Surrender, his debut album, which was released earlier this year, marked an important phase for the Oslo-born queer saxophonist, producer and performance artist, not only because he went through a long route to redefine the impact of his creative input, but also the entire way in which he used to conceive his immediate cultural environment changed when a crucial encounter with Berlin’s underground music scene exposed him to dance and electronica’s experimental tradition.
Alongside production abilities provided by fellow Norwegian-born, Berlin-based musician Amund Ulvestad, Giske nested a new directed sound adapted for saxophone-logics, a full transformation to unwrap the core of acoustic absorption in his own terms, liberating his palette from the saturation of heavily processed audio mixing and simultaneously introducing him to a renewed and magnified lungs extroversion.
This project unlocked a plethora of unexpected potentialities, meanings and collaborations for Giske – his latest developments include an impeccable onstage energy enriched with reciprocity, vulnerable performance experiences, a constant sculpting technique on sonic matter and the urgency to question masculinity through queer discourses.
I met Bendik prior to his last live show of the year. We had a conversation that evolved into a thoughtful session to explore archival memories. For this interview, he maintains a sharp approach on the origins of his practice, the purpose of the recording sessions for Surrender, emotional attachment in live performances, the empathic power of circular breathing, the non-materialized Surrender twin album, exploring mutual intuition with Shiaz Legz, and the use of voice as a future treatment for his next projects.