RavenzCraft Arts presents
Interview with Jon Skarin of
FUIMADANE
FUIMADANE is an amazing musical project created by a very unique and brilliant creator and musical artist from Denmark
Jon Skarin
"We are honored to meet you and appreciate your time and support with RavenzCraft Arts, we have recently just discovered your music and are personal fans already"..
So the 1st thing I would like to ask about is the title of your band/project FUIMADANE... obviously it looks to say
"f you im a dane"… which we found to be very funny and creative … can you tell us how you chose this name FUIMADANE ?
Hi RavenzCraft Arts, and thank you so much for this opportunity, I’m deeply honored!
The question about my band name “Fuimadane” comes up a lot. And you are right, it does indeed mean “F**k you, I´m a Dane”!
One of the reasons I chose that name was due to the fact that many people believed that I’m not “Dane enough”, as I am one third Russian. It pissed me off when I was younger.
Nowadays, I just laugh it off.
Another reason was that my friend Mike Olsen (Danheim) has always been a big musical inspiration to me. As such, I wanted to follow his example and wear the label “Dane” proudly in my bandname.
And lastly, of course, google-searching “Fuimadane” reaped no results, which made it the ideal name to avoid confusion.
In my excitement, I went ahead and created a Soundcloud Profile with that name to see what would happen. And now I’m here
2.So please tell us a brief introduction.. where you are from, and about your family and homeland?..what is it you love most about where you live?
Do you think living in Denmark and your surroundings helped inspire you to become such a brilliant artist?
My name is Jon Skarin and I live on an Island called Amager, right next to Copenhagen, Denmark, where I have lived all my life. Which isn’t saying much, as I’m only turning a tender age of 35 in May ;)
When I was about 13 years old, I suffered from depression. I knew something was not right with me, but I didn’t seek help. I kept it to myself, didn’t want to feel different from others. I was taught that I needed to get a Job, that I needed to work hard to make the best of my future. There was no time for healing.
I continued my life and did as I was told, trying to ignore my condition. All the while, the depression continued to develop. Until one day, I was 20 at the time, I was hospitalized for 4 months, where I was finally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
A result of my untreated depression, and something I have to live with for the rest of my life now.
After my discharge from the hospital, I had to return there several times over the span of a year, due to my condition. It was not an easy time, but I wanted to get better.
I started taking in more of my surroundings, find more places in my area I had never really appreciated before. I found a beautiful beach with a harbor to the east of Amagar, and a magnificent forest in the west. In the North, there is the big city, and in the south there is a beautiful town called Dragør. All these wondrous places their history began to inspired me and anchored me. And despite all the hardship I went through being tied to Amager, I love living here.
About a year after my initial hospitalization, my life started to change. That was when I met Sandra, my fiancée-to-be. She saved me, in many way, and had an enormous impact on my life. Now we have two beautiful children, Bjørn (5) and Røskva (3). My family are my reason to live and inspire me every day of my life.
And it was through music that I learned that I was somehow "good" at something, that I could make people FEEL what was going on inside of me, when words would fail me. Because of my condition. Music helped me mentally, through many difficult periods. One might say that music itself is an inspiration to me.
3. Please tell us what FUIMADANE is aimed to express? What do you want to bring to the world with this project?
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.”
Those are words of my favorite quote from Ludwig van Beethoven, and words I live by every day. It expresses precisely how I feel and use music. No other art-form can make me feel, dream and express myself the way music allows me to.
Back in the days, when I was a child playing on my mothers piano and invented tunes and melodies, that’s when I got the most positive responses and encouragements from my family and friends. Not like when a child draws a picture and the parents praise it mostly to encourage their child. My family expressed genuine and honest support and encouragement for what I did, or at least that’s what it felt like to me.
That was when I realized that I could create something other people enjoyed. And I got a huge kick out of it.
When computers came along, I started learning how to make music digitally. The software I use, Trance-Ejay, had very limited capabilities.
Yet, while I couldn’t create my own melodies in it, I was able to build and arrange a whole song with premade loops. And the process of doing that, coupled with the experience of success, of “I did it!” was enough to keep me going down this track.
