I recently interviewed Bjorn for a NONzine article advancing their show at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. I had actually set up the interview so far in advance that I completely forgot about it. The morning I was scheduled to speak with Bjorn his publicist called me as I was making my lunch. I had absolutely no questions prepared. I made an excuse to buy me an extra 15 minutes, wrote up a quick interview, and did the damn thing. Fortunately not only was Bjorn very patient, he was also extremely friendly and eager to talk about his music. We had a pleasant chat about his home country, the excitement of the US rock circuit, and the unexpected success of the song "Young Folks."
-I saw that you played a festival in Sweden where you were Kanye West’s backing band. Is most American music, like Kanye’s popular in Sweden?
Yeah, Kanye is a big deal here in Sweden. He was head lining that festival. Not Garth Brooks and stuff like that. But the hip-hop thing and some of the rock stuff gets played. It’s mostly R&B and hip-hop that is popular, and of course top 40 like Gwen Stefani and stuff like that.
-Before you toured for Writers Block had you spent a lot of time in the US before?
I toured with another band called Caesars, and we toured quite a bit here a couple years ago. I’ve been here quite a lot. I’ve been a couple of times when I wasn’t touring. But never Oklahoma.
-I always want to know how bands form Canada and Europe feel about the necessity for success in the US and UK. Is attention in those two countries something you guys felt needed to happen in order to be successful as musicians?
It’s definitely more fun to be able to play music in the US and UK than in Poland or Iceland. It’s more drastic ground. It’s fun at first you kind of ride through London in a black cab with your instrument and you feel like you’re Mick Jagger or something. And also hanging out in New York and LA, that’s been like the capitol of the music business since the 40's. That’s pa pretty big thing, too. You go through towns like Minneapolis and create footsteps and find out where all these bands are from. Everywhere here has a rock and roll culture.
-I’m sure you get this a lot, but I have to ask, considering the title of the album. Did you have trouble writing Writer’s Block?
Uhh, no (laughs). We had some trouble recording it, but writing it was not troublesome. I think we had the most trouble finding an album title (laughs again).
-I saw that Pete Yorn played a version of “Young Folks” at ACL this year, and it got a pretty good response. Have you heard that version?
Yeah we were actually on our stage doing interviews during the time. We heard it. But he also played an Elvis tune, so I don’t know. It was perfect.
-Have there been any other bands that have covered it that you know about?
Yeah, the whole country of Denmark covers that song.
-Haha, so a lot of Denmark bands play that song huh?
Yeah I hear a lot of people there doing it. There’s also a bluegrass version you may have heard. That’s a good one.
-Were you surprised by the success of that song or was that the single you had envisioned making it off that album?
Yeah of course we knew that was the single from the album. But we didn’t know how big it would be. It’s still kind of growing in the UK, Japan, and Germany. It’s now even bigger than it was here.
-There are a lot of really unique elements on that album and I was kind of curious about how you capture that live?
We have an extra member, but it’s not human being. It’s our backing track. It’s sounds and noises from the album. Some keyboard parts and rhythmic elements like folk steps. We have some sounds from the album.
-Those unique elements also make me want to ask what artists were influencing you when you wrote that album?
Duke Ellington and Jesus and Mary Chain. And who else? Yeah, that’s it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment