Interview
The Sounds
29 March 2007 (released)
29 March 2007
Unless you’ve been hermetically sealed in Antarctica for the past few months then you will have heard 'Tony The Beat’, the electro-rock classic from Swedish band The Sounds. Having played over 200 gigs in 2006, there’s a good chance you may have seen them live as well. Music News caught up with them to discuss the joys of sitting on the sofa, doing some washing, and all the other exciting dreams that rock n roll superstars have.
MN: How did The Sounds come about?
Felix: It was me who started the band in '98 with Johan the bass player. We’ve been friends since we were kids. Then Frederik came along, as he was a neighbour of Johan’s.
Frederik: I was asked to join the band until they found someone better
Felix: We still haven’t found someone, because Frederik is the shit. You can’t beat him. Me and Mya were in the same class in high school. And Jesper was in the same city [Helsingborg.] It’s a small city and if you’re interested in music you hang out in the same places. We knew he was interested in music, and so Jesper joined the band in '99. I guess there are a lot of bands coming from there. Like any other small city, either you do sports or you do music. I did sports, but then I changed to music.
MN: If you weren’t doing this what would you be doing?
Felix: Probably playing in the same team as Henrik Larsson.
[Music News laughs]
Felix: I used to play in the same team as Henrik Larsson! But I wasn’t as good.
Frederik: I would be an archaeologist.
Jesper: I would probably do something with music.
MN: Have you always wanted to be a popstar?
Jesper: Not a popstar,
Frederik: A rockstar!
Jesper: Or I would be chef, cooking food. That’s fun.
MN: Do you cook on tour?
Felix: We do, if you count using the microwave. That’s the cooking we do on tour.
Jesper: Because we don’t have a big kitchen
Frederik: We should get that on the rider you know. Two big cooking plates and loads of ingredients for cooking.
Felix: But then it’s annoying because you have to do the dishes and you have to cook for ten people; all the people on the bus.
Jesper: We did something in Germany that was really cool. A magazine invited us to this girl’s place with a nice big kitchen and we cooked Swedish meatballs, 'cos we’re from Sweden. So that was totally different. When you’re on the road you see hotel rooms every day, and new venues, and the tour bus. Coming home to someone who has a normal apartment, and staying there for a couple of hours and hanging out drinking wine and beers and making food -
Felix: and sitting on a couch and stuff. That’s nice!
MN: So what do you miss about being at home? Normal, boring things?
All: Yes!
Jesper: Like doing laundry and doing cooking. All these things are pretty relaxing when you’re at home.
Felix: Especially getting up and eating breakfast at your house, taking it easy, showering in your own shower -
Fred: - read the paper for an hour, chill out -
Felix: - use your own toilet!
MN: Why are you always touring?
Fred: We get booked everywhere. Everybody wants us to play. We like playing, that’s the thing.
Felix: We love touring.
Fred: It’s a good way to promote your album. If you’re not a big name in a country, then the best way to get fans is to tour.
Jesper: That’s how we wanted to grow a fanbase, from scratch. We’ve been playing here for the last 3 months. We started at the Water Rats with 200 capacity, and now it’s 800 capacity venues and it’s sold out. You can see the progress you’re making, and that’s what you get from touring. And that’s how we want to build a career.
Felix: You don’t want to only have this hit song on the radio and play a sold out tour once and come back with your second album and nobody’s there. That’s not what we want. You want people to grow with your music, and discover your music from going to your concert, not just on the radio.
MN: Who are you influenced by?
Jesper: I think we got lots of inspiration from the Warp tour, because there were a lot of bands there who were very connected to the audience. We’ve always been connected to the audience. I like to make them mosh. That’s cool to see.
MN: What you listening to?
Felix: Right now, we’re not into any specific albums, but the band we’re touring with at the moment is really good. We’re influenced by them. They’re called Under The Influence of Giants. Bands like that, you hang out with for such a long time, and you’re forced to watch them every night. It’s good, because you start to listen to their music more seriously. You see a band perform every day for a month, it will influence you in the end.
MN: You’ve played with a lot of crazy bands. Who was rock n roll, and who was rubbish?
Jesper: Dave Grohl was an amazing guy. They were the first rockstars we toured with. We played two shows with them, one in Denmark and one in Norway. There were 10,000 people so it was like a big arena, and he was really cool; just walked in, like 'Hi!'
Frederik: He’s got the rep for being the nicest guy in rock, and he really is.
Jesper: Most of the bands we’ve been on tour with are really nice.
Felix: If you’re a headliner it takes a long time to start knowing the bands. It takes about 3 weeks and then you hang out every day for the last week. It’s kind of sad you don’t discover each other earlier! The Strokes are super-nice guys; they came and said 'Hi’ immediately. You learn a lot from that, and that’s how we always treat our support bands, we respect them, it’s a family atmosphere. Because you’re going to be there together for a month, and even if they’re not your favourite band musically, you might have a lot in common personally.
MN: Any current music tips from Sweden?
Felix: I don’t know so much about music from Sweden because we’re not home so much. CSS, from Brazil, are cool.
Fred: There’s a band also called '
Jesper: - Abba.
Fred: Yeah, you should check them out.
MN: What have you got planned for the future?
Felix: We’re going to play a lot of festivals, but we’ve not confirmed yet.
Fred: They’re a good opportunity to get new fans.
