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Paper has always been a big fan of Ralph Myerz since he first came onto our radar on the Wall of Sound presents Tellé compilation in 2001 and we were thrilled when he accepted our invitation to contribute to The Sound of Norway in 20210. Since then, he has been part of the Paper family, doing us numerous EPS and remixes all with that deep Myerz funkyness.
On The Paper Years we have gathered them all in one place, and thought it the perfect time to put his feet to the fire and ask a few questions. Read on….
What have you been up to in the last few years since your last EP on Paper?
Besides looking after my ever expanding stamp collection, name dropping, working for world peace, solving the climate crisis, writing self help books, time travelling and teaching cats to fly I’ve been busy working on my new album.
It has taken me quite some time to piece it all together. I’m super excited about the guests on this album and I had songs specifically tailored to each vocalist so it took some time to get this awesome ensemble together.
I couldn’t really find that many albums that dwell in the trippydubbyhiphopdiscosphere with strictly female vocalists x musicians so I figured why not make one! The main reason, however, is that I´m ridiculously lucky to have the opportunity to make music with such amazing musicians. Humble & forever grateful for all the contributions to this project.
Also, I was pronounced dead at some point so that’s been taking some time to refresh from. Urge you all to inform yourselves on septic shock and be aware of its existence. I got to experience it in full bloom due to a mishap during a standard procedure as a surgeon lost a 3 inch screw inside my ankle.
Those pesky football injuries are the worst!
I can not stress enough that death is very overrated and makes it almost impossible to make decent music. So if you can avoid it, PLEASE do. Do not recommend, 0/10. SAD!
The part where you relive your life as a movie was pretty cool though, but not worth the journey.
That being said, I was thinking of calling my new album “Resurrection” but thought some might be offended by that name and that it was a little distasteful so renamed it “The Complex Messiah”.
To be honest though it’s actually called “The Crest & Trough” which describes the highs and lows of waves whether it be in the sea, in sound or the waves of life itself. The Crest is the highest point of a wave while the Trough is the lowest point of a wave and that’s all I’m going to say about this! Thank you for your attention to this matter!
How’s the Norwegian scene at the moment?
Feels like there’s a new quality act popping up every day, and the veterans keep on delivering the goods. I really rate Lakeshouse, Third Attempt, Kim Dürbeck, Hanne Hukkelberg, Hanne Kolstø, Therese Lunde, Sonifer, Sandra Kolstad, Charlotte Bendiks as well as the downtempo spacebiz by Vesle.
Pllanor is an amazing DJ and producer. And pretty much the definition of someone who loves house music. My track “Acid 4 Eddie” is dedicated to him. His wife Carina is also so good at dj´ing that I would never dare to go on after her.
Every Susanne Sundfør album is an event and of course Røyksopp never disappoints live & on record.
There’s a lot of extremely good DJ´s in Bergen (and Oslo of course!) that take their craft seriously and a lot of them play surprisingly strange underground sounds which I like. Also shout out Yula Meskalin and the Drum N Bass scene in Bergen. DnB has always had a strong following in Bergen thanks to TeeBee and some of the new cats have great taste.
Heatwaves is a FANTASTIC band that everybody should check out. Did a few live sessions with them and a few others that will be released next year. Martin Smoge is one of the best new producers so I am always looking forward to hearing his music.
Is the Jack Herren Band on ice?
Yes, the spectacular musical Jack Herren Band On Ice will soon be released on VHS.
Just kidding! There will be a Laser Disc as well!
It was a lot of fun to travel all over the world and do shows. Have some fantastic memories from pretty much every country on earth and met some amazing people on my travels. But…there is always a but! And we should be grateful for buts!
As much as it’s humbling and just a tremendous kick to see all these people enjoying my music it’s also very hard work. We travelled so much it was borderline dangerous and definitely ridiculous. No HR! Doing 3 gigs in the Netherlands in one day is stretching it a bit and that was the easy part of the tour. In Rock School they don’t teach you about trading success for sleep! I’m all for putting in work but I don’t think people realise how much work that goes into touring if you really do it 24/7 – 365.
As the circus grew bigger I felt it was harder to get time to make music even though there were great studios around the world and even possible to record on the bus. And I just can’t not make music. If three days go by without any music being made I feel weird!
