times a year for some time. And we did write and produce some songs on Skype, yes! But we prefer being in one room. It does force you to really get your shit together when you meet up.
5. Your songs seem to display both a sense of regretful nostalgia and a strong optimism for the future. Would you say your lyrics are reflective of our- perhaps confusing- point in time?
Malte: Hm I guess there’s some truth in that: We need to connect to our darkness, our pain, our faults - in order to become real, authentic, connected. Only then we can truly be positive, loving, playful, optimistic. So in that way our lyrics seem to reflect that perspective. There’s a strength coming from that place. Especially in these days. The news are all about pain and struggle. But we need this struggle to grow, to learn, to become better. We need the darkness. Like seeds need the dirt. Our latest post-album single “Where Do We Go From Here” is all about this - it’s an homage to growth, to leaving the comfort zone, to taking risks.
Kristian: A big part of our lyrics are positive though. For us it’s important to be fulfilled within yourself. In times where economics and logic seem so rule society we wanna show people to trust their instincts, gut feelings and hearts again. “Let me feel not understand” (All You Got Is Gold). We are so much more than only our minds and if we follow our intention we tap into something so much bigger than our little brains. Don’t get me wrong, the brain is a great tool, a great servant, but it often it's a horrible master. I think true happiness is following your feeling, your purpose and we wanna encourage people to get back to that raw true form of living: “Honey you don’t have to figure it out, honey all you got is gold"
6. What's the best advice you ever recieved?
Kristian: If in doubt do it! Yep. Rather do something and make a big mistake than be sorry for not trying. Especially in music you HAVE to make mistakes in order to create something special. It’s fun to see where you land once you stop worrying about messing up. You have to leave you comfort zone and eat some dirt once in a while.
7. What's on the horizon for you guys? What should everyone be keeping an eye out for?
We have a new album coming up in 2019! It’s gonna be released track by track starting with a music/ documentary video that is an homage to first generation immigrants. We are mixing it right now and hope it is as powerful as we think. The world needs some positive messages right now. And we are a first-generation-immigrant band ourselves!
Malte: Ingrid had been a part of what we call the Venice tribe, our Venice Beach community of fun artist & surfer friends. A few years back she played some songs at a house party of mine. A room full of beer drinking rambling party folks suddenly dropped dead silent as soon as she whispered a few words into the mic. I’ll never forget that quiet intensity - and my good buddy Kristian and me knew we’d have to create some music with her. It still took two years or so - than we did a session that turned into the recording of a while album within 4 weeks. Bam!
2. The eclectic styles of Universe in Bloom display a deep affection for music. Which musicians or artists do you feel influence the way you approach your music?
Kristian: Well we all love the classics of the 60s & 70s. The Beatles, Nina Simone, Sly Stone - but also Björk or Amie Winehouse. We love the rawness of expression I guess, less polished than some pop today. So we try to capture that magic moment, that first take, rather than overthink it. When an idea is good than it’s almost like you channel some eternal truth or something.. Powerful. That’s what we’re after.
And even though we embrace modern technology - we love the idea of capturing as much human magic as possible, hands, breath, touch, sweat, pain, love.. And keep those little imperfections, they make it special!
3. It's your dream gig. Whose sharing the billing?
Malte: Oh we would have to resurrect some folks! Let’s have The Doors play first (doors open, right?), Gil Scott Heron next, def singing “Lady Day And John Coltrane”. Jimi Hendrix finally joins Miles Davis with an eclectic set they always wanted to play, Prince and James Brown hop on for a song or two. They all join us for our set. The Beatles play after us - so we can just party. Ah come on, let’s have the Beastie Boys unite with RCA (RIP!) for a jam with the Fab Four!
4. Do you have any funny facts or strange tales from your adventures as a band?
Malte: I guess it’s kind of funny that the two German boys in our band live in LA whereas Ingrid, born in the US, lives in Berlin, Germany. If that isn’t a great escape I don’t know what is ;) Doesn’t make rehearsal easier - but we manage to meet a few times a year for some time. And we did write and produce some songs on Skype, yes! But we prefer being in one room. It does force you to really get your shit together when you meet up.
5. Your songs seem to display both a sense of regretful nostalgia and a strong optimism for the future. Would you say your lyrics are reflective of our- perhaps confusing- point in time?
Malte: Hm I guess there’s some truth in that: We need to connect to our darkness, our pain, our faults - in order to become real, authentic, connected. Only then we can truly be positive, loving, playful, optimistic. So in that way our lyrics seem to reflect that perspective. There’s a strength coming from that place. Especially in these days. The news are all about pain and struggle. But we need this struggle to grow, to learn, to become better. We need the darkness. Like seeds need the dirt. Our latest post-album single “Where Do We Go From Here” is all about this - it’s an homage to growth, to leaving the comfort zone, to taking risks.
Kristian: A big part of our lyrics are positive though. For us it’s important to be fulfilled within yourself. In times where economics and logic seem so rule society we wanna show people to trust their instincts, gut feelings and hearts again. “Let me feel not understand” (All You Got Is Gold). We are so much more than only our minds and if we follow our intention we tap into something so much bigger than our little brains. Don’t get me wrong, the brain is a great tool, a great servant, but it often it's a horrible master. I think true happiness is following your feeling, your purpose and we wanna encourage people to get back to that raw true form of living: “Honey you don’t have to figure it out, honey all you got is gold"
6. What's the best advice you ever recieved?
Kristian: If in doubt do it! Yep. Rather do something and make a big mistake than be sorry for not trying. Especially in music you HAVE to make mistakes in order to create something special. It’s fun to see where you land once you stop worrying about messing up. You have to leave you comfort zone and eat some dirt once in a while.
7. What's on the horizon for you guys? What should everyone be keeping an eye out for?
We have a new album coming up in 2019! It’s gonna be released track by track starting with a music/ documentary video that is an homage to first generation immigrants. We are mixing it right now and hope it is as powerful as we think. The world needs some positive messages right now. And we are a first-generation-immigrant band ourselves!
You can follow The Great Escape on their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Official Website.
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