The London Observer talks to Lykke Li: https://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2283217,00.html
Tag: Interviews
MP3: The Splendor - Canary Islands
Our guest for this week's Göteborg Spotlight feature: Lisen Rylander of Midaircondo and The Splendor. On to the questions!
How long have you lived in Göteborg? What brought you there and what keeps you hanging around?
I've lived here for all my life except for two years in Skurup studying improvisation, and two and a half years in Stockholm. I really enjoy living here now, I think it's a good music climate and I play with many good musicians. Of course I'm sometimes thinking of moving to another city for a while when I think Göteborg is too small. For example New York would be nice, but not right now. Actually, I often like the small size of Göteborg, you always meet someone you know on the street and it's easy to get everywhere.
I'm touring internationally a lot and Göteborg is a nice city to have as a base.
Do you think there's a particular Gbg sound or attitude? If so, how would you describe it?
Yes, maybe... I think there's a very relaxed music atmosphere here, not so much competition between musicians. Since media in Sweden are very focused on what's going on in Stockholm, musicians here have kind of the same situation in fighting for attention. Most Gbg musicians I've met are also very musically open minded. Göteborg is kind of an industrial city, rough in a way, and that sometimes shows in the music. A lot of interesting bands and artists are coming from here. For example, an artist like Håkan Hellström could probably not come from another city than Göteborg...
How does the city inspire you? Is it the people? The geography? Weather? Other artists?
I'm inspired by the way many Gbg musicians are open minded and do their own thing irrespectively of what other people think.
One thing I appreciate about the Gbg scene is that it seems to foster a collaborative attitude - do you find this to be true as well? How do you think it compares with the scene in Stockholm and/or other Swedish cities (or elsewhere)?
I agree that there's a collaborative attitude among musicians in Gbg but I can't really compare to other cities... Maybe this attitude comes from that the city is quite small and everyone knows one another. Also, musicians here often mix genres. But on the other hand, I think this is quite common everywhere these days.
In my interviews with Petter Ottosson of Fang Bomb I bemoaned the lack of a female presence in the experimental music world. Would you agree that this is the case? What do you think can be done to change the situation?
Yes, I agree that there's too few female artists in experimental music but I think it's about to change. For younger female musicians to have role models in experimental music, it's important that the one's working in the field today are encouraged and exposed.
Lastly, do you have a song you'd like to share with our readers?
Sure! Here is "Canary Islands" with The Splendor. It's a track from the new cd "Sound of Splendor", released in April.
The Splendor - Canary Islands
Drowned in Sound interview Wildbird and Peacedrums: https://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/3326708
Lambgoat interviews Meshuggah: https://www.lambgoat.com/features/interviews/meshuggah.aspx
Check out MetalKult's video documentary on their trip to Norway: https://blogs.guitarworld.com/metalkult/videos/norway/
It includes visits to various black-metal landmarks plus interview footage with Satyricon and Ihsahn.
Wildbird & Peacedrums tells a short ghost story to Paper Thin Walls: https://www.paperthinwalls.com/featuredarticle/index?id=205
Musique Machine talks to Norwegian expats/splatterfolk purveyors Thinguma*jigsaw: https://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=132
Jasper TX lists his current top 10 favorite records for Rvng: https://igetrvng.com/rvngi.php?a=top_ten&b=55
Teeth of the Divine interviews Finnish doom act The Rapture: https://teethofthedivine.com/site/features/interview-with-rapture/
Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John) does the playlist shuffle thing for The Onion A.V. Club: https://www.avclub.com/content/feature/random_rules_peter_moren
MP3: The Eight Arms Around You - Guilt ridden
The Göteborg spotlight series continues! This week's guest: Mattias Carlsson, ex-drummer for The Smackdown and current member of Dead Vows, The VIII Arms Around You and Anchor.
How long have you lived in Gbg? What brought you there and what keeps you around?
I've been living in or close to Gothenburg all my life. It's a beautiful city. Small enough to make me feel like a human and big enough to not bore me out.
What's the current punk/hardcore scene like in Gbg? Is there much interaction with other indie music scenes or is it more insular? Is DIY culture alive and well? What about sXe, veg*nism and other related issues?
Yes, I definitely think Gbg is a city where people live their projects and make things happen. It's very inspiring. Unfortunately there's a lot of division though. The edge-kids support their thing, the indie-kids know where to go and the crusties go to their shows. It's a bit depressing when all of these kids are doing cool stuff, but don't get the attention or credit they deserve for their efforts. But that's what it's like everywhere, more or less.
There's there's a good amount of vegan and straight edge-kids around at the moment which makes me very happy and generally a lot people engaging in important stuff. Gbg is traditionally a working class city and politics have always had an important role in alternative music.
How does the legacy of Gbg's musical history affect you, if at all? Do you ever stop to consider the kids coming up in the scene now who may take your place in the future?
I don't really know. Even though Gothenburg has got a massive history of alternative music the only band I feel like I have some sort of relation to at the moment is At the Gates or Skitsystem. My sister and brother played a lot of Gbg punk-bands to me when I was a kid and all of them have meant very much to me, but I could probably not name many of them at the moment.
Since I hear you do a lot of booking, who are the bands to watch these days?
In my eyes there's quite a few new bands around that are awesome. Maybe not specifically from Gbg but in Sweden in general.The Cutting Edge are incredible, Scraps of Tape have always been unique and amazing. Repoman are awesome and Another Year too. Loads of things to be discovered!
Got a track you'd like to share? Either from one of your own bands or one you admire?
My projects can be found at myspace.com/deadvows, myspace.com/theviiiarmsaroundyou and myspace.com/xanchorx. Dead Vows are recording a full-length at this very moment. Should be out around August in time for our European tour! A band I admire, that'd have to be Scraps of Tape. Check myspace.com/scrapsoftape out. Amazing band!
However, seeing as how Mattias didn't bother actually sending a track, I'm forced to go with something from one of his bands whether he likes it or not. Here's "Guilt ridden" from The VII Arms Around You.
The Eight Arms Around You - Guilt ridden
MIC Norway talks to Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist) whose new solo album "Kaleidoscope" will be out in August to coincide with his appearance at Øyafestivalen: https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2008051515504776567177
Antenna talks to Swedish sleaze-rockers Crashdiet: https://www.antenna.nu/?p=236