When Björn Meyer was a young man, he saw two paths: pursue computer science or be a musician. I, along with Björn, am grateful he chose the latter.
Björn Meyer (@bjornmeyerbass), acclaimed for his category-defying musicianship, expanding the sonic and expressive possibilities of the electric bass, spoke with Malcolm Key (The Soundpainter) about his second solo album with ECM Records titled: Convergence.
Convergence is another example of Björn’s complete resonance with his tool. Accompanied by the same MTD 6 String Electric Bass, Convergence is a masterclass in innovation and musical creativity. This creativity is borne from being an active listener to the music, rather than simply performing, Björn becomes one with each note in each song. Convergence is available on all streaming platforms as of January 23, 2026; and is also available for purchase here. For more information about Björn Meyer’s previous and upcoming projects, you can visit his official website.
Enjoy!
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Interview Transcript: Björn Meyer in conversation with Malcolm Key
(Generated with AI)
Malcolm Key:
Björn Meyer is a Swedish-born bassist and composer based in Switzerland. He recently just released his second solo album, Convergence, which I believe is a beautiful collection of songs that display Meyer's creativity and innovation with the electric bass. Björn Meyer, it is a pleasure to speak with you here at WUTC 88.1 FM.
Björn Meyer:
Thanks for having me, thanks for listening, thanks for finding the music, it's incredible.
Malcolm Key:
Absolutely, I've been a fan for a very long time, your music inspires me. So the first question I wanted to ask was, you know, your music inspires me, but you know, I recently read about the people and the musicians that inspire you. You know, I listened to Metal Fatigue, that album, truly stunning, I understand why, but can you think of, do you have any other influences or inspirations that, if you had to think of one or two, really stand out to you?
Björn Meyer:
Yeah, I mean, that is very difficult. You know, I started out playing music at a very early age, my mother loved Louis Armstrong and all that, so, and I started playing trumpet all of a sudden without really knowing it, and so, but after many, many turns of being a trumpet player, guitar player, choir singer and this and that, I stumbled over the bass and from that point on, if I would have to choose one or two, I think the one you already mentioned, Metal Fatigue by Allan Holdsworth, that I liked as a guitar player, but I even liked, I liked even more when I realized that I actually was most fascinated by Jimmy Johnson, the bass player on that record. Jimmy Johnson's way of playing has influenced me a lot, but musically, I think Carles Benavent is a very important figure for me, the bass player who played with Paco Lucía's flamenco sextet for many, many years and he's still playing now and he's a fantastic, and not so much that I wanted to emulate him, even though I did play flamenco for a long time and I still do, but I never wanted to sound like him, but his approach of sort of bringing this instrument that doesn't have anything to do with flamenco originally, but sort of, yeah, let's do it, find a way and just add this fantastic way, I think his approach to adding this instrument to a music style that is a little bit new. And, I think that inspired me a lot.
Malcolm Key:
Yes, I listened to that sextet as well, crazy, I thought it was quite phenomenal as well, so that, the instrument, the bass being taken into something like flamenco, that is a whole, you know, Latin music tradition is so diverse and beautiful and I was wondering how you are taking it or have tried to take it or are continuing to take what you've learned with the bass into your own music traditions as, you know, someone born in Sweden, based in Switzerland.
Björn Meyer:
I didn't find the bass because I was looking for, I thought I had found my instrument when I was, I thought I was a guitar player, right, so I stumbled over the bass in the way the bass found me and made me into a musician, before that it was a hobby, I was like really interested in many kinds of music, I was interested in mathematics and computer science and this and that, but the bass sort of dragged me into, I need to do music, I need to pursue this as a career or as a, I mean, as a way of life and then I realized the bass is an instrument, in Swedish folk music for example, there's no bass, it's all about melody and I love Swedish folk music, but I was a bass player, how do I integrate this instrument into this music that I love to play and these people that I love to play with, so that was an early challenge, let's say, but it was never a question, is this possible or am I allowed to do it, it's just sort of how can I do it and that search is an ongoing quest, I think, because there's so much uncharted territory for this instrument, the electric bass and especially the six-string electric bass guitar and treating that as a instrument that doesn't just do its role as a accompanying and fundamental thing in the rhythm section, but also has a solo capability or melodic or harmonic, of course, I'm not the first one, I mean, Anthony Jackson for example is another incredible inspiring human being and bass player that has taught me a lot of or has shown us a lot of possibilities, so my quest, let's say, is I've been fortunate enough to be integrated in many, many situations where bass is not the first choice, electric bass guitar is not the first choice maybe, many times I've been the only electrical instrument in an ensemble of acoustic instruments and this is something that's fascinated me a lot and taught me a lot and the way of the integrative part and where can this instrument take me, where can I bring this instrument.
