punky's dilemma

punky's dilemma interview

you must have a band or two that seem to make music that could be the soundtrack of some foggy winterish dream. that's the case of punky's dilemma for me. and the fact that they come from sweden, only makes you wonder about swedish open spaces covered with snow and a dimly visible sunlight laying its light over trees and foxes and squirls almost like an aura.
but isn't only that: sometimes you can feel like you've been transported to a city center where you stand with headphones in a corner to watch life happening.
apart of being dreamy, their sound is also soothing and comforting (despite the melancholy it carries in the surface). it's the amazing melody crafting, punctuated with orchestrations, that dialogues with these vast and contradictory (at first sight) feelings. because with their music you get this comforting but also melancholic feeling that sometimes seems to be all you need.

that's what i feel about the band. let's hear what mikael has to say...

01. when punky's dilemma became a band?
myself and hanna have been singing together for many years and our many unreleased songs, stored on old casettes, can all be regarded as punky's dilemma songs. but punky's dilemma formally was formed in 2001. the band name came to our mind in the car one day as we drove from gothenburg to malmö. a bit later we included our friend camilla in the band.

02. if i could describe your sound i would say it's delicate, melancholic, contemplative and made in a place where time seems to pass slower than the usual. could you tell us a bit about what habitates your world? references and things like that?
i (mikael) write the basics of all songs and i think the melody is hugely important. i am influenced by things with a melancholic beautiful touch, could be a movie, art, a song, a poem, or just a situation. i am also much influenced by life in the city and lifes of young people.

03. you have two beautiful ep's released so far. from your debut 'neath the staring skies' to 'echelon' we see a sort of polishment and more complicated arrangements (orchestrations, for example). since i'm interested in creative processes, i'd like to know how the ep's were made.
'neath the staring skies was recorded on a small portable studio, mostly in one of our best friends apartment in malmö. he is a much talented producer (singer in the exceptionally good band thirdimension). we invited friends to do the choirs. The echelon ep was recorded in a large professional studio and we used musicians from malmö symphonic orchestra for the violin, viola and cello, so this was done more carefully, but rather quickly (we rarely use more than one day for the recording of a song, a long day although). in the massive outro choir on 'airliner'
(the version at our homepage punky's dilemma) we simply hung a microphone from the roof and assembled a large number of people below to do the long aaaahhhh's. i have the basic structure of the song and many ideas ready when we arrive at the studio. but as we start, we try different instrumentation and the song is therefore much shaped by the first moments of inspiration when we start the recording session. usually we asseble on chairs spread out in a ring and record most of the things live in a first session (keyboard, bass, drums, guitars, song). then we add a few things.

04. what's your point of view about music distribution nowadays? and more specifically, what's the importance (or not) of blogs in terms of 'spreading the word' around?
can only talk for myself: i think the monumental change that has ocurred in music distribution over the last decade is very interesting and positive. many more people can reach out and there seems to be no end of all talent. blogs are hugely important, no doubt. punky's dilemma is just one of all these small bands and we are just thrilled if our songs are spread. we get mails from across the world and this would not be possible without the various rooms on the web. times are constantly changing and new pathways for music distribution will appear. it's like with all evolution, adjust or die.

05. it's been quite some time since your latest release (four years, if i'm not mistaken). what are you guys up to? can we wait for new songs or ep's or even a lp coming out soon?
we will continue to record when we have time and the songs that will appear will have the same sound. we are working slowly but our intention is to release a really long record with all our old material. and then we probably stop there.

06. do you get to live of music or have another job?
we all have other jobs. i will let you know more in another interview :)

07. any song you'd like to cover?
we plan to include one cover on our long album. can't tell you what song (it's a secret) but it will be something from lou reed.

08. name the perfect place and time to hear your music.
in the car at the freeway around midnight ('airliner' or 'scandinavia') or in a sleepy club at 4 am ('dream mtv' or 'echelon').

