INTERVIEW WITH PATRICK CEDERBERG
Patrick Cederberg is a member of shy kids, a band of filmmakers from Toronto.
Interview by Rebeccah Love
the shy kids launched their new music video, 'the middle', this week.
How can visual imagery heighten the experience of music?
To me, an exceptional song (or in rare but exciting cases, an entire album) has the power to take me on a very affective journey - through emotional ups and downs, the building and release of tension, like an inhale and exhale and a visceral non-cognitive rush. Great music will flood my mind with imagery, sometimes specific things, but a lot of times just a colour palette or movements that accentuate the rhythms in the tune. Being able to harness those instincts as a creator is important to me, and allows us to supplement the journey that our music can take a listener on. I think it’s super crucial to the experience a person has while digesting your art. It doubles down on that journey you’re trying to create, adds another dimension, and helps to build that experience into something more “heightened” as you say.
What does your creating space look like?
I work almost always in a very small bedroom where cleanliness and organization come in waves. Creating for me often comes in fiery, inspired bursts, where I get an idea and then can’t stop focusing on it until it’s finished. When that happens, dishes pile up on my desk (a lot of desk space is a must for me), papers and pencils get strewn about, laundry ends up on the floor, pieces of equipment come off the shelf as I use them and end up heaped on the bed when I move onto the next part of the process. Once that rush of creative energy subsides, and I get closer to where I want to be with a project, I’ll start tidying and reorganizing, and ruminate on the progress I’ve made. That being said, there are many days where I work a full day’s work in my bed on my laptop. Regardless, my bedroom has always been an important space for me creatively, no matter where I’ve lived.
What artists do you look up to?
I think a commonality among artists that I admire is that they seem steadfast in their authenticity, and can feel like they’re bucking the system in so much as what they create was almost entirely just for them. Like when you hear it or see it or experience it, you feel like you’re taking part in their game or seeing the world through their eyes, and it’s just a matter of brilliant serendipity that their perspective changes the culture of art around them. To name a few artists that I think this is true of: David Longstreth, Fiona Apple, Trey Parker, Paul Thomas Anderson..
What themes are you drawn towards in your art?
This is something that happens subconsciously in the moment, so I really can only connect thematic ideas by looking back at the output. It seems like personal anxieties and weaknesses are the crux of what I dig into lyrically, and with music and visuals I have a tendency to lean on the deconstructed, collage-y, and glitched out. Whether it’s a sample, a bit of footage, or the traits of my own (or someone else’s) personality, I enjoy deconstructing and rebuilding using the pieces, as a way to explore how it all works, and how things can get better.
What does shy kids mean to you?