An Interview with Astrid Sonne

photo by Conrad Pack

Astrid Sonne is a London-based Danish composer and songwriter. A classically trained violist, her first three albums, which were mostly instrumental, found her carving out a unique niche for herself, somewhere in between electronic, ambient, glitch and classical music. Last year, with Great Doubt, her first song-based album, she broke through in a big way, and has since toured the record extensively in the United States. Her songs are catchy, immediate, and ever-so-slightly off-kilter. I was happy to learn that she is every bit as warm and humble as her songcraft would suggest when I caught up with her at the Big Ears Festival on March 28, 2025. We talked about her experiences playing in a jazz band, her creative process, her dreams of working with Yung Lean, and more.

Special thanks to Agnete for putting us in touch, and for The Wire for making it possible for me to go to Big Ears. You can read my coverage of the festival in latest edition of The Wire, issue 496, out now.

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What are your earliest musical memories?

Hearing Tom Jones in the living room. “Sex Bomb,” that kind of stuff.

Classic. Was he big in Denmark?

Yeah, probably! We had a CD, I remember that.

I don’t know much about Danish music outside of the recent wave of artists, like you and ML Buch and Molina. The only other people I could name off the top of my head are people like John Tchicai and Henning Christiansen.

Yeah, I guess there’s quite a strong avant-garde tradition coming from Denmark, with Henning Christiansen and the Fluxus movement.

Was Fluxus a big thing in Denmark?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely!

I think a lot of the contemporary music you were talking about has become quite popular with North American audiences, which is really nice to see. We’ve all gone to the same university and done the same course, so I think that has something to do with it. It’s called Rhythmic Music Conservatory, and it’s sort of like an art school for music. It used to be more like a traditional jazz school but now it’s more focused on your musical integrity and how to refine it, basically. I was in the same class as ML and Molina, so throughout the last six or seven years we’ve been spending lots of time together, sharing stuff, helping each other out and doing loads of critique classes, all of that. Obviously that’s going to help everyone get to an exciting, interesting place, so I feel like that’s the fruit of what you’re seeing now.

What was the most important thing you learned from that experience?

Well, there are quite a few. Hmm… not being afraid of sharing your work and just putting it out there and getting other people’s opinions on it. It can be quite daunting, but it really pays off, in my experience. I feel like talking about my music in that terminology is something I’m just doing naturally by myself now. I don’t necessarily meet the same peer group in order to progress with the stuff I’m working on, if that makes sense, so now it’s more integrated in my process. Another thing that was good was that it’s very much on the individual to figure out how they want to use the course, so you basically get money and then you spend it on the teachers that you’d like. It can be basically everything.

That’s really interesting.

I did quite a lot of coding and computer game engineering type stuff. I’ve forgotten all about it, but I did do it [laughs]. But that’s just to say it was very broad. The people I did the course with, some of them do really commercial pop, some of them do hip-hop, some of them do the stuff that me and ML do, etc.

What made you interested in classical music?

I guess it was not really my decision [laughs]. I was just put in a music school. But I was really into music when I was a kid. In Denmark, when you attend a music school, it’s sort of the same as playing soccer. It’s something you do after school, so my mom just put me there. She asked me if I wanted to play the recorder or play the violin, and then I started playing the violin.

Broad question, but do you have any favorite composers?

You mean classical composers?

It can mean whatever you want it to, but sure, classical composers.

It’s maybe good to narrow it down [laughs]. I’m a big, big Ligeti fan. I feel like he’s left a massive impression on me, and I still go back to his work. I was really, really obsessed with his stuff when I was a teenager, but I feel like it comes and goes. He’s an incredible composer.

Where did you discover his work?

Quite early on, actually. We have this gap year in Denmark. When you finish ninth grade, you can go to this one-year boarding school where you specialize in things that you are interested in. There’s sports schools or drama schools or schools that specialize in music, and I went to the music school. My teacher there presented me with some of his work, I think. We had music history course as well, and every week we’d meet up for two hours where we’d just listen to classical music from the early ages up until now. So that gave me a really amazing look into the history of classical music.