From then on, I spent many hours creating and building music on my mothers computer whenever I could. I would burn the tracks to disk and play them for my friends. And they liked it, even danced to it. Can you imagine? People danced to my music! And again I got huge kick out of it.
I started saving to upgrade my gear to more professional software after that. My next goal: Reason 2.5, a software in which I could actually create my own melodies and themes. And that was how it all started for me.
Which brings me to what I am trying to achieve with my music – I want the listeners to feel the melody and harmonies in the sometimes Viking, sometimes medieval-inspired styles, to dance to it the way my friends used to when I was younger. I want people to enjoy my music. Because it feels great knowing that there are people out there that enjoy my style, even if it is “different”. Yaa!
4..When did you first think about being a creator/musician?
Were there any great inspirational artists or people in your life that you looked up to and encouraged you to create?
Classical music has always been a big inspiration to me. Especially Vivaldi.
The powerful music from the 60´s. Beatles, Stones - oh, and Bobby Darin with "Dream Lover".
But there are also contemporary musicians I cherish very much, such as the fantastic danish musician and entertainer Kim Larsen. And a song called “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak, is to this day one of my most listened to tracks.
Back when I was a younger, and didn’t understand english yet, nor what they were singing about, I could always feel it - it was real. Music is power. And that power has always been addicting to me.
The question about my band name “Fuimadane” comes up a lot. And you are right, it does indeed mean “F**k you, I´m a Dane”!
One of the reasons I chose that name was due to the fact that many people believed that I’m not “Dane enough”, as I am one third Russian. It pissed me off when I was younger.
Nowadays, I just laugh it off.
Another reason was that my friend Mike Olsen (Danheim) has always been a big musical inspiration to me. As such, I wanted to follow his example and wear the label “Dane” proudly in my bandname.
And lastly, of course, google-searching “Fuimadane” reaped no results, which made it the ideal name to avoid confusion.
In my excitement, I went ahead and created a Soundcloud Profile with that name to see what would happen. And now I’m here
2.So please tell us a brief introduction.. where you are from, and about your family and homeland?..what is it you love most about where you live?
Do you think living in Denmark and your surroundings helped inspire you to become such a brilliant artist?
My name is Jon Skarin and I live on an Island called Amager, right next to Copenhagen, Denmark, where I have lived all my life. Which isn’t saying much, as I’m only turning a tender age of 35 in May ;)
When I was about 13 years old, I suffered from depression. I knew something was not right with me, but I didn’t seek help. I kept it to myself, didn’t want to feel different from others. I was taught that I needed to get a Job, that I needed to work hard to make the best of my future. There was no time for healing.
I continued my life and did as I was told, trying to ignore my condition. All the while, the depression continued to develop. Until one day, I was 20 at the time, I was hospitalized for 4 months, where I was finally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
A result of my untreated depression, and something I have to live with for the rest of my life now.
After my discharge from the hospital, I had to return there several times over the span of a year, due to my condition. It was not an easy time, but I wanted to get better.
I started taking in more of my surroundings, find more places in my area I had never really appreciated before. I found a beautiful beach with a harbor to the east of Amagar, and a magnificent forest in the west. In the North, there is the big city, and in the south there is a beautiful town called Dragør. All these wondrous places their history began to inspired me and anchored me. And despite all the hardship I went through being tied to Amager, I love living here.
About a year after my initial hospitalization, my life started to change. That was when I met Sandra, my fiancée-to-be. She saved me, in many way, and had an enormous impact on my life. Now we have two beautiful children, Bjørn (5) and Røskva (3). My family are my reason to live and inspire me every day of my life.
And it was through music that I learned that I was somehow "good" at something, that I could make people FEEL what was going on inside of me, when words would fail me. Because of my condition. Music helped me mentally, through many difficult periods. One might say that music itself is an inspiration to me.
3. Please tell us what FUIMADANE is aimed to express? What do you want to bring to the world with this project?
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.”
Those are words of my favorite quote from Ludwig van Beethoven, and words I live by every day. It expresses precisely how I feel and use music. No other art-form can make me feel, dream and express myself the way music allows me to.
