We recently had a talk with our friend Carsten Colberg, the prolific mind behind the first edition of Strøm På Roskilde. An initiative meant to bring the synths and hardware out of the clubs to show that electronic music can be enjoyed in alternative spaces and made accessible to everyone!

Hi Carsten, how are you doing mate? Thanks for taking time to be here with us today! We are now on the other side of Strøm På Roskilde summer events. Strøm På Roskilde have grown into a significant event for live electronic music enthusiasts. How did the idea first come to you, and what was your initial vision for the project?

Hi there... I’m doing fine and thanks for having me! Yes, SPR summer events are done for this year, and it was really great to see the interest in our events during the summer. The idea was born out of a wish to show people, that electronic music is not only dark rooms and loud music. It has so much more to offer. The fact that Roskilde has so many cool spots to do smaller events like this and that we have a city council who wants to support culture in general, just encouraged me even more. I wanted it to be small pop up events, where people could stop by for a moment, listen to some cool music or just hang out in the sun with some friends. And then I wanted them to be a kind of “bait” in terms of discovering our local electronic music scene. Unfortunately I’m not aware of how many local artists there are around Roskilde, making and performing hardware based electronic music.

Strøm På Roskilde had a unique atmosphere every Saturday. How do you decide the lineup, venue and collaborations for the event? What makes a performance stand out to you?

Yeah, there were some super nice and positive vibes for sure, during the events. I had a big smile on my face several times! In terms of the line up I wanted to present local acts. But as said in my previous answer, I’m not aware of how many local acts there are around Roskilde, so I had to invite other artists along. And it was a no-brainer for me to ask in the PVC community, if you would join. The events were all outside and held at different locations in Roskilde on purpose, to show that live music can be played everywhere and also to kind of surprise people. Both in terms of the genres but also just that we were there. With these events a good performance for me was, if the artist could embrace the surroundings, fill it with good vibes and be present with the audience. The coziness and Hang Out vibes was a big wish for me. I think that was fulfilled.

SPR / August, 10th 2024

I was only there for two events, but I can confirm that the atmosphere and coziness was there during those days. Looking back at it, what moments or performances were particularly memorable for you?

I honestly think they all had their moments. Maybe because we didn’t have the same type/genre every time and was in a new location, that had their own unique impact on the vibes. And all the artists played really great sets. But what really made me happy was that there was a fairly large age spread in the audience every time. At one of the events I noticed people representing 4 generations, just hanging out, listening and having a good time. That was definitely one of the times I had a big smile on my face!

What have been some of the biggest challenges in organizing and curating Strøm På Roskilde? How have you worked through those challenges?

I think the biggest challenge was that it takes time to get answers and permissions. Everybody I talked to/emailed with was super cool, but I was obviously not the only “case” on their desk. So it became quite stressful in the end for me, because I ended up being very late with the last permissions. Other than that I think it was pretty smooth, despite the fact that I never tried organizing events before. But I deliberately kept it simple and low key, to make it as easy for me as possible. And also because I wanted it to have this pop up/ spontaneous vibe to it.

Have there been any unexpected obstacles related to the technical setup or logistics that you've had to overcome during the event? How do you manage such situations?

Ah yes... I learned that 16 and 32 ampere plugs might look the same, but it’s not! A phone call and a rather hectic car drive through Roskilde saved the event. But, hey... I’m used to playing around with small patch cables and 5 volts... haha! And at Containerstriben on Musicon, the venue owner totally forgot that there was an event with jazz and march music just beside us at the same time. But we postponed the start of our event 1,5 hours and everything was cool. Overall I think things went pretty well. Our FOH guy Rasmus Fisker did an excellent job every time, the PA sounded really good and all the artists involved were cool to work with.

Live electronic music has its unique challenges compared to studio recordings. How do you approach translating your music from the studio to a live setting?

It’s fairly new for me to perform live with electronic music and I don’t have that much of a back catalog to pick from, in terms of putting a live set together. So for me it was collecting pieces (loops, stems etc.) and pair that with things/ sequences I made for the modular. Some of it worked out pretty good and will stay, and well... some of it didn’t! But these events were also ment as a learning experience for me both as an artist and as an organizer.

How do you feel Strøm På Roskilde has influenced the local electronic music scene? How do you see it evolve over the years? What are your future plans for Strøm På Roskilde? Do you have any new directions or projects you’re planning to introduce to the event?

Hopefully it can show people that there is much more to it than banging techno or cheesy EDM music. I do like the first one (hehe...), but it also comes with prejudices from people. And hopefully next year I can present more local music. I don’t know if SPR has moved anything yet in terms of a local scene, but hopefully it will over the next few years. I will say though, that I have received only positive feedback and there were people attending more than one of the events, saying that what we do is missing in Roskilde. So there is a potential for sure. Besides the summer events I’m planning some cool things during the winter with both local acts and from PVC. My goal is that SPR becomes a catalyst and motivator for other curious like minded people, to take initiative and contribute to keep Roskilde a cultural city. And to cultivate a local electronic music scene of course. I’m really focused on not doing things “just for the sake of it”. It should be about quality not quantity. I would much rather prefer making smaller and fewer events with a clear purpose, than throwing some liveshows up, just for the sake of doing it.

Sounds awesome Carsten, thanks for taking time to share all these insights with us! Let’s close this interview with some insights concerning your project Under Red Skies. Do you have any upcoming releases or collaborations as Under Red Sky that we can look forward to?

Right now I’m working on a track for the next PVC compilation and then I also have a liveshow in Zurich 28/9-24 at SP Sessions Zurich, hosted by our good friend 59 Perlen. Really looking forward to that! And then it’s going to be in studio/recording mode for the rest of the year. My goal is to release an EP next year in early spring hopefully. I might have some gigs in Roskilde during the winter, but that’s not confirmed yet.

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