Going off of that, I really love your earlier vocal pieces, like “Strong, Calm, Slow” and “Fields of Grass.” I definitely hear an early music chorale element to those pieces, but also a minimalist influence. Are those things that go into your work?

Definitely. I feel like many musicians go through that phase of being really obsessed with the whole minimalist movement. I think for me, it really started with ambient, and then I got really into the minimalist composers. I definitely feel like it feeds into my work, for sure. And obviously Bach, I’ve always listened to him, if you’re talking about more baroque stuff.

Absolutely, I love Bach. What was the first ambient music you heard?

I think it was Music for Airports by Brian Eno. That was probably the first one that really blew my mind. When you do classical music as a kid, you really grow up in this tradition of like, you’re just a musician, and the composer is on a pedestal, and they’ve been dead for like 200 years. All of it feels very inaccessible, and I think listening to Brian Eno’s music really opened something in me. I was like “yeah, actually maybe I could do this.” [laughs]

You’ve said that you want your music to have a sense of space to it. Is that something that’s informed by ambient music?

You could say that. I think it’s a combination of things, really. I think when I started making music with my laptop, I just felt like there were so many options, so I had to narrow things down. For me, the easiest way to do that was just to be like, “there’s one sound here and that’s the only thing I can work with.” I’m constantly trying to figure out how to limit myself to leave more space for creativity, and that’s worked for me.

I understand you’ve been singing for years before making Great Doubt, but you had never wanted to make vocal music. What kept you from wanting to move further in that direction?

We all have these ideas about who we are and what we do, and I think my attitude was “I do instrumental music, that’s my thing.” So, using my voice as a solo instrument was just never an option. But then, I’m always on the lookout for new ways of challenging myself and putting myself out there. It’s very difficult, but I think also really good and helpful for me to do, as a challenge. When writing new material now, I’m constantly “ok, where’s the new place to go for me?” When I put myself in a new context, I feel like I don’t need to prove myself, and I can just be more creative with what I’ve got. I don’t think too much about needing to write a good song, I just figure out how to use the space according to what I’m feeling and not so much about fitting into a certain tradition.

So if you previously saw yourself as someone who made instrumental music, now that you’ve made Great Doubt, what kind of musician do you see yourself as?

That’s a good question. I don’t know [laughs]. I’ll just see how it goes. I feel like the next music I put out could be a noise album, or a dance album, I don’t know.

I would love to hear either of those!

[laughs] yeah!

What noise music are you interested in? I hear a lot of different things in your music, but I don’t hear much of that.

I think I’ve gotten more and more interested in contrasts, and within noise music I feel like there’s really something to work with there. There’s this label from North Carolina called Enmossed.

Yes! Great label.

I love that label. When I discovered it I was like “fuck, this is sick.” The last year I’ve just gotten more and more into it.

I had a residency in Stockholm with Conrad Pack, whom I work with quite a lot, where we just recorded loads of noises on these big modular systems they’ve got as part of this specific residency. So yeah, I’m interested in getting more into different structures and ways of working with sounds that’s not necessarily chord progressions or whatever.

Was that at EMS?

Yeah, exactly.

I’m big into electroacoustic music, there’s a lot of great stuff that's come out of there.

Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s an incredible space.

Any favorite albums on Enmossed?

That must be the Emotion Hospice album by Chaperone, I think it came out a few years ago.

I don’t know if I’ve heard that one!

Check it out, it’s pretty cool. But I like loads of it, honestly. I feel like they’ve got something really interesting going.

I really love the drum sound on Great Doubt. How did you go about recording the drums on that record?