Back in the days, when I was a child playing on my mothers piano and invented tunes and melodies, that’s when I got the most positive responses and encouragements from my family and friends. Not like when a child draws a picture and the parents praise it mostly to encourage their child. My family expressed genuine and honest support and encouragement for what I did, or at least that’s what it felt like to me.
That was when I realized that I could create something other people enjoyed. And I got a huge kick out of it.
When computers came along, I started learning how to make music digitally. The software I use, Trance-Ejay, had very limited capabilities.
Yet, while I couldn’t create my own melodies in it, I was able to build and arrange a whole song with premade loops. And the process of doing that, coupled with the experience of success, of “I did it!” was enough to keep me going down this track.
From then on, I spent many hours creating and building music on my mothers computer whenever I could. I would burn the tracks to disk and play them for my friends. And they liked it, even danced to it. Can you imagine? People danced to my music! And again I got huge kick out of it.
I started saving to upgrade my gear to more professional software after that. My next goal: Reason 2.5, a software in which I could actually create my own melodies and themes. And that was how it all started for me.
Which brings me to what I am trying to achieve with my music – I want the listeners to feel the melody and harmonies in the sometimes Viking, sometimes medieval-inspired styles, to dance to it the way my friends used to when I was younger. I want people to enjoy my music. Because it feels great knowing that there are people out there that enjoy my style, even if it is “different”. Yaa!
4..When did you first think about being a creator/musician?
Were there any great inspirational artists or people in your life that you looked up to and encouraged you to create?
Classical music has always been a big inspiration to me. Especially Vivaldi.
The powerful music from the 60´s. Beatles, Stones - oh, and Bobby Darin with "Dream Lover".
But there are also contemporary musicians I cherish very much, such as the fantastic danish musician and entertainer Kim Larsen. And a song called “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak, is to this day one of my most listened to tracks.
Back when I was a younger, and didn’t understand english yet, nor what they were singing about, I could always feel it - it was real. Music is power. And that power has always been addicting to me.
5.Ive noticed your music has a wide range of instruments, sounds and elements of many different types of music...i really enjoy it ..
it is a very unique and fkn brilliant i must say!!
..I have a wide range of taste for music as well ...can you share with us how you came to start creating music in this mixed sort of style?
Haha thank you guys, im deeply honered :) !! I started my career as a Electronic Dance music-producer. But I already started to blend it with my own style and themes. I’ve always been very drawn to celtic, medieval and classical music, as well as movies soundtracks. So naturally I tried to mix those influences into my music.
I use very common electronic dance track arrangements in the music of Fuimadane, but with medieval instruments, elements, percussion and sounds instead of synths or other modern FX. Which gives them this modern, bright, yet medieval-esque feel.
Blending exactly those influences together, the style of Fuimadane as you know it today was born. It’s first manifestation was in the track "Farligt Rollespil", found on my free album "Music From Former Projects" (https://fuimadane.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-former-projects)
6.so please you must share with me and all the curious creators out there reading some of your secrets of creation...
what types of software do you suggest for mixing or creating music?
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter too much which DAW anyone uses, as long as it gets the job done and the creator is comfortable using it. Find the DAW that fits you and your needs.
As I started out with Reason 2.5, I really wanted Reason 10 to be my main DAW. But it has too many problems handling many of the VST Plugins I use. So my current main DAW is Bitwig Studio. I was the DAW that suited my workflow best, is very fast and can handle all my plugins. I’m also a huge fan of Cockos Reaper, which is IMO the most stable DAW out there.
As for the instruments, I use Kontakt by Native Instruments. There is so much gold out there created for Kontakt. It has almost everything.
One of my favorite “brands” of instruments are any creations by Eduardo Tarilonte. His ERA-Kontakt instruments and percussions are absolutely brilliant and I dare say a must for anyone that wants to create medieval or viking style music.
Whenever I use a choir in my music, it is usually from East West.
But if you ask me what plugin I use the most, filters and EQ aside, are two Reverb-plugins by Valhalla DSP (ValhallaShimmer & ValhallaRoom). If I release a new track, you can be sure I used at least one of them, on more than half the tracks.