Also felt I drifted a bit away from my musical roots at times kinda giving into what worked live which of course always will be higher tempos and lots of bass & percussion. Both are great and I love it, but if I have to choose I prefer to make weirder, mellower music and actual songs with vocalists and take the occasional dip into the dance floor. I also started to do quite a lot of producing for rap artists in Los Angeles & New York and moved over there for a bit. It’s because of this you can hear Nipsey Hussle on the dj mix. Rest in peace Nipsey Hussle. His voice will echo for eternity. Something that almost became instantly true as I forgot to turn off my Space Echo while working with the spacey adlibs on the mixtape.
So more or less a classic story of wanting to explore different genres and to write for others. Producing for others is great as they have to do all the travelling and I can just jump on board here and there! And I of course still DJ a lot!
But! : ) There will actually be a few live shows with the new album so look out for Kosmik Diamondz which is my new band. The main difference is that this one got a lot of vocalists instead of being strictly an instru-mental band. Still lots of percussion & bass though!
There might be a reunion at some point, but the world has just survived the Oasis chaos so I’m just being considerate as I think a reunion at this point in time would be too much to handle for the world.
I would like to take the opportunity to big up everyone who came to the shows and showed love. Good times!
You sent us a load of brilliant tracks a few years ago, did they get released?
Well, thank you! Truly appreciated. With a few remix exceptions I’ve saved it all for next year.
In 2026 there will be two new albums as well as a bunch of singles & EPs. There will be the before-mentioned main event with songs diving deep into my roots of early 90s hip hop and deep disco but certainly with a catchy edge. Really enjoy making catchy tunes, man! I feel the catchier the tune, the weirder you can get with the production.
I’ve been working on this album for over 5 years and especially the last year has been 100% dedicated to the final brushes. It’s been taking a little longer than anticipated due to the health setback, but to be honest it probably would have taken longer without it as it forced me to take it easy and just be in the studio.
It’s important to let songs marinate and see if they still hold up as I’m very particular with the vocalist for each song. Sometimes it takes some time to get it right. I’d rather work a bit more and get it as close to right as possible than be half happy with something and have regrets when listening to it 5 years down the line.
I like to record playing a bunch of stuff and then treat it like a sample. Probably not a mind-blowing technique but I’ve been taking it a step further with pressing vinyls with my drums / breakbeats & some of the other stuff and then sample the vinyl.
This takes a time to do and it’s not really something that the listener would necessarily pick up on, but I think it gives the sound a bit less polished vibe that’s a bit hard to achieve in a digital world of AI´s.
I like to believe it has added a little spice to both albums. Unfortunately, this way of doing things does not save a bad song from being bad, so there’s always that.
What did it feel like listening back to the compilation?
First thought is that I remember vividly playing a lot of Paper releases when I first started DJ’ing, so this is an actual dream coming through. The 16 year old me would not have believed it! I used to import Paper releases when working in a record store so this has come full circle in so many ways.
Hearing Kahuun & Bjørn Torske playing Cut A Rug had a profound impact on me and influenced me a lot. Let’s not forget about Papermusic Issue One!
I started as a hip hop dj x producer (with a brief stint in Jungle around 95!) because I liked a lot of the instrumentals and through digging for the samples in early New York rap I learned a lot about other genres like disco, funk, soul & jazz.
West coast rap had a different summery feel to it with more live instrumentation like keys, bass & talk box. First Outkast album also did their version of this, and I just loved that album. The Paper releases kinda had those vibes, but in a house setting, and that immediately clicked for me. These days, I don’t go anywhere without a talk box!
I actually had quite a few sessions with Organised Noize in Stankonia, Atlanta for my new albums which was a beautiful experience. Rest in peace Rico Wade.
It sure felt good to hear the compilation and it was a true trip down memory lane.
Was very, very nice to visit these traxx again as each one of these has a special story attached to it. Remember all the sessions except Hello Space! Have no idea how that came about! Not a single memory. It might have been an actual transmission from space.
I have to say I’m truly thankful for experiencing these traxx again. Had a blast figuring out the best sequence to play these traxx. I usually play a lot of these in my sets, but never all at once so it was kinda beautiful to get back to these songs and reminisce about how they were made. Also, Texas gangsta Queen the Vibe Surge joined me, dropping words of wisdom & super good vibes.
Any ones you particularly like?
Really like My Dream Queen because that one involves me painting a picture for a charity auction that I then had to buy back aka win said auction to stop it from ever seeing the light! I’m not exactly Banksy.
And it’s got the brilliant Egil Olsen on vocal duties which always turns out good.