So, I never recorded the drums with the intention of using it. It was basically just me meeting up with another drummer at a DIY space in Copenhagen. She was going to teach me drums, but then we were like “let’s just record it.” We had one Coles on the kick drum and an SM57 on the hi-hat, and then we had a mobile phone at the other end of the space and another mobile phone in the hallway. So we were just recording from different places around the room with different microphones, and I was playing, and she was like “maybe you can play this pattern or that pattern.” And then it was just on my laptop and I didn’t use it for quite a while. Then, when I started writing the material for Great Doubt, I started dragging it in and I was like “this sounds horrible,” and then I kind of started to love it.

I love when that happens.

But that’s very much how I work, to be honest. I never go into a space where I’m like “oh, I’m doing this because this needs to fit into here because then I can do this.” It just doesn't work for me, I’m not very good at planning out big projects like that. If I feel drawn towards something, I will just try and do it and not think too much about where it will end, because I feel like it will always change anyway. So I’m basically trying stuff out, and then some of it will work and some of it won’t. That’s just part of the process.

Does improvising play any role in your music?

Definitely. A lot of randomness, constantly [laughs]. As much randomness as possible. I’m not a very good instrumentalist, I play terrible keys and stuff, so anything that can help me with that sort of thing is good [laughs].

I understand you’re currently based in London?

Yeah, I am.

What brought you there?

So, I was not supposed to stay there. I was just going to go for a couple of months, but then I ended up staying there. I’d been going to London quite a lot before moving there, and every time I went, it just felt really good and natural. I felt like I belonged there in a way, I don’t know how to explain it differently. So when I finally got there for a longer period of time, I was like “ok, I actually need to spend some time here.” London is such an intense city. I don’t know if you’ve ever been.

I’ve been a few times, yeah.

It’s really great, but it’s also really horrible [laughs]. It’s really stressful. Everyone has a really intense love-hate relationship with it. But it’s a great music city. Still loads of DIY spaces and interesting things going on, and I’m really inspired by going to shows there and just experiencing what my peers are doing. It’s really amazing to be around.

I feel like most of the best cities are ones you kind of have to hate. I feel that way about a lot of cities in the US.

Yeah [laughs].

I know the music scene in London is really incredible right now. Which musicians have you been interacting with or working with?

Many, honestly. It’s so good because people also go in and out of the city so much, so often people come and visit. I loved living in Copenhagen, but you just didn’t have the same in and out of artists coming and going, because everyone goes on tour there as well. So that’s really nice. But yeah, I’ve been working Loraine James.

Oh! I actually interviewed her not too long ago!

Oh cool! In America?

It was over zoom. It was…

…for the Whatever the Weather thing?

Yeah! She’s really cool.

She’s great, she’s so nice. I’ve been doing some stuff with her. Conrad Pack I’ve been working with as well, he’s been doing all my visual stuff for the album but we’ve also been doing music together. I guess that’s more like studio session vibes. One thing is going to the studio together, another thing is interacting with communities around different venues. I live very close to that venue called Ormside.

I don’t know if I’m familiar with that one.

I go there quite a lot, and sometimes do projects with people there as well.

What kinds of musicians usually play there?

It’s all kinds of stuff. They do both club nights and have concerts, there’s some improv stuff, rock, electronic music. It’s really broad, I would say.

I was wondering what records you were listening to while making the Outside of Your Lifetime album. It feels like it has a very specific vibe.

That’s a really good question. It’s a long time ago. I guess I made it during COVID. I was doing loads of karaoke, but I can’t really remember what music I was listening to [laughs]. What do you hear in it?

I actually don’t know. The guitar sound is really unique, but I can’t say what it reminds me of. I’ll have to think about it.

Honestly, I haven’t listened back to that album in a long time. The only album I can really think of… do you know of All Night Flight?

The label?

Yeah, let me just find it. [checks phone] Yeah, this one. Natsu no Zenbu. They rereleased an album by this Japanese couple, and I feel like I listened to that one a lot during COVID. It’s really amazing.

I know the label, but I don’t think I’ve heard that one.

