A Chat With Cisser Mæhl.

This Cisser Mæhl interview came about when I received a new single from her recently, which reminded me how good her previous albums were, and how criminally unsung she is. So, as The Slow Music Movement interviews are about to expand, I thought it was high time for a chat, and it appears there is a new album, Mellem hænder, coming out in January — happy days.

Before we get going though, hit play on the first single from her new album:

Hi Cisser. Tell me a bit about yourself - who are you, where have you been and what are you doing?

I’m a songwriter, but I don’t always feel like one. I feel I’m trying very hard to be one. Does that make me a songwriter? I’m from Denmark and grew up in the countryside. Now living in Oslo in Norway. I wake up every morning and make porridge for my son. When he’s in kindergarten, I sit in my studio. Right now I’m working on a piece for a choir. A commission for the spring. I’ve never done it before. I’m scared. What if I fail? And then I start singing into my microphone and recording into Ableton. That’s how my days go.

Give me a rundown on how you first got into music, and how you progressed to actually releasing it?

I played violin when I was a child. I was never really good at it but my teacher had faith in me. I played in a country band for some years but after high school I started at the art academy. I thought I wanted to be a painter but the opposite happened. I stopped painting and started playing guitar instead. I went to music academy and then studied film composition at the Film School of Denmark. I did 10 years of studies just to realize I have to build up my own world of sound. No school can teach me that.  

I was instantly hooked by your music; in fact, I just noticed I wrote to you after Innemuseum too, to see if you wanted to do a release for TSMM - I'd totally forgotten about that! The first single from your new album, Mellem hænder, was just released, and considering you've teamed up with a Norwegian noise god as a co-producer, it's quite sweet! Can you tell us more about the album and how it came about?

True — I also forgot about that! Just saw the email again now, and I still want to do it!

The new album is a personal one. The work began after my partner left me. I guess that’s the beginning of many albums. I was looking for meaning in the new emptiness. I wanted to make an album with more rhythms, more elements and bigger arrangements, making it noisier, with a mix of actual songs and instrumental soundscapes.

The work started in the spring of 2024. I started writing texts and making sounds and melodies from my apartment in Oslo. For a period of time, it just poured out of me. And then after a year I realized I almost had an entire recording done. For me, the most difficult period when making a record is when you’re almost done. You have all the music but cannot really let go of it. My co-producer Lasse Marhaug was a great help here, helping me to get the work done and make the record work as a whole.

Can you fill me in on your gear and studio set-up, and how the magic happens?

I love routines. I need a good working space. I don’t need a lot of gear, I just need to feel comfortable. I need my coffee, some plants, some books, and to be able to make sounds and sing out loud without disturbing others. I write a lot of texts on my computer and use a lot of acoustic instruments for recording. I play piano, guitar, banjo and violin and manipulate the sounds in Ableton. I use a lot of field recordings, and combine it all in Ableton.

I was going to ask you about the live show, and just noticed you've released a live video of the new single with a trio, is that how you're going to take the show on the road? Are there any plans to develop the live show further?

Live shows are always in development. I’ve played many solo shows and got tired of playing with backing tracks. So the idea behind the trio was to see how far we could get with the sounds we can make ourselves without backing tracks. The idea was to make an intimate show that was practical to play in different settings, both smaller and bigger venues.

I really would love to work with a visual artist  creating video material for live performances or to work with a scenographer. I also like the idea of making site-specific concerts, creating visuals and scenography in a church for instance.

All your lyrics are in Danish, unsurprising really as you're trying to express your deepest feelings that are often hard to translate, but that certainly wasn't a barrier for me - the music and vibe transcended my incomprehension. I notice that on the Bandcamp page for the new single you included an English translation. Are there any plans to record any music in English to make conquering the world easier?

To be honest, there's actually no plan to make music with English lyrics. At least not for now. I've been thinking a lot about it over the years. I guess I'm kind of sad about the fact that I can't reach out to more people around the world, but on the other hand, I don't think I can contribute something new and special with English lyrics. I think I can get closer to something unique if I stick to my mother tongue.

Sadly, Danish isn't as beautiful as Icelandic, for instance, where the sound of the language is like a fairytale, whatever they're singing about. But that's not how it is for me. My only reference is the Danish band Under Byen, who made Danish lyrics go international. So maybe there's a chance. But who knows, maybe I'll suddenly wake up one day and find myself writing English lyrics. You never know.

Most music is rich with influences. Who are your inspirations, and have they found their way into your music? Who’s on your turntable at the moment?

I remember listening to Sigur Rós’ album «Takk» when I was maybe 14 and feeling that the music opened up a new world to me. The Danish band Under Byen was also an ear-opener for me. I listened to the album «Det er mig der holder træerne sammen» over and over again. Later, I dived into folk and country music and had a long period with Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and Elizabeth Cotten and «Freight Train».

On a school trip to Iceland in 2015, I coincidentally bought a record called «Innundir Skinni» by the artist Ólöf Arnalds. I listened to the first track and was instantly sold. I also remember when the Swedish blues musician Daniel Norgren released the album «Alabursy» in 2017. I thought to myself that I wanted to make an album like that. I think I’m still trying to do so.

Another influence is the Danish songbook «Højskolesangbogen». I really don’t know how to translate that. A book of songs about the weather, the seasons, love, war and God. Not that I’m religious, but the sound of old and everlasting melodies and words gives me peace.

AI music has been running wild the last couple of years. How do you feel about prompt-generated music, and using AI tools in the creative process?

Maybe I should be more worried. I have a naive idea that artists will be needed to work on their own individual ideas. For now, it seems like AI is not the best at creating new fields and expressions. It's better at copying. But maybe that'll change.