Malcolm Key:
That's brilliant, I think you have taken it and the two albums that I've heard, I'm so excited to hear when Convergence came out, the fact that there was more, because when I listened to Provenance when it first came out, I was like, wow, this is truly something I've never heard before, because the bass has always sort of just been a part of the melody and to hear you taking it and making it its own thing, I think you do it very brilliantly.
Björn Meyer:
Thank you very much. I love being a bass player in the traditional sense as well, for many, many years that was all I did, being a part of different bands, part of different ensembles, being a rhythm section, I love that function, but from the very first time I played the bass, I realized there's so much potential here and there's so much sounds that I hear, you know, I'm so close to this instrument, I feel it in my bones, I feel it in my body when I play it and all this stuff I always wanted to put under a microscope, let's say, and put it in its own right and invite listeners to feel and to hear what I hear.
Malcolm Key:
Yeah, would you say that's, because I was going to ask you, you know, what inspires you to continue to innovate and create?
Björn Meyer:
For me, the bass is like an extension of my voice, let's say, it's a vehicle that allows me to express things that I can hardly express any other way, you know, words always tend to get misunderstood or understood in this way or that way or interpreted and all that, music as well, but it has a much wider acceptance, you know, I mean, if I play a piece of music and maybe I have at that moment when I play it, I have a certain mood or I have a certain idea of what I want to express and someone else comes to me after a concert or after hearing the album saying something completely different, it's totally fine because I didn't say it in a way that I really want you to understand exactly this point, I didn't want to make a point, I wanted to express something and how it is received by a listener is not really up to me, I can only do my best to send out something positive or something that I really stand for and whatever happens after that is up to the listener and that's what I think is so fascinating with music, whatever happens, it's right and it's inclusive than using words for me because I'm not very strong, I'm not a poet in that sense. So yeah, that inspires me a lot, I mean, how can I find new ways of expressing whatever I feel and especially in these times where it's so much stuff going on all over the world, so many friends, colleagues, human beings, innocent beings all over the world being in horrible positions and situations and the world doesn't looking very bright in many ways, how can I find space for that and express that and maybe create a space through what I put out in the world as music, maybe create a space where there can be compassion, a space of togetherness maybe, so that's something that really inspires me a lot.
Malcolm Key:
Wow, I understand that, that's brilliant. So when you were making Convergence, I remember I heard that you said that there was a cloud of ideas when you came into the studio, what were some of the things, I hear compassion, I hear giving a space for inclusivity, how do you feel those thoughts have converged into this album?
