The Sweden-born, Berlin-based artist, Per Hammar, talks us through his top tracks.
THE FIRST TIME YOU REMEMBER HEARING ELECTRONIC MUSIC?
When I was 12, I was living in Helsingborg and as I started 6th grade, a new kid started in the class. He moved in from Stockholm, and with him, he had mixtape cassettes that his older brother made for him from his record collection.
I remember Aphex Twin and that kinda stuff, but what really caught my ear (and that actually ignited my whole interest for music) was a Swedish band called Puss. They were making instrumental, melody heavy, Game Boy music. To be able to make music, they had to develop their own music program on a cassette for the Game Boy, which they did: Little Sound DJ. It made me realize that all the music that I’ve heard was never about the lyrics or meaning of the song. Just about the melodies, harmonies, and rhythms.
The first years of my ”electronic music journey” was all about video game music and music related to that. Thank you, Anders 4444.
THE GUILTY PLEASURE?
It would probably be one of all the trance/happy hardcore tracks that I pump every now and then. Ones again it just comes back to the simplicity of melodies. But apparently nobody understand this, which I respect. Of all my friends, I have two that share the taste. We are a solid tight group that shares tracks to each other, and we are repellent to trance hate ;^)
THE BEST CHILLOUT RECORD?
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THE RECORD THAT SAVES THE DAY?
As a musician, I’m quite influenced by instrumental dub music. I had a period when I was listening to a lot of Ska music, so the backbeat has been there for some time. But when I discovered older dusty dub, stripped from everything but the beat and with short melody cuts drowned in spring reverbs, tape delays, phasers and what not, there was no turning back.
THE SOUNDTRACK TO A LAZY SUNDAY AFTERNOON?
Incredible harmonies in this one. It’s like it surrounds me and resets me totally.
THE LAST TRACK OF THE NIGHT?
Sweaty, exhausted and heartbroken at the same time.
THE RECORD YOU’RE PROUDEST OF?
Somehow I’m proud of all my work. But to wrap this up and try to explain how all of this music, that may not be techno or house, influences me, I think this one does that quite well. There’s some trancey chord progressions, some dub influences as well as melodies and spacious atmospheres.
Per Hammar and