I think another area I work in, film composition, is going to be more challenged. When it gets more expensive to make movies, the music budget might be a place to save money. But the film scores I like the most have been developed over a long time, through experimenting and developing new ideas. I think that will still be needed. But again, maybe I'm naive. Maybe I live in naivety. Personally, I like to follow the life and development of specific artists. At least, AI cannot really compete with that.

I wasn't aware of your film composition work. What sort of projects have you worked on? Are you providing similarly alternative music for the projects, and is the process much different from writing an album?

The process is different, yes. I've made music mostly for short films and for a video game too. The process is different because it's all about somebody else's ideas. There's no connection to me as a person. My job is to support the director's ideas.

It's liberating to work that way. I really like it. It sets me free to explore new types of sounds and expressions. I make sounds and music that I wouldn't make if it weren't for the specific project. And I also enjoy working in a team towards a shared goal. It's quite different from working on a solo album, but I really like both methods.

There’s a lot of noise about streaming remuneration; any thoughts on the various services, and today’s other music gods like Bandcamp, iTunes, Subvert, and let’s not forget good old-fashioned record shops? How do you prefer to listen to music?

I listen to music through Qobuz, the friendliest streaming service at the moment, as far as I’m aware. But I recommend that my own audience listen to my music via Bandcamp.

I love listening to vinyl, but eventually I had to put my record player away after my son got very interested in it. It’s a shame, though. I have to get it back out again.

I actually don’t know what Subvert is. I’ll check it out. But the way I prefer to listen to music is definitely at concerts.

Is it even possible to make a career from music these days, and if so, how are you going to do it? How are you paying the bills at the moment?

Good question. It's very much up and down. I guess you need a serious buffer in your bank account, at least if you have a family. You could say my career gives me a fragile economy, but on the other hand, I have the freedom and time to go deeply into projects I'm very interested in. I can work with music, texts and art that give me a sense of meaning in life. It makes me happy to be in a process. I feel I'm developing something that will get lost if I don't continue making the things I do. So money is important when it doesn't enter your account. But most often, it comes in all of a sudden if you work long enough (and if not, I'll find some weird extra jobs during Christmas time).

After two albums with two different labels you've decided to start your own imprint, what was the thinking behind that, will you be releasing physical products or just going digital, and do you ever see the label releasing music from

other artists?

I'll be releasing the album both digitally and on vinyl. I've just sent it off to pressing. I’m looking forward to having it in my hands soon. The reason I'm releasing it on my own label is that I wanted to get the album out sooner than a label could start the process. I was just too impatient. The album was made during a certain period of my life, and I didn't want to get too far away from that period myself before releasing it, even though I know I'm spending a lot of time on tasks I'm not really good at, such as planning a release or making a website. But I guess that's also how it is when you're not a superstar. Still, it could definitely be good to find the right booker for my kind of genre sometime soon

Another reason is that I'm working on music for my next album now. My time and mood is very different now, and I don't want to get stuck in time, waiting for the release process to begin. It just felt better to get the release process started quickly and move on to the next album.

I follow artists more than labels. But the few labels I follow are quite small and experimental. I could do better at discovering new labels and music. I often find myself discovering new music from artists I already know. But I would say I’m quite loyal to the artists I follow.

How does a new artist go about building a fanbase these days? Are you getting PR help, operating a mailing list or newsletter, on every social media channel going, handing out flyers or busking?

Ha! You tell me :) I really don't know. Martin Gronemann helps me with PR for this specific release. It's a great help.

Building a fanbase is about keeping going, I think. Even though it feels like knocking on the door of a party you're not invited to. But maybe if you stay at the party long enough, people will start talking to you after a while. But I also really like the contact with people listening to my music. I had a lot of good feedback from my previous single and it of course made me happy. I’m mostly active on Instagram, sharing behind-the-scenes, news and music. I've just started a newsletter (in Danish) on Substack. It feels meaningful to share longer texts, like this one, where I allow myself to think more about my process. It feels like a contrast to the high intensity of social media. I love reading and writing, so a newsletter makes a lot of sense.

Concerts are essential for building a fanbase. I'm really looking forward to getting out and playing the new album with my new trio in the spring. Do you have any suggestions for where we could play in the UK?

With regards to UK venues, I actually left the UK in 2006 and currently live in Portugal. The gigging opportunities here are not great and poorly paid, but ZDB in Lisbon and GNR in Braga are both great supporters of alternative music. So what’s your local music scene like? Are there opportunities to go to gigs and hang out with the local musicians and producers? Is there a grassroots scene, or is it just people hanging in home studios and going to bigger shows?

My local scene is in Oslo. It's a small town. Everybody knows each other in the experimental music scene. It makes it easy to be new in the city. I felt very welcomed when I first moved here and was quickly invited to take part in collaborations and projects. Now concerts and festivals are definitely the places to meet my friends and colleagues. For instance, Blow Out! is happening right now. It's a festival for free improvisation taking place at MIR in Oslo, but I'm in Copenhagen and can't be there.

I’d like some local tips, please. Is there anyone I should be watching out for? You get extra brownie points if they’re not your friend and get less than 500 monthly listeners on Spotify.

My good friend Therese Aune is soon releasing a new album. She makes beautiful songs with vocals and synths. I’m really looking forward to hearing her new album when it comes out next year.

Thanks Cisser Mæhl!

And if you want to meet another singular alt-pop artist, this time from Manchester, then head over to TSMM's Hot Springs interview. She great too.

For more great alt-pop from lesser-known and independent artist, then check out TSMM's Slow Alt-Pop Playlist, or if you need a more laid-back, even further out listen, check out some of the great music in the Ambient Pop Playlist: