One new-found friend I've enjoyed very much collaborating with the last 6 months is Helena Sundström who makes music in her solo project Mine to Keep. She lives in the small city Trollhättan and after some correspondence digitally we met up in Gothenburg last year when Helena sung a duet with me on Sticky Finger's stage. We did a show together in February in Karlstad and last weekend we recorded a duet together, Ice Ferns, for Helena's upcoming cd. We will do another show together in just a week and I'd really love to hear her on some stuff on my next album. I liked her first self released EP from last year but the new material is a big step forward, really great. She also has introduced me to other great creative people from her area such as her man, the poet Johan Lindblom and the electro-musician Brus (whom I've been in touch with ages ago, but that's a topic for a future post).
* It was such a great evening when we shared the bill at our show in Café August in Karlstad (where I live). Did the 20 paying in the audience destroy my image as a big local rock star?
Yes, it was great. Thank you for inviting me! But oh no. I just think that people found it hard to believe that such a big rock star would play in their little town! That's probably why some of them stayed home and missed the whole thing.
* I'm also very proud to get the offer to cut harmony vocals on the song "Ice Ferns" from your forthcoming cd. Your music is very delicate and spans over several genres. How would you describe it and what do you count as key influences?
I find it very hard to describe music. Even my own. I would never make a music critic! Various reasons of course... It's in my head and then I try to transform it into tunes and chords. I think I kind of work backwards in a way. I always start with the lyrics, then I come up with a melody, sings it into my dictating machine and then try to find the right chords. My influences so far are people I love, people I don't love so much, loneliness, trees, cats, panic attacks, indifferences, hope, impossibilities, how to construct a life… But the songs are not always about me. I like Patti Smith, Interpol, Morrissey, Bright Eyes, Martha Wainwright, Rilo Kiley, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Velvet Underground to name a few. And the last couple of years I have listened a lot to Arcade Fire and Antony and the Johnsons. I also love the Ramones although you may not be able to hear that in my music. Inspiration also comes from films, art and poetry…It makes me very happy that you wanted to sing with me on "Ice Ferns".
* You have your roots in poetry. Which are the biggest differences between writing poetry and song lyrics?
Not a big difference. I am kind of a word-collector. I do it even when I think I don..t want to. Always run around and write things down. Though I used to write my poetry in Swedish of course and it's a bit of a challenge to write lyrics in a different language like English. But I think it's much better that way. More words to choose from.
* You live in Trollhättan, it's a city that seems to be very proud of it's culture life. Thanks to you, I'll get the chance to hang around a lot there this spring. What are the best things the city has to offer?
Nothing really haha…I like the peace and quiet so I can focus on my songs and recordings right now. But yes, it's really good when it comes to arranging things like gigs or poetry readings and there's a beautiful art gallery in this city. We have a great poetry festival each spring and there's a lot going on in the film industry in Trollhättan. I have most of my friends and family here and I love the water, trees and fields just outside of the city.
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