The sound of ValhallaShimmer is fantastic, mystic and amazing. I sometimes import a track or sample and add the ValhallaShimmer to it - then just sit back and listening. It makes a beautiful sound. A brilliant piece of software.
For my mastering, a skill which I’m still ‘mastering’ ;) , i use Izotope Ozone.
Sometimes I will still use actual synth, like in the track "Gørask á" from the album "Bregðask i", or "Ginnheilagr" from the Album "Vegleitir".
In those tracks I used a lot of Granular synthesis and effects. This is by far my favorite way to mangle and create very large atmospheric pieces from the tiniest samples. To create them, I use instruments like Granite by New Sonic Arts and GrainSpace by Audiority.
So if you are into the amazing world of granular – be sure to look those up :)
I think every producer has their own workflow for creating a new track. This is what works for me:
Whenever I start a new track, the first thing I start with almost every time is with a melody. Then I add layers, pads, bassline and so on to slowly build up the track.
Just like when you read a book or watch a movie – the creation of a track has to keep me entertained from start to end. So make each part of the track unique in some way, so it doesn’t become repetitive. Keep it exciting and fresh, even for myself.
I also notice you create unique videos on your youtube channel that relate to other projects ...
can you share with us a bit about your involvement with the project "counterbalance"?..
Counterbalance is a huge project by Kessi Riliniki, who joined me half a year ago to make my covers. She has writen this fantastic high fantasy story that she is going to produce as an Audio Drama Podcast, and even created her own language for it - like the one in the track “Raka’s incantation” - so cool!
Kessi contacted me when my project "Fuimadane" was still very young, asking if I needed help with covers, as she is a media designer. And my own attempt on making covers and logos sucked, so I was very grateful that she wrote to me. Just look at the graphics in my older youtube-videos, like "Vidar", when I still made the covers myself. I really suck at those. But then Kessi came to me, saying my music deserved better covers, and created the most beautiful covers for me. Now I (with my hand on my heart) call her my friend.
Some time ago, she finished writing all 46 Episodes of Counterbalance. And then she asked me if she could use the track “Sá Svar/Sál Svar” from the Album “Vegleitir” as the theme music for the Series. I was thrilled! After all, I wrote that track inspired after reading one of her scripts, and I think it was the first or second track I shared with her for ideas. So it was very fitting that she would want to use it!
She already started recording and production of Counterbalance now and made 3 teasers for it. For one of them, she made a voice sample of her character Raka, who she voices herself, to show me a sample of the language she created. I built a track around it to surprise her. Kessi liked it, and we shared it to you guys as “Raka’s incantation”.
Ever since I got to know her, she has been such a great friend, helps me throw new ideas around, and helps me refine and find errors in the tracks - she must have listened to each track a hundred times or more before they are released, haha.
And she is still doing so much for finding the time to listen, even though she has her own life and projects to work with.
I respect to her very much!
7.So i did a bit of research on you for the interview and found that you had a bit of bad luck in the past and had an accident which caused you to go deaf in one ear? Can you please share with us briefly ?
Since I was 4 years old, I had been playing ice hockey. I even made it to the national youth team, and it was an amazing time of my life.
But one day, the day before midsummers eve, I was playing hockey on roller-skates with a friend, and he convinced me to try to roll faster backwards than he could roll forward. And it went well until there was a pebble or something on the ground.
I flew and hit the ground with my head. I got a skull fracture and was bleeding from my ear and passed out. Despite the OP, I lost my hearing on my right ear and the possibility to continue playing ice hockey.
8.so it is interesting to know What other artists listen to ...
What are some of your other favorite artist or creators you currently follow and listen to today?
Any certain favorite albums or different unique types of music you listen to or are inspired by?
Vivaldi & Ronan Hardiman. Some of my favorites from Beethoven are the Piano Concerto No.4 In G, Op.58 - 3. Rondo. Vivace. And... a danish band called "Spids Nøgenhat" - Amazing psychedelic rock.
But if you want to know what music I enjoy that is closer to my own style, then that would be Danheim and my fellow brothers on Fimbul Records, Wardruna, Heilung, Corvus Corax and others great artists of this genre. And I deeply love the style, art and charm of the group Blackmore´s Night.
