Before becoming an acclaimed musician, Carlsen was a pilot, something he “really wanted to become.” Gradually though, he drifted; away from flying – “I realised it wasn’t for me,” he says – and all around Europe. Back to music too, something he’d grown up with and loved, and something that came back into focus.

Playing both guitar and piano, his early influences were diverse and eclectic. An interest in production led him to a degree in Music Technology at the London College of Music. The music he started creating was imbued with aspects from both of these two, disparate professions – the pilot and the musician. “Feet on the ground, head in the sky,” is how he sums up this duality, and his music carries a wonderful, creative dichotomy.

Ed Carlsen

Ed Carlsen has always been a wanderer. A dreamer, even. Of faraway places and people, of a world to be explored. Perhaps it was growing up on an island, Sardinia; perhaps it was his grandfather, teaching him about the stars on warm summer nights.

Italian Composer & Producer

Grains of Gold

Fastelavn

&#8220;Being far from home for a whole year, and especially during the second lockdown, reminded me of the times when I was free to explore my very own island. Everything came back to me: sounds, scents, views. And it all came back with an euphoric emotional charge that made me feel excited and protected at the same time.&#8221;

With "Grains of Gold," Ed Carlsen releases the first track of his upcoming album of the same title. The Sardinian composer and producer wrote this track in Hamburg. Living through lockdown in a foreign place, he describes writing this song as an emotional escape back to his home island. 

XXIM:EXPO is our exploratory series for outstanding young talents from across the whole spectrum of progressive instrumental music. Each instalment is given to one artist to curate his or her own ideal EP, sharing their own unique musical vision. With XXIM:EXPO we want to give young artists a platform, while mapping out all areas and developments of our wide area of music. 

Grains of Gold

Ed Carlsen

Grains of Gold

Italian Composer & Producer

Ed Carlsen

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