The story about the album is that it’s this Japanese couple who were getting married, and then as a present for the guests, they made an album together with a song for every room in their house. It’s quite amazing, and it just had a very specific vibe. Maybe I was listening to a lot of rereleased stuff, like a lot of STROOM.

Oh yes, great label.

That was very much that time. It’s great.

I know you played in a jazz band at one point…

[laughs] Oh, word is spreading!

Sorry to bring it up!

No, don’t be. It’s me putting it out there [laughs].

Did that have any impact on your approach to music?

It was actually really, really important for me. I played classical music and then I sort of stopped, and I didn’t know how to improvise on my instrument at all. It was very foreign to me, just playing freely. And then I met this iconic jazz saxophonist from Denmark. He’s called… oh wow, why can’t I remember his name? I’m gonna look that up, sorry. [checks phone] Jesper Zeuthen!

I don’t think I’m familiar with him!

He's really just famous in Denmark. He has a very specific way of playing the saxophone that’s really harsh. But he basically picked me up and was like “I’m gonna teach you how to improvise, I want you as a part of my band.” It was really sweet, we just met up in his flat and played music together, and I started to get a grip of how it is to play an instrument without a piece of sheet music in front of me. I think that was actually quite important for me to get comfortable playing my instrument, and from there on I felt more and more comfortable to get into writing my own music. So I think it was really important for me, but I didn’t particularly like the music we were playing.

Was this a free jazz guy?

Yeah. But also more classical jazz in terms of having a theme and an improvised section.

So it wasn’t just purely improvised.

No, there was some sort of structure. But we’d be practicing once, and then he’d be like “we’re playing a gig tomorrow, and you’re coming, and you’re improvising.” He really pushed me, and I think that was really good.

https://www.nts.live/shows/astrid-sonne

I’m a big fan of your NTS show. Had you done any radio-related stuff prior to that?

I had a residency at a Swedish radio during COVID, but when I came to London I started doing more live radio stuff, and I’m DJing a little bit more now. I really enjoy it, it’s so much fun.

I’ve done radio stuff in the past and it’s one of my favorite things to do.

It’s so good! I think especially considering the way music is spreading now, it’s so good having those curated radio shows instead of the Spotify algorithm that makes you nuts. I feel like more and more people are tuning into radio stations, just being like “ok, here’s an artist I really like, and I trust their taste.” It’s such a nice way of getting familiar with new music.

I wanted to ask about some of the artists you’ve played and your history with them. The first was Gastr Del Sol.

Basically, I only got familiar with them - I’ve seen the track I played on the show, with the album cover with the hut…

Is that the one that came out recently? We Have Dozens of Titles?

Yeah! Anyway, I only got familiar with it before doing that show because I played in Japan, and Eiko Ishibashi was playing before me, but the night before I saw her play with Jim O’Rourke. Then I looked into his stuff and found it through that.

So you knew Eiko’s music before you knew Jim’s?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That’s funny, I had the reverse experience. She’s brilliant.

Are you going to see her here?

I don’t think so, because I already saw her perform the live score for GIFT in Chicago a while back.

Oh, ok.

But she’s one of my favorite people making music today.

Yeah, she’s great.

It’s insane that you got to see both of them play. It’s pretty much impossible to see Jim outside of Japan.

I was talking to Eiko about it after the show we did together and she was like “yeah, he doesn’t really want to travel, unless it’s for good food.” [laughs] So they’ve been to Italy, but other than that he just wants to stay in Japan. Fair enough.

So you did a show with Eiko?

Yeah, we had a double bill in Tokyo.

That’s amazing. Another artist you played was Aaron Dilloway.

He’s an old influence of mine. I feel like I’ve been listening to his music from years back. I played with Grouper when she did a small tour of Europe last year, under the name Nivhek. We played at a festival in Paris, and he was there with his son. It was nice saying hi, it was quite cool, so I think after meeting him again I’ve been going back to his stuff. He’s really good.

Was he doing something for GRM?

Yeah, it was at INA-GRM or whatever.

