Music Interview: Hipster Pug

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Photo: Hipster Pug

We were lucky enough to catch up with Hipster Pug, following the brilliant release, ‘Signal From The Universe‘. Enjoy the full interview below!

Hi Tom (Hipster Pug), what is your earliest music memory?

Hello, that’s a very interesting first question. There is not really one memory; I have a lot of songs that were or are important to me in my life, and listening to certain songs brings me back to that moment. So, I have a lot of music memories, and music has always been important in my life.

Who influenced your brilliant latest release, ‘Signal From The Universe’?

There are always a couple of ambient/neoclassical musicians who inspire me just because I love their sound and the way they make music Olafur Arnalds, Max Richter, Johan Johansson and Hania Rani are always the names that come up, but also Nils Frahm inspires me with a more Experimental sound.

But sometimes, you get inspired or influenced when you least expect it. For this album, I was also inspired by the structure for three parts by Wes Anderson. But I will tell you some more about that later.

‘Signal From The Universe’ has three parts; what was the thought process behind the arrangement?

Well, I have to thank Wes Anderson for this structure. Like I said earlier, this album started as an EP for a writing club challenge. I wanted to make an EP in a month.

After the challenge was over, I did not win, but I really liked some of the songs. I asked the label, and I released another EP I Made (Nouveau Chapitre) called Monochrome Motif Records to see if there was interest in releasing this EP. And there was interest, but I needed to add more songs.

That was the moment that I decided to make this in a full album I knew the story I wanted to tell but did not know how to tell this story for the album
At some point, I was watching some Wes Anderson movies (Astroid City and The French Dispatch). Both movies were built up in acts/parts that told a story from a character’s perspective, but the parts together made it into the full story for the film.

I decided if that works for a movie, then why shouldn’t it work for an album and that was the moment I knew how to make the album, and this became the parts of the album:

Act one – the signal, represents change.

Act two – the Cave of Memories is about letting go of the past and looking forward to what you would like.

Act three – new beginnings, the self-explanatory new start.

How does ‘Signal From The Universe’ differ from your 2020 Neon Noir album?

In 2020, I made the album Neon Noir because I knew I wanted to tell a more personal story, but I wanted it to be told in music without words, and it became a darker ambient album. This was also because the story I wanted to bring was to not be afraid and overcome your fears.

Now, with Signal From The Universe, I wanted to tell another personal story, but to be honest, I’m in a really better place now, and I think you can hear that back on the album.

This album starts a bit in the dark experimental style, but as the album goes on, it becomes more hopeful and light in the sounds, and that was important for me to make that change in sound. This album is about new beginnings, leaving the past in the past and looking forward to no longer looking back.

‘Signal From The Universe’ shifts in genre from experimental to ambient to neoclassical; which is your favourite?

Oh, Tough question. I love all the genres, but I have to go with the ambient/neoclassical part because I love how it worked out with the whole album.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Oh, I would love to make music with Olafur Arnalds (Or at least one song)
I think my whole neoclassical music adventure started thanks to him. I was in a music store once and heard his music.

This is how I discovered the genre of music and a lot of great neoclassical musicians, and even now, I have discovered a lot of great neoclassical music
another artist I would love to work with would be Nils Frahm because he makes amazing music, and every song sounds unique.

Other than music, what are you passionate about?

There is a lot that I find really interesting, but I would love to focus on writing a book or making a movie. But for now, I’m busy enough with music, but I would love to give that a try in the future. However, I might go for writing first then, haha.

What changes would you like to see in the music business?

I would love to see more opportunities for independent artists or for small labels. Being a musician can sometimes feel as if you do not get very far because it can take years to be heard or discovered.

When I started making music, I had moments of doubt because I did not get a lot of listeners, but I knew that I would become better if I kept working on my music.

I kept keeping goals to reach and believe it or not every goal I made for myself till now I have achieved so what I want to say with this is: Keep doing what you love and believe in your own talent because you know what you can reach. Keep (small) goals for yourself to see growth and progress in your music.

What would it be if you could choose one thing for fans to take away from your music?

I always hope that fans of the music can relate to the music or have their own story with the songs. And it would mean a lot to me if it helped people who were going through difficulties. I found out that making music but also listening to music can heal a lot and help you a lot with difficult times.

Have you started working on your next release?

Haha, not yet, but there are already a lot of ideas, and I think I know what I will do next. Cannot tell when the next release will be out, but I like to work on an EP next instead of an album