It's been a great year for Danish collective Efterklang, who earlier in 2007 signalled their intentions with the mesmerizing "Under Giant Trees" Ep. We catch up with band member Rasmus Stolberg on the back of the sprawling full-length release "Parades" and a successful European tour.

In this interview he talks about Efterklang's past, present and future, as well as their own label Rumraket. During the course of this account, Rasmus reveals some interesting news regarding 2008 and some intriguing aspects of the band's history. An earlier incarnation of Efterklang was named after a famous American wrestler, you know!

(Photos by Nan Na Hvass)

Hello Rasmus, you have recently returned home from an extensive tour, did you enjoy the whole experience?

We did indeed enjoy touring. Before this tour we recorded for two years ("One-Sided LP", "Under Giant Trees" (review link) & "Parades" (review) without playing a single show, so we had a strong urge to be on a stage again. We are a studio band – in the way that we build and create songs in the studio without being able to play them together as band. Doing that for two years you start missing the feeling of playing together the good old-school way.

How did you find the UK audiences, are they as responsive as those in Denmark?

I think we have been very lucky with our UK audiences on this tour. Everywhere we went we were told that in this city they don't care and will be chatting through the whole show, and in that city they will kick our asses because of our moustaches and strange outfits and so on... We played 10 shows in the UK and Ireland and at all 10 shows we had extremely good crowds. They were listening, engaged and maybe what we enjoyed the most was the very loud cheering at the right places - some of the most responsive audiences we have ever had. I can only think of the audience in Prague being more fun to play for.

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What performance from the tour sticks in your mind and why?

The show in Madrid was very special. It was our fourth show and it felt like things finally fell into place. We played a very good show and maybe for the first time in the Efterklang history we had very good contact with the audience also when we weren't playing. We have been paying a lot of attention to that side of playing a show after that Madrid experience.

There were so many good shows though. I think our home-town show in Copenhagen was very special and so was London and Dublin. It is very hard to explain why some shows are more memorable than others.

Can you tell us a little about the stage clothes the band wore on tour?

Hehe – yes. On our old tours we were sort of shoegazing in front of some very nice video projections. On the new tours we don't bring visuals so therefore it has been our ambition to be better performers. One of the things connected to this ambition is the matching costumes we are wearing. The riding trousers is a fascination of Casper's and I think one of the reasons that we chose them, is that you can't find many other bands who plays in trousers like that. A lot of the cool outfits are already taken you know.

I was suitably impressed by the performance of frontman Casper Clausen, has he always displayed such a stage presence or has this developed naturally through time?

It has developed since that Madrid show – he used to be very shy and anti-frontman like. We are not quite sure what suddenly happened to him, but we like it very much as well!

Which Efterklang song do you enjoy performing the most and why?

I think that must be "Cutting Ice To Snow" (MP3 download link) – it has a very nice progression from being very quiet and choir based to this folky banjo and very danceable ending. It brings a smile to my face.

Peter Broderick performed a marvelous support slot (and also joined Efterklang on stage). How did this relationship come about?

He is from Portland Oregon, which is pretty much on the other side of the planet from Copenhagen. He has been writing to us on MySpace and sending us his music for the last couple of years. When we were looking for a new violin player this summer we could only think of him. We saw this as a problem as he lived in Oregon. We were absolutely sure it would not work out, but decided to write and ask him anyway. I think he replied within 5 minutes – "I'm coming to Denmark" - that was very crazy! We have fixed him a Danish working permit and everything now and are very happy to have him in our band and to have him supporting our concerts as well.

Going back to the origins of the band, how did you meet all the members of the band and did you know immediately you wanted to make music with them?

You can see the Angry Ape bio – I wrote that part myself.

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What factors influenced you to become a musician?

My parents forced me to take drum lessons when I was in 2nd grade. I hated it. Later on I started playing guitar because of my older brother and Guns n Roses I believe. One of my first bands was called Guns N Tulipaner (tulips in Danish) – this was in 5th grade. It was me and a friend, then later Mads from Efterklang joined us when we were in 6th grade. We changed the band name to The Undertakers then – named after one of the characters in that Wrestling thing – haha this must sound pretty crazy considering what we do now.

Efterklang incorporate a number of styles into the music, yet it is all pulled off so convincingly. How does the band approach writing and recording new material?

