Music Profile | Dinner

There's a certain feeling that you only get in dreams, where things are familiar but somehow off. You're in your apartment, but your closet isn't where it usually is, and your kitchen is a whole lot nicer. You're at work, but work is in the Swiss Alps for some reason. The interesting thing about this phenomenon is that, without fail, these unfamiliar and unsettling changes are somehow comfortable in the realm of dreams. It's historical revisionism.

Listening to Dinner's Psychic Lovers is a similar experience. Shades of Brian Eno and David Lynch dance across a synthpop canvas in ways that are new, lively, and sometimes sinister, but somehow always familiar and grounded. Your closet isn't where it usually is, and all your dress shirts have been replaced by Zorro masks, but you're okay with it. There's a lot to delve into on Psychic Lovers, so we asked Dinner a few questions to help guide your listening experience and get to know the mind behind the record a bit better.

Does your interest in guided meditation and hypnosis inform anything specific on Psychic Lovers? Given the title, it seems like that is the case, but are there any specific parts of songs that were informed by your training in that area?

Good question. The overall theme in the lyrics is about communion with the divine. About various aspects of this process. About doubts and passion and hope. So, in that regard, it’s the same as a guided meditation. The focus is on transcending.

You're a nomadic guy, splitting time between Los Angeles, Berlin, and Copenhagen -- all cities with amazing roads. Your album strikes me as one that is meant to be listened to at 3 AM on an open road while wearing aviator sunglasses. What type of car and road would you recommend while listening to Psychic Lovers?

3AM, driving a battered convertible (any car brand will do) alongside the French Riviera. No socks in your shoes. Shirt buttoned down somewhat. Stop by the ocean somewhere, get out of the car, leave the car stereo playing, share a cigarette with someone you’re in love with (even if that’s only someone you’re in love with that one night).

Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?

I do. I heard the sound of a ghost bell two nights in a row last week. Pretty weird. It came from nowhere (not from the outside, not from anywhere in the house). I tried to record it but only got background noise.

Though it is, at heart, a synth-pop album, Psychic Lovers is an intensely emotional, longing album. Have you ever cried listening to music? If so, what songs, and how embarrassed were you?

Thank you, I’m glad you had that experience. I often cry when I watch movies on airplanes. Does that count?

What did you have for dinner yesterday?

Chicken, white bread, a glass of milk, white asparagus. I’m going through a Satie phase - I only eat food that’s white.

Photo credit: Mette Hersoug