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Why Be

November 23, 2017

Copenhagen's Tobias Lee produces electrified noise and club music as Why Be.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. My name is Tobias. I live in Europe and I try to waste as little time as possible.

What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on? My next solo record I guess. I just finished a collaborative release with my good friend Lasse which had many different forms, but I’m very pleased with how it ended up.

What are you currently watching? I’m always watching cooking and/or nature shows.

What is one of the bigger challenges you and/or other musicians are struggling with these days and how do you see it developing? I guess being on your own can be hard. I’m not gonna complain, especially when I look at the chains of people film-makers or designers have to go through before having a final result, but blocking out the noise is essential I believe. We all have our own way and staying free and happy is a big part of that for me, I can’t speak for anyone else.

How did your interest in music begin? My dad has always been playing different stuff for me. It all came slowly but steady.

How has living in Copenhagen affected your music? Not in other ways than I def feel like I wanna do something. Like drastic. It’s a very ‘easy’ and cute place but it has great limitations and one’s self-understanding easily suffocates there, so I’m away a lot.

If you had to explain your music to a stranger, what would you say? It’s electrified music.

What kinds of music/what musicians are influencing your work right now? A guy like The Caretaker whose music I adore but also simply don’t understand how is made.

What’s been the most exciting thing you have received from a fan? My friend Dasom gave me two USB keys with ‘why’ engraved in one and ‘be’ in the other when we met the first time. That touched me a lot.

What was the last show you went to that stuck out to you? Elysia. I’ve seen her perform a million times but she just keeps getting better and her energy gives me crazy chills every time.

What is your snack/beverage of choice when recording? Sparkling water and green tea.

What do you do when you’re not working on music? I try to be in the sun or ocean as much as possible but literally living on the north pole combined with climate change makes it a struggle.

What are you really excited about right now? I’m going to see my friend Lhaga so soon and I can’t wait.

If you hadn’t become a musician, what do you think you’d be doing? A really broke cartoon artist.

What are you listening to right now? A recording of a riot during G20 in Hamburg. It’s an infinite shower of raining glass and explosions.

Can you share one of the best or worst reactions you have gotten as a result of your music? This summer I had the pleasure of playing a wedding at this huge farm in Stratford-Upon-Avon with Soda Plains. Around 4am I saw the bride and her dad dancing like there was no tomorrow right in front of me while I DJ’d. I have had a lot of insane scary amazing music related experiences but I would never have expected to see exactly that, and I felt very blessed.