Also Hildegard of Bingen. Not only for her music, but her story is very fascinating.
9.Im excited to see your progression as time goes on with the recent signing with Fimbul records
i feel there is many great things to come...can you tell us if there are any new projects or albums on the rise ?
I’m very proud to be a part of Fimbul Records, and there is definitely lots of music from Fuimadane on the way.
At the time of writing, I’m working on an album. I would say that it’s maybe 20% completed, but time can be a little hard to find with two kids running on the walls. Especially with the flu-season still going on.
10.So how did you became aquainted with Danheim the creator behind Fimbul records? Where you already a fan of his work?
In the beginning of my career, long before I adapted Fuimadane as my bandname, there was this website, "Mymusic.dk". It was a place where danish producers and composers of all kinds could share their music with each other. I got lucky when one of my tracks got a lot of attention, and many people wrote me constructive criticism. Among those who wrote was Mike, aka. Danheim, and we got into a long conversation privately. As we realized we had similar musical interests, our friendship grew. We eventually met in person over some mead and beers. And many beers and fun nights later, here we are. He is such a great and fun guy. And a super friend :)
I’m a huge fan of his style, and at the same time so proud of what he has achieved so far.
11.Can you share with us any other hobbies or interests you have outside of music?
Because of the difficult times I went through in my life, I became kind of an anti-social introvert. I used to like Photography, but as my anxiety got worse I haven’t really done that anymore. I prefer staying at home now, especially since that time alone is becoming really scarce, having to take care of the kids.
One of my favorite pastimes in the spring or summer is to take a walk in the beautiful forest here on Amager. I used to love doing that at any time of day, sometimes even in the middle of the night. But now I have to look after the kids at night, it’s no longer possible for me to go out at night. But when I do find the chance, I always take my handheld sound-recorder with me and record the sound of our mother nature, to use in my tracks.
I'm a spiritual person, and believe that there is far more happening around us than the eye can see. The sound of nature, the frequencies found within it, can put us in a state of trance, opening a door to the "unknown" depths of our minds, touch a part of our soul that synthetic sounds can’t reach. Just like the tibetan monks with their bells, bowls, humming and prayers.
Sound, frequencies, rhythm - there´s is something to it, I’m sure. There must be.
When I was a kid, I always wanted to become an archaeologist. History always fascinated me, so my interest in the time periods I work with in my music are not too far off.
Another thing I like to do is, when I’m listening to classic music, I try to learn more about the context a piece was written in, to understand better what the composers were thinking and feeling when they wrote a particular verse or tune. I try to put myself into the same headspace, feel what I imagine the composers must’ve felt at the time. And it helps me better understand how the composition of classical music came to be the way it is, appreciate the music more.
For example, Beethoven was often beaten by his father. It must’ve made him feel not welcome in his own home, so when he could, he would run away to spend some quality time at a lake near his home. On one such occasion, the melody of the Moonlight Sonata was born in his head. I always feel like that song carries all the sadness of a young Beethoven within it.
12.I know Denmark has a big history around folklore and great stories ...Do you have interest in the studies of the old ways ...folklore and magical practices of any sort?
I have read a lot about danish history, and why Denmark is the country it is today. And I think it’s important for anyone to understand the history of their country.
As for magical practices, as mentioned earlier, I do believe there is something around us all, an energy of some sort. I believe in that power. At the moment I am reading a book of the elder and younger Futhark, and learning their meaning and powers.
And I have always found witches and their understanding for mother nature fascinating. Just a while ago, I was suffering heavily from depression. It lasted for a while, and I found it very difficult to go on. In a desperate attempt to try and figure out what the issue was, I contacted a witch and asked if she could remove a possible curse I might’ve been under.
And the next day, I felt much better, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from my mind. And that same day, Danheim contacted me and asked if I would like to join Fimbul Records. So yes, I really believe in magic and like learning more about our history.
13.Are you a fan or familiar with any local artists or creators in your area or country?
Reason i ask is there is one very unique artist i personally follow named Raevedis and he is located in Denmark as well...
Not sure if he will have time personally to do this .... but would you be open to working or collaborating with an artist for design or art for your album cover or website artwork in the future?
