On Halloween night, deep under the stage at the Ogden Theater in Denver Colorado, The Sounds of Halloween were preparing to be heard - literally. And Gigbot was there. This dedicated quintet has been hell-bent on bringing their brand of music onto stages and into earbuds around the world. As the costumed crowd gathered for the show, the din fell down the stairs and into the green room, where the band sat down with Tim Rynders of Denver's band The Knew, to discuss commitment to their craft and each other, their costumes, and taking their music to the moon. Hailing from Helsingborg, Sweden to your browser for a Halloween special: The Sounds.
Interviewed by Tim Rynders of The Knew (TR).
Photographed by Todd Roeth.
P'ssst. Treats for you! Click on these photos!
Tim Rynders -What is the state of music in Sweden? Is there a vibrant Rock and roll scene? Did it peak a few years back or did I just pay more attention back then?
Maja - I think a lot of bands found out how much work it takes to tour the U.S. They tried it out and realized it was much harder than they thought. Now, a lot of bands just go to Germany where they get paid very well and come back to Sweden to write another record. But, I think there are still a lot of bands in Sweden that the U.S. needs to hear about.
TR - When I saw you in 2003, in Sparks, Nevada - Maya was very ill with flu and still put on an incredible performance. How does she do it? I think it speaks volumes about the character of an artist when they can perform even under awful circumstances.
Maja - It’s our damn responsibility to put on a good show. Usually, if I’m not feeling well or able to sing well, the crowd will sing for me. I think adrenaline fixes most things and then it just takes over. We haven’t canceled a show in about 5 years.
Dorchester Hotel
-The Sounds
TR - Are the Sounds the hardest working band?
Jesper - We’re one of them. A lot of bands work hard, especially nowadays.
TR - Are you all still finding time to do the other things in life you want to do, raise families, have other career interests, etc or do you feel like you need to put all that off for now?
Felix - We have a lot of time available outside of the band, but this is the occupation of choice for all of us for the past 10 years. We want to be playing for a lot longer and to do that, you can’t put 80% in, you’ve got to go full in.
TR - Are there very specific things you are looking for out of your musical careers?
Jesper - I want to play on the moon. (very serious)
Felix - I want to be able to look back at it 20 years later and say, “I did the right thing, because I had an awesome time”. And I’m having a blast now.
Maja - I’ve always wanted to have the drive to be the biggest band possible, and not settle for less. But, we’ve had goals the whole time. At first it was to get signed, and now it is to sell out stadiums and constantly keep pushing ourselves.
TR - Do the same things that inspired you when you were sixteen inspire you today?
Felix - It is different things. Now we are very inspired by the people we met on the road while we are touring, and different bands. When you’re sixteen it is usually just the big idols, like Metallica or whatever, but now it is touring, and meeting a lot of different people.
Maja - I think our dreams are getting maybe a little more realistic now. But it is so good to be young and naïve, and to think everything is possible. I’m glad we started out early, back in high school.
HB - Does the band have a phrase it lives by?
Maja - The only thing I can come up with is the guitar tech, his motto is “Just live a little”. I think that’s pretty good.
Jesper - It’s never too late to become what you might’ve been. (said in a slightly too small Scooby Doo costume)
TR - Can you talk about the lyrics to Dorchester Hotel a little? It seems like it could mean a lot of different things to different people... But, I'm interested where the words came from in you.
Felix - The song is specifically about a man who is a prostitute at the Dorchester Hotel in London. He hates what he does, but it still turns him on and drives him to continue. In a general sense – it describes people who keep doing the things that they hate. Somehow even though they hate it, they aren’t able to make the change and do something that they love and feel good about.
TR - Who are the better dancers, Norwegians or the Fins (Finnish)? We leave the Swedes out of this discussion.
Maja - Drunk or sober? Uhhhhhhhhhh -
Fredrick - I’ll go with Finland. They do a lot of tango dancing.
Maja - That’s true. They do! They do that shit – Finnish tango dancing.
TR - Did you all get to pick out your own costumes?
Fredrick - Actually, they picked us. (Wearing a full size frog suit)
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