Björn Meyer:
I'm extremely happy with the way it came out, when I came into the studio, like I said, there were many ideas, I also had a plan, obviously preparing for a recording, especially with a label like ECM, it's a big thing for me, I mean, it's one of the major labels for this kind of music and Manfred Eicher is still a legend, I mean, for me and for many others. So I was prepared and I had an idea, okay, this could be the first track, this could be the sort of a sequence, but then I knew also that I was in a room that I never recorded in before, I worked with a sound engineer that I never recorded with, so there would be many things that would evolve during the process, so I wasn't too rigid about my plan and also knowing Manfred, I knew that there would be surprises along the way, but I also know Manfred as an extremely dedicated listener, so I played as well as I could and reacted to the room, the room was very inspiring, but already the room changed a lot of how I thought I would be playing, because a bigger room sometimes needs another tempo than a smaller room, you need more space between the notes maybe, or different frequencies sounds good in this room but less good in the other, so yeah, there was a lot of adjustments being made and then coming back to the mixing process and sequencing process, Manfred was there and he had listened to all the stuff and he really understood probably better than I, because recording I get, there is this level of technical things, I want to play as good as possible, I want to play clean as possible maybe, I want to play, present the material, so I tend to be focused on the technical aspects a little bit and not so much how it is perceived when you listen back to it, which is something that Manfred is a master of, so coming back to the control room after playing, he said a few things and we listened back to it and he managed to make me become a listener and not a performer, and that is an incredibly inspiring process and that is what made sort of the choices, which tracks to put in which track order and all that, so I think the way it turned out, I couldn't have wanted, I couldn't have wished for anything better and also how the sound engineer managed to capture the room and capture the way, the frequencies, he knows this room very well, I really feel when I listen back to the album now, if I'm on the road listening in headphones or if I'm listening at home, it feels like I'm there. I'm part of a process and I think that's the best thing I could have hoped for.
Malcolm Key:
Yeah, so listening back, I know sometimes when an artist is done with their work, sometimes when they listen to it back, they have the memories of their experience of making it, so they're like, you know, I was wondering how you felt in terms of, oh, I really, you know, I remember how this sounded when I first performed it versus now that it was mixed and you really enjoy that sort of thing.
Björn Meyer:
Yeah, I mean, there's a timeline that makes a difference, you grow from the recording that was made in September 2024, it was already one and a half years ago, and then it's always very short, working with Manfred, it's like two days, everything has to be done and that's fantastic, so there's not much, basically, yeah, there's a little mixing going on afterwards and sequencing and mastering and so, but no tweaking or no changing of stuff and what happens between that time is very, very, it's something very important, I think. Yeah, you grow and if you can still listen to it and still have this feeling that, yeah, it's actually what I wanted to say and it still feels relevant to what I want to say and things that I want to put out in the world, then that's always a good sign and I feel that strongly with this album, actually, that the other way it turned out is still something that feels very relevant to me. Obviously, now, when I play solo concerts now, Convergence, the material has already changed a little bit, you know, every time I play it, because I'm alone, I can do whatever I want, you know, I don't have to rehearse with a band saying, now we change it like this, I can change key, tempo, everything, depending on how the room works and there's a lot of improvisation as well, but listening back to the album, it's another thing, sitting in the room, listening to an album than doing live performances and I'm still proud of it, actually.
Malcolm Key:
What was different, you know, so you talked about how the space that you recorded in was different than what you're used to, what was that like and what was inspiring about it besides the people that were in there, you know, was it a larger space than normal? I'm trying to imagine what it looked like.
Björn Meyer:
There are some comparisons, like the recording studio we recorded Provenance, the first solo album was also a big space, but it's built as an auditorium, it's where the radio studio orchestra in Lugano, Switzerland, records and performs, so it's a lot sort of 500 seat venue in a way, but also with a big stage and the fantastic acoustic and this space we recorded now is more like a square, big warehouse in a way, but made for recordings and rehearsals, but for large orchestras, so the symphony orchestra of Munich rehearses there, there have been many huge film music recordings taking place there, but it's nothing architectural, nothing spectacular, it's a square room but with a fantastic sound, so there's nothing sort of cozy about it, it's like neon lights and it's a working space and whereas Lugano was more like you could change the light a little bit, you could make it a little bit cozy and make the feeling that you're performing somehow, so here it's like, okay, let's get this done, so that's one change, but the inspiring thing is of course that there has been so much music done in this studio and somehow you feel that, you feel that this is, it's not a warehouse where they one day repair cars and the next day they change, they unload bananas or something, it's a space built for music, built for acoustics, so if you sit in that direction you have a little bit of different sound than if you sit in that, that's extremely inspiring for me and yeah, the people coming in and going out of the room, if you just think about all the recordings that have been made there, it's for European film industry, it's quite interesting, but yeah, a room that sounds fantastic, that's very inspiring to me.
