Named as one of their heroes by modern Norwegian disco greats Todd Terje and Prins Thomas, Dj Strangefruit aka Pål Nyhus might just be one of the most influential underground dj’s of the Norwegian scene. He’s been spinning records in his distinctive style for almost 30 years. In the last ten years, he’s been making waves with his own music and remixes as one part of the genre-breaking, hard-to-put-into-words Mungolian Jetset duo. As you might guess, his interviews are a bit outside of the box, too.
Both Todd Terje and Prins Thomas have named you as one of their heroes and have told you influenced them from early on. Still, your early career is not so well known outside of Norway. Care to shed light on how you started?
I started out as a bedroom dj in the mid-eighties, and this was in the early days of hip-hop and house. Being raised in a small village in rural Norway, I wasn`t exactly roaming the streets of N.Y.C. , but still somehow, parts of that music came to me through the airwaves or on mysterious tapes with no track names, literally appearing out of the blue. I am not from a specific musical family, so it must have come to me from a spaceship. Anyway, the kind of funky synthesizer music that was around that time caught my immediate attention, as it felt completely new, fresh and modern. Something that was meant for me and my generation. This may have reached me even more powerfully, due to my rather un-urban environments – I mean, I`m from the bush, and hearing stuff like Afrika Bambaataa or early Mantronix to Soft Cell, George Clinton or the spacey dub mixes of the time, just seemed very exotic and inspiring to a farmboy like me. We were maybe four to five people in my hometown diggin` this shit, and one of them was actually Thomas, though he was a few years younger than me.
Did you learn from someone yourself or were you in the first wave of the Norwegian dj’ing?
I was probably of the first wave of the mixing dj’s over here, or part of the first norwegian dj’s who actually explored dj culture on its own terms. Most of the dj’s playing in Norway at the time had to play much more commercial oriented, like a live jukebox. And to be prepared for every kind of situation. That`s why I really stayed bedroom till the early nineties, where the club scene started to take off and I could present the styles I was really about. I was pretty much self learned.
When you play records for years, the glamour of the dj life and surrounding hype tends to go away. What are the great experiences that have kept you going?
I don`t really know what kind of great experiences get me going, as djing can be a pain in the arse. I guess I am on a mission. When it`s great it`s great, and then you really appreciate it, and when it`s shit, you just forget about it. But, I would not want to do this if it wasn`t for the urge to present my version of how music should be presented.
Mungolian Jetset’s Moon Jocks and Prog Rocks contains a description of a lame clubbing experience. When the song progresses, we leave that dull place for the outer space where better, proggy music is played. Is the song a statement of what a dj night should be?
I would say it`s more about a dj night seen through the eyes of someone who accidentally trips on DMT (a psychedelic drug), as the story deals with way more crazy and fatal experiences than any club night would hold. It is also a homage to the more progressive-sounding kind of disco that came out of Europe, Canada and U.S.A. circa 76-77. You know, the 20-minutes, five-parted epics from producers like Moroder, Cerrone, Alec R.Constandinos, Gino Soccio, Celso Valli and others.
Give us some news, new remixes or projects coming up?
We already have a new chapter in the Mungolian Jetset saga coming up soon. It`s an album entitled “Mungodelics”, sort of a follow-up to the “We Gave It Away…” comp, as it features a blend of originals, remakes and collaborations. I have also done some other work with the norwegian, Punani SS collective, and a collaboration with Mugwump.
The remix, included in Athana Remixed 2012 NO:US, available now at Beatport
Check on the player below Mungolian Jetset’s new Athana remix from the upcoming vinyl release on 2012. Featuring Andrew D´Angelo on bass clarinet, and Emil Nicolaisen (Serena Maneesh) on additional guitars, and Christian Hovda on vocals. The original tune Picazzo is from the album Corridor (2007).