The Magic Of You was made in the apartment turned studio I had in Berkeley, sunny California so that track will always be a bit special. And of course because it has my patented belly claps!
Michigan was fantastic to work with because it was the first track I did with Ryan James aka Man Without Country. Everybody should check him out asap! Met him through Røyksopp and just hit it off musically straight away. Shoutout T&S!
It was also awesome to hear Skream play Lett Sommermat and talk about Norway’s most famous TV chef which was the inspiration for the track.
And it’s always a blast to work with the amazing Nomi Ruiz. There will be more music with her coming next year. Promise the new stuff will be a lot less explicit! We just really dig that Peter Rauhofer track Diva and wanted to do a raunchy version of that. We both like that side of the 90s New York house, but are more into the After Hours mix compilation then the full on tribal stuff.
The Flash Atkins remix is also special as it has almost all of the music scene in Bergen on percussion duties. There were about a million people in a small room with a million things to bang on. From rappers to black metal folks and everything in between. Good vibes caught on tape! Like a Kardashian video, only with music.
The DJ mix is brilliant, can you talk us through it?
Thank you so much!
Well, as The Vibe Surge points out, it’s a musical, intergalactic journey through time and space.
It was recorded in a small club at a secret club night in Bergen because I just feel I mix a little better and think a bit differently with the reaction from a crowd. The brave people of Bergen had to endure almost 2 hours of my music, but they were dancing so I think it went ok! And! I hope that vibe translates into the listeners headphones.
It starts kinda deep, spacey & very vibey and then slowly goes into more hypnotic dance floor grooves. I always try to make a very specific atmosphere with the sequencing and spend a lot of time preparing my sets so they musically fit together and create new vibes.
And! It got some VERY exclusive previews of brand new traxx from next year’s releases. There’s actually five new tracks popping up in the middle! So if you like those there will be a lot more dropping next year. The most honest response to new songs you will ever get is from a dance floor. It’s always great to see how the dancers respond and to figure out what could be done better. This works best in a phone-free setting, btw. With phones people seem to think everything is great and needs to be filmed so I find it a bit harder to track real excitement.
What’s coming up for you?
My tour “Why die when you could wi fi? Because fi” will be coming to a city next year!
2026 will be busy as I’m finally releasing all the music I’ve been working on for the last 5 years.
I was recognised as an “artist” doing “art” by the Government of Norway, which is both absurd and wonderful, and I got some very cool funding to develop my art further, which I think I’ve managed to do! The results will be presented in the spring next year!
I prefer to have some sort of thread through my work and release it in bulks. For me there’s a special vibe attached to certain songs due to life events or the vibe in the studio at a certain time and I like to present the songs that have similar vibes at the same time.
So there will be Ralph Myerz – “The Crest & Trough” with an all stars team on vocal duties and lots of singles & remixes. This album is very special to me and is all about songwriting put into a weird & wonderful world of echo & reverb with a mix of instruments & samples.
There’s some songs on this one I’m very fond of and just the process of making this album has been dreamlike. I feel it’s something I’ve always tried to do, but didn’t have the knowledge or skills to do before now.
Later in the year there will be another album with very dub influenced instrumentals with lots of breakbeats will also drop next year. It’s kinda like an updated version of A Special Album. Lots of echo biz over downtempo, mystical beats. Been working with a lot of the same techniques & equipment used on A Special Album so there will be MPCz, weird synths and weird samples hooking up with Echoplex & Binson echoes for a late night snack!
The album format is very important to me so it’s natural for me to drop albums and then singles with a bunch of remixes. But! That being said, there will be quite a few singles next year as I’m doing a few side projects.
One of them is The Missing Cats with One Half Of Bent aka the incredible Simon Mills. Very excited about this. We are going both deep and left field with this one as well as catering for those of you who are cats. We have a lot of the same inspiration source, started out around the same time and there’s definitely similarities between our sound, so I think the combination will give the world some beautiful music.
Speaking of cats there will also be another side project that is a spaced out version of Digable Planets. This has been in the works for some time now and next year will see the first releases from this project.
My label, Crucial Things, is also busy with releases from locally sourced artists, mostly from Bergen. Shoutout Empire for giving me the opportunity!
A little exclusive for you is that I’m writing for a TV show that might have universal appeal… :0)
What’s your favourite Norwegian record?! (*we’re seeing if it’s changed in the 10 years since Northern Disco Lights*)
Now, that’s a tough one! And you can’t expect me to remember ten years back. But right now it’s Song For Annie or anything by Erot really.