Name: Jasper Sommer
Nationality: British
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, producer, composer
Current release: Jasper Sommer's We Could Rule the World is out via EFG.
Recommendations: "The Annunciation" by Arthur Hacker (painting) and Can Life Prevail? by Pentti Linkola (book).

If you enjoyed this Jasper Sommer interview and would like to keep up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

When working on new music I always judge by listening in bed with my eyes closed, just before falling asleep, when I’m most relaxed.

I find it’s the best time to see what visuals arise from the song. I’d almost liken it to an altered state of mind.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I started playing guitar at the age of 9 and writing songs around the age of 11 in a pop punk band. I then went onto producing electronic music at the age of 19 and began using my own voice again around 6 years ago.

I’d say you can learn skills and apply them to your own creative process, so in a way yes, you can train to be an artist. However I believe truly beautiful art comes from the soul.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Music meant everything to me then, along with skateboarding. I was still in the 3 piece pop punk band, we wrote our own songs as well as doing covers, we played shows around the midlands. It was clear to me even at that age that I was going to pursue a life in music.

Not a lot has changed since, although the adult trait of fearing what others will think does haunt me.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Maintaining my own sound and keeping it authentic is key to me. I’m motivated by chasing that euphoric feeling when you create a song that gives you chills.

Creating in any sense is a type of therapy for me, so there’s also that.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I’d go with the latter. I believe humans are a tool for ideas, just as a paintbrush is a tool for the artist.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I agree with Simon on this, it’s about the piece in its entirety. You don’t try to pick out the individual brush strokes on a painting, you look at the whole painting.

I guess my sound is kind of sad, with some glimpses of hope in there. It’s weird but I find it hard to make happy music haha.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

None specifically come to mind, I do love the sound of walking through woods and the branches breaking, echoing about, and trees hitting into each other in the wind. I also love rain, I’ve used it a lot in the background of songs as I feel it adds a natural calming element to it that we’re all familiar with.

I suppose it can be described as musical in the sense the sounds might make us feel emotion!?

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I feel like the ones I’m drawn to use all of the above, an example being one of my favourite pieces of music, Concierto De Aranjuez: 2. Adagio by Joaquín Rodrigo.



It’s full of surprises and climax which spark so many emotions for me.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

The hook to “Memento” & “You Give Up Too Easily” (songs from my upcoming EP), both came in moments of freely shouting / singing with no real intention and seeing what came out.

There was no initial intention in keeping them in the songs, but then I loved how they sounded so decided to keep them. I feel it’s accidentally become a signature to my sound.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Absolutely, I’ve played around with trying to incorporate the Fibonacci sequence into a song before, was very confusing and maybe something I’d come back to at a later date.

I’ve also started producing more in 432hz, I’m sure most of your readers are aware of it being a more harmonious frequency to work with than the standard 440hz.  

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I believe we could learn a lot about life by understanding music on a deeper level, cymatics being a nice example.

Everything is frequency after all.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Being a coffee addict and snob, I really appreciate the skill and effort put into making a great mocha or flat white.

So I suppose it’s down to the consumer, someone who loves music and not coffee would see music as a superior outlet of expression - whereas someone who doesn’t care much for music and lives through coffee would see it the other way round.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

The piece mentioned above (Concierto De Aranjuez: 2. Adagio by Joaquín Rodrigo) and “Come Down to Us” by Burial. Both give me chills every time I listen.



If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Less pop music focused around materialistic, base level things like money, sex and cars and more art that comes from spirituality, love and positivity.