"Furns"
"Furns"
A duo composed of singer and pianist Monika Faludi (24) and programmer Mathias Dahl (22), Furns was formed in September 2011 and has since been recording their dreamy electropop songs in a makeshift studio – either their bathroom or bedroom – in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Furns is a coined term that is evocative of the duo’s new sound – fresh, flowing, and soulful.
“We were looking for a name that didn’t necessarily have to mean anything – and I thought that ‘Furns’ had a warm and soft quality to it. Very organic, like our sound,” explained Mathias.
The band’s influences run the gamut from classical – Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, including interpretations by pianist Helene Grimaud and the vocal stylistics of countertenor Phillipe Jaroussky – to various genres of contemporary music, including soul, bossa nova, and chillwave.
Artists they admire include Kings of Convenience, Kashmir, Toro Y Moi, Aphex Twin, Saybia, Trentemøller, Fever Ray/The Knife, Justice, The Whitest Boy Alive, and When Saints Go Machine.
Mathias, who is the designated “beat-master,” had been interested in music with a soulful groove whilst growing up, and believes that he has found his niche as a music producer with Furns studio. However, he refers to Monika as the “master-mind” when it comes to composition; she is also the lyricist, apart from being a rather ethereal vocalist.
A former piano teacher turned barista, Monika started playing classical piano at the age of 8, and until the age of 16 had participated – and won several prizes – at piano competitions in Denmark.
The two have yet to perform in any formal venue. Much of their time these past few months had been dedicated to demo-making and their subsequent releases on YouTube and Soundcloud have caught the fancy of a growing number of listeners around the world.