Peder Elias opens up about his time in Manila, his friendship with BSS, getting to perform around the world, and more.
Peder Elias may live in one of the northernmost countries in Europe, Norway, to be exact, but his music is truly global. With his penchant for making songs from the heart and a knack for turning childhood nursery rhymes into unironic bops, Peder has found himself in all four corners of the world. Recently, he was in Southeast Asia as part of a small tour in the region. When we caught up with Peder last April 12, he was in Manila preparing for his first concert in the country at the Teatrino Promenade. Bonus points for the fact that Peder was in the country as his new song, Call My Name, was just released, meaning Manila had first dibs on the first live performance of the track.
“The concerts have been really like so much fun to meet the fans and listeners for the first time because that’s my most favorite thing to do is to travel and actually meet the people that listen to my music because, without none of them, I couldn’t travel there for the music so I’m very grateful for that,” he tells NYLON Manila with a genuine sense of gratitude. Traveling the world for his music has always been Peder’s number one goal in life, and he’s living it right now, at least the initial phase of it.
Photo by Ida Bjørvik
But aside from getting to perform his music to fans of different nationalities, the budding world traveler has also been getting the most out of his miles, and that includes savoring the local delicacies. “We have been eating some great Filipino food,” gushes the musician, adding that he and his team had Manam the night they arrived in the country. “I have to say, Filipino food is one of my most liked or maybe even my number one favorite food of Asia.” You could say it’s the perks of the job, but for Peder, what truly makes everything worth it is bonding with his fans over their common love of music.
“It’s kind of the most beautiful thing in the world for me. It’s just really touching and also so cool, too. Sometimes I have to kind of stop and reflect about it as well because it’s not normal to live in little Norway and then be able to travel here but it’s just like the beauty of music.” True to that, Peder would perform in front of a few dozen of his Filipino fans later that night as artist and fans locked in for around an hour and a half of mutual stanning. Talk about making cross-cultural connections.
Read the rest of our interview with Peder below as he shares his travel experiences, his friendships with K-pop idols, being there for his loved ones, and more.
You’re touring Southeast Asia with Manila serving as the final stop. How has the experience been like so far on the tour?
Yeah, it’s been really good. I’ve learned more about the cultures in this country, ate so much good food, so much local food, slept very little but it’s been so much fun because there’s like been a lot that’s happening.
Also the concerts have been really like so much fun to meet the fans and listeners for the first time because that’s my most favorite thing to do is to travel and actually meet the people that listen to my music because without none of them I couldn’t travel there for the music so I’m very grateful for that. It’s just been a lovely experience and I hope that I’ll do my best to make more good music and grow in this market so I can come back and play more shows for the people here.
Aside from performing for your Filipino fans, what have you been up to while you are in Manila?
We have been eating some great Filipino food. I have to say, Filipino food is one of my most liked or maybe even my number one favorite food of Asia. So we ate at Manam yesterday, it was amazing, and we went out afterwards to a bar with some live music and chilled.
INSTAGRAM/PEDERELIAAS/ Photo by ROBIN BØE
Have you already tried halo-halo?
Yes, but not this time though. I was here for the first time in October and then I tried halo-halo. I also tried the leche flan, so good, and also it was like a modern turon. I think the modern turon and the leche flan are my top two favorite desserts so I’ve been telling my band and everything like ‘guys you should be excited for when we go to the Philippines because then you will eat halo-halo and leche flan.’
As an artist, when you perform at your shows and see different nationalities sing your songs back and know your lyrics, what’s that feeling like?
It’s kind of the most beautiful thing in the world for me. It’s just really touching and also so cool too. Sometimes I have to kind of stop and reflect about it as well because it’s not normal to live in little Norway and then be able to travel here but it’s just like the beauty of music. I think that music is kind of an international language so even though like I’m from Norway and we speak like natively different languages and stuff we can connect through the music and make memories and I can still without having even met some other people coming here tonight before
I feel like they can say that they kind of know me already and I know them a little bit as well because we share our love for the music and that’s what it’s about.
From Norway to Manila and beyond, your music has taken you far around this world. Does it still surprise you that this is the life you’re living right now?
