Andreas Malm is a Malmö-based musician in his late 40s who plays in Eternal Music Society, Skeppet, Amph and Fria Konstellationen. »Kroppskännedom«, out now on Morc Tapes, is his first self-titled solo-LP after a tape which came out in 2023. Malm describes what he does with Kroppskännedom as an amateur rock-oriented continuation of the more abstract and tape loop-based work he did before, or an attempt to make song-based music that »got lost along the way«.
skug: Can you compare the tape you released in 2023 to this LP?
Andreas Malm: There is actually less of a linear process in the making of the tape and the LP than what one would perhaps expect. In 2022, I bought a new bass guitar and wanted to do some more »rock-oriented« recordings. I started recording tracks without having any clear plan for what these recordings would result in. At the end of the year, I realized this was the new Kroppskännedom project. During the first months of 2023, I had enough material for a tape release, but while listening to these recordings, I got the idea of making two separate releases instead of one. For this, however, I needed more tracks, so I continued recording. Most of the early tracks ended up on the tape, but »Hundstjärnans tecken«, »Ambros II« and »Sluta« (well, that’s actually the entire B-side of the LP), were set aside for the second release. And a few tracks on the tape (»Blicken på folk«, »Kropp«), were recorded during the summer of 2023. I guess I was searching for an expression I think I found along the way that is more present on the LP compared to the tape.
Do you see this LP as your real debut?
Both yes and no, I would say. In a way, I see this as the first proper Kroppskännedom release, mainly because it is being released by someone else (and on a label that I really like) and because of the LP format. At the same time, I have been releasing solo recordings under different names since 2008 –some of them self-released and some released by others. But yes, this is my debut solo LP, and it feels great.
Is it still important to you that a record has a physical release?
I don’t mind listening to digital-only releases, but I definitively prefer the physical object. This goes for both, when listening to others’ music and for my own recordings, even if this means doing the release yourself in 20 copies.
You worked on this LP for a couple of years.
I play music with others regularly (Eternal Music Society), but I wish I played music on my own more often than I do. Typically, I have these periods with good recording flow when I want to record and listen to the ongoing recordings constantly. I usually work at one track at a time, and the process is often very slow… If I get an idea for a track, I usually stick with this until I have finalized it. In this way, I think I see every finished track as useful. But not all ideas pass the initial approval check, which means that some sketches are discarded at an early stage. While working on a recording I tend to listen to it a lot, like constantly for weeks or months, and by doing so I think I lose the ability to listen objectively to my music (if that is ever possible). I don’t see it as a goal to listen objectively to what I do though, and I do not see me as a good critic of my own work. As mentioned above, I think I look for an expression that I can identify with, and when I find this, I feel satisfied.
What is your working process like?
I record at home, by myself, although drums and the noisier stuff are recorded at our rehearsal space. Tracks are usually built from some sort of rhythmic foundation, either drums or a tape loop with guitar sounds. After this, layers are added by use of a sampler, tape loops, bass, guitar and synths.
You live in Malmö. Are you part of a local music scene?
I was more part of the local scene before, when we did shows with Skeppet more regularly. Nowadays, I am less involved, although we have done a couple of shows with Eternal Music Society. But it seems the local scene is becoming more vital again after being somewhat dormant for some years (or maybe it was me who just wasn’t there), with lots of great stuff happening. And there are a few really good venues, most notably Mässingshornet and Hypnos Theatre.
Is your musical background 90s US sub-underground: Lou Barlow, Bill Callahan and Will Oldham?
I actually listened a lot to Palace Music at the end of 2024, in particular »Days in the Wake«. Other recent listenings include Hood, The For Carnation, Windy & Carl, Mosquitoes, Water Damage and Masayuki Takayanagi. And Peter Blundell’s new band, Split Apex, completely blew me away. But what got me into playing music when I was 15, 16 years old was the local hardcore scene in Linköping in the early / mid 90s, with bands like Chopstick and Outlast. Hearing Void was important, and later bands like Hoover and Slint affected me a lot.
What does Kroppskännedom mean?
Kroppskännedom translates to Body Awareness, a name that I previously used for my solo recordings. I don’t remember why I chose that name in the first place, but to me it has come to symbolize a direction in life, in which the body plays a central role for attaining balance, peace, and transcending experiences.
How would you describe your work?
I think I still see Kroppskännedom as an amateur rock-oriented continuation of the more abstract and tape loop-based work from my former duo Amph. Or as an attempt to make a song-based record, that somewhat got lost along the way.
Why did you decide to work with Sofie Herner and David Roeder?
Already, when I started working on these recordings, I had the idea that I wanted to involve others. In 2022 I got to know Sofie better as we started playing together with Eternal Music Society. We had known each other since 2009 or so, when my band Skeppet played at Utmarken, Gothenburg. I love the sense for rhythmic expression and texture in her guitar playing, so I asked if she wanted to contribute with guitars on a track or two. She added some noisy and screeching guitars on »Havet i drömmen« (on the tape) and more melodic guitars on »Sluta« (on the LP), and I am very happy with how her contributions added something to these tracks that I could not have accomplished myself. I am also very happy that she wanted to add vocals to a track on the LP. With David it was different. I fell in love with his music after hearing his tape on Horn of Plenty, and somehow we started writing each other (mostly about music). At one point he asked if I had any music to which he could contribute with vocals, and I sent him two tracks. He added vocals to one and melodica and sitar to the other. I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted him to do, but I felt certain that it would be good. I am very happy with the result and feel humbled that two of my favourite musicians wanted to contribute to my recordings.
Player: https://kroppskannedom.bandcamp.com/album/aktivt-f-rfall