09. recommend something you've been listening lately.
two wonderful songs: 'fake plastic trees' (radiohead), 'somebody' (depeche mode).

10. anything else you feel like saying?
thanks for this interview!


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champagne riot

champagne riot interview

champagne riot is back to the blog... now, with an interview!
they are a duo from copenhagen formed by caspar (that also plays on northern portrait) and anders making pop music that has the merit of translating in certain levels the strange – and meaningless – ways we're living our lives as a global society. It isn't the kind of music that throws the message into your face, it's their subtle approach on live (and love, of course) that brings this feelings into your mind when you listen to their music. they are incredibly successful when it comes to take life and put it in a song. Extremely up to date and modern.
at the end of the interview, you can get their latest release: a single called 'ingrid bergman', with vocals from the lead singer of northern portrait, stefan larsen. you'll be able to see the video too, somewhere along the interview.

so here it is, caspar answers the questions and let us know a bit more about their music and points of view about the perfect pop song.

01. how did you guys got together and where does the name of the project come from?
i was making music under the name champagne riot for a couple of years before we got together in the current form. after releasing the first ep on shelflife records i wanted to try something new and asked anders if he was interested in producing some of my new songs. the collaboration went really well and after a while it was only natural that he joined the project as a member.
the name comes from back when me and an old friend were doing songs and remixes some years ago. we called our work 'champagne riot' because that was the spirit in which the music was created. i adopted the name and used it for my later stuff. i've actually wanted to change it a million times - but just can't think of anything else to call the project. any suggestions?

02. caspar also plays bass on northern portrait, a band that has been causing a buzz on the blogosphere and most of our readers are probably familiar with. although i can sense a deep melancholy on both projects, champagne riot has a more uplifting approach to it. are you a proud melancholic? and how is it to be in very different projects?
personallly i have a weak spot for melancholic music. happy melodies tend to annoy me. however a song doesn't have to be sad just because it's melancholic. it can be a happy and confident song over a blue melody. i think those kinds of songs are probably the best songs in the world.
regarding the northern portrait connection it's just been really great to play in a guitar band for a change since i have spent most of my time making music on computers. although i would have loved to take credit for northern portrait's songwriting i have to be honest and say that i'm not involved in that process. i rehearse and play with the band and we've had some great experiences touring and playing in many different countries.

03. what are the influences that populates champagne riot's universe?
scandinavian pop tradition. creation records. eurodance. indie pop. a great song is a great song no matter where it comes from - we listen to different kinds of music.

04. creative processes now. what inspires you lyrically and melodically? describe pop perfection for you.
the whole mission of our project is to make a counter-attack on all the pointlessness and stupidity we are faced with every day. the stupidity in music, popular culture, values of the welfare culture etc. etc.
but the lyrics are not meant to be "direct" or "political" in any way - god forbid that, i'm extremely apathetic towards all that nonsense - but i guess that on some level they still deal with the frustration i feel about finding it hard to settle in anywhere. the melodies are aiming to be perfect. i don't think we have succeeded at that and we will ever succeed in finding "the perfect pop melody" but perfection is still the goal.

05. i've got to know you very recently (4-5 months or so), and the first song i've heard was 'champagne anthem' that i think is the best thing you've done so far and is an instant classic, a song that in 20 or 30 years will sound as contemporary as it does now. often i think about the impact this song may have on people for its brilliant description (almost chronicle) of a certain age. it couldn't have a better name because indeed sounds like an anthem. it has this 'song of a generation' feeling and it makes me think about the time when i was 16, 17 years old and started to replace - or better - rearrange my view of the world adding to the romanticism some reality. but still, the song holds some of the naivety peculiar of that age (that i believe never goes away). could you talk about the creation of the anthem?
as the lyrics go i actually did start writing it in my teens. at least some of it. then it ended up in a pile with other songs during my early twenties when i was too busy doing all the stupid things that the song is now about. and then one day i decided to finish it. it was all written very quickly. the first verse is about the past up until now and the second verse is about the present. after that we spent sometime producing it in the studio - but not as much time as on the other songs. it's without a doubt the quickest song we've done. it came quite natural i suppose.

