Michael Møller
Name
Michael Møller
Profession
Musician and modern arts student
Where were you born
Sæby, a coastal town in Northern Denmark
Profession / job?
Musician and student. (I also work part time in By og Havn (City and Harbour), the urban development company that takes care of all new building projects in Copenhagen).
What do you love about your job and why?
My primary “job” is probably my work as a musician. Unfortunately, I can’t live on it all year round, which is why I also work in city development. But, I still love the fact that I earn enough money on what is basically a hobby to make a living. I’ve always loved making music, especially the creative process of writing songs and recording them, and I’m excited that at this point in my life, I’m able to do that.
I also enjoy the traveling that being a musician allows me. This year we’ve managed to go to USA, Canada, Vietnam, Spain, France, Germany and Norway for concerts. I’m quite happy that I’m able to combine it with an education as well. It feels great to get some mental input through this and work with architecture and city planning, that I find really fascinating.
Where do you live and why?
I live part time in Copenhagen and part time in Berlin. I have a German girlfriend (that’s what happens when you tour in Germany!) and I love Berlin, so I’ve been really happy to live there for while. I’ve lived eight years in Copenhagen, and love this city, but it did feel relieving suddenly to find myself in another city. I’ve lived in Berlin most of the winter studying a semester there, now I’m back in Copenhagen making a new album and working again, but will probably move back to Berlin sometime in the autumn. I feel privileged that I’ve lived in some of the most interesting cities in Europe actually, privileged to be able to live in both places.
Where would you aspire to live?
There are so many places I would love to live for while, but it’s hard when you have a career here and a band you have to keep together. I hope to work a few months in New York City at some point, simply because I think it’s a fascinating and amazing city.
Where is your favorite holiday spot in Scandinavia?
When I go traveling I often go south, either in Europe or just outside. Denmark is so far north that the most exotic adventures seem to be linked to the south in my mind. I like Gothenburg, Stockholm and Helsinki, but seldom go there.
My favorite spot would probably be the city I was brought up, Sæby, when I go visiting my parents. It’s an old, beautiful harbor village with a big forest, old medieval streets, an old church and two castles said to be haunted. It’s a great break from the crowded cities where I spend most of my life, and is an extremely beautiful little town as well.
Where is your favorite local restaurant? What is the specialty?
Probably La Galette in Copenhagen city centre. It’s a really laidback simple kind of place with these traditional French filled buckwheat pancakes. I also really like Sans Souci, which despite the French name specializes in old traditional Danish food. I just discovered this place last year, and never really ate that much of our own traditional food, but this one prepares it really well.
What do people do in your city entertainment?
The same as everywhere else I think; go to concerts, to the cinema or watch too much TV.
Do you have a secret spot where you live which is like nowhere else in the world?
It’s not exactly a secret, but it’s like nowhere else in the world: Christiania, a hippie society started in ’71 in some abandoned military building. It still lives on its own rules and has its own hippie atmosphere. It’s a really unique place, but unfortunately the politicians want to close it down. I don’t agree with this.
What is your favorite shop in your city?
Probably Sound Station, the best record shop in Copenhagen. They mainly sell vinyl and have the best selection I’ve ever seen after being to a lot of record stores around the world.
What is your favorite Scandinavian purchase from the supermarket?
Strawberries I think, they really don’t taste much better anywhere else in the world than here.
What do you think represents amazing value in Scandinavia? Anything from free entry into libraries through to hiking through to fresh herring for $x?
The social security system, it’s an obvious one, but when you travel around the world you get a certain pride about how well it works, I enjoy how it breaks down the classes and how everyone is treated equal.
If you were a billionaire where would you like to eat and stay in Scandinavia?
I would probably like to eat at Era Ora, an extremely expensive Italian restaurant. I’ve been there once because I won a competition (if not I would never have been able to afford it), and the food was simply extraordinary. I love where I’m living in Copenhagen, the Vesterbro area, so I would probably just buy a slightly bigger apartment. But I’m quite happy with where I am now, I don’t know anywhere I like better in Scandinavia.
If you were the opposite where do you think represents amazing value?
Not sure I understand the question… And it really depended on what the opposite was… But I would always recommend seeing some of the harbor towns in Scandinavia, recommend Skärgaarden in Stockholm and recommend people to see something apart from just the city centre in Copenhagen.
What does Scandinavia mean to you?
It’s always hard to judge your own country. It’s hard to see it from the outside. But in my eyes, Scandinavia does mean wealth and certain openness that comes with it. When you travel you realize how wealthy Scandinavia is. And with this wealth I also feel comes a certain openness to things that are different to yourselves; the wish to travel, see the world and to learn foreign languages, that there’s a minimum of prejudice towards sexual or racial minorities.
The current war on all Islamic values that is raging here is not part of this picture, and I’m not very proud about this part of the Danish politics right now, but I still sense an openness to foreign ideas that you can’t find everywhere. I think part of the reason is that people have the time and money to be open, to get educations and get confronted with different parts of the world. It broadens the mind and I still think you can feel that in Scandinavia, compared to many other places I have visited.
How do you celebrate Christmas/other festivals in Scandinavia?
We have very specific traditions about these things, more specific than most other places in Europe that I know of. For Christmas we dance around a tree while we sing, for birthdays we put the Danish flag everywhere, on the brightest days of the year we light bonfires all over the country and burn “witches” made by children, etc. We have very strong traditions here concerning national holidays and festivals, many of them a strange mix between heathen and Christian values.
Do you have a favourite recipe that you would like to share with us?
Not really, I like to cook, but mostly just improvise…
What do you think is the strangest thing about Scandinavia?
Perhaps the above mentioned traditions in countries that are not bound to traditions, apart from these holidays. Maybe also the fact that we’re highly modernized countries, but still have kings and queens. From the outside I could imagine this must seem a bit strange.
What music do you like to listen to?
Naturally I listen to tons of different music, I'm a rock musician and I studied classical music at university, so it's hard to pin it down to a list. But among my favorite rock artists are Brian Eno, The Smiths, The Flaming Lips, Kate Bush, Magnetic Fields, Bob Dylan, The Go-Betweens, David Bowie, Nick Cave and still so many others. Among my favorite composers are Machaut, Bach, Brahms, Mahler, Schönberg, Steve Reich, Morton Feldman and a lot os others.
Michael Møller
If you want to listen to Michael’s music you can visit his homepage www.myspace.com/michaelmmmmmm
Or listen to the tones of moi Caprice at www.moicaprice.com / www.myspace.com/moicaprice