Exclusive Interview: Norway's Vinny Villbass

It was 2007 and as I was digging to new ways of music, rythmn, genres and bands I randomly and luckily found one of finest sets I had ever heard: Sunkissed Supa Mix: Mixed by Norway's man: Vinny Villbass

As we've been doing, we deliver another awesome interview. Avant gard music, fine and funky rythms that go deep in your hearing sense..

VINNY VILLBASS (Håkon Vinnogg)
- long time dj and part of the sunkissed clubnight running for 10 years in Oslo, Norway - guitarist in diskjokkeband - currently living in Berlin and Oslo - running the I'm Single Records label togehter with Khan

First thing coming to your mind when you listen the word México...

Meksibobo. This is the name of a track I released together with
diskjokke on Kindisch Records a couple of years back. Electronic
sombrero disco..

Have you ever been in México?

I was on Mexico with my parents when I was a kid. My father's friend
had a project going on and they were helping poor people in Mexico with water supply.
This made a big impression on a small kid from Norway. I remember very
poor people with very rich hearts!! We had the best possible welcome.
Recently, I have met a couple of Mexicans touring in Europe. I just
played together with Humberto in Berlin, and I met Rebolledo at a
festival in Norway. Very nice people! The Mexicans are takin ova...

Why are you a musician?

If your parents for some odd reason puts a fiddle in your hand at the
age of 4, and your brothers commands you through HOURS of Kraftwerk
before you are even potty-trained, something kind of happens to you..
And I haven't regreted it a millisecond. Music is what keeps the world
together.

Three words best describing you ?

1.Lets 2.Get 3.Together.... im a social beeing!!

Any gadgets you're in love with?

I am really an anolog being, but I tend to appreciate my external
hard-drive. Backup is seriously the most relaxing action of digital
showbizz.

Any music in your iPod for daily activities or for your car?

As most of my time djing is spend in the house and disco lane, I
always listen to something different on my spear time. At the moment,
I am much in love with the new york based indie-band Yeasayer and the
swedish singer/songwriter Jose Gonzales. But there is loads of
interesting music from Norway as well, such as Heroes & Zeros,
Masselys, Harrys Gym and Datarock.

What's the concept of music for you?

Music is as any other art-form a way of getting inspirational
impressions in your life to be able to cope with reality. I use music
both as positive egoistic input and as a platform for social
experience and gathering.

Is music relevant for humanity? Describe

Without art, the people of this world would'nt be able to meet all the
conflicts and difficulties of everyday life in the same manner.
Humanity needs art to prevent conflicts, but also to create
constructive international cultural and political discussions. To
express your political and cultural viewpoints through art is
sometimes meaningful to soften rather than enhance conflicts.

Any recent extravagance you want to share with us....

The dj-scene of Oslo is currently getting a plan together to build a
disco-space-ship to invade planet Pluto, before moving back to the
so-called earthlings with free Corona. ohh...but diskjokke is
releasing his second album early next year on Smalltown Supersound. We
will be touring with DiskjokkeBand (where i play guitar) around Europe
next year, so we might have to pospone the invasion..

What about DiskjokkeBand?

I have been djing with diskjokke for 10 years, so when he got into production and released his first album "Staying In", we both got ideas of how to present the music to the audience. So we started diskJokkeBand, with a drummer, a bassplayer, diskjokke on electronics, and myself on guitar and synthesizer. We play mostly productions of diskjokke, but also present some tunes we have made together. It all turns out a bit more psychedelic and rocky when we do the space-band gigs. But musically, its all dance-music with a big disco influence. At the moment, we are planing a European tour starting as soon as Diskjokke's second album is released on SmalltownSupersound early 2010.

"Music is as any other art-form a way of getting inspirational impressions in your life to be able to cope with reality. I use music both as positive egoistic input and as a platform for social experience and gathering"

Nowadays, Are music and internet related strongly? Is this good for music? Why?

Internet has given everybody around the world a possibility to work
together creatively. This makes a lot of new genres pop up to the
surface. Music is no longer a reflection of your state or culture. But
on the other hand, internet has made huge trouble for the label
business. This has of course also put pressure on the artists. To
survive economically, artists are pressured into touring, which I see
as a good thing, (if carbondioxid isn't taken into consideration). I
mean that internet has only changed the music business, but far from
killed it.

How has internet changed the way you work?

I can't really understand how people got things done AT ALL before
internet.


Anything you collect?

Friends!! + my vinyl collection is getting bigger and bigger..


Is there anything happening in the world that bothers you?

This is a retorical question for anyone who has watched the daily
news. Congo, Iraq, Burma.. where should we start??

What is your worst addiction ?
facebook!!!


Who are your favorite heroes in real life ?

We have an extremely clever foreign minister in Norway at the moment,
Jonas Gahr Støre. I like him for beeing socialistic, non-populistic
and result oriented. But of course, Grace Jones would be my choice of
president.


What is Sunkissed? Explain

Sunkissed is a monthly club in Oslo which has been running for almost
10 years. Olanskii and G-Ha started the club in Oslo in 2000, and I
was included as the concept was going national the year after. At the
moment, we are doing the night in Oslo with 2 rooms with focus on art,
analog lighting, perfectionized sound and of course futuristic
dancemusic reaching from nu-disco to techno. It is important for us to
create an atmosphere where the dj and audience get closer together. My
best sunkissed experience must be the first time Ricardo Villalobos
played for us in 2005.. or Glimmer Twins, or Ata..no wait... Craig
Richards.. or... shit... there are alot of good memories. :)


Why the Scandinavian region has become so productive, talking about music (disco as a genre...Sally Shapiro, Diskjokke, Mungolian Jet Set, Linsdtrom, Datarock) production?

Disco has for some reason always been a big part of the norwegian
dance music scene. I think the reason is our failure/success of always
trying to adapt to a mixer of the commercial side of production and
the warmth of analog music. But it must be said that electronic music
in Norway started out on the ambient side of things in the polar city
of Tromsø when among many others, Rune Lindbaek, Per Martinsen (mental
Overdrive), Torbjørn Brundtland (Røyksopp), in the late 80's came
across a pile of synthesizers from the progressive rock era.


Any colaborations as for now?

At the moment, I am running a label called I'm Single in Berlin
together with Khan from Captain Comatose. Khan and myself are
currently working on a remix of a track from a collaboration between
the Norwegian prog phycadelic band Big Robot and Konrad Schnitzler
from Tangerine Dream.


Anyone you would like to work with?

I would love to play cowbell on the current Fleetwood Mack tour.


Thanx Vinny for your time, we appreciate it a lot!

Juan Sinmiedo