ngrid K and Daniel Wien are DetErGrovt, an electronic impro music duo created for the stage. Daniel and Ingrid met each other at an impromptu jam session at one of Robin Crafoord’s SYNC sessions and found an innate bond with each other through a shared appreciation of improvised music. Daniel, an electronic music artist and producer, and Ingrid a vocalists with roots in contemporary Jazz in Oslo were thrown together for one event and built DetErGrovt out of the premise of the event’s extemporised nature.
Each DetErGrovt appearance is unique, an improvised performance built from nothing where Daniel Wien coaxes electronic soundscapes from an array of synthesisers, which Ingrid embellishes on with her instrument, her voice. Living between club concept and jazz concept and completely versatile, both on the dance floor and the stage, DetErGrovt have already made a fundamental mark on the Oslo scene while the project is still really in its infancy.
They come to Jæger this weekend for Olle Abstract’s LYD, which gives us an opportunity to find out more about their origins, their creative relationship and the future of DetErGrovt.
Hello Daniel and Ingrid. I’ve read your bio where it says that you came together at Robin Crafoord’s sync and just clicked after that. What was it that encouraged you to start working together after that session?
We met for the first time at the sound check at Sync, grabbed a burger and had a nice chat about life and music. After playing for a few minutes, we both realised we were on to something special, and after the gig we quickly decided to do it again.
Was there a specific moment for either of you where it just all fell into place during that session?
The whole thing, really. Have you ever experienced meeting a new person and thinking “Yes. That’s my friend”? This was one of those times, and it has resulted in a really cool partnership and friendship that we both value.
How does the name DetErGrovt (It’s rough) allude to your working process and sound?
Actually, it was Ingrids instagram name for a long time until Julie and Maja from Girls Club suggested that we’d use it as the name of the project when they came to see us perform. It’s a cool phrase you can hear people use about things that are really good, bad, surprising etc. It’s rough is a nice translation, but “damn dude that’s siiiiiiiick” is a better one hehe.
For people that might not have heard you before how would you describe your sound what you sound like?
It’s definitely in the techy area. The use of live improvised vocals and effects also pushes it in the trippy direction. Our energy and the energy of the dance floor gives each performance an unique flavor, we never know exactly how it’s gonna be until we’re standing there playing, and that gives the music a nerve that you might not usually find at night clubs.
From what I’ve heard and understand is that it’s all based on improvisation, but then you also just told me you are about to have a rehearsal. Is it about improvising around set pieces,or starting every set out from scratch?
We don’t rehearse, but sometimes we meet up and have a jam session. Daniel often builds a set that he can use freely and Ingrid improvises over that. We often finds bits and pieces we like when we listen to our own recordings and if it’s possible we might try to recreate them the next time we play.
How do you affect each other, creatively?
Its an organic process, but sometimes Daniel make a cool baseline or a groove, and Ingrid gets all creative on that. And sometimes we have philosophical discussions that pushes us both in the creative mood. It’s no recipe really, we just go with the flow.
Is it an immediate working relationship that happens in the moment, on stage or do you cultivate it through discussion and playing together?
The stage is where the magic happens!
How would you define your individual roles in the group beyond musical terms?
Daniel makes most of the foundation with beats and grooves, and Ingrid sparkle her fairy dust on it to make it alive. The energy on stage makes it a complete story.
Some of your performances have made it out onto soundcloud, but not as individual tracks.You guys clearly record a lot, so is there any plan to eventually release the material as an EP or a LP?
Yeah, we have some plans ;-)
I saw you play at Sommerøya last year and it was a very tempered, deep set – suitable for the time of day you performed – but how do you see your set going at Jæger?
Well, since it’s all in the moment it depends on the warmup and how much energy it is on the dancefloor, but tribal-techy-flow-electro is what we have as an intention.
Besides this gig at Jæger, what lies beyond the horizon for DetErGrovt?
We both have individual projects besides this, but we really want to get DetErGrovt out on the road in Europe!