TRAEBEN - Interview with JENS LARSEN


Danish guitarist JENS LARSEN is one of two founding members of the Dutch based Jazz Quartet TRAEBEN. The band has just released its brand-new record "Looking at the Storm". Putting a modern paint on contemporary jazz guitar playing, GuitarMania wanted to learn more about Jens’s approach to composition, his YouTube channel, and the new TRAEBEN record.

Swing, modern jazz voicings and ambient rock textures: JENS LARSEN knows how to invoke different styles to create a unique voice on the guitar. Born in Denmark in 1973, Jens started playing guitar at the age of twelve, and studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Aarhus where he graduated in 1995. After spending two years in Copenhagen, he embarked on a study at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague from 1998 to 2004, graduating cum laude with a masters degree in jazz guitar in 2004.

Jens, you have just released a new record with TRAEBEN entitled "Looking at the Storm". How long did it take you to write the tunes, and to record the album?

I am always working on music so some songs I'd written two years in advance just after the previous Træben album “Push”. I usually have too many songs for an album and then during rehearsals we select songs to record. As for how long we took to record the album, that's quite simple it was recorded in two days at the Fattoria Musica studio in Germany. Since we are a jazz band we record everything live and then go in and fix something if we have to, but most of the time this record is what we recorded live in the studio. What was new for me was also that I went in and double-tracked some of the riffs. This was an experiment the Micha our sound engineer suggested and something we wanted to have the option to use in the mix, which we did quite a few times.

How many of the new tracks are yours?

 I wrote seven of the nine songs, Olaf Meijer our bass player wrote the other two.

Please tell us about your approach to composition?

 I don't really have one, each song is written in a different way. Sometimes I might have an idea for a chord progression and a groove or mood, and sometimes I just start with the melody. Often everything is sort of happening at the same time. I started to record myself when I am composing which is great because I can capture the mood of the song at that moment much better. It is also changing how long it takes me to write a song everything from 30 minutes to several days. When it gets really annoying I am sometimes stuck in a piece  and working on it for a few days and then I end up throwing it away.

On the new record we have worked a lot with mixing rock with jazz to get some new sounds and grooves to play on and challenge us to improvise in a jazz way in a different setting. That is another aspect of composition for me, it is also a tool to explore and develop my playing.

Can you please tell us about the equipment you used? To what extent does it differ from what you use live?

I am using pretty much exactly the same equipment live as I am on the records: My Ibanez AS2630 into an Fractal Audio AxeFX Ultra and then live I amplify that with one or two QSC K10 monitors. The sound live is completely the same as in the studio, I made another patch in the studio because I wanted to route it differently, but that's it. That kind of consistency and control is one of the main reasons for using the digital AxeFX. It sounds great and you can use it for anything. I am also never depending on sound engineers putting microphones on my speakers, etc. which I am very happy with, since that can really alter the sound if it is not done right. I could probably go on for days about how great the AxeFx is great for all sorts of work I do ...

We understand that POLYCORN are working on a remix of one of the songs from the Træben album?

Yes POLYCORN did a remix of the song “Better Than The Other One”. It is finished and we are looking forward to releasing it! It's so great that he is open-minded about mixing electronic music and live music like ours and I am very proud of the result.  I don't think that many jazz artists get their stuff remixed. As a composer it was really fun to hear what he made of the song.

Jens, I read in your biography that you studied mathematics and computer science. I am not sure how it is in the Netherlands, but in Austria chances are that you would earn quite some money by having such a degree. Why have you chosen to make a living as a musician instead?

That is the same here. I think people only become musicians because they cannot help it - in the sense that they have no other choice - at least that was how it was for me. I just had to try if I could be a guitarist and I seem to manage, which I am quite proud of!

Let us turn to the jazz and music scene in the Netherlands. Has it become easier or more difficult to make a living as a jazz musician in the Netherlands?

It's probably more difficult everywhere to be a musician, though I think it was always difficult. In Europe there was traditionally funding for a lot of culture in both education and entertainment but that has often disappeared so that makes a lot of things tricky. I am trying to live my life so that being creative does not mean only working with an art form but also being inventive in how I earn money.

I understand that teaching is a very important aspect of your work as a musician. Can you please tell us about your experience: on the one hand, you are teaching guitar at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague and at  the British School in the Netherlands, and on the other hand you also do online lessons, and you have a successful YouTube channel.