He has done album artwork for others in the past and I think his artwork would fit well with your album style...
I do not personal know any designer of art around here. I follow Raevedis on facebook, and the work is amazing, but my circle of friends or knowledge of other artists is very limited.
I have my friend Kessi from Germany who is my cover designer, and I will stick with her for as long as possible. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t use art from other artists, though, but I will leave the visual aspect of Fuimadane to Kessi. But maybe she would like to collaborate with Raevedis some day, who knows... hehe.
14.ok crazy questions here...
If you could go anywhere in the world back in time at any instant ...what event or place would you choose to be or witness?
Hmm, hard to chose just one, but if I’d have to limit myself, I think there are two major persons in history that I’d love to meet.
The first one might be a little cheesy, but in 1994, after I watched the movie Braveheart with Mel Gibson for the first time, I always wanted to meet and see William Wallace in person, and give him a big hug. Because, if that movie even remotely portrayed Wallace right, he is a real hero of mine.
"Dico Tibi Verum Libertas Optima Rerum Nunquam Servili Sub Nexu Vivito Fili"
The second person I would have loved to meed is Hildegard of Bingen. I believe that she is one of the greatest minds that ever existed.
Her music still lives, and it is brilliant. And not only was she a great composer, she was an all-round talent. She wrote theological, botanical, and medicinal texts, liturgical songs, and poems. She is also noted for the invention of a constructed language known as Lingua Ignota.
15.any places in the world you would like to travel or see in the future?
I always wanted to experience and explore Iceland or Greenland. Maybe even consider living there. Though I have never been to either of those places.
16..so getting back to reality and current times and how music production and promotion has changed so much over the past few years...
what is it you like most about being a creator/artist of today?
I love that I don’t need to be able to actually play or own an instrument to be able to create music with it. Sound libraries and Plugins have made it possible to sound "almost" as a real live performing band.
What I still struggling with is to get that "authentic" real performing sound, when the music sometimes sound too artificial, where a skilled pianist would have way better chances than me in sounding natural.
And what I really like being an artist today, is that everybody has the power and possibility to create music and share it with the world. Your audience might not be in your circle of friends, your neighbourhood or even your town, but almost certainly SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE in the world is bound to enjoy it.
You don’t need to get a huge record deal to be successful or heard anymore. Everyone can freely share there works on Soundcloud, Youtube, Bandcamp or even just on Facebook.
Its a matter of attracting the right audience to your music which is the harder part. I follow a lot of amazing artist who only have very few followers, just like I did not too long ago. Support Indie artists, when you can. All of them definitely deserve more recognition.
17. One of the goals this season with RavenzCraft Arts is to inspire a small collaboration project with a few of the artists
that have been involved in the interview project ...would you be open to creating something like a collaboration single or remix project with another artist or musician?
I would love that :)
19.This question is open for you to say or to mention anything you may want to add to the interview ....
Any last parting words of inspiration or advice for other creators out there with a dream to create as well?...
Yes. Believe in yourself, and don’t ever dare to give u ! It is never too late to learn how to make music! Practice, learn, watch tutorials, find your style and sound...
We all started small, have our own fights to win, as we continue to grow and explore the huge world of sound and music. Trust yourself and your skill, but never be the judge of your own skill. The artist is always bound to be the hardest on themselves. Get someone you trust to be the judge of your skill – and be open to constructive criticism. It is the most important resource of growth as an artist...
Definitely very good advice..
Well I just want to say it was great talking with you and getting to know more about you and your life experiences and career so far..
We are excited to see what the future brings for you and everyone at Fimbul Records!
Keep creating great music we love your style!
Keep up with and Follow FUIMADANE and his amazing music here at:
https://fuimadane.bandcamp.com/
Follow FUIMADANE on youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMppkujOVwridh7CQUwLvqQ
Follow other artists from Fimbul Records
here at:
https://www.facebook.com/fimbulrecords/
Click link below to Follow RavenzCraft Arts on YouTube and watch the new music video for FUIMADANE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxoBQuSPrhA
Special Thank you to Jon Skarin and all the fans and followers out there!
2019 will be a great year for us all!
