One Man Orchestra
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One Man Orchestra

One Man Orchestra, made up of Thomas Westerby & Morten Granau, is changing how we think about the orchestral experience. Instead of sitting in a large room, simply watching, One Man Orchestra is about getting people up off their seats dancing. It’s this aspect that’s taken the Danish project to the forefront of contemporary club music.

Hi Morten, thanks for taking the time to chat with Forte Magazine, how are you and what are you up to at the moment?

We’re busy but good, travelling and working on a lot on different projects at the moment.

This One Man Orchestra project has been going for several years now, how did it all start?

We grew up together since we were born and have always shared a big passion for electronic music. So with the growing techno and minimal scene we decided to produce our own stuff.

It does challenge the idea of what an orchestra experience is, over the four or so years do you think you’ve helped redefine what an orchestra can be to your audience?

We don’t know that for sure, but we think that modern electronic musicians are in one way an orchestra by themselves. So you could say that the evolution of electronic music equipment has redefined what is required to perform as an orchestra.

It does raise the question, do you think the older format of orchestra will still have a place with this new generation coming through? Or do you think a reinvention is on the cards in the next few decades?

Classical music will always have its place, but we don’t know what the future might bring. New instruments like the Linnstrument and the Haken Continuum gives new possibilities to perform in an instrumental way, but with electronic equipment, so it might be that we will see an evolution in this field of performance.

You’re no stranger to the festival scene and you’ve been announced as one of the artists performing at earthcore in Australia, and you’ve performed before, what have your past experiences been there?

Australia is always a very special and significant place to play music. It’s like no other place on the planet energy-wise and you always feel like you have a close connection to the crowd when you’re performing there. Definitely one of our favourite places to be.

How do you think Australians will respond to your unique brand of music?

We already had a very good response there, and we think the new stuff we have will work great. Oi-Oi-Oi-Oi- Oi 😉

Out of everywhere you’ve performed, and with all the massive crowds, have there ever been moments where things have gotten too crazy, or do you thrive off that?

At a party something new and surprising can always happen, in all kind of different crazy ways. But we have never experienced a situation where it got too much in any way.

Thanks again for the chat, any last words of wisdom you’d like to share with our readers?

Stay present, find your true nature etc.

When & Where: earthcore, pyalong – November 24-28