We often use the image of a puzzle to explain this. A 3 dimensional puzzle might be even better. Hours/days/sometimes years are spend constructing this giant puzzle. Sometimes you have to invent the puzzle from scratch other times the songs are sort of writing themselves and then we need to finish the puzzle – this can very hard as well. It is mostly Mads and Casper who are in charge of this process. Most new songs start off with messing around with a new instrument or messing about with things on the computer. Suddenly something sounds interesting and then we start building on it.

If someone asked you to describe Efterklang's sound, what would you say?

I hate this question or I hate that I don't know how to answer it interestingly. I normally tell people that it is a combination of classic, electronic, eccentric pop and rock music and that we like to orchestrate our songs with strings, brass, choirs and so on.

How does Efterklang of 2007 differ from the Efterklang that self-released 'Springer' (read our review) back in 2003?

We are much more content about what we are doing – it is more fun being Efterklang today. Besides that there is not a big difference. We are not as naive anymore but just as ambitious.

Do you feel at home at The Leaf Label? Efterklang's music seems completely suited to Leaf's eclectic nature, would you agree?

I agree totally. It is very nice to be on Leaf. We are big fans of the other acts on the roster.

The band also runs the Rumraket Label, can you tell us about the goals of this project?

The goals are sort of changing on a monthly basis these days, but overall our goals are to release music we find fantastic. We would like for Rumraket to grow strong and self-sufficient – but is hard being a small record label in 2007. These days we are trying to figure out how it can run in a good, healthy and fun way without being too dependent on sales figures.

Can you tell us a little about Rumraket's bands?

I think they all have something in common, but I can't figure out what it is besides the fact that we in Efterklang think they are geniuses. They all have an element in their music which is sort of searching for something. It is investigating music.

What do you consider as your proudest achievement within this label?

That we will release record number 10 in two and a half years in beginning of 2008. Erik Levander will have the honor. His new album is magnifique! It will be called "Kondens" and will be out early March. Another thing we are proud of or is a goal is to release music that is good now and in five or ten years as well. I'm not sure if we have achieved it yet, but I tell myself that we have!

When signing a band to Rumraket, is it important they come from a similar mindset as Efterklang? Furthermore, what defining factors did you consider when bringing an artist like Canon Blue into the Rumraket family?

I'm not sure how to answer this question interestingly. The answer to the first one is yes...

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With 2007 almost gone, what does the future hold for Rumraket?

Full lengths from Erik Levander and Taxi Taxi! The first one will be out early in the year. Taxi Taxi! later in 2008, maybe in 2009 actually. We also expect Slaraffenland to release a new full length which I predict will take them a lot of new places.

2007 has been a very productive year for Efterklang, one where the band seemed to truly arrive with the release of an EP, an album and also conducting that extensive tour. Have the band achieved everything they wished for this year?

Yes! It is very nice to be able to answer a question like that - like this!

Efterklang's music seems to take on a whole new dimension in a live setting. Why do you think this is?

We have always looked at the live setting and album setting as two very different things. I guess that must explain it. It is impossible for us to perform the songs as they are recorded so we think of others ways of doing it.

"Parades" has been very well received by media and fans alike. Was it a difficult recording process?

It was very long and complicated but all of us had a good time doing it. It is an album made with good spirit and we hope this is audible.

What was your reaction when you first heard a completed version of the album?

I was very pleased – all of us were actually. It is the first album we have finished where all of us were just happy about it.

The band place obvious importance on its art direction and film work, what can we expect from forthcoming single "Caravan"?

Explosions! And I look forward to that indeed!

What is in store for Efterklang in 2008?

Touring! We want to play a lot of shows! And then we will score a few short and longer films ad maybe some theatre as well. In the fall we might make an attempt to perform the songs on "Parades" live as they are recorded. This will be a very big project involving a lot of musicians – and that is all I can say about that right now!

Out with Efterklang and Rumraket, has there been any artists or records that have caught your attention this year?

YES! I think it has been a very good year! These are my personal favorites: Tenniscoats, Akron/Family, Ólöf Arnalds, Kirsten Ketsjer and Deerhoof.

Final question, since the holiday season is upon us, what is your favourite Christmas song?

I can only answer one thing and that is "Halcyon" by Canon Blue – of course it doesn't really count as he is on our label but I really like it. It is on the Xmas compilation "That Fuzzy Feeling" (Loaf Records) and it also part of a free online EP by Canon Blue (download the four track EP for free here).