06. what's next? songs, ep's, maybe an album on the making?
we'll see. we are currently looking for the right label to work with. once we've found that i hope we can get something out quickly. i think we would like to do a full length album. there's plenty of material.

07. do you get to live of music or have another job?
we make music full time. i think that's the only way to do it if you're serious. you have to suffer a bit to improve yourself as an artist i think. it's a cliche - but it's true. obviously we cannot make a living yet. so we need to beg and steal a bit to make it all work. it's quite miserable living like that. but at least it feels good to do the right thing. the money will have to follow sometime.

08. any song you'd like to cover?
november rain by guns and roses!! it's the best song ever to be presented in such a vulgar manner. try and listen to it without any prejudice and you will hear what i mean. i think we'll change the lyrics from "cold november rain" to "copenhagen rain". it could be a really great song i think.

09. name the perfect place and time to hear your music.
at sunset on a plane over the atlantic ocean halfway between new york and paris.

10. recommend something you've been listening lately.
i think emmy the great is one of the most talented songwriters of my own generation. only thing is no one knows her. the world is really unfair - or perhaps it just doesn't appreciate quality.

11. anything else you feel like saying?
nah.

download: ingrid bergman

(don't forget to check their new song 'heart stab' on their myspace!)
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not afraid of falling down

not afraid of falling down. mixtape #09

01. sweet sweet concorde. balloon
02. my darling you!. flaming dead
03. palpitation. what if
04. bella vista. i'd rather be here
05. silly kissers. halloween summer
06. bidê ou balde. cores bonitas
07. evil men have no songs. no you no me
08. paddington dc. you're next
09. east river pipe. bernie shaw
10. kickstand. slingshot
11. silicon teens. red river rock
12. polack. romería
13. the groovy little numbers. you make my head explode
14. ed wood lovers. el día que conoci a ewan mcgregor
15. half-handed cloud. ezekiel bread
16. when i was 12. s is for subway
17. the popinjays. thinking about the weather
18. rational youth. i've got a sister in the navy
19. almedal. vi forlorar alltid allt vi alltid haft
20. la rainbow toy orchestra. dance with me little bear

holiday records

holiday records interview

imsomnia seems to be a very persistent companion the last couple of days (yesterday i had to download an app to my itouch with those soothing rain noises so i could fall asleep – and indeed, after a few minutes thinking 'this ain't gonna work, i can't get out of my head that this sounds aren't real', i slept). today, when i realized i wouldn't get to sleep without a fight, i simply got up, picked my computer and well, here i am.

i prepared a pretty awesome post tonight... it's another interview. but not to get an insight on a band or artist. today our chat is with jacob, one of the heads behind holiday records. i don't have to say that the label is an unquestionable favorite of mine and -consequently – of the blog. several posts here are dedicated for their releases. In our music review of 2009, victory xviii album came in #7 on the top albums list and among the 20 singles, 4 were from holiday records (young michelin having the best single of the year and best song with 'je suis fatigue').
the concept of releasing a free single every friday of an unknown band or artist is simply beautiful. add to that an exquisite selection of artists and you have pretty much the perfect place to find a weekly dose of good music.

(after the interview you won't find a song to download, as usual. it would be too hard to pick a song or two to post here. so go to their page and download all their catalogue. get everything. you won't regret it.)

ok, i'll let jacob tell you the rest...


01. first things first... tell us about the origins of the label... how the idea of creating holiday came up?
the label started last spring and i think we decided to start it just because we'd always wanted to have a record label and we knew of a lot of bands we liked that no one was hearing. when i saw that photo of joanna feeding a squirrel, i knew exactly what we needed to do. it was a revelation.

