About a month ago, I was riding in the car with my friends when one of them played a song which sounded like something from 1986 mixed with some video game influence and simply all around amazing. The song was Crysteena by a producer out of Stockholm, Sweden who goes by Mille and I was instantly addicted. I preceded to find more songs by Mille including Maniac Pop and Ghost Dancer and became more and more curious as to how I have never heard of him until now. As any other fan would do, I sent him my regards over his Myspace page and was surprised by his sudden response so I asked him for an interview with KSSU.com, and he was kind enough to grace us with his time. This interview, due to the distance issue and the cost of a long distance phone call, was conducted through Myspace messages over the last week. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mille.
Storyteller: So where are you from exactly and how did you get into production?
Mille: I'm born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden on an island called Lilla Essingen.
I remember finding this free music program called "Fast Tracker" (think it was back in 1994) and downloaded some demotunes made with it. I was totally blown away and thought that I would give it a go and make something with it too. After a while I managed to figure out how to load samples, beats and stuff into it and tried to find free wav-samples and some online documentation. This was when people still were using 64k modems so it wasn't easy I tell you.
Then one day when I was browsing the internet I stumbled across this other app called "Buzz" which is more like any modern softwaresynth and learned tons of new stuff, mainly about how synths work. I actually made my first tracks in that freeware program and got one released a few years later.
I basically took a break from music for a couple of years but in 2007 or 2008 I heard some really 80's inspired dance music and those tracks just took me back 20 years.. swoosh! I started remembering my mom playing "Jean Michel Jarre" vinyls and all the sounds that I thought was magical back then. I thought to myself "Hey, I wanna do this too!" and I started producing again.
Storyteller: The 80s influences definitely show in your work, are there any other particular genres that influence your music?
Mille: There's all kinds of genres and music that inspire or influence me.. I've always loved chiptunes of course but as you can hear in my music there's a little house, rave and pop in there. Maybe even more I don't now! Haha!
Nowadays I can get goosebumps from listening to a really awesome pop track or some piece from a classical composer. Good music is good music.
Storyteller: Very very true. It's crazy how so many new artists are just popping up everywhere with these great tracks. So since you've began producing again, have you performed anywhere or done any sets?
Mille: A lot of people have started to ask me about that but I actually haven't yet.
I'm however looking for a solution that would suit me.
I know that a lot of artists/producers perform with Ableton but I don't produce tracks
within that software so I need to do it some other way. I'm getting closer to a solution but I need to produce a few more original tracks to go along with the current ones as well as my remixes to get a solid live set. Let's just say I'm on it!
Storyteller: Definitely, I'm happy to hear that too! We hope to see you over here in
the states sometime! I see that you have been doing a lot of remixes
lately, I'm especially excited about the Sound of Arrows-Into the Clouds
remix you have recently! How do you decide which songs you want to
remix?
Mille: Well, so far I've done as many as I possibly could. I have been approached by other artists/producers who has asked me if I wanted to give it a go at their tracks.
If I were to choose between two tracks to remix I would probably take one containing
some kind of vocal-parts. I always get cool ideas from vocals.
Storyteller: And for production, can we be expecting more original tracks from you in the near future? Maybe an official EP?
Mille: You can definitely be expecting more. I'm just warming up here. Haha!
I really hope there will be an EP soon. I'm currently having some discussions regarding the matter but I can't tell you much about it at the moment. I'll be sure to let everyone now if/when though.
Storyteller: Haha, awesome. So can we expect the same style of production you have now or are you going for something a little different with your new work?
Mille: Probably something similar. I strive towards achieving a sound that's like 80s film music which I'm also able to switch into like a high intensity mode, where the sound-scape almost turns into an 90's rave track. Throw in a little samba, some Caribbean vibes and some little funky C64 chip-tune and I'm right where I want to be. Maybe not all these styles at the same time but.. It would be cool though! Haha.
Storyteller: Haha, I think that would be revolutionary music if Samba, Caribbean and chip-tune could all be contained in one track. Now aside from music, are there any other hobbies or activities you enjoy in your spare time?
Mille: Yeah of course. The obvious answer would be hanging out with friends and family.
I'm basically just another geek so I love all kinds of computer-based activities.
When I'm not making music all night long I'm running my own business with two friends here in Stockholm. We're 3d artists so 3d graphics and Vfx is really something I like fooling around with as well.
Storyteller: That's alright, we are all geeks in our own way whether we like it or not. Well, I think that's going to about wrap it up, are there any last thoughts or words you would like to share with your fans?
Mille: Cowabunga dudes!
Check out Mille's tracks
here and show him some love