I love teaching. It's a lot of fun most of the time and doesn't matter all that much if it is kids playing METALLICA or BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, or grown ups doing Jazz or Classic Rock. I like music, and most genres have something I can relate to and enjoy. In fact I think I've learned a lot from checking out stuff for my students.

As for my YouTube channel, I started that as an experiment to reach more people . First, just by publishing lessons (without video) on Ultimate Guitar, and later with the videos it sort of started to become it's own thing (I started less than a year ago). Through the channel I've gotten to know a lot of people, been on tour in Spain, recorded a guest solo fro Chris Zoupa's EP and  some demo videos for some companies. I did not expect it to be received so well, I get almost only positive feedback and a lot of support which I am very grateful for. The contents of my videos are mostly based on subjects that I anyway cover with my jazz students and then presented in a form that makes it easy to absorb and apply (I hope).

One big difference is of course that you get feedback from the student during a lesson, so if something needs clarifying then you just do that.  Another one is that I usually know the level of the student so I won't start lessons on something that the student isn't ready for. That's impossible in a video lesson. I get the impression that many people don't understand that when you have lessons you pay money for someone to listen to your playing and tell you what to work on and how to work on it. All the information you can find on the net and in books.

Please tell us about your background: what made you learn an instrument in the first place?

That's really simple: When I was 12 my best friend had guitar lessons on Thursdays and did not have time to play with me, so I wanted guitar lessons too. Then I had lessons on Mondays... But I really liked it and gradually through the years changed from Classical guitar to Electric guitar and in my 20's I found myself liking Jazz and wanted to learn how to play that. I think that change came from the realization that what I really like is making music with other people, and classical guitar is quite lonely.

What are your main influences as a musician?

Difficult question. There are so many. I guess a lot of Blues, especially SRV, JIMI HENDRIX and ERIC CLAPTION. At the same time I really listened a lot to PEARL JAM and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. When I started playing jazz I quickly got into JOHN SCOFIELD, PAT METHENY and a little later KURT ROSENWINKEL. Besides guitarists, I also listen a lot to saxophone players like JOE HENDERSON and WAYNE SHORTER and piano players like BRAD MEHLDAU and HERBIE HANCOCK. Lately I find myself coming back to ALLAN HOLDSOWTH a lot because he really seems to have his own melodic language.

Please tell us about your top five albums of all time?

That probably changes all the time with me but right now in no particular order: MILES DAVIS ”The Complete Concert”, ALLAN HOLDSWORTH “Sixteen men of Tain”, KURT ROSENWINKEL “East Coast Love Affair”, JOE HENDERSON “So Near, So Far”, KEITH JARRET Trio “Still Live”.


Going back to teaching: what would you say is the most common mistake beginners make? And what about more advanced players?

All students are different of course, but often beginners spend too little time just learning a song and playing it with track or with other people, which is what later will motivate you and really make you learn it well. To some degree that is the same for advanced players: time spent to internalize the stuff they are trying to learn so it becomes second nature.  I catch myself doing that too, by the way.

Many players that are not professional musicians often do not have much time for practicing besides their jobs, family, etc. Is there a particular exercise that you think is particularly beneficial when developing one's skills?

Not really, for some they can spend more time and less energy practicing scales, others would rather focus for 15-20 minutes on something like a song. It's difficult, but if you are old enough then try to take into account what kind of person you are and get your teacher to help you break things down into smaller goals so you feel yourself progressing with the practice you do.

If you were to give one piece of advice to young aspiring musicians, what would that be?

Find a band! Music is a social activity and it is thousands of times more fun to play with other people, even if it means leaving you ego on a shelf and playing some music that you is not your first choice. The most important thing with music is to do make sure you get something out of it. That may mean being a professional musician and a lot of work or it might be something completely different to me that is all fine. It's hard to recommend making music for a living when you have to be at least as creative to make any money with it. But at the same time I really love what I do and would never want to do anything else than play guitar.

Thank you Jens. We wish you all the best with your new record, and hope to seeing you and TRAEBEN live on Austrian stages soon.




Ibanez AS2630

Yamaha SG1000

Epiphone Sheraton

Gibson ES-175

Fender SRV signature strat



AxeFx Ultra through QSC K10, with FCB 1010 midi controller.

Fender Twin

AER Compact 60

Polytone Mini-Brute MkII

TRAEBEN Soundcloud