Continuing on from his stellar release, Motions, Swedish composer Peter Sandberg returns with a brand new track with UK trio, Arctic Lake.

It's a pleasure to see you have a new release. Can you share how this project came together and where your collaboration started with Arctic Lake?

We were introduced by my management and met up for 2 days of sessions at LCCM's Music Box in London last August. It’s always hard to know how these kinds of sessions are gonna turn out, since you are strangers to one another. But we really hit it off and wrote Unhold Me. Quite a big leap outside of my comfort zone, but I think the Sandberg essence is still there. 

When beginning to write this track, was it always your plan to feature vocals? 

Yeah, since it was supposed to be a collaboration between us it was a no brainer to utilise Emma’s beautiful voice.

For those that are new to you and your music. Can you share with us where your musical journey started? 

I started playing the piano at age 12. My dad taught me some simple tunes and I learned it all by ear. But it wasn’t until I was 15 years old when I started playing classical piano. This was when my dream of becoming a classical concert pianist was born. I worked like a crazy person all through high school and got 3 years of additional studies at a Swedish music college. But during my last year at college, I started to feel kind of unfulfilled with the whole classical pianist role. The fact that there’s always someone better than you really takes its toll.

So, after my studies I got a recommendation to start working as a composer for a music library who were in search for new composers. I had never thought of myself as a composer before but had always been improvising ever since I started playing the piano, so I took the challenge. It was small-scale at first whilst at the same time working at the airport hauling trollies, but gradually expanded until a year later when I was able to start working full-time. All in my living room, but still, I was so happy about it.

I did that for about 6 years, creating hundreds of pieces and learned so much about composing, producing and the business. After a while we decided to release some of the music on Spotify and it really took off. I signed with Phases Records in 2018, we released my album Motion last year and I’m very happy with the response. I signed to Sony/ATV for publishing last year and having great fun exploring more Film/TV and co-writing opportunities with them.

You're based in Uppsala, Sweden, can you talk about your studio set up? 

I built a tiny cottage on my yard a couple of years back where I have my studio. It’s quite small inside, about 13 square meters, but it’s been great for me although it’s starting to get very cramped. 

Setup-wise I work mainly in Pro Tools and bits and bobs in Ableton, through an UAD Apollo 8 and a pair of Genelec 8240 and a couple of 500’ preamps. I also have my lovely pianos; a Yamaha YUS3 and a Una Corda by Klavins Piano. A couple of synths and a few pedals. My favourites are the Prophet 6, The Organelle, and pedal-wise the EarthQuaker Devices ones, just got the ’Pyramids’, which I’m keen of trying out on the piano.

The piano is a key part to a lot of your music, can you share an insight into your creative process? 

It differs from time to time. If I’m gonna do a solid piano track I always start improvising at the piano. Sometimes the piece just happens and I have a track ready and done in a couple of hours. Other times I approach it more analytical and it takes forever to get done. It usually lands somewhere between the two. If it’s a bigger track I tend to start with the textures and trying to find some sort of sound that inspires me.

I use Ableton to create interesting loops and then go back and add piano on top on that. I’ve also made whole tracks with orchestral arrangements first and then added some piano notes in different spots to glue it all together. 

You create beautiful textures with the piano, can you explain how you approach manipulating the sound? 

First off I use felt on the piano. I have some sort of hate/love relationship with it. It’s almost like quicksand; If you try it out, it’s gonna be very hard to get away from it, but, yeah, I’m definitely stuck. 

I like to use the piano in unconventional ways. Sample drums on it. Using the sustain pedal as a rhythmic tool (as I did in ’Motion’) or live sampling it with the organelle to create textures. I have a track on my upcoming album where I lie underneath the piano banging on the strings and playing the keyboard upside down. Not very ergonomic but lots of fun!

People may have come across your music after your track, Deep was featured in Stranger Things season 3. How did it feel to have your music featured in such a big TV series? 

Me and my wife are huge fans of the show so when I got the email from the producers, I totally freaked out. Such a honour and I’m so fascinated of how well the track worked with the scene. It’s surreal, that’s what it is. It’s a nice confirmation that my music works well to picture. 

What can we expect to see next from you? 

I’m about to release a lot of new music with my new LP coming out later this year, which I’m so excited to share with the world. Some of it is a little bit different but still has the same old me in it. Can’t wait! 

www.petersandberg.com