Lasse Passage
Photo Credit: Kim Jakobsen
Ditching his surname for the stage, Lasse Passage Nøsted is a free spirit. After dropping out of school in 2007, the artist traveled the world, hitting 5 continents and writing songs along the way. What transpired was his 2009 debut album If You Don’t Have Time To Cook, You Don’t Have Time To Live, which proved to be the start of an illustrious career. Using a healthy mix of lofi, pop, and folk, the singer/songwriter displays his widespread talent. Whether it’s the ethereal rock of Stop Making Sense and Start Making Success, Vol. 2’s “Skate Tape”, or the use of a single guitar on his upcoming album Sunwards, one thing is certain: The music is always good. We recently spoke with Lasse Passage about his music taste, advice he’s picked up, and more!
How did you start making music?
My father plays guitar and sings Scandinavian “chansons” so to speak (Bellman, Taube etc.) — and I grew up with those songs in our house. He’s very talented — even though that music was always just a passionate hobby for him. So with him as a role model, it was natural for me to pick up the guitar — though I didn’t start until I was 10 or 12 years old.
What is your favorite non-music activity?
Connecting with nature in various ways. Fishing, swimming and being out all day at sea makes me relax like no other activity. Or hiking in the mountains for a few days. These activities really sort out my head and feelings - much more efficiently than yoga or meditating (!)
What is your main source of inspiration when creating music?
On the one hand, technical aspects like the quality of a certain sound, an interesting production, songs with a weird form, or unexpected chords - all that can inspire me in a musical way. But somehow those things appeal more to the analytical side of my music making. When I write a song with lyrics, it’s usually an emotional trigger that makes it necessary for me to finish the song. Something has probably provoked me in one way or another - to the point where I need to process that experience or figure out what it is. So when I write songs, the most important element is the latter, even though it’s a bonus when it’s possible to combine it with the first.
What is your favorite era of music?
20th century for sure; so much juicy stuff in there! Starting with Charles Ives 114 Songs, moving through Nick Drake, Michael Hurley and culminating with Jim O’ Rourke’s 1999 release Eureka. Wait, how long is an era? Did you mean decade?
Who’s your choice for a dream collab?
Not sure — just working with people where trust, inspiration and a little bit of love can flow in a reciprocal way, is the most important thing for me. And that’s hard enough to achieve, if not on top of that they should be top-dog producers. I guess for me it’s more important to work with people I know than people that are known.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten?
Never wear a black suit if you have dandruff.
What’s next for you?
I’ve been contemplating if it would be good for me to become a lottery millionaire. There’s a new coupon out in Norway where you can get 2k EUR every month — for 20 years (adjusted for inflation). At first I thought that would be perfect for me, but after some contemplation I’ve concluded that it wouldn’t be such a good idea. Everyone would just refer to me as “lottery-Lasse”, and I’m not sure if that would be so nice in the end. So, I’m gonna continue making music and continue to make a living out of that instead. My new single “Heartbeat” is out 7th August, which I also did a remix of. That’s maybe a weird thing for a songwriter to do, but you know, growing up in the 90’s, we often got three to four remixes every time I bought a single — so I thought it would be nice to pay homage to that time and at least give you one.
