"A vital force in Danish experimental electronic music": Sofus Forsberg has died aged 56

The Danish musician Sofus Forsberg has died at the age of 56. For more than three decades he was one of the central figures in Danish experimental electronic music — as an artist, as a mastering engineer and as a teacher.

His death was announced on 12 August by the Copenhagen organisation STRØM.

No cause of death was disclosed. His friend and contemporary, the musician Roel Funcken, wrote on Facebook that Forsberg had been battling cancer for the past year.

"A vital force in Danish experimental electronic music, Sofus Forsberg, has passed on to the next dimension… His work will live on for many years to come, and hopefully continue to inspire scholars, geeks, freaks and connoisseurs. Most of all, Sofus was known to many as a super optimistic and always helpful person. He will be missed, but not forgotten," STRØM wrote.

From rap-metal to modular systems

Forsberg came from Aarhus. He started out in entirely acoustic forms — jazz, blues and funk — and first appeared on record as a member of the rap-metal group Impotators, whose debut album came out in 1995. From around 2000 he concentrated on electronic production and remixing: melodic structures, rhythmic experiment, synthesis, drum machines and sound processing.

The solo albums NO/1 (2003), Udefra (2005) and FM Volta (2012) appeared on Jenka, Rump, Mindwaves and Touched. He played Kantine am Berghain, Waking Life and Boom Festival.

He taught, too

Apart from his own records, Forsberg worked as a mastering engineer and taught — at the Danish Institute of Electroacoustic Music, the Rhythmic Music Conservatory and Sonic College. More than one generation of Danish electronic musicians passed through those rooms, which is why the STRØM notice reads less like a farewell to a celebrity than a farewell to the person a whole scene rested on.

Below is the mix Forsberg recorded for Hypnus Records' The Memoir series.

As reported earlier by ONE//FM, Patrick Gleeson — the man who taught the synthesiser to play live — also died in early August.