Part 2

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please. Do you have a fixed schedule? How do music and other aspects of your life feed back into each other - do you separate them or instead try to make them blend seamlessly?

All of us live pretty normal family lives, so a normal day would be getting the kids to school/kindergarten, then heading to the studio to work on stuff for as long as our creativity allows things to happen. Some days I don’t have a plan, but I try to make something every day to keep things flowing. Even a small sketch. I also like to listen to demos while doing other stuff. I often get ideas on how to fix things or what kind of sound I would like to try while I cut vegetables, baking bread or during a workout. It’s all very well blended.

Can you talk about a breakthrough work, event or performance in your career? Why does it feel special to you? When, why and how did you start working on it, what were some of the motivations and ideas behind it?

I guess our first album was a breakthrough of sorts for us. We got some attention on a couple of songs, and they have been rolling for some years now. It’s very random what song becomes the most popular. We certainly didn’t think about that when we made the album. Our most popular song is “Joe Frazier” which is basically two small riffs that turned in to a song. Since the release, it has been streamed a million times and been used in commercials and stuff. That’s super cool. But the motivation is always to make the next song as good as you possibly can and make the most out of each idea. Always looking forward.

There are many descriptions of the ideal state of mind for being creative. What is it like for you? What supports this ideal state of mind and what are distractions? Are there strategies to enter into this state more easily?

The ideal state of mind is to be clear-minded. I think clarity and not overthinking stuff becomes more and more important for me. With trust in the abilities and the feeling of joy when you play combined with focus and clarity, that’s when the cool stuff happens. The biggest strategy for this is to relax, don’t worry too much and stay healthy. Sounds real simple, whuh?

Music and sounds can heal, but they can also hurt. Do you personally have experiences with either or both of these? Where do you personally see the biggest need and potential for music as a tool for healing?

Not too much, I don’t have like specific songs that triggers certain emotions, neither good or bad. I guess music takes up so much space in my life that it kind of touches all emotions.

There is a fine line between cultural exchange and appropriation. What are your thoughts on the limits of copying, using cultural signs and symbols and the cultural/social/gender specificity of art?

It’s all about compassion and listening to others. If you’re going to borrow stuff from other cultures it’s important to be transparent and let it be clear where you got it from, and not pretend that it’s yours. Arts, music, fashion is very unifying in some ways, but there have also been horrible examples where people have stolen actual symbols or crafts and sold them as their own, or rock bands stealing directly from older songs and not crediting the original writer. We have a long way to go, and as a white, privileged male it’s important to acknowledge all of this and put a lot of thought in to it. As for my own inspiration, I think I listen more to music from all parts of the world than western pop music, so that is for sure a big influence on my playing. The sound of the guitar wouldn’t be anything if we don’t look back to the traditional music of the world and see where it all came from.


Our sense of hearing shares intriguing connections to other senses. From your experience, what are some of the most inspiring overlaps between different senses - and what do they tell us about the way our senses work?

Playing in a band where there is very little planned besides the set list, all our senses are working on maximum at every concert. A small look or gesture could suggest going to the left or to the right, taking turns and leaps in dynamics or feel. It’s absolutely crucial in our performances! I guess the obvious one would be sight. You must see the others to get all the cues, but at the same time I tend to close my eyes to listen more intensely. I also feel like I hear less when I’m wearing sunglasses on stage. It’s strange. So, they are very connected. Same as your smell is like 80% of your taste.

Art can be a purpose in its own right, but it can also directly feed back into everyday life, take on a social and political role and lead to more engagement. Can you describe your approach to art and being an artist?

As I mentioned earlier, art and music takes up so much time and space in my life so it really isn’t anything without it. But I haven’t used music as an agenda to push political or social issues. I think social media takes a strange place in all of this. Artists and famous people post stuff to raise awareness and that’s a great thing. We should all speak up for the things that are important for us. But somehow, I think a lot people also think they are really doing their share by retweeting a post, or posting a news article on any platform. Of course, you are helping raising awareness of things, but in some cases, there is also self-promotion involved. It’s important for everyone to contribute in their own way, read, donate or whatever you wanna do. Some people share more than actually doing something. We have to start with ourselves and educate to make the world better. Yeah, so I think I try to separate politics and entertainment in our music, but I think artists have a great platform to speak on important issues and can make a difference when used in a good way.

Music can express the inexplicable. What can it express about life and death which words alone may not?

I just read Fran Lebowitz saying something about music in the new documentary "Pretend It’s a City" - where she said something like music is like a drug that doesn’t kill you. Because most things that make you happy also harm you, but music doesn’t, and that makes it very unusual. I think that was extremely well said. Music can bring out most feelings in a more intense way that words can’t. It’s very special. It’s a different palette than words. A sentence that is really dull or obvious can sound amazing when sung. That proves that music has deeper emotions than words, haha.