Formula Indie Sessions – Interview with DUTCH
We’re Kibble (lead singer and lyricist) and Formaldehyde (composer and songwriter) from the Swiss duo « Dutch. ». We’re two filmmakers wanting to have fun by creating this little project. Our first song « Sbornia » is out since one year and we’re currently composing and recording an EP. We’ve met together in a film set. We instantly clicked on our music tastes so we were like « why not doing our dream music? » It’s mainly about having fun, bring other musicians with us and kind of a extension to our filmmaking job.
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Kibble : When I was 6 years old, I found a CD of the band « Big Soul » and I used to play « Hippy Hippy Shake » so loud in my bedroom and jump like crazy on my bed.
Formaldehyde : When I was a kid, my dad used to play piano every weekend on this big Grand Piano. I was captivated by the size of this thing… But years later, I heard for the first time Pink Floyd’s « The Wall » on vinyl and I was blasted by how powerful music can be.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
Formaldehyde : I started playing music very late, around 17 years old. My father was kind of stopping making music after someone stole his piano. So I thought to myself « Maybe I can start doing it myself? ». Then he bought a new electric piano and we started making music together. After that, we started composing some tracks together and never stopped since.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Formaldehyde : I’ve always wanted to do an EP. Way before meeting Kibble. So a lot of songs we got were born years before and I was too lazy to release them. Then I met Kibble and they were a huge boost to my ambition and creativity. Kibble helped a lot to make some sense of all the tracks I got on an hard drive to create a more logical universe. I had almost 50 tracks half composed or recorded and we sat down and listen to almost all of them and choose around 12 of ‘em to create this EP. Still debating, but progressing hahaha.
Kibble : I joined the project and instantly wanted to create songs and lyrics that are linked to our experiences. I wanted to talk about stuff I’ve experienced in my life, something people can relate to. I’m a « nostalgia junkie », I’ll always try to put that feeling in our songs I guess. I’ve always felt close to making music but never pushed myself to do it until I met Formal. Even if I don’t have any musical knowledges, I try to stay authentic with my lyrics and learn what I can.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
We do listen to A LOT of different music genres. So our influences are all over the place. I think one of the main thing about us is making EP or albums that feel like a playlist; we don’t want to stick on one style. You’ll listen to Swedish trash metal and bebop jazz song
in the same album hahaha. More seriously, we want to put different genres in the same album because we cannot stick to one. But I think for now, we can be associated to an indie pop/rock band that will do many other things.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Formaldehyde: I was very academic when I started making music. Maybe due to my studies in music production. I was always so scared to release music because I thought it should be perfect or go to the trash. Then I had a great teacher who taught me about the « Wabi-Sabi » (In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi centers on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It is often described as the appreciation of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”. It is prevalent in many forms of Japanese art.)
It felt like a relief because I could do everything I want about how to write, compose and record songs.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Formaldehyde: I compose mainly with guitars and piano/synth. Then I send it to our others musicians and producer and they add their style and ideas to it. It’s a very collaborative approach and that’s why I love making music. It’s really about bringing people and ideas along the way and then create something that please everyone and make us proud. I think Oscar Gretsch, our pianist and keyboard player, is a great creative mind and easily knows where I want to go.
We love working in analog ways. We tend to record a lot through old equipment from the 60s and 70s like my old Hiwatt DR103 Amp Head, Fender Leslie Cabinet, old Russian Big Muff or Boss CE-2, Yamaha DX7, etc…
We love to run everything through Neve 1073 Preamp and crank the thing up. And we love to experiment a lot with some weird ways to get some effects like we did on a track by creating a synth pad with a guitar and an electric razor. I think it’s the most fun part of the creative process; trying ways to transform each instrument or sound in something completely different.
As a software, we send everything to Protools (which is a pain in the ass with MIDI) and I’m a huge fan of Soundtoys plugins. We record and mix our demos mainly with their plugins. You can be very creative with those.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Kibble: I’m one of those who find one song that they love and leave them on repeat for months; and that song is « Trampoline » from Ruby Roberts. It’s a song about hoping success for your loved ones filled with nostalgia and that’s why it speaks to me.
Formaldehyde: Though one hahaha. But I think that, and I hope they’re considered indie, I listen mainly to Viagra Boys. Just love them. I had the chance to see them live twice. They’re geniuses. Go listen to them.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Kibble: I will always talk about my personal experiences and what I can see everyday. My life as a filmmaker is so weird that there is always so much to say. As I said earlier, I will chase nostalgia with every ounce of my soul and put it everywhere.
Formaldehyde: I think it helps to draw a line. I’ll never talk about my traumas or bad experiences. I think our music is a place where I can remember good memories or talk about happy things. We want to talk about love, sex, and good use of drugs hahaha. We want to talk about good moments we got in our life or one that we would love to have. I think it’s based of what my dad said once « You should write about good things, like a grandma’s jam. ».
« Sbornia » is about going on summer holidays with friends and falling in love with someone over there. Even if we’re politicized in our everyday lives, it’s nice to have a moment to write about the good little things in life. But we still plan to use our art in a more political way sooner or later.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
We want people to have fun, make them dance, make them kiss. Go have sex on our songs!
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Music is a unique form of bringing people together and one of the most easy way to do it. You can grab anything, any instruments, and few people to do music together. Music is rarely debatable. You can’t criticize the feelings a song can provide to someone. Music is universal. Music can travel through centuries and still impacts someone. Music can be easily shared. Music is a love language.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
The National Copper Saucepan Museum of Switzerland.
Formaldehyde: Seriously, we would love to play at The Montreux Jazz Festival. I was born in Montreux and the hospital was close to the festival. So my mother would open everyday the hospital room’s windows and listen to the live music. Finally, that would be my first encounter with music hahaha!
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Formaldehyde: As a die hard fan of Pink Floyd, I would obviously say them. It’s one of our main references and why I first started the guitar. David Gilmour is such a brilliant musician and a very humble human being. I would shite myself playing with them but I think it would be amazing.
Kibble: If I could have a singing lesson with First Aid Kit, my life would be complete. I would shite myself too obviously hahaha…
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links) Go to your nearest stairs shop and ask for a Cantilever Stairs.
Or you can find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dutchthebandofficial/ Spotify https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/artist/0BoZLysWhTG9fwmnvWRHQB? si=kNrCIe_wSpez5etCLQ5NHw
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
To finish our EP for God’s sake. We’re very slow in our process and have you seen the state of the film industry?
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way? Patience. They’ll need plenty of it.