Malcolm Key:
That makes a lot of sense, where there's been, you know, other people performing, you can almost feel the presence of like, wow, now I'm in here.
Björn Meyer:
Yeah, and of course, I mean, me with my electric bass, I need one square meter and this is a space where, I mean, 120 musicians can play, you know, it can be quite intimidating, it was a little bit intimidating at the beginning, but the sound engineer made me feel very comfortable.
Malcolm Key:
Nice, and it was just two days?
Björn Meyer:
Mm-hmm.
Malcolm Key:
Wow.
Björn Meyer:
Yeah, that's an incredible formula that, I mean, all the ECM albums you have ever heard has been done like that, basically. Of course, there are larger productions with Arvo Pärt and stuff, but that takes up more time and space because of practical reasons, but the intimacy and the directness of playing, performing, and not so much post-production, not repairing stuff, not all that studio stuff, you can get entangled in other situations. It's more about a moment in time and be present, and I think that makes it also very, very special.
Malcolm Key:
How has your experience been with ECM? I have heard a lot of their stuff, I've just got two CDs from them with their works with the Hilliard Ensemble, those are beautiful albums too. How has it been for you?
Inspiring, I'm sure.
Björn Meyer:
Oh yes, I mean, as a listener, I mean, I've been listening to ECM records, has been a go-to label for me as a listener since early days, since I had my first record play, and there's been so many inspiring records, and also the sound has, I know, maybe more passively, but having listened a lot to ECM albums has definitely honed my ear to sort of what can you listen to, what can you expect of a recorded music, and also the way of sequencing an album, telling a whole story, not single tracks, but the whole story over the whole album.
That's something that stayed with me even before I became a musician or thought I ever wanted to become a musician. Then from the first recording we did with Nik Bärtsch's Ronin in 2005, I think was the first recording we did with Manfred, meeting this legend in the studio and playing, and that was already then a fantastic experience. And from the very first experience we had, it was like we were a band, we had played hundreds of concerts, and we went into the studio and met Manfred for actually the first time, and he heard some of the music for the very first time, and he immediately said, yeah, maybe you should, this part, maybe you should change a little bit the instrumentation here.
And we were like, yeah, come on, we have been playing this for so and so long, and we've been, we sort of know what we're doing, but then if you're quite honest, I have to say he was right. And this feeling has been with me in all the productions I've been fortunate to do with him. This sort of not saying, oh, you should do it like this, but have you thought about this, that there is this other option transporting you to become sort of the listener and not the performer who knows exactly this has to be like this.
That's something that for me has been hugely inspiring over all the times and very, very, has helped me a lot. Also in the compositional way, and also what I want to play, what I think is important with playing music, what I want to convey to an audience. I think it's an integrity, maybe also it's a way of taking responsibility for both sides, not only me performing the music as good as well as I can, but also how is this perceived by a listener.
To be able to sort of change the viewpoint at least a little bit more often than you're used to as a musician. Sometimes, especially when it's difficult music, you tend to get into so many details and you have to make this happen and I have to do this. But at the end, the most important thing is that it conveys an emotion to the listener.
And I think that's one of the parts where Manfred is a genius producer.
Malcolm Key:
How do you feel what you've learned has translated into your live performances and how have your live performances been as of recently?
Björn Meyer:
It's been lovely. I've had Convergence. I haven't played so many concerts yet in the solo of Convergence, but it's coming up now.
I played a few and it's been really very touching and moving because I realized one thing that is much different now than when I released Provenance is that the instrument has become much less important, which I think is fantastic because Provenance got a lot of reactions like, oh, it's incredible that you can do this on a bass guitar. And it was so much fascination with the instrument that sort of the musical content got a little bit in the background. And for Convergence, I had the feeling that it has grown up a little bit.
So people react to the music before saying, oh, but it's actually on bass guitar. That's quite fascinating. But it's not the first thing that comes to mind that it's played on an instrument that shouldn't really be able to play solo concerts.
