2001, I studied philosophy in Gothenburg. I met Hans Bally there, a multi-instrumentalist who earlier played in bands like The Mole Session, but last 5-6 years has made wonderful and complex music in his solo projects Bally and Po' Lazarus. His music consists of strange tunings and harmonies with twisted themes (such as the arctic and angel moth) that makes one think of giants like John Fahey and Nick Drake added with an indie pop twist. Definitely someone I want to work with, Btw probably the main reason for my blog in the end, to give my favorite musicians the feeling that they owe me something - something that will benefit my next album A LOT harharhar (evil laugh). Seriously though, most of Bally's catalog such as the magnificent two Lazarus-albums In Memoriam and Angel Moth, as well as the lastest Bally-offering From Discard to Derivation can be downloaded here. All of them are big favorites to me and deserve wider spreading.
* You have a collaboration project with Raymond Bally. Can you tell a little about that story? Could you consider collaborating with someone that doesn't have the same name as you?
B: We discovered each other on MySpace and liked what the other Bally was up to. We're not related even if we share the same rare surname. He send me a cd with him playing acoustic guitar and singing and asked if I liked to add a little something to his music. I gave it a try and thought that I could add a guitar or two, but when I got started on recording I ended up with recording everything from drums, bass guitar, electric guitars, backing vocals, organs, mallets and all other kinds of percussions. He liked what I did to his songs and asked me to produce his coming record. So that's what I'm up to right now. Recording more of his songs and having a great time. I love to be able to experiment as much as I like and he really inspires me to do that. The first result can be heard on his MySpace site www.myspace.com/raymondbally. He's releasing a single in the US now and an album later this year.
And, YES, I would love to collaborate more with other musicians, if I like their music!
* I think I've got all the cds with your solo projects Bally and Po' Lazarus and I think you're getting greater and greater all the time (and I really loved it from the beginning). You recently presented a piano piece about angel moth, could you tell a little about your two solo projects and what the plans are for the future?
B: I will release a new Bally album this spring. It will be less folk oriented than my last one. More electric guitars, piano and organs. I'm deeply in love with old 60's organs right now, building up a small collection of cheap organs. My new love is a Philips Philicorda GM752 that I bought last week. Nice! I don't know when I will record some new Po' Lazarus stuff. Everything I record under that name are always improvisations over musical and figurative themes and the recordings are made when I'm in a mood for longer instrumental improvisation. I have an obsession about nature's micro cosmos and arctic life. Moths are really interesting creatures. There are some lovely looking species that we rarely see due to their night activity. The music on Angel Moth was recorded during four or five rainy days and started out as a 17 minute improvisation on piano. That piece became the cornerstone for Angel Moth. Soldier bug, that is the second part of the album, started with a improvisation on acoustic guitar.
* You have a very unique guitar technique, I want to be that good myself, how did you do to learn that?
B: I don't think that I'm so good really. My guitar technique is all made up by myself. I have never taken any guitar lessons, but I had a history of music lessons in flute, violin, trombone and mandolin before I started playing guitar. The sound I create is basically build on me never using plectrums, always finger picking, and experimenting with all kind of odd tunings of my guitar. I'm always looking for new ways to play guitar and love to experiment on ways to play all kind of instruments.
* Which leads me to the last question. I'm currently working on an album about the arctic. I've come to that idea after listening to your cd "in memoriam", which in many ways makes me an idea stealer. Can we still be friends?
B: Ha, ha, I love your idea of recording an album build on the arctic. The world needs more arctic related music! The arctic life and the history of it's explorers are amazing. We will continue to be friends of course and I would love to be a part of your arctic adventure!
* (Hmmm, note to self: must write songs about angel moth)