Kind of yes and no. I feel like I’m very privileged and honored to be able to live my dream and have music as my full-time job because it’s like so many people that have that as their biggest wish that they could do that in life. So for me to be able to come here and play the shows and have people supporting me, it means everything. And at the same time I also feel like it’s kind of true and also I work hard for it and it’s also not coincidental in the same way.
So yeah, all in all it’s just like, and I have sometimes maybe too high ambitions for myself but I think that’s one of my strengths of being always hungry for more and that I try my best to do all I can to connect with as many people as possible and get my music out there so I can do what is my number one dream which is to have a world tour.
INSTAGRAM/PEDERELIAAS/ Photo by ROBIN BØE
Aside from your music, something that fans love about you is your friendship and collaborations with K-pop idols. You’ve had quite a few and one of the most notable is with BSS. You’re friends with them, you even have a song together. So could you share how that friendship started?
That friendship started kind of through the song. I got the opportunity to write with them for their album project together with the producer BUMZO and also Woozi. And then they already had the concept of them wanting the last song of that project to be like something about 7. They already had the fighting song and the lunch song so they felt like fighting was kind of get out of bed, let’s go kind of vibe and then lunch was, you know, lunch, so they wanted something for the dinner/night and then we wrote 7PM and decided that ‘let’s do the song with Peder with BSS’ and that was how I met Seungkwan, DK, and Hoshi.
When we had a week of promotion in Korea with that song, I was in all the K-pop TV shows and stuff. It was so much fun and that’s also, I feel, a good example of how you can connect through the music because although there were a lot of language barriers sometimes, it just turned into very fun situations and lots of laughs and just an amazing time between genuine artists.
These idols are quite famous or their idol persona is well known to the public. But how is it working with them on a personal level?
That’s one thing that I have loved about that and actually everyone that I’ve met within the K-pop industry, and it’s been quite a few now, is how humble they are, how real and genuine they’ve been towards me. And I feel like their way of being is quite similar to my way of being. So I feel like I often become good friends with them because we kind of match personality-wise. And I feel the same for how, if we’re talking about BSS for example, I feel it’s the same with me, that we are the same, kind of, when we just hang out and joke.
Yes, we are on stage and maybe like our project is a bit similar how I’m maybe even more kind of just Peder because I’m like even more singer-songwriter, I have a guitar and talk but they have a little bit more of the universe when they’re on stage with all their amazing choreographies and the dancing but still, they’re so genuine, so real, so kind. And I hope that I get to see them again soon so we can hang out and sing together.
Photo by Ida Bjørvik
Your new song, Call My Name, is about being there for the people in your life. So for you personally, how do you support or be there for your loved ones in your life?
First of all, maybe just be a good listener. Also, just letting them know like talking to them if they’re going through some things. Just hang out. There are lots of ways of showing people that you’re there for them. It could be speaking and talking about it and kind of saying it there straight out or it could be just through your body language and you kind of just show them that you are there for them. So hopefully my loved ones would say that they know they can count on me.
From busking on the streets to festivals with thousands of attendees, you’ve performed in all kinds of shows and venues. Do you have a preference or lean towards one over the other?
Oh, I feel like a good mix. For example, the first time I went to Korea, the first time I performed in front of a Korean audience was at the festival and it was 10,000 people, so quite a lot. And that was amazing and so much fun. And then just a couple of days later, I did the busking in the streets. And it actually came like a thousand people, which was kind of insane. But then it was like a totally different vibe because suddenly they’re so close.
I also love that because I just love the genuine kind of love for music that we share then and the improvisation just like asking what should we sing next and then everybody singing together and just enjoying music because I love music so much and that’s why I’m doing all this. I feel like a good mixture is great and I want to reach as many people as I can with my music so in that case, of course, I would love to play for as large an audience as possible because that means that more people can be there to share their love of music together with me but at the same time there’s also something special about the small shows.
INSTAGRAM/PEDERELIAAS/ Photo by ROBIN BØE
In your opinion, where do you think is the best place to stay at the concert?
I think it depends a little bit about how if you are like super close with the artist you want to see, maybe you kind of just want to be as long in the front as possible to try and just get like as close connection as you can. Also depends a little bit on the stage setup and if it’s big maybe it’s also kind of cool to see it from afar so you can see the whole stage show and everything. But in the front is fun.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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