The Broken Beats - Interview

You're Beautiful, Powerful and Extraordinary is out and its already one of the best albums of the year and should definitely make better people out of us. Kim Munk tells us why.

Hello, how are you doing?

Fine thank you, just finished my new album with The Broken Beats and I´m back to work as a demolition man

The new album just came out. Is it as exciting as it was in the beginning?

Yes it´s always exciting to give away feelings and see what reaction you can get from people, everyday is a new beginning for me and maybe that´s why it´s so hard to get up and out and into the world each morning, the body knows it has to start from scratch.

it´s the 5th album with The Broken Beats but my song nr. 10.000 so I have a feeling I never started but always was in it.

Could you please shortly introduce yourselves as this is your first interview for us (hopefully one of the many to come)?

I´m a he of the species Homo Sapiens, 33 years old, I've played music all my life, not because I had to, but because I couldn't exist with out it.
Along side music I've worked as a electrician, carpenter, cleaning the streets of Aarhus (Denmark's second biggest city) delivered news papers and now I work as Demolition man while playing music. I have a wife and two kids and the more I get into living here on planet earth the greater it is.

And thanks for the most positive fillings you put along the questions, hopefully The Broken Beats will come to a town near you and put fuel on your hopes and wishes. Well, we are really glad to hear that your new album just came out. We have really enjoyed the previous ones. What can you tell us about the new one?

Thanks! the happiness is likewise.
It´s got more straight forwarded songs, not so much art in the tunes, not so many thoughts as the previous ones, it´s better to listne to and it´s now on vinyl and a special edition Digi Pack with bonus tracks..

Also we're rather curious about the title of the record? What is the story behind it?

ha ha.. well it´s to bring something positive into a world where we have to follow in the news and papers, how much people suffer constantly or how we should look or act,

It´s funny cause I have a good time with my Family & Friends and I like my neighbor, it´s not all paradise but overall it´s very nice to live here, but I constantly have to hear, how much war there is going on in the rest of the world and how much people fight, because of this and that, what can I do from up here? except from being depressed? I can give my money to some organization who say they will use my money to do some good, but then you find out that they burn of your money on firm parties and travels and you figure out you cant trust any one in that matter and then again what can I do? who can I trust?
I can trust my self and I know what I would like, I cant save the world, but I can say something positive and that´s a start.

The Album Title, "You´re Powerful, Beautiful and Extraordinary" is dedicated to all people who live on this planet and to those who control the news in tv who always wants us to believe everything is bad bad bad I dedicate it to them to so maybe they begin to wake up and show some good news instead so we begin to put positive on positive and not negative on negative if we´r enough people who do some good it´ll end with
I LOVE YOU! From the first single it seems that you've kept your amazing trademark sounds - sense of theatrics as well as grand melodies. What are the influences behind it? The Broken Beats are to us rather unique sounding band.

Thanks one again, I really appreciate it.
Well I´m the song writer of the band and it´s true there's a lot of theatrical elements in our songs, I like plying theater and it affects the song writing a lot(not so much on the new album).

I use the acting to make the message a little clearer, mostly for my self but also to highlight the absurdity of life here on Earth.
I do see, the whole world a little bit as a theater play where some people in high places use us working people as chess bits, I write a lot of stories about that and people who´s doing their best but in the end realize that it´s all pretty far out, to take serious and that living is easy if you don't need TV, Computer, new closet, the hottest magazine(hope your not that hot) and all these unnecessary things.

It´s easy to write a pop song, anyone can do that, but it´s difficult to make it interesting and so I use the theatrical side to make it more real to me.

The thing that we particularly like is how all the songs sound like there are at least 30 people playing them. How does it all work out live? Do you play stripped down versions or?

wahuu, you've really been listening cool.. year well there was 40 people playing on this album or so, maybe a little less, in the earlier days we played it more punk like so the energy was good from stage to audience and I don't think people needed the strings, brasses and so on, but now in 2009 we've got something called backtrack and it´s also ok but a little boring to me, but now we try, there we put in all the 40 strings, the 20 choir singers and the 3 piano players, so they now play alongside as we play our live instruments, wich means the drummer now play some of the songs with head phones, crazy..



Are there plans for the proper European tour once the new album gets European release?

Hmm, no not right now, we need a booking agency who could be interested in doing that, SO IF ANY BOOKING AGENCY WANTS TO MAKE A EUROPEAN TOUR WITH THE BROKENN BEATS PLEASE WRITE TO THIS EMAIL info@thebrokenbeats.com
WE´R TOTALLY REEEEAADYYYYYYYY.....

Was it hard making it as an English-singing band in Denmark? What is music scene there like?

The music scene is very international, a lot of different kind of language makes it way through to the stage here, but mostly English and when you sing in danish the priority is higher for the companies.

Are there any other Danish bands we should listen to?

The Bronson Brothers and Junio Senior I think they are really cool and have some super tunes and melodies.
And the then the danish singing band TV2 they´r world famous in DK



You have always been very active through your Myspace so what is your opinion on services like that? Also, what is your opinion on all the release schemes going around these days? Do you think the future of music is online or that these are just clever marketing plots that work in a certain moment?

A very good question.
But no doubt it has come to stay, like the mobile telephone, 7-11, Blockbuster, baresso, and all the other big consuming portals, the Internet is here to conquer us as humans and in the future, the robots that we bulit will take over that world we have build in the Cyberspace and control it and we´ll have a good time on hawaii, drink lumuba and let the bots freak out on each other..

No, I don't know, I think it´s made everything a little more stressed, I´m thankful you in Croatia find my music and without the internet you probably wouldn't, so in that way I like it, but if I could choose I´d rather it was'nt here and we had through live concerts had come to Croatia and met you in person, My space is gathering people, but also keeping us from the real deal, and makes us escape more into the screen of bad news and people trying out their new dance on You tube, I´d rather sit in my sofa and look at my eyes from the inside, that film is for me, much more exciting.

Finally, what do you read and listen to lately?

Books Momo(by Michael Ende)Vanity Fair, Kids books and on the music side Santo Gold and Devandra Banhart.

All the best to you!

kris // 06/03/2009