Windermere

2004 The World Is Here (I-Wave records)
2006 No One Wins (I-Wave records)


Joining forces
Initially the idea was to join two bands and their different approach towards progressive music. One, Maroc Seven, was based on traditions from the British indie scene. The other, Windermere, was a dark triphop-like project with different members. When these two bands joined forces a mix of the different genres rised and is now the base of contemporary Windermere - the name which was maintained for this new band. Since 2001 Windermere have built up a unique image creating sound that is normally categorized as space rock.

Before Windermere - Maroc Seven
In 1992 in the town Viborg Thomas joined Hans’s band, Moralize, in which the latter played guitar and did the vocals. Together they found inspiration in the British new wave scene where bands such as Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and The Frank and Walters knocked about. Around 1995 Thomas’s friend for some years, Jakob, entered the band as a bassplayer. Later on Jakob and Hans switched and Jakob started singing. The band name was changed to Maroc Seven. This name came from The Shadows’ very cool soundtrack for the film Maroc Seven from 1967. From 1995 until Thomas moved to Copenhagen in late 1997 they refined their sound, not the least because of the presence of the violin player Louise. Her playing - and singing - was really needed and the songs became more delicate and well written.

Before Windermere - Copenhagen
In Copenhagen Jakob, Hans and Thomas finally gathered in 1999. They were all studying here and decided to go on to fulfil their ambitions of going somewhere with the music. Thomas had played with another band (called Candia Royale) for two years and wanted to return to Maroc Seven to the resentment of the band he left behind. For the next two years Jakob, Hans and Thomas tried to reform what they had left back in Viborg but it was hard to find a way out of the lack of inspiration. But one day in 2000 Thomas was contacted by a fellow student’s boyfriend, Kim. He needed a drummer for his project, Windermere, and Thomas decided to try it out. Nothing really came out of it this time. However, Kim and Thomas ocationally met at a party later on and they started to form the idea of joining the two bands. Shortly after it happened but Hans had left for America so Windermere was a trio the first year. The first shows were played and when Hans returned there was enough songs to record a proper demo. From there Windermere just continued to develop the incredible live sound and write songs for the debut album, “The World is Here”.

The sound of Windermere
To create the special and ambient-noisy sound of Windermere the band members sometimes have a somewhat different approach to playing on their respective instruments. Kim as a songwriter, guitarist and keyboardplayer combines effects from both keyboard and sequencing machines with the warm and dusty sound of an old tube amplifier. Hans (guitar) and Jakob (bass and vocal) eventually use a bow on their strings to evoke an ambient atmosphere in the music. Thomas plays the drums, not with power and restlessness, but with a laid back stylistic approach that matches the soundscapes of both guitars and backing tracks.

Songwriting
These mentioned backing tracks used to be the core of the songwriting when Windermere formed. The electronic approach of the early Windermere was based on this songwriting technique. Kim recorded the (almost) complete song and brought it into the rehearsal room. Here the song was played almost like it was meant to be. And often with a lot of the recorded material as ambient and electronica-like backing tracks. The past year this approach to songwriting has changed. After the band recorded the debut album, “The World is Here”, new songs are written in the rehearsal room in a kind of democratic process with inputs from all band members.