02. who's behind holiday records?
it's me (jacob, i'm in two bands; the drums and horse shoes) my little brother caleb (bonfire kids) and justin & joanna (both in church library).

03. all the music holiday distribute is free. talk about that and your views on music distribution nowadays.
well, contrary to what some may think, we don't think all music should be given away for free. we do it because we think it's a fun little treat to brighten everyone's week, but we mostly do it because when we started the label we didn't have any money to make physical releases (still don't!) but we hope to someday.

04. how the artists featured on the label are selected?
it started as mostly friends of ours who had bands, then when we ran out of friends (pretty quickly) we went looking for bands. started asking bands that we liked if they'd like to be a part of it. most said yes, some said no. these days we get some demos in our e-mail and sometimes that works out.

05. how the records are 'made'? i mean, the artists send you the final material and you publish them or there's some sort of collaboration, whether to select tracks and/or create the artworks?
the artists send us final tracks, we aren't involved in the creation of the music at all... sometimes we help out with mastering if need be. we usually tell our artists what songs we love and there's sometimes a back and forth conversation.
we do all the artwork these days. when we first started the label last year we would ask artists if they had anything in mind for artwork. we stopped doing that though. sometimes it would work out great if an artist did their own artwork, but every once in a while we weren't completely happy with art work and an artist was instant. so rather than look back with some regret about a release we've just changed our policy to doing all art ourselves, just so the label has a more cohesive feel.

06. holiday started less than a year ago (correct me if i'm wrong) and in a short period of time gained a cult status and faithful followers. i mean, if we take a look on blogs and music websites it's not hard to see that holiday was one of the highlights of last year. how do you feel about that?

it's very encouraging. it's wonderful to know that if you really believe in something and work hard at it people will believe in you too.
holiday records is all about doing something you love, and something that is quality, without the thought of having to make money as a factor. the only thing that effects what we do is our own personal taste.

07. what's next for the label? what can we expect for 2010?
as always, more brand new music from the darkest corners of the globe but also new releases from the amazing artist we've worked with already. we want to shine a bright light everywhere it's needed. and as soon as we're able to, some beautiful vinyl releases.

08. a word of advice for those - myself included - that feel like starting their own holiday records?
the only real advise i can give is to only do something you are truly passionate about, keep it as small and close to your heart as you can or it will become watered down and meaningless. and always do your best!

09. recommend something you've been listening lately...
hmmm... why is that question so hard? i can honestly say that the only new music i've been listening to lately is palms on fire and the notes.

10. anything else you feel like saying?
i usually pass on these things, because i never know what to say and i feel stupid. but i think i will say that i feel as though we're living in very exciting times and i don't know why but music has become new and interesting and songs are beginning to flow again like the did in the old days and i think anyone that wants to be a part of the gang should climb up on the hay ride!

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princess niko

princess niko
If someone asked me to name 5 artists to take to an island, princess niko would definetely be on my list. He's one of my favorite artists of all time and comes from norway. Bergen, norway to be more precise. I have never seen his face and the only image i have in my head is from the drawing you can see below (for some time i actually pictured that drawing singing the songs). The best description to his music is perfect timeless pop (it can be applied to all – or most – of his songs). He's been making music for a few years but has been a bit quiet for the last couple of years. But according to him, that's about to change, as you can read in our interview.

His songs go from guitar driven indie pop to more obscure tracks passing through uplifting electronic flirtations. You can hear 3 of his songs on a cloudberry records release or go to his urørt page ( a music platform for independent music in norway). There you'll find plenty of songs and – experience has taught me – clicking on 'last ned' will lead you to the download of the songs. It is impossible to name only a song or two as being their best. My favorite would be 'my sweet dragonteddy' but how can you not love 'let's play hide and seek'? Or 'drag me out'? Or 'dançando sozinho ao luar'? Or 'miss pixel and all her stupid daisies? or... honestly, i could go on...really really worth it...

