Alex (Alexander) Zethson is a Swedish pianist, keyboardist, and composer active in contemporary jazz, improvised, and experimental music. Based in Stockholm, he is a long-standing member of ensembles including Angles (notably Angles 9 and related iterations), Goran Kajfeš Tropiques, Fire! Orchestra, Je Suis!, VÖ, and Yokada, and can also be heard in collaborations with artists such as Sven Wunder and Mariam the Believer. Zethson performs frequently as a solo artist and works across a wide range of acoustic and electronic contexts. In addition to his performance and compositional work, he is a concert organiser and runs the Thanatosis Produktion record label. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he earned degrees in jazz performance.

How would you describe music?

My music explores various forms of post-minimalist expressions. It's usually suggestive, sometimes drone-y, sometimes percussive, and often unfolds over fairly long durations. Improvisation has an important part in it, I'm trying to follow the sounds, their details and where they lead, though the overall form is usually carved out in advance. I'm also writing more fixed compositions, for solo piano and for jazz combos.

What is your relationship to music?

The question sort of creates a separation of me and music which I cannot quite relate to. I cannot imagine myself without music, it's a part of me, as I see it. I'm constantly listening to the world, thinking in sound, thinking about music. Musical experiences and desires have guided my life and are at the core of the ever-changing contexts in which I exist. Seeing life as a musical score has been a strategy for me in dealing and coping with things in general, while-vice versa-"non-musical" aspects constantly leak into the sonic sphere. The state of mind that music takes me to, where everything is connected and where great, strange forces are in play, is something I try to expand to everyday life. Music for me is a manifestation of the inexplicable mystery of life and being, while it also has a very direct, concrete meaning for me physically, emotionally, mentally.

What draws you to the instrument(s) you play, and/or to composing?

I started playing piano at three, quite by chance, so after 34 years it's where I feel at home (even though I'd love to learn new instruments). Playing piano helps me connect with my body and it always gives a chance to challenge my muscular habits, levels of sensitivity and motoric capabilities.

It seems like my compositions sound like they do mainly because of a desire to experience meditative states where I, as a subject, am being destabilised and where collective interplay is made possible. And I'm in search for a combination of sounds I haven't heard before, and new approaches to well-established musical idioms. Obviously, it's not about creating something entirely new but to find elements that somehow push the idioms.

Currently I'm dreaming of two projects that diverge a bit from my previous works: one is to write songs and lyrics and sing (in order to integrate ideas, sound and my bodily instrument-the voice-more directly); the other is a musique concrète piece. Regarding the latter, I'm very intrigued about how sounds other than from musical instruments carry so much character, energy, also how they can also be attached to memory, and I am curious to discover what happens when combining them and see how they affect each other and what unsuspected synergies could be created. Both these project ideas are probably rooted in an urge to try to make a somewhat more personal and intimate music that could reflect more parts of me. Sometimes "just" playing piano or writing for other instrumentalists can feel a bit limited. Could I make pieces of music that would contain more aspects of me, my history, my thoughts, my approaches to sound; could it also teach me about new things I wasn't aware of?

What deceased performer(s), improviser(s), or composer(s) would you most like to have a conversation with?

I love the music of Federico Mompou but I haven't made any research on him really. Listening to his piano music I get very curious about his approaches to sound and harmony, and also about his relationship to western classical music. It seems like he didn't need to prove anything, that he was a "great composer" or such. It seems to me like he just cared about writing pieces that was meaningful and true to himself. And that's when music really reaches me and touches me. It would be interesting to talk to him and how he related to other composers and other music. To me it sounds much like his music comes from him sitting at the piano, but I'm curious in what senses things outside the strictly musical sphere inspired him. To me he's a very unique composer.

What musician most influenced your approach to music?

There have been so many, at different stages in my musical process. Teachers in school, colleagues and long-time band mates. One that has remained a central role for me is saxophonist Johan Jutterström, whom I play with in a duo, since 2007. I love talking about music with him, he always makes me think in new ways, and automatically, via his own integrity, pushes me to clarify my own approach. Other important, dialogue-partners for me are Heida Mobeck and Christer Bothén. Being able to discuss music in open and critical ways is crucial for me. But of course, sometimes words aren't needed, just listening and/or playing with someone with a strong musical integrity can be as enriching and clarifying as a deep conversation in words or text.

Who or what influences you most outside of music?

Being a thinking and feeling body together with the world is quite inspiring. Everything influences. Relations. Travelling to new places usually heightens my awareness-level and make ideas flow vividly; but the same thing can happen while being still or following routines. Literature is a constant inspiration as well and from time to time I watch movies. In literature and usually get bored with stories, but in films I generally tend to enjoy the mix of a good plot and poetic footage. Brilliant imagery only isn't enough for me anymore

What advice would you give to a young musician entering your field?

Find out what you like, nurture whatever you are drawn to, without judging. Study people from the past that seemed to have had similar interests. There are also things to learn from the things you might not love instantly. Dive into traditions and learn from them and don't be afraid to copy and imitate but remember that there's always unique aspects of you. Don't force sticking to a narrow musical path, be open and trust that your specificity will be distilled over time. It's okay to enjoy seemingly different or contrasting things. Work with lots of different aspects of the music scene, not only playing (though keep playing at the core!). Those are a few things I'd like to have heard when I was 17!

What do you hope audiences take away from experiencing your music?

A sense of peace and raised energy. I want my music to be a gift to the ones listening, not something that sucks energy from them. First time I saw a Rothko painting I had this sensation of a very generous art, something that wasn't forced upon the spectator, it was more an open invitation. That experience is something I want to share with my music. I want to make music that can have a softening and at the same time sharpening effect. If it can also raise productive questions-great.

Where are you currently located or musically associated with?

I'm based in Stockholm, Sweden. Besides my own projects I'm playing with bands such as Angles, Goran Kajfes Tropiques, Fire! Orchestra, Dennis Egberth Dynasty, Vilhelm Bromander Unfolding Orchestra as well as acts like Sven Wunder, Mariam the Believer and Amanda Bergman. I have two new trios; one with Clara Levy and Fanny Meteier, one with Samuel Ber and Benjamin Duboc.

What is your musical education or background?

I have a bachelor from the jazz program 2006-2009 and a master degree (2015-2017), both from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

Among my piano teachers are Conny Karlsson, Daniel Nolgård, Ove Lundin, Sten Sandell and Kristine Scholz. I am a huge fan of various strands of Senegalese music and have studied keyboard within mbalax music with Ibou Mbaye and Serigne Gueye Zeus.

What is your favorite recording by another musician or group?

One favorite recording, that one is just impossible.

But D'Angelo's Voodoo certainly has many ingredients I find crucial for great music and a great record; intriguing timing, organic dynamics, openness, distinctness, stringency, playfulness, edginess, and a sound that feels like being in the room where it happened but with the sounds slightly more detailed.

What is your favorite recording that you have made?

I'm still happy about my first solo album "pole of inaccessibility", it was kind of first time I followed and developed a quite specific idea rather thoroughly, so it was important in that sense. When it was done, I felt that it didn't matter what anyone thought of it because I felt I had really done my best, I think it was the first time I really had had that experience. It was liberating.

I'm very proud of being part of a forthcoming album with Gustav Rådström, on it, I think he's carved out a quite unique and relevant form of jazz.

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