Self taught musician Moddi aka Pål Moddi Knutsen has released a new live EP. ‘Live at Jakob Church of Culture’ is out this week via Propeller Recordings from which we have a video premiere for Rubbles which you can watch below:
The live EP came about as Moddi started to reverse his songwriting process. Previously his main challenge was transforming bedroom-born songs into stage-ready creatures. This time he pared back the band, trimmed the instruments in use, shrank the production until only the bare bones were left. The result was magical, Moddi says: “All of a sudden, the songs sounded like they did the moment they were born. Only the lyrics, the stories and the bare melodies that sparked the ideas were left.”
He set off on tour, presenting the songs as they were when he first imagined them, to audiences across Europe and decided to record his Oslo show for an EP.
For each track off the EP, there is a corresponding video from the show at Jakob Church; as you can see from the video above they give a sense of how powerful a performer Moddi is.
Originally from the tiny island Senja in northern Norway, Moddi has released three albums (‘Set The House on Fire’, ‘Floriography’ & ‘Kæm va du?’), the latter winning him a Norwegian Grammy after being nominated for four in total, the highest number of nominations ever in Norway. The live EP features new versions of tracks from his past releases. Moddi sings in English as well as his mother tongue (on the bonus track) and plays the accordion and guitar thoroughout.
Following on from two sold out shows at London’s St Pancras Church and alongside the new EP, Moddi will return in October for his first, albeit bijou, UK tour. Having recently started playing live as a duo, he is joined by Katrine Schiøtt on cello. Fans can expect a completely new and highly intimate performance.
Tour Dates
6th Oct – The Castle, Manchester
7th Oct – The Boileroom, Guildford
8th Oct – Komedia Studio Bar, Brighton
9th Oct – The Old Queens Head, London
10th Oct – 99 Mary Street, Sheffield
11th Oct – Tigmus, Oxford
Additionally, earlier this year, Moddi completed a tour of Europe travelling only via train using an InterRail pass. Reflecting his passion and campaigning for sustainable energy, he previously turned down a €100,000 grant by Norwegian Statoil protesting over their drilling in the North of Norway. “We live in a world which isn’t anywhere near sustainable, and one of the biggest psychological barriers is the notion that everything should be privately owned, driven or carried out. I use public transport whenever it is possible, and the more people that do this, the better the service will be for everyone.”