Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember. From an early age I had an interest in anything that generated musical notes or sound. I had some toy instruments and I made drums or made music with glasses full of water with different notes.
I didn’t grow up in a musical environment. At home you didn’t listen to much music. There were some records of military marches, which my father liked a lot, and some classical, which were the ones I played. And I didn’t have any influence from neighbors or friends either.
When I was about 10 years old, my father, seeing my interest in music, bought me the mythical Casio VL1 tone, which I still have and which was my first contact with something electronic. And later a larger Casio keyboard, with real keys, better rhythms and better sounds. With that I began to make my first compositions recording with a cassette in a very primitive way.
In general my path in music has been quite solitary and self-taught. I never had friends interested in music nor did I move in any scene. But it was a world that passioned me and I bought music magazines, I went to fairs and little by little I got to know and buy more professional equipment, researching and composing.
It was a very different world. Spain began to open up to the world after the dictatorship. There was no internet and the very first personal computers were scarce and expensive.
Q: Can you describe the musical style of Odin Kaban in three words?
A: Eclectic, unexpected, free.
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: In this world of information overload, it’s hard to reach people who don’t know your music. That’s why I’m very grateful for interviews like this. The fans are slowly joining and I connect with them through my Bandcamp and social networks.
With all my love and gratitude to the people who follow me, I’ve never made music with the listener in mind. I know I don’t make it easy, because each album I release can follow a very different path from the previous one. But I can’t make music to be liked. I know that if I’m honest with my essence, that’s also a value and there will always be people who follow me and who are willing to be surprised.
Q: You have just released your new EP, ‘Be in you’. Is there a story behind it?
A: More than a story, there is a state of mind. This are tracks that I did during the first months of this year. I didn’t think about an album, I never do. But all songs have an introspective, emotional, sometimes enigmatic tone. I was getting music less based on rhythms and more on textures. A journey more inwards than outwards. Then I realized that they worked very well all together, as if I had planned it from the beginning.
Q: What is your favorite track from the EP and why?
A: When I started to shape the album, to give it a title and design the cover, I would have answered “Be in you”, which opens and gives the album its title. But the more I listen to it, the more affection I have for “Inner tides” that closes it. It is an intense track, which can even be unsettling on a first listen, but that little by little becomes more familiar and, with each listen, takes me to very different places inside and outside of me. It’s so simple and yet so nuanced, so complete…
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the EP, “Be in you”?
A: As I said, it wasn’t intended as a whole from the beginning. I just start making music and let myself flow. In my previous work “Open borders”, which is the soundtrack for a dance performance, I hardly used percussion and I think that spirit was still in me while creating these tracks.
In addition, three of the five songs are voiced by Lucía Flor Laguna, a singer friend whom I called to participate in a theme for a film. I used discarded pieces of that recording and I accommodated them, processed them and gave shape to the songs along with the other elements. His voice is not recorded for the occasion. She didn’t even knew until they were finished.
Everything has been so unplanned that “Inner tides”, which I was talking about before, started with a drum & bass loop to which I made different processes and created a first layer. On top of that, I recorded a synthesizer processed according to what was happening with the loop. And on top of that I added Lucia’s voice. But there was something that didn’t quite work and I didn’t know what it was. Finally, it occurred to me to mute the rhythm loop and, suddenly, a totally different song appeared before me, surprising and that needed nothing more than some adjustment to be ready. I would never have planned to create something like that.
Q: What has been the most memorable concert or performance for Odin Kaban so far?
A: My album “Cuerpos sutiles” (Subtle bodies) was created with the intention that the listener, knowing it or not, would connect with their subtle energy, beyond the physical. One of my concerts on that album was given in a retreat focused on teaching lucid dreaming and astral travel. After the concert and the next day, people kept telling me about “spiritual” experiences they had had during the concert. It was something wonderful, which confirms the healing power of music and how important the intention is when creating it and playing live.
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: With so much music made, it’s hard to choose, but “Wind in My Veins” from the album of the same name, is one of those trackss. In it I mix electronics with a Fujara (overtone flute). It is elegant, sensitive, expassive. Very pleasant to listen to. Very cinematic. It shows a creative maturity that makes me see that I wouldn’t have done something like this without all my previous path. It’s a song that I would fall in love with if it had been created by another artist.
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into Odin Kaban’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: Most of the time, when I start making music I don’t know what I’m going to do and I love that. I don’t have a method of work. I try to flow, take my mind out of the way and let the music guide me. I let myself be surprised. I can have a very simple generic idea, which usually depends on the mood of the moment. Something like “I’m going to do something quiet” or “I’m going to record something with this instrument” but little else. When I make commissioned music I usually have some more closed premises, such as what you want to convey or what happens in the scene I work for. But even so, the process is very similar.
I can start by programming a rhythm or a bass pattern and build from there. I’m usually very guided by textures. I can be processing some sound or playing with a synth and feel that there is a seed there.
Starting tracks is very easy, the most complicated (and exciting) thing is to shape them and even more so to finish them. Sometimes I finish the track a few hours after starting it, other times I don’t know how to continue, it is halfway through and I can find a way after a while (sometimes years) or never finish it.
Sometimes surprising processes occur, like the one I mentioned before “Inner tides”. Most of the time the end result is not at all what it seemed to be at first. That’s why I never have expectations, I don’t get attached to what the mind wants and I let the music express itself. I consider myself a channel at the service of music, which has a life of its own.
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have for Odin Kaban, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: As a music lover, I have enjoyed listening to the music that others have created so much throughout my life, that I want to be able to provide that experience to others. So, the more people my music reaches, the better, the more experiences.
Part of my work is composing for other arts; theater, dance, cinema… And I feel that, especially in cinema, electronic music is still considered a risky bet. And a specific aspiration is to be able to help normalize its use in cinema by having more opportunities to make soundtracks (call for directors).
To my fans I would say to keep letting yourself be surprised. In all my music I am there, regardless of the aesthetic form in which it manifests itself. But music without a listener doesn’t make sense, so we need each other.
I intend to remain faithful to my essence, to feel free making music and share it with the world.
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