By Rui Miguel Abreu

Always hyperactive, Lindstrom has a new batch of releases on labels like Eskimo and his own Feedelity. "Reinterpretations" is a collection of; you guessed it, reinterpretations of some of the strongest moments of the partnership Lindstrom mantains with fellow Norwegian, Prins Thomas. That means alternate versions of such cosmic delights as "Boney M Down" and "Mighty Girl."

On the Feedelity label there's a new 12" that documents the evolution of the musical relationship between Lindstrom and Christabelle. They gave us the great "Music (In My Mind)" and this time around Christabelle changes the name to Solale and the resulting EP is "Let's Practise." Both Lindstrom and Solale are working on a new album.

We had the chance to exchange a couple of emails with Hans-Peter Lindstrom very recently and that gave us additional insight into his mind and career. The guy who says something like "Jon Lord was my menthor" has at least a certain degree of mystery around him. Widely regarded as one of the poster boys of the Cosmic Disco camp, Lindstrom nevertheless reveals that his first steps into the music business were not lit with the million lights coming from the mirror balls: "There are photos that show me behind a big bad hammond organ, and Jon Lord was my mentor. All of my friends were into Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Rainbow and related."

Currently there are acts that define themselves according to the greater or lesser proximity to the classic sounds of Chicago or Detroit but for Lindstrom Disco, is the key element of his music. And he is not alone: Faze Action have explored Disco in the 90s and have recently returned to the scene with a couple new releases and even a Carl Craig remix of the classic "In The Trees." Metro Area have also given a valid contribution to the modernization of the sound of disco with their investment in the Italo side of things.

Mashing up all kinds of influences, from the singer songwriters of the 70s to the balearic echoes of the 80s, has been another strategy used by people like DJ Harvey, Rub 'n' Tug and the like. In a way, the work of Hans-Peter Lindstrom embraces all of these different Disco sensibilities, maybe because of his singular background: "The music I grew up to was the hit singles that were played on Norwegian radio in 82-84. Pop music with lots of post disco elements. Early hip-hop. Then I started playing classical piano and piano in church choirs. After the heavy metal years, I was into jazz fusion ala Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour. And then country and folk music from Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie. But these genres are not the easiest to create when armed with a sampler. So I decided to dive into the mysteries of electronica."

If we look at the present day mutations of Disco we'll find out that a word pops up very often: "Cosmic." And it can be argued that it fits the sound of Lindstrom like a glove. The recent discovery of the vast field of DJ experimentation that took place in the Italy of the 70s and early 80s has informed lots of contemporary productions and pioneers like Danielle Baldelli, who have become sources of inspiration for creators like Lindstrom: "Yeah, it's certainly interesting that a lot of DJs adapt a certain DJ style from a very specific geographical area and time. The good thing is that cosmic is regarded as a very 'open-minded' genre that includes both Nina Hagen and Steve Reich. I must admit that I've been very inspired by those old tapes from the Italian djs, when I discovered them two years ago. Primarily, because there were lots of tracks that I wasn't aware of. But also the way they dj: slow tempo, the trademark Baldelli eqing, the wide selection of styles. I'm far from obsessed by those tapes, and I'm not tracing the original vinyls on eBay. I don't even need to know who the artists are, as long as I can listen to the music."

It's only fitting that Hans-Peter sees our own head as the perfect setting for his music: "I believe my tunes sound best on headphones. But i think they sound ok on a big soundsystem as well. That's important for me when making the music at least. Best thing is if it sounds good in all environments." Always modest, Lindstrom confided in us that he has already received a couple of "superstar" remix requests, but he couldn't "care less about those." But there's one superstar name he would do everything he could to be able to mix: "I'd love to work on the multi-tracks on any ABBA track", says Hans-Peter. Well, stranger things have happened.