ØRESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE – interview
- Posted on 30-11-2024
Introduce your band, and describe your latest release:
My name is Dr Space (Scott Heller) and I am in two bands currently; Øresund Space Collective (ØSC) and Doctors of Space (DOS). I also make solo music under the name Dr Space and Dr Space´s Alien Planet Trip. ØSC had our last studio album, Orgone Unicorn released this summer on the US label, Lasers Edge. It was recorded in Sept 2023 and features long album side tracks and is quite proggy and diverse. We just released a new DVD from the French festival, Crescendo.
DOS, we just released our new double CD in November entitled Wisdom of Clowns, featuring bass player Hasse Horrigmoe. IT is back to more space rocking stuff compared to our last electronic album.
What’s the hardest part about being a band in this day and age?
Earning money from streaming, as all the companies are thieves and do not pay artists fairly. The costs of touring is too high making it hard to break even or make money. This is the biggest struggle. There is no way to live off music anymore unless you make radio pop. Who the fuck wants to do that…
When did you realise that your project had the potential to be much more than just a fun idea?
ØSC, we started off jamming the rehearsal rooms back in 2004 and when we decided to play our first concert in Feb 2005, that felt like a good start as it was well received but when we recorded our first album in the summer of 2005 and were able to find a Swedish label to release it, then I really thought we were on to something..
Tell us about your latest release, why should we check it out?
ØSC, our latest album, Orgone Unicorn, it is our 32nd studio album and quite different from any of our previous ones. The opening track is very proggy, then we have an experimental track followed by a sitar driven psychedelic track. Next a bit of Kraut rock and then a drum machine driven funky hard rocker to close out the LP: The CD has one long spaced out unreleased track not on the LP as well as some extended versions of the LP tracks. I think it is a great album..
Doctors of Space, this is our 5th main record and 2 hrs of music in 5 jams, I think.. Lots of great psychedelic and space rock music with great guitar by Martin Weaver (Wicked Lady, Dark)….
How does a song typically come together for you?
Both of my bands make more or less totally improvised music so we set up the gear, talk about what key to play in and a tempo and just go.. see what happens.. It is a really different approach than most rock bands take but we have been very successful with this approach.
How would you describe your sound to an unfamiliar reader?
ØSC, we play space rock, prog, psychedelic music, driven my guitars and bass and layers of synthesizers to give it a spacey element. Doctors of Space is more heavy the old stuff and we also dabble with pure electronic music as well…
What do you want listeners to take away from listening to your band?
We make really long tracks, some over an hr long and rarely less than 10mins so you have to really want to escape, put your phone away and just disappear into the music. It should be seen as a sort of escape from the real insane world we live in. There are a lot of elements and sounds in our music and we spend a lot of time making the mixes. The mix is super important…
Where would you really like to tour that you haven’t done so yet, and why?
ØSC have played all over Europe but never in Spain or Italy so I would like for us to play there. But my big dream is to play a concert in Japan… I have to do that before I die.. Why, well Japan is so different from any place I had ever been to and I love a lot of Japanes bands like Church of Misery, Loudness, DOOM, Rovo, Far East Family Band. etc…
How would you say that the sound of your band has progressed over the years?
Absolutely… We play a much wider variety of styles now and we are all better players as well and better improvisers… That is one of the goals and things we discuss every time we go in the studio, that we have to try new ideas and styles we have not done before..
How excited are you for 2025, and what can fans expect from you?
Doctors of Space will have a new studio album out called Fusing your Synapes and Astral Sessions Vol 7.. We will probably play a few shows in Portugal as well.
ØSC will meet in Stockholm in December to make some music for a short animated film and have some fresh jams with new musicians, so that will be fun.
Next year will likely see the release of the Kozfest DVD, Espaço 2, Alotta hella down in Estrela, Ode to a black hole DVD (with 5.1 surround sound mix) and who knows. I have made the vinyl master now for Glossolalia, which was an interesting collaboration with Dan McGuire some years ago and this was only ever on CD.. This could also come out.
Live, we will have the 20th anniversary shows in Copenhagen April 11-12th, 2025. These are going to be a lot of fun, with us playing 2 90min sets each night with different bands for each set. Some folks that have not played with us in a long time will join, which is great. We will film and record this as well. In May we will have the 10th spaceboat in Hamburg on the 23-24th weekend. Tickets go on sale in January. Tickets for the anniversary show are on sale now. We also hope to have a tour in Sept with dates in Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands. I am trying to set this up now.. Thanks for all the support. Peace. Dr Space… Links are below…
http://oresundspacecollective.com
http://oresundspacecollective.bandcamp.com
http://doctorsofspace.bandcamp.com
http://www.spacerockproductions.com
Http://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com