I know him personally from going to Oberlin.

Oh, I’m playing there!

I saw! Have you played there before?

No, I’m playing next week!

My number one tip would be to go to Hanson Records, which is a record store he runs with Robert Turman.

I love his stuff as well! They run it together? That’s so funny.

Yeah, going there was easily the best part of my college experience. I’d be talking about records with Aaron and he’d always be like “I need to show you this” and pull something up on his computer.

That’s so cool, that’s such a good tip. I’m gonna go.

You should! He’s brilliant, and also such a nice guy. Anyways, another artist you’ve played on your show is Piero Umiliani.

Yeah!

Is that kind of Italian soundtrack music an influence on your work?

I actually didn’t know of him. I was working with this producer in Sweden and we had a chat and he was just sending me stuff. His productions are quite interesting because it’s a symphony orchestra, but then there’s just a tiny bit of space echo on it, or it’s just weirdly warped. The way it’s produced and recorded is quite mad, and just really heavy, vibey sounds. I’ve really been renting that album that the song I played came from, which is just a library music album. But I thought it was really incredible.

I’m always fascinated by musicians who are making music with a very basic, rudimentary purpose, but that kind of gives them the freedom to get really weird with it. I read somewhere that George Martin developed a lot of the weird tape editing techniques he used with The Beatles from producing comedy records.

Yeah, it’s the limitation to gain. It’s so good.

The last musician I’ll ask about is Joni Mitchell. Obviously everyone loves her music, but I’d like to hear it from you.

[Laughs] That is so funny, because she’s one of the big, big artists that you should listen to in your life. But sometimes when everyone is like “you should listen to David Bowie,” I can be like “oh, I can do that later.” And obviously, all of her famous songs have always been there. But I played a couple of shows in Switzerland, and we had the same support for both of the shows. It was a guitarist named Manuel Troller, who I played with as well in one of my shows. He’s made some really amazing stuff as well. But he was talking about that album… the really famous Joni Mitchell album, with the black and white cover. What’s that album?

Hejira?

Yeah, that’s the one. He said it was his favorite album of all time, and I actually hadn’t listened to it before. It was so good listening to it for the first time. She’s incredible, and she’s taken so many different shifts. It’s so great looking through her discography, because she’s just trying stuff out. It’s really inspiring.

She’s the best. I feel like she’s one of those artists who takes on such a huge stature that it almost overshadows the music.

Yeah, exactly. I totally know what you mean.

Who are some artists you’d most like to collaborate with in the future?

…. It got really quiet [laughs]. I’m just really open. It could be so many things. I really want to work with dance. But you’re thinking of music artists, right?

It could be anyone!

There’s a choreographer that a friend of mine introduced me to that I really want to work with. And then… I’ve been wanting to do stuff with Yung Lean for a long time. It might be coming because I’ve been working with his producer, and I feel like finally… it’s gonna happen [laughs].

I’ll manifest it for you!

I just feel like from his music, he’s really in touch with his intuition in a way I really like. There’s something nice and spontaneous about it when I listen to it. I really like that.

I’m working with another Danish musician called Fine. We have a project together, and we’re going to do some more stuff together. I really love working with her.

She’s the one who did Rocky Top Ballads, right?

Yeah, yeah!

I love that album.

Yeah it’s great, it’s so good.

Are there any musicians you listen to that people might be surprised to learn you enjoy?

… I don’t know. I’ve been listen to a lot of minimal techno, but I don’t know if that would surprise anyone. I feel like everyone is pretty broad in that sense.

Yeah, especially in this day and age.

I’ve been listening a lot to Novelist, the UK grime rapper. Maybe people would be surprised by that [laughs].

I’m not really up on my UK grime, but I’ll have to check that out.

He’s fucking great.

I’m getting a lot of music recommendations from this interview, which doesn’t always happen.

Yeah, I’ve been listening to a lot of the grime stuff. I’m just trying to get more into my UK history [laughs]. There’s so much to catch up on.