01. since when princess niko makes music, and where his name came from?
i think it started in 2003/2004. i finally wrote a song (lakris sjø) that was exactly the kind of song i wanted to write. before that, i mostly wrote fragments, or improvised songs which weren't any good.
the name? i was looking for a name for some time, and after watching the disney film "the sword in the stone", i came up with it. nothing directly related. it was summer. i found the name fun and cool. but, i'm changing my project name now. i can no longer live with the princess niko name. so i'm changing it to something more grown up: "niko niko niko!".

02. do you get to live of music or have a real job?
unfortunately i have a real job (boring), but this will soon end. i only have a couple of days left to work now and then i'm free! i would love to live from my music, but I don't know if this could ever be possible. i would love to find out! i discovered that if i earned 15 times more than last year, on my music, i would be able to live from it.

o3. how's your creative process?
i usually start off with a riff, or start with wanting to make a certain kind of song. like, "oooh, i just heard a nirvana song and really feel like making this sort of song right now" - mostly these

ideas turn out really bad. but, if the idea is fun/interesting/cool/lovely enough, then i'll work with it for some time, trying to build a structure around it. i really like writing songs like this, as they almost always turn out different than how i originally planned them. spending too much time with the arrangement on my songs, leads to surprises.

04. whenever people ask me about the sound of princess niko i tell them to think about a perfect pop song. and - whether is a guitar riff, drum beat or keyboard arrangement - there's something very appealing and fresh in your melodies. tell us about your universe and your idea (or perception) of music.
thank you very much! difficult question, like everyone else i just try to make my music very catchy, cute/sad, dynamic, and interesting in any way i can. i have used a lot of time on music, even the last couple of years when i haven't released any songs on the internet. i'm very strict to my music with this, if i really like an idea, but don't feel it's perfect i'll keep working on it until the illusion of it being perfect appears, when all the flaws disappear.

05. one of the highlights of my musical collection is my princess niko library. a few years ago you sent me a link with (maybe) all of your songs. and there are songs that are incredibly catchy! do you think about releasing them in the future?
thank you so much again! and, yes! some of them i would like to release, but i would like to re-record them. it's very nice to be able to listen through old songs and feel that they still have something interesting in them after all these years. at the moment, i'm re-recording "i am super", "polycotton drama", and "lost becomes forever". it's very interesting to take a new approach to the songs and try to take the song to other places or the same place, but improved. not always easy though, as i experienced in the 6-8 months i used on trying to re-record "the broken paper-heart club". i made many different versions of this song, and none of them were good enough.

06. the last thing we heard from you were three songs that, if i remember well, were released one just after another. that happened more than a year ago. can we expect something in a near future? yes, you can expect things to happen very soon! i've been working on around 15 songs the last months. will be trying to see possibilities for first an ep release, and then later album release. i will also start rehearsing with my band, within the next month hopefully, so there's actually a lot going on right now. and, this i'm very happy about. i'm also take singing lessons, oh! i have the most wonderful and clever singing teacher!

07. what about your references (not only musical)... i'm sorry, i don't know what to answer here.

08. could you talk a bit about the scene in bergen? i mean, the first band i heard from there was tha april skies, then came you and later soda fountain rag... and some time after that, i discovered that you're all related and kinda make music together. i don't know too much of the music scene in my city.

09. any song you'd like to cover? no. not yet.

10.if you could give a place and hour to hear your songs, what would they be? this is such a difficult question. i have no idea. i only listen to my finished songs, maybe once every half year. to make myself feel better, to feel like my past years haven't been wasted musically. it would most probably be in the evening, alone. maybe together with a cigarette or two.

11. recommend something you've been listening lately... i recommend the first two manic street preachers albums, which i recently started listening to. i recommend the abba albums: abba - super trouper and abba - voulez vous. and i recommend joanna newsom's album "have one on me".

12. anything else you feel like saying? not much to say, other than i'm looking forward to finish my new songs.

download: my sweet dragonteddy
download: drag me out

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