Interview: Nattl4mpe "Constant Behaviour" EP

“Constant Behaviour” EP was released on Flux this weekend and I just have to say wow. What an energetic piece - or should I say monster as it has previously been described as. Congratulations with the release - Can you describe in your own words how the EP came to life and describe the four tracks on it: Sams Lab (60 seconds), Close (Sommerfugler), Hjertesorg & Blåveis?

“Constant Behaviour” was made as a result of the last 3-4 years of my life. The names of the songs are connected to the content and emotions that to me is nostalgic in some way based on happenings that occurred the last couple of years. I like to have a theme to my bigger releases, like this EP, and always build them around a core that only I know of, then I hope that people will catch my vibe.

I wanted to make something there and then and the style of this EP is not far away from what I usually do but at the same time different, specially “Hjertesorg” and “Close (Sommerfugler)”. They are different. I can describe the whole EP as a painting on “knall og fall”, or falling on your face I guess - and it reminds me that we are only human. And that’s what I love about it.

One can hear that you are inspired by many different genres in your music, like a mashed up soundscape with techno, UK acid to trance, to mention some. What genre would you say has the biggest influence on your music and why?

Good question, I would think UK acid and techno was what I really started out with when I caught an interest for making music, then I experimented with trance, harder trance/techno trance with a hint of hard house I guess. I listen to a lot of old rock, pop and cheesy bangers now these days. I get a lot of inspiration from these genres when I make melodies for my tracks. Like Elvis and stuff like that. 

Is there a reason why you chose the name Nattl4mpe?

Haha, It’s really a simple and stupid story. I needed a name and tried to think up something cool for a day or so, but I didn’t get anywhere so I just laid in bed and thought to myself that I should just make something up. I looked around the room and saw a night lamp on the bedside table, so I just chose “Nattl4mpe” which means night lamp in Norwegian.

‍You have been very productive the last couple of years with several releases each year. What's the key to your productivity?

I started out editing short movies when I was 13-14 years old. Like old Call of Duty montages and stuff like that and put it on YouTube. I loved it and thought it was so entertaining editing these movies. I think I learned early that if you want to keep an audience you have to be active and post stuff often, show people you love what you do and “strike when the iron is hot” as you say it. So I would say the key to my productivity is that I love my audience and I want to give them more music. My audience is the key.

Did you start to produce music before you started to DJ or was it the other way around, and do you think it makes a difference what you begin with if you want to work as an artist?

I started testing out FL studio before I started to DJ and really before I started to produce. It was first when I moved to Oslo that I started to take production seriously. The thought of bending sound the way I wanted was an extremely fascinating thought to me. I think it’s easier to DJ if you have produced before. You understand the concept of beatmatching more easily and learn that some tracks need to be in the same key. It’s maybe easier to build up crowd and recognition if you start out as a DJ, but I think it’s always good to have some knowledge about music before learning to DJ if you want to become an artist.

‍What do you think is the most important element on how to become a great DJ?

Love the music you are playing. Ensure you have a library you are comfortable with with tracks you know and have listened to before, so you have some clue what to do if you come in an awkward situation. Read the crowd, this you have to do with a pinch of salt since you are there to play what you are playing but you can bend it to some extent. It’s easy to see if the crowd are enjoying it or not. I’m not saying you need to take a song request, but yeah.  

You were early to play music with a high BPM here in Oslo. What made you play 150+ bpm before it was hype? And is it easier to get gigs now that it's popular compared to how it was in 2018?

I’ve always loved high BMP music. I have ADHD so for me I naturally love chaos and I think that maybe that I enjoy fast music so much because it happens a lot in it so It stimulates my ADHD. Also I think fast music is really cool and fun. In 2018 it wasn’t many people playing that fast, so I guess it made it more exclusive. Now I have a crowd and it’s different times so it’s hard to compare, I can say some people was nicer and more including than others I guess.

What do you prefer, forest raves or indoor raves? And how do you compare playing a rave to playing at a club?

I lowkey prefer indoor raves because i love small and tight rooms with almost no lights. I love the warmth and the intensity of it. Would love a long corridor completely dark with only smoke and maybe some strobes. Misunderstand me correctly, I love to party in the woods, but I’m more of a sweatshop kind of guy. 

What is the best thing about the Oslo techno scene nowadays?

There are an extreme amount of cool techno, cool DJs and cool events these days. And the clubs are more and more open for more alternative events - I think that’s really cool. In Oslo we have “Musikkens dag” coming up which is fun and Flux Collective is the best thing happening in the scene now in my opinion. It’s so much fun stuff happening now, a lot of gigs, events and not at least a lot of amazing people. I really appreciate all the positive people coming up to talk about my music, I really could cry. Almost tearing up thinking about it. 

As of now, what do you look most forward to this year?

I don’t know what this year will bring. Right now I’m pretty hype for Flux x Bad Habits and I know a lot of fun events are coming up soon. I can summarise it by saying i look forward to summer, to swim in the ocean and to hang out with good friends.