Audeze mixes it up with producer singer and songwriter Morten Aamodt, AKA Dillistone

Morten Aamodt is an artist, producer, singer and songwriter from Denmark. He is based in Berlin where he has his own artist project called Dillistone, and where he also writes and produces for others.

"The LCD-X have become my silver bullet for fixing issues caused by speakers, room or fatigue." - Morten Aamodt

Here's our chat with Morten:

Can you pick out any highlights from your work that you're particularly proud of?

I’m super happy with my first proper artist single called ‘Haunted’ since it was my first real entry into radio and a song that really catapulted my career, helping me win Denmark’s biggest artist competition KarrierKanonen. It was one of those songs that we ‘found’ more than ‘made’, and I was super fortunate to have an amazing team to help make it happen.

How would you define your main role on most of the projects you work on these days?

On a tech level I’m the producer and cowriter, there to create the song in collaboration with the artist and help on lyrics and melodies where needed. On a more metaphysical level I feel like my role is constantly evolving which keeps it exciting, in the past I saw my job as more static - being the one that would pull the room together, collect ideas and push for a result, whereas nowadays I try to walk into every room with the goal of understanding how I can best help and push the artist in a direction that not just achieves their vision but challenges their sound a bit. Other than that I’m the one who brings the energy! And lots of coffee.

How did you get started in music? What kind of music did you listen to while growing up and how has that progressed?

I initially started DJing at illegal club events in Shanghai when I was 16, and from there my want to make music that fit into a dance setting kind of took over my life. I grew up on a lot of pop a kid and EDM/rap as teen, so I’ll always have a soft spot for those genres. Being in Berlin there is a lot melodic house and techno, but funnily enough I find myself listening to primarily singer-songwriter (Skullcrusher, Ethel Cain, Searows) to de-stress my environment a bit. I try to keep my Spotify algorithm guessing, don’t want it getting too comfortable.

Can you name any factors that influenced the course of your musical life? Heroes, role models, moments, interactions, etc?

My music teachers, Sally Davis, Danny Davis & Neill Thacker have done so much for my love of music and my freedom to explore growing up, and I know for a fact I wouldn’t be in music if it wasn’t for them and their passion. Meeting Michelle Leonard and Marianne Fruergaard, both incredible people and heavyweights in their respective industry, changed the course of my life forever – getting me my first publishing deal and my start as an artist.

Is there any gear you find yourself turning to most when working on a project? What are some of your favorite tools/instruments recently?

On the software synth side, I just can’t get enough of Diva by u-he or their delay ColourCopy, it’s the perfect companion synth to Serum and my go to when creating tracks for my artist project. It has inherent softness and warmth. On the hardware side I’m slowly traversing into the 500 series world, and looking to replace my digital preamps and compressors with analogue versions that are a little bit more fun to play with and require some commitment in the session.

Do you have any words of wisdom for people who might aspire toward a similar path for their own careers?

No one can discover you if there is nothing to discover – release a lot and often. Build a body of work you can look back on, instead of a hard drive of files that never got a chance.

How long have you been working with headphones, and how do you typically use them in your workflow?

I’ve been working on headphones for my whole career and I primarily do all my production on headphones. I use them as my only true representation of what the project I’m working on actually sounds like since I rarely get to sit in the same studio due to travel so I cannot rely on the room or the speakers. I also find I get less fatigued when I’m on headphones compared to speakers, which is great when you’re producing full time haha.

How have your Audeze headphones affected your work? Can you tell us what you've been working on with them recently?

The LCD-X have become my silver bullet for fixing issues caused by speakers, room or fatigue. Often spending as little as 15 minutes using them to correct a mix after a session can take an ok mix to great. They are particularly useful for finding ways to calm top end without losing life, something that is a bit of a weak spot of mine so very appreciated. The ability to hear the room itself on individual parts was something that took (and still takes) some getting used to in a very positive way. It has me thinking differently about how I use reverb to space things in stereo and why, opening up new possibilities that I wasn’t utilising to their full extent before the LCD-X. I currently am on a big folk wave and the feeling of being in the room with the performer is still something that catches me off guard when listening recreationally. The open back is also INCREDIBLY low fatigue and has the added bonus of letting my family join in on the fun while working on holiday. I was also very surprised by how hard you can drive the volume without any noticeable distortion. I’m currently using the headphones as my core reference for my production work here in Berlin producing for artists in a broad variety of genres like indie, pop, techno and dance. I’ll typically bring the headphones to the session just because even the artists I work with like to use the LCD-X as a reference of how the track ‘actually’ sounds instead of using the speakers in the room.