So that's something I really appreciate in the way the music is perceived. And I also think that that is something that has to do with I have played a lot of solo concerts between Provenance and now that's eight years of a lot of solo concerts. And I think also I have grown up a little bit in the sense that I play bass guitar.
It's fully natural. I've played it in concert halls. I've played it in cafes.
I've played it in open air festivals. I've played it in so many different places. And I know what it can do.
I feel totally confident that the bass guitar has the ability to fill any room and reach any audience. And I think this confidence in the instrument, confidence in my own ability to perform, but also the musical content maybe is the self-confidence when it comes to the reactions I've gotten over the years that made me go, yeah, it is actually another instrument. Nobody would think twice if I played cello or if I played acoustic guitar in settings like that.
But I happen to play another instrument and it has become less and less relevant and it's my tool. And I feel my live performances have been informed by all these reactions and also being able, like I said before, being able to step into the listening position a little bit more. Now I think the inclusiveness is something very important.
I don't have to, I have lost lots of this. I have to prove that this instrument can do this. I know that this instrument can do this and I can do it with this instrument and I cannot do it with anything else.
I guess that's a certain level of confidence that has gone in there.
Malcolm Key:
The first time that my partner and I listened to Convergence, I just felt like when we heard some of the songs, especially with a song like Drift, I was like, it feels almost like this instrument is like an extension of your soul and it seems like that's similar to what you're feeling as well. I think it's really something phenomenal and beautiful and spectacular.
Björn Meyer:
Thank you. It is an extension, especially of my voice or my way of expressing and interacting with this world we live in. I feel at home when we are at the same place, me and my bass.
Malcolm Key:
You have your bass with you?
Björn Meyer:
Oh, yes.
Malcolm Key:
Right now? Yeah. Is there any way we can see it?
Björn Meyer:
Oh, yeah. Wait a second. Here we go.
Malcolm Key:
Wow.
Björn Meyer:
This is it. It's been with me since 95, actually. End of 95, I got it.
Malcolm Key:
What kind of bass is it?
Björn Meyer:
It's an MTD is the name. Michael Tobias designed it. Michael Tobias is a luthier, builds fantastic instruments in Kingston, upstate New York.
I think his son is taking over the workshop now, but still building fantastic instruments. You can see that it's been around. It has had some accidents happen to it, but it's still sort of, yeah.
And I think one thing is that when I play it, I feel the way this bass vibrates, it just sort of does something to me. Yeah. Yeah.
Like you say, it's definitely an extension of my possibility to express myself and interact with this world.
Malcolm Key:
Thank you for sharing that. I have two more questions for you. Are you thinking about what is next in terms of albums?
Are you always in a mode of like, oh, I've got more ideas, I would like to start recording, anything like that? Has that been something you've thought about? I know the album just came out, but…
Björn Meyer:
Yeah. No, I didn't. Also for Convergence, it wasn't a sort of, now I need to record, now I write the program.
It was like a gradual process. The eight years that passed from Provenance to Convergence was a gradual process. All of a sudden, in the beginning of 2024, I had the feeling, oh, I played a few concerts, I was in Japan on a tour, and I played some concerts, and I realized this is fully new material, it's not from Provenance anymore.
And then I realized, oh, it's actually, I have a new repertoire, and I have constant contact with ECM and Manfred, and I told him, I actually have a new program, if you're interested, we can do it. And then it took some time, and then all of a sudden, oh, you're free next week, we have some days in the studio, and okay, let's do it. So it was, of course, I was very, very excited, and I was really focused on that.
But it was never an idea that, okay, I have to make a new album in 2025 or anytime. And now I just want to go play this live and perform it and meet audiences. And I know already now things have changed.
I play pieces differently than they are on the album. Maybe a piece like Nesodden, the last piece, is more like a song in itself. It's sort of similar from concert to concert, but a piece like Drift, or Magnetique, or that have a lot of improvisation in them, they tend to go in all kinds of different ways.