Felix: We’re going to try to write new stuff after this tour, so we’re going to need some time off to write a new album and get inspired.
Fred: Get normal
Felix: Do some laundry.
'Tony the Beat’ and the album Dying To Say This To You are out now
www.the-sounds.com
MN: How did The Sounds come about?
Felix: It was me who started the band in '98 with Johan the bass player. We’ve been friends since we were kids. Then Frederik came along, as he was a neighbour of Johan’s.
Frederik: I was asked to join the band until they found someone better
Felix: We still haven’t found someone, because Frederik is the shit. You can’t beat him. Me and Mya were in the same class in high school. And Jesper was in the same city [Helsingborg.] It’s a small city and if you’re interested in music you hang out in the same places. We knew he was interested in music, and so Jesper joined the band in '99. I guess there are a lot of bands coming from there. Like any other small city, either you do sports or you do music. I did sports, but then I changed to music.
MN: If you weren’t doing this what would you be doing?
Felix: Probably playing in the same team as Henrik Larsson.
[Music News laughs]
Felix: I used to play in the same team as Henrik Larsson! But I wasn’t as good.
Frederik: I would be an archaeologist.
Jesper: I would probably do something with music.
MN: Have you always wanted to be a popstar?
Jesper: Not a popstar,
Frederik: A rockstar!
Jesper: Or I would be chef, cooking food. That’s fun.
MN: Do you cook on tour?
Felix: We do, if you count using the microwave. That’s the cooking we do on tour.
Jesper: Because we don’t have a big kitchen
Frederik: We should get that on the rider you know. Two big cooking plates and loads of ingredients for cooking.
Felix: But then it’s annoying because you have to do the dishes and you have to cook for ten people; all the people on the bus.
Jesper: We did something in Germany that was really cool. A magazine invited us to this girl’s place with a nice big kitchen and we cooked Swedish meatballs, 'cos we’re from Sweden. So that was totally different. When you’re on the road you see hotel rooms every day, and new venues, and the tour bus. Coming home to someone who has a normal apartment, and staying there for a couple of hours and hanging out drinking wine and beers and making food -
Felix: and sitting on a couch and stuff. That’s nice!
MN: So what do you miss about being at home? Normal, boring things?
All: Yes!
Jesper: Like doing laundry and doing cooking. All these things are pretty relaxing when you’re at home.
Felix: Especially getting up and eating breakfast at your house, taking it easy, showering in your own shower -
Fred: - read the paper for an hour, chill out -
Felix: - use your own toilet!
MN: Why are you always touring?
Fred: We get booked everywhere. Everybody wants us to play. We like playing, that’s the thing.
Felix: We love touring.
Fred: It’s a good way to promote your album. If you’re not a big name in a country, then the best way to get fans is to tour.
Jesper: That’s how we wanted to grow a fanbase, from scratch. We’ve been playing here for the last 3 months. We started at the Water Rats with 200 capacity, and now it’s 800 capacity venues and it’s sold out. You can see the progress you’re making, and that’s what you get from touring. And that’s how we want to build a career.
Felix: You don’t want to only have this hit song on the radio and play a sold out tour once and come back with your second album and nobody’s there. That’s not what we want. You want people to grow with your music, and discover your music from going to your concert, not just on the radio.
MN: Who are you influenced by?
Jesper: I think we got lots of inspiration from the Warp tour, because there were a lot of bands there who were very connected to the audience. We’ve always been connected to the audience. I like to make them mosh. That’s cool to see.
MN: What you listening to?
Felix: Right now, we’re not into any specific albums, but the band we’re touring with at the moment is really good. We’re influenced by them. They’re called Under The Influence of Giants. Bands like that, you hang out with for such a long time, and you’re forced to watch them every night. It’s good, because you start to listen to their music more seriously. You see a band perform every day for a month, it will influence you in the end.
MN: You’ve played with a lot of crazy bands. Who was rock n roll, and who was rubbish?
Jesper: Dave Grohl was an amazing guy. They were the first rockstars we toured with. We played two shows with them, one in Denmark and one in Norway. There were 10,000 people so it was like a big arena, and he was really cool; just walked in, like 'Hi!'
Frederik: He’s got the rep for being the nicest guy in rock, and he really is.
Jesper: Most of the bands we’ve been on tour with are really nice.
Felix: If you’re a headliner it takes a long time to start knowing the bands. It takes about 3 weeks and then you hang out every day for the last week. It’s kind of sad you don’t discover each other earlier! The Strokes are super-nice guys; they came and said 'Hi’ immediately. You learn a lot from that, and that’s how we always treat our support bands, we respect them, it’s a family atmosphere. Because you’re going to be there together for a month, and even if they’re not your favourite band musically, you might have a lot in common personally.
MN: Any current music tips from Sweden?
Felix: I don’t know so much about music from Sweden because we’re not home so much. CSS, from Brazil, are cool.
Fred: There’s a band also called '
Jesper: - Abba.
Fred: Yeah, you should check them out.
MN: What have you got planned for the future?
Felix: We’re going to play a lot of festivals, but we’ve not confirmed yet.
Fred: They’re a good opportunity to get new fans.
Felix: We’re going to try to write new stuff after this tour, so we’re going to need some time off to write a new album and get inspired.
Fred: Get normal
Felix: Do some laundry.
www.the-sounds.com
