Hi! My name is Knut Olai.
I run Pladask Elektrisk,
located in Bergen, Norway.
www.pladaskelektrisk.com

How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place?

I grew up in the countryside listening to Tom Waits and Rammstein through my father who played classical guitar. I started learning the electrical guitar in primary school after discovering Nirvana. I’ve never been very active as a musician in bands other than small low effort friend-projects. In high school, I was introduced to a lot of experimental music like The Residents, Animal Collective, more Tom Waits, Grouper, Sunn and Deerhunter which got me curious about the timbre and associations of music rather than the core melody and text. In my senior year I started experimenting with field recordings in Ableton Live and ended up applying for a Music Technology bachelor at NTNU. In Trondheim I got into noise music and DIY electronics through the concert series Klubb Kanin and PØKK. From time to time I will play a concert, but my main musical expression is through effect pedal design. My last concert project was a live electronics set where I played a sewing machine. These days I mostly play classical guitar which I guess is kinda ironic.

Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present?

Grouper, Sightings, Badalamenti/Lynch and Women for textures. Greenwood/Anderson, Daniel Rossen and Joanna Newsom for melody.

What led to the start of Pladask Elektrisk (and what does that mean, anyway)? How long have you been in business? How big is your operation/how many employees do you have?

At NTNU I focused my efforts on digital signal processing (DSP). I found that working creatively with technology presents a comfortable kind of framework inside which you’re allowed to operate. For me working with any kind of limitations is preferred as having too many options often presents too much doubt. Also the idea that what you want to achieve has a logical solution rooted in physics or syntax transforms the art realization process into an engineering puzzle. At university I became interested in guitar pedals and physical gear. I think a big reason for this is due to those properties; physical limitations and logical solutions.

I started Pladask in 2014 after finishing my bachelor degree. Pladask can mean something like “a big splash”, but can also mean “(to fall) head over heels”. My operation is quite small. I work full time with Pladask and have one employee helping out with pedal production and workshop teaching.

Did you have formal schooling, or are you self-taught? Take us through that story:

I learned psychoacoustics, signal processing and coding through university, but I am self-taught in electronics through online articles and forums. For anyone interested in learning electronics I’d highly recommend registering to the diystompboxes forum. I’ve found it to be a very knowledgeable and helpful community.

What drives you as far as new pedal creation is concerned? How long does it typically take for an idea to come full circle and become a demo pedal? What’s the process behind new gear, and the eventual release of it to the public?

Often designs evolve from investigating concepts that intrigue me. I’ve worked a lot with recursive systems (feedback), randomness/noise and granular synthesis. Other times a design might evolve from a sound or mood I find interesting. For instance, the idea for the Gjengangar gate delay came from listening to “Through the Panama” by Sightings (the title track is amazing) and Draume is in part inspired by “Twin Peaks The Return”. A pedal takes anywhere from a few months to years to complete.

It is important though to acknowledge that nothing is ever really complete. There will always be room for improvements that may present themselves further down the line. I think it’s good to be able to say “finished” and start planning production, release etc. Sometimes designs need long development periods in order for them to mature. To inform such longer design-process I’ve started doing quicker design cycles for limited projects where I allow myself to more freely play around with concepts (Bakfram & Falma projects). All my designs are in some way connected in that they build on discoveries and lessons learned from other design cycles.

What are some of the biggest concerns facing your profession today? Where do you see pedal building going in the future, especially amidst the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic?

Covid-19, global warming and far-right politics. I’m hopeful that a green economic shift with stronger regulations on emission, recycling and repairability will affect the motivations of businesses and the attitude of consumers. We’ve become accustomed to an unsustainable, wasteful lifestyles of excess promoted by an economy that expects infinite gains within a finite system.

Who are some of your favorite builders in the industry right now?

I’m very impressed by the DSP team at EHX with the synth emulators like the MEL9 and HOG. Malekko has a very interesting approach to pedals that seem informed by their work with synths/modular. And I think Fairfield Circuitry is one of the best creators at balancing accessibility and experimentation.

Name the last 5 records you listened to:

1. Thom Yorke – Anima
2. Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
3. Cindy Lee – What’s Tonight To Eternity
4. Stefan Meidell – Metrics
5. Xiu Xiu – Girl With Basket of Fruit

Klon hype: Love it or Hate it?

Perception is subjective and much like with food the presentation and reputation associated affects how we perceive it. That being said I have never tried the Klon myself so I really have no idea how it plays.

Any last comments, or anything you’d like to talk about?

I want to see pedals utilize convolutional neural networks for audio transformation!

Thanks so much to Knut for taking the time to answer some questions! Make sure to go check out www.pladaskelektrisk.com to peruse all of their gear – Cheers!

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