We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joakim Toftgaard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joakim, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’ve been fortunate enough to work on a number of projects lately that I’m really excited about. Some of them aren’t released yet, so I’ll have to keep those under wraps. Overall, I’d say that the one project that stands out to me as something I’m really proud of is my work with the Dallas Horns. This horn section has allowed me to travel all over the world to perform live, as well as record on several film soundtracks.

The group started as a passion project in 2016, when myself and the other two members were living in Dallas, TX. The original concept was to challenge ourselves by writing intricate and exciting horn arrangements, and push our ability to be able to execute them. We gained a following on social media by recording short videos of these arrangements, and soon started getting actual recording work writing for other artists. It started as a trio with trumpet, tenor saxophone and trombone playing funky pop arrangements. It has since then expanded to cover a wide range of genres, and since all three members are multi-instrumentalists we’ll often build huge instrumental textures using dozens of different instruments. These days we’re recording everything from orchestral symphonic brass, jazz big bands, salsa, to modern horn section songs on a regular basis. Since 2018 we’ve been working with Bollywood legend A.R. Rahman on a regular basis, both for live shows as well as recording for his movie scores. I’ve gotten the opportunity to arrange the horns for a lot of his songs, which has been an honor and a fun challenge.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I do a lot of different things, but one of my specialties is writing and arranging music for horn sections. Trombone is my main instrument, but I play most of the brass instruments and often end up recording all or most of the parts in the arrangements I write. I work in a number of genres, from jazz, salsa, hiphop & rap, to classical orchestral brass playing. Artists will bring me in to write and record horn sections on their songs, trusting me to add ideas that bring the song to the next level. I also have an extensive background as a section player, so whenever I’m not writing the arrangements I’ll be in the horn section sight-reading someone else’s.

Through my work as a recording artist I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with a lot of different artists and bands, including recording on two Grammy-nominated albums. I’ve recorded orchestral brass for several A.R. Rahman films, reggae trombone for a single featuring Tarrus Riley, an experimental rock album with the Swans, and a jazz Christmas album with Patti LaBelle.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had gotten into recording sooner. Not just as a way to create, but also as a practice tool. Modern technology means that most of us have a device in our pocket that can be used as a rudimentary recording device in any situation, meaning that the entry barrier to do this is very low. These days I have a professional recording studio setup, and while I use it for recording songs I also use it for practicing playing my instruments. Getting immediate and objective feedback on how you sound is invaluable for evaluating your progress. My development accelerated exponentially as soon as I started recording myself on a regular basis. There’s just a lot of small details and nuance that you can only hear by putting your instrument down and focusing 100% on listening to something, over and over again.

The same concept also applies to writing and arranging. Recording your musical ideas and realizing them into a concrete form is a great way of finding out what works and what doesn’t. Words on a page or sheet music is very abstract and mostly lives in the composer’s head. There’s a huge difference between sheet music and actually recording everything. I’m a firm believer in the concept of “learning by doing” and that it’s often better to get started and give your ideas a try, rather than succumb to analysis paralysis. I wish someone had encouraged me to record myself at an earlier stage, and so in turn I’d recommend anyone in the music or creative field to give it a try!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think that most musicians had a tough time during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the music industry virtually shutting down overnight. For myself, it was an opportunity to take a step back and evaluate my skill set and career choices. I decided to focus more time and effort on my arranging and recording skills, and I feel proud of the progress I made during that time. I managed to build a lot of working relationships that are still prospering, and at this point in time I’m working with several producers on a regular basis as a recording artist and arranger.

For a busy freelancer, practice time is usually hard to come by. As I found myself suddenly with a lot of spare time on my hands, I tried to treat it like an opportunity hone my craft further. While the social isolation took its toll, it also allowed me to commit fully to the process. It was a profound sense of freedom to be able to dig in and polish my skills, and I believe I’m a much better musician as a result. The experience changed my perspective on what I’m able to achieve if I really put my mind to it, and I learned a lot about self-discipline and perseverance.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joakimtoftgaard.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joakim.trombone/