It is now 11 years ago since åge riisnes & sara jensen founded harlequins enigma back in 2008. harlequins enigma compose electronic music in multiple genres, & have gone more or less their own way as time went by. They have released numerous albums & singles in a variety of electronic genres. Since the beginning the music was composed at åge’s home studio. The fact that he got into spirituality along the way, helped him along the way to grow as a musician. He met among others edgar froese, jerome froese & klaus schulze spiritually & they functioned as time went by as mentors for åge, along with dave weckl & jan garbarek in a period that lasted a little over 2 years. The period ended in february 2010. The tangerine dream material can be heard on the td sound 1 & td sound 2 series. td sound 1 was reviewed by melissa nastasi at ariel publicity back in 2014, & rated the album 5 out of 5 stars. After edgar’s death, & åge’s brother ken’s death, klaus schulze remained as åge’s mentor & friend. Some nice singles like nicaragua canal & relief escort were made. åge’s mentors, family & sara jensen, sara q, katie leung & elin berge (åge’s cousin), was very supportive in harlequins enigma’s active period. åge has been laying ill for the last years, but the band is still active. some summer releases are out in 4 singles, & åge has released two 1 genre only albums this year called “raw tangent k” a rock compilation featuring the best extreme electro/rock/grunge material they produced, this in both of their active periods. the other album is a classical/newage compilation called “a diary”, also from both periods. harlequins enigma is a norvegian band & will never stand on stage, that was never their intention. åge is a composer & producer & has been managing harlequins enigma since the beginning. he reminds readers to check their music in their favourite way, either via youtube, spotify, or purchases via bandcamp, itunes, 7digital or google play.

raw tangent k streamable @ bandcamp: https://harlequinsenigma.bandcamp.com/album/raw-tangent-k

1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do music for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?

in my youth i had a kick for kim carnes, kate bush, gasolin, ultravox, richard clayderman, blondie, irene cara, barbara streisand, later in my years before starting
protracker on the amiga i heard bands like vangelis, j.m. jarre, king diamond, the clash, yes, metallica, iron maiden & other bands, so inspiration is top notch..
my role models might be kate bush, barbara streisand, king diamond still, but also the spiritual mentorship in later years made me grow fond of artist like edgar
froese, klaus schulze, kitaro, vangelis, jan garbarek, dave weckl, & also harlequins enigma co members: sara jensen, katie leung, elin berge (my cousin), sara q,
family.. many good friends to have.

2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then music-wise, what separates you from other musicians?

we in harlequins enigma is not overly polished, we have our own sound, maybe a bit simplistic.. i’m afraid as time passed i forgot alot & got ill.. but i always looked
up to vangelis & talvin singh for the moods they put me in. maybe some day we can do the same for others.

3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the kind of songs you write? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming a musician?

my life since 2008 the year me & sara jensen founded harlequins enigma, has been bits from past, present & visions into future. like phase 7 which is an ep we made,
where the phase lasted 3 days & i got blamed for something i had not done, where i found out in the end that people had tricked my mind into believing in things
that were untrue, & it had a psychological effect that created hard feelings for me over a longer period of time. the most difficult part was the composing process
that had obstacles via hackers – mind kind, also some disturbing problems with electronics with strange noises.

4.) How do you prepare yourself to write certain songs? What is your song-writing and recording process?

my song writing process has been blank mostly, if it wasn’t a klaus schulze coop, he always had alot of juice.. a bird was always there whispering..

5.) Unfortunately the music industry is full of talented individuals who just donít get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed?

we are an experimental creating electronic band, that don’t care much about styles’ ingredients, like a dance track that has this & that builddup, breaks,
it doesn’t make sense to make them all sound similar & do them over again. so i guess we make 10 sessions & were unlucky in half & pull 4 from the lot of 10, maybe
they wind up in a compilation. we did some reverbnation/soundout bronze reviews, & released a radio approved album called pale justice – natural beauty, they all
had a score from 5 to 6,7 – so i guess if you want to see something commercial that would be one way to hear us, but it really isn’t our best tracks.. some of them
are mostly approved by us on the contrary. but this example was the public vote.

6.) Would you rather be on a major label or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? In regards to the music industry itself, do you think that the traditional music industry model as we know it is dead?

i would like to stay multi genre based & gather compilatins in various styles over time. which we have allready. i think the radio music is good at times, but as long
as we don’t forget music as music, & not perfect rhythms & similar buildups that all sound the same. the 80’s was a really creative decade.

7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the music industry and how musicians are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s music industry if they’re not social media savvy?

i’m not sure, cause i’ve been messy since the start. i think you need some cash & not just a little, then you might be able to establish yourself via a pr company
like ariel publicity or muddy paw pr – i don’t mention it by chance, but in something that i ought to have done long time ago.

8.) Artists who try to make music for the general public and make more money are usually seen as sell-out. Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your music stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to sell-out?

yeah stay original – one day might be your day.

9.) What are the positives and negatives of the music industry? What is it about the music industry that makes some artists push forward? What do you think makes some artists quit?

artists that quit early might not have the experience they need, some artist quit maybe because it is so incrdible tough, a rough ride.. people can get ill. it is not
for all.

10.) With so many people online who are expressing their opinions on any and everything under the sun, how do you know when to take something as constructive criticism or when to see it as trolling?

well some people don’t seem to like me much, due to the fact that i am a medium, & had spiritual help from the froese family, schulze etc. – i tend to think it is
ignorance in these people, who don’t know the whole story, so i ignore them back.

11.) Most, if not, all musicians have those who have influenced their work in one way or another, but how important do you think having a mentor is?

froese, vangelis, schulze, garbarek, kitaro, weckl was an important thing to me & the fact that we did 8 bit protracker at the same time as 16 bit fl studio, made
the whole procss more exciting where some of the tracks were made in another way. i think both the mentors & the variety had a lot to do with our sound.

12.) In your opinion, what do you think the future of the music industry looks like? What trends do you see staying or going? What trends do you see possibly emerging and why?

well the dicoteques are always looking for a new sound, nowadays boinks wobble & squeak is not entirely my thing. i think some of todays disco is going away.
maybe back to roots again in disco that would be refreshing. it is a good solution sometimes. i think jarre, kraftwerk & yello did much for the electronic scene.
though my vocabulary for bands in the scene is minimal.

13.) Since we’re in a world of instant gratification nowadays, what would you say to the musicians out there who want instant recognition but don’t necessarily want to put in the hard work? How much of an investment is needed in order to truly see some sort of success?

i had 7 years of work in 8 bit with 17 hour days & 17 cups of coffee in my burn in time as a composer. there is no quick way, you need experience. so that’s what
i can recommend.

14.) What advice would you share with other artists who are trying to create something unique?

back in the protracker days i set up a theme like future city for example, & made lot of sub categories like aerocops, soundtrack theme, eagles nest etc.. this can
be one way in any theme to create a pile of songs. though harlequins enigma is mostly an instrumental band. later in my life i took on some poetry, which reminded
me of the theme setups in sound, just with words. + i also got into some photos that i set up to exisisting track of ours, this producing was also very interesting
along with the poetry.

15.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

i feel ill, so i will have to beat that somehow first.. 🙂