So it's already changing. And I already found some new ways of playing that will sneak into the live performance. And at some point, maybe I will have a new repertoire.
But I'm lucky, unfortunate enough to be involved in many other projects. And there are some projects that are thinking about new recordings and new repertoires. And so I have outlets for any kind of compositional ideas I might have for larger ensembles or something like that.
I have a lot of possibility to integrate them in other bands. And my Swedish folk music trio, we have our 30th jubilee next year. So maybe we will do something and stuff like that.
So there are things happening, definitely. But solo, I want to go play concerts. And that's what's lining up now.
Malcolm Key:
So what's this trio? What's that going to be about next year?
Björn Meyer:
Yeah, we still don't know exactly what to do. But yeah, it's a trio. We started like, yeah, it's 30 years now, the same three people.
Percussion, Nyckelharpa, a Swedish folk music instrument, and me. Bazar blå is the band's name. And it's Swedish folk music, but our own compositions, in a way.
So it's using a lot of the traditional ideas, doing it in our own way, and I play electric bass, but also I have a bass mandola, I call it, it's like a, you know, mandolin, mandola, bass mandola, so it's a little bit more acoustic maybe, so yeah, let's see what happens. There are some compositions lined up, but no, we don't, we don't have fixed plans for that at the moment. At the moment, I have a large ensemble, nine people, we are going on tour now in May, a few concerts in Europe, but yeah, it's a little bit complicated because some musicians come from Iran and that's very, very difficult at the moment, impossible, maybe, let's see, and another trio is evolving and so, so yeah, I'm very fortunate.
I also play with Anouar Brahem, a Tunisian oud player, we have some concerts coming up, it doesn't get boring.
Malcolm Key:
I'm really looking forward to hearing more and seeing more of your work.
Björn Meyer:
All of it is on my website, I have a space for projects where you can see a lot of different things that I'm involved in at the moment.
Malcolm Key:
My last question, my girlfriend, she is an opera singer and she is applying for grad school, we're just now getting final acceptances and all that stuff. Do you have any advice for young musicians to improve, to connect, to get to the point of where their instrument becomes an extension of their soul? What advice would you give them or even to a younger you?
Björn Meyer:
Oh yeah, I was so fortunate to be found by this instrument. I could have missed out on music altogether if this one chance encounter with this instrument wouldn't have happened. I love music but, you know, it was, it never felt like something that, I didn't have the means to express myself on the tools I used before.
So I guess that's something that I would say to anyone that make sure that whatever you work on, is the tool, is it voice, is it instrument, whatever you're doing, make sure that you love it and that it's something that every time you work on it or you spend time developing your skills on it, that it's rewarding. And rewarding not in the sense I can play this faster than yesterday or I can sing higher than yesterday or anything like that. Rewarding in the sense that your body resonates with whatever you're doing.
That could have saved me a few years of wondering if I should study computer science or music. It can be fun, it can be, you can meet cool people, maybe have cool friends as a guitar player, but if it's not your instrument, if it's not your, if it doesn't resonate on many levels, maybe you could try something else, you know, and be open for stuff like that. I guess it's a little bit of saying how do you know when, if love is real or not.
It's also something that's very, very difficult to explain, but if you have a resonance, if you feel the resonance, I think that's something that everybody will at some point realize, oh, this actually resonates. Of course, there will be days where you have to, I have to practice or I have to do this now because there's an audition tomorrow or something like that, but if that takes over and takes too much space, then maybe it's not really, you haven't found the right tool yet or the right way of approaching it. Joy and resonance is something that has to be part of even the most boring exercises, let's say.
You have to hone your skills, you have to practice stuff that is not so, that maybe are not so flashy or so inspiring, but even that, if it's really your tool and your way of expressing, you know why you do it and your body tells you, you're on the right track.
Malcolm Key:
I really appreciate that. And I appreciate you, Björn Meyer. Thank you so much for your time. That's all the questions I have for you today.
Björn Meyer:
Fantastic. That was such a lovely conversation. Thanks.
