COMMUNIONS
Written for ACCLAIM, published in 2017
Photography: Simon Birk & Casper Balslev
Words: MJB
After returning to Denmark after a decade in Seattle, Martin Rehof recruited his brother Mads and his high school friends Jacob van Deurs Formann and Frederik Lind Köppen to build upon some songs he had written. They formed their band Communions in the iconic converted warehouse venue and rehearsal space ‘Mayhem’. While Communions stray sonically from the abrasive punk band Iceage, they happily acknowledge that they played their first show together and continue to share a rehearsal space in their hometown of Copenhagen.
According to Martin, members of the experimental scene in Copenhagen often collaborate because it feels natural to do so. Martin credits their influences from post-punk and new-wave bands but is adamant that these references aren’t proactively applied in their creative process – they simply create melody-driven music that is far more intuitive than it is calculated. From their fruition to their aesthetic to their songwriting, Communions is genuinely organic.
I’m fascinated with the Danish music scene and have encountered such an eclectic mix of artists who have come from Copenhagen. What would you say is the most prevalent style of music in your hometown?
Well, I mean, the mainstream music scene here is horrible. It’s mainly the underground music scene that has produced anything interesting. There is the whole ‘Mayhem’ scene, which has gained a lot of attention in the past few years, which is characterised by everything from punk to electronic to noise music. It’s sort of hard to pinpoint where it begins and ends now.
Can you tell me about ‘Mayhem’?
Basically, ‘Mayhem’ consists of some warehouses located in Copenhagen that were turned into a venue and some rehearsal spaces. It eventually began gaining attention as a ‘scene’ once concerts started being hosted there.
What’s the vibe like in your local scene? Is there much scope for collaboration or do artists tend to stay in their own lane and keep to themselves?
There are people that tend to collaborate a lot, especially those doing more experimental stuff. Personally, I have mainly had my focus on Communions.
I’m particularly interested in LISS, Iceage, First Hate, Lust for Youth, Smerz, Gents, and Marching Church. Are you friends with these bands? Have you played any shows together or encountered each other along the way?
We played our first show with Iceage and we still share a rehearsal space with them. Marching Church, First Hate, and Lust for Youth, we also all know personally. In fact, Malthe Fischer from Lust for Youth was involved in the production of our last EP and our record Blue which we just put out.
So you and Mads are brothers. Did you always plan to start a band together or did that just fall into place?
It was never planned. It happened pretty naturally and casually. When we were starting, I had some songs written and needed some people to make them with. I kind of just reached out to the people around me that I knew best. Mads and I had always been very close as brothers, so it felt right.
And you lived in Seattle for a little? When was that? What was your reason for being there? Do you feel it influenced you musically in any way?
We lived there for 10 years. We moved there when I was five and moved back when I was around 15. The reason that we moved there was because of my father’s work. I don’t know if it has influenced the music in any direct way, but obviously one wouldn’t be who one is if it weren’t for different experiences. I mean, I was definitely introduced to a lot of music in my early teenage years, such as punk and so on, while living in Seattle. But I don’t really connect that part of my life too much with Communions.
So what brought you back to Copenhagen? How had things changed since you left?
Our parents split up in the States, and my father relocated to Germany. After that, we couldn’t really afford to stay. So Mads and I moved back to Copenhagen with our Mum and kind of had to start over. It was very much a move against my will, so upon returning, I was just very angry for a long time. Eventually I started high school and began establishing a new life. Most of the memories I had from my childhood in Copenhagen were very vague, so I wasn’t really aware if anything had changed. Everything felt very new at that time.
How do you create music? Is it a matter of sitting in a room and bouncing ideas off each other or is there a primary songwriter that paves the way?
Usually one of us brings an idea to the table and then we kind of bounce ideas off of each other from there. But I am the primary songwriter in the sense that I usually bind all of the ideas together into a whole.
I noticed you were in Japan recently, was that your first time visiting?
Yes, this was our first time visiting Japan. And it was also our first time in Asia.
Did you notice any similarities between Tokyo and Copenhagen? What was the most significant similarity? What was the biggest contrast?
One similarity that I noticed, was that the city life seemed to be reminiscent of city life in other modern European or American cities. People go to work, ride the metro, go shopping, eat at restaurants, etc. Their metro system is great by the way. Also, the youth culture seems to be kind of similar. There were a lot of young people in Tokyo and they seemed to be interested in some of the same things that a young person in Copenhagen might be interested in, like going out and so on. The biggest contrast, was probably how big everything in Tokyo was, the pulse of the city, and how much there was of everything. Copenhagen as a city, is just much smaller. Apart from that, there are parts of the Japanese culture, like their courtesy and sense of perfection, just to name a few examples, that you don’t really find anywhere else.
There’s that cliché of bands being ‘big in Tokyo’. Do you feel Communions has hit that status yet or are you a little while off? How has your music been received there so far?
I don’t know if we have hit that status in any way. I wouldn’t think so. But our music has been received very well in Japan, perhaps more than anywhere else. Being there and experiencing our audience firsthand was a very surreal experience. I was surprised by how many people knew us. And if people in Japan like your music, they aren’t afraid to show it. By the time we were on our way home, I had received so many gifts that I couldn’t take all of them with me in my suitcase.
How are you feeling about your new album Blue? Is it what you expected it to be? Would you change anything?
We are just really happy to have it released. Having kind of transcended the bubble we were in when making it, I think I now see the album as an important step in the direction we’re going. Whether or not it’s what we expected it to be is hard to answer, because I think it never turns out to be quite what you expected. The idea in your head is never going to be exactly like the final product. It’s also always a weird feeling when you release something, because you work on it for so long and by the time other people have to relate to it, you’re already on to the next thing in your own head. I’m glad that people can enjoy the album now, but I don’t like to dwell too much on what we’ve done. I want to keep looking forward.
