Amsterdam’s own artist Just Big Hills delivers a trip-hop-infused downtempo piece titled Brocken Spectre featuring serene guitar arpeggios, cinematic synth sounds and an enthralling melancholic ambiance. Read our discussion below!
Describe your sound in 3 words
Melancholic, soothing, organic
Tell us a few things about Brocken Spectre. What is the main idea behind it?
The main idea for Brocken Spectre came out of a school assignment last year when I was studying at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. We had one hour to make a beat that had to represent our personal sound. Before I started recording I wrote down what makes Just Big Hills, Just Big Hills? And immediately knew that it’s all about mellow guitars, melancholic harmonies with a touch of dissonance, organic and broken beats and topped off with soothing synths. So with that in mind I started recording the guitars, synths and programmed the beats and after one hour had the main idea of this song finished! Most of the time when I’m making music it’s a reflection of how I’m feeling at that specific moment. This being in the middle of the lockdown filled with online lessons and endlessly sitting in my room I recall feeling hopeless and melancholic about the whole situation and I think this feeling really shines through in the song.
What motivated you to explore a different musical style for this single and upcoming album, moving away from your previous lo-fi hip hop sound?
I’d say time was the motivation! I’ve always been a very transient person when it comes to listening and making music. Back when I was still making more lo-fi music, I was also actively listening to the genre but as time moved on new music came into my life. Moving to Amsterdam and studying among some great producers all in different genre’s opened my world as well. For the bigger part of my life I’ve listened to Trip Hop, IDM and more experimental stuff but being in the inspiring environment of my study really compelled me to chase after those sounds more and stick less to the lofi sound I was staying in before, partly because of successes of previous releases. Also seeing producers like Quickly, Quickly and Imagiro stray away from the genre and go after their more personal sound motivated me to do the same.
Can you elaborate on the themes of growth, hopelessness, feelings of liminality, and human connections that will be explored in your upcoming album?
It’s everything that I’ve felt these last two years. I started working on my album two years ago and I’d like to call it a compilation of all emotions present in this period. The lockdowns had a big part of the liminal and hopeless feelings, the album is not necessarily about the lockdowns cause I think that’s becoming a bit cliché now haha, but yeah it played a part in why I was feeling that way and music being a reflection of that. The theme of growth is due to me moving away from my parents place to Amsterdam, growing up and learning so many new things about myself. I started seeing that the more time passes by, the more I see my life taking shape. And I’d even like to say that if you compare my album to my older releases you can hear that the sound became more mature as well. The human connection is about meeting new people in my life and me and my friends making the best of the situations we were in. Something that really helped my stay sane in the lockdowns.
Artists and people that have influenced you?
Main influences for the current album I’d say are Boards of Canda, Mid-Air Thief, Radiohead, Quickly. Quickly, Shlohmo, Floating Points, Leon Vynehall and Vegyn.
What do you love/hate about Amsterdam?
What I really like about Amsterdam is the underground music scene. You have clubs like Garage Noord where you can dance to world music, breaktbeat, noise and all of those combined. Something that I really like cause I’m getting super sick of basic techno and house haha. Amsterdam is just a very nice hub for experimental artists and music. Something that I was really missing in my hometown. In that regard there is a lot to see and do. What I dislike about the city is how crazy expensive life is getting here. It’s feels more and more as if this city is being tailored for rich people and you have a lot of nice neighborhoods losing their “identity” cause of this. And even though the city has some very nice parks and green spots I do really miss being in proper nature. And that is something that my hometown of Arnhem has, and also the reason I really enjoy getting back there every now and then!
If the music of Just Big Hills was a film, which film would that be?
Definitely the movie First Reformed by Paul Schrader. This movie tackles themes of Climate Depression and hopeless in an amazing way. I saw this movie when I was in the peak of those emotions myself and it really resonated with me. I’d say that at least three songs from the album are inspired by that movie.
What is the story behind your name?
This story is really not as exciting as some people might expect haha! As a kid I once asked my father if there were mountains in Sweden and he jokingly answered: “No, just big hills!”. A few years later, I made some demo’s and uploaded them to Soundcloud but needed an artist name and for some weird reason my father’s sentence jumped back into my head and I went for it. I’m still very happy with the name. I think it’s unique and a little bit mysterious. If people were expecting more behind my name, I’m sorry to disappoint haha. I remember seeing some comments on my youtube videos saying that “his problem’s aren’t mountains but just big hills” so I guess that’s a nice quote to drop every now and then!
Thank you!
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