Short interview with "Green" 04-May-95 - by Erik Soderstrom
(chief@lysator.liu.se) after a gig at "Herrgar'n", Linkoping, Sweden. (v1.0)
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Green are:
Fredrik Persson (drums) Bj|rn Palmberg (guitar)
Henrik Langdal (bass) Lars WirtＯ (guitar)
Magnus Fridh (vocals) Helen Widmark (violin, keyboard)
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(if the answer is "A." it was answered by someone. If the answer came from
someone special, the initials are written.)
Q. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE GIG TONIGHT?
FP. It was really hot with that many people! A _lot_ of people actually.
The sound equipment was great this time too, compared to last time
we played here when it just stunk, but it was as fun as last time
anyway. We always play 'My Special Applepie', our very first song
really, and that was a stunner! Everyone seemed to know it! We never
rehearse it, but we always play it.
Q. ANY PROBLEMS?
FP. The guards pushed down a bunch of stage-divers at first, but after a
while they got more relaxed about it. Vitte's [Lars WirtＯ] cord broke
after the third song, so we had to play half a song ['Schlager'] which
we never really play.
Q. WHAT SONGS DID YOU PLAY?
FP. 'Swanson vs. Spencer', 'Taxinight In New Dehli', 'I Like Mondays', then
half of 'Schlager', after that 'Plasticlife', 'I Don't Mind',
'My Special Applepie', 'Sunday Sway', 'Weekend Trip' and 'Comaneci'.
The extra number was 'Smudge' and 'Lucky Star'. Last time we were here
we played all the songs from the EP (plus a few extra).
Q. WHEN DID YOU START AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
FP. The band actually started in january 1992 in Lund. We're all from Lund,
and all of us were members from the start except for Helen, who joined
about half a year later. She only played violin then. It was when we
worked on our latest album, the full-length [Schlager] she started with
keyboards as well.
Q. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT PLAYING IN A BAND?
FP. Magnus studies the Tibetan language in Stockholm (really!). I study
economics, Bj|rn studies history, Lars runs his own company and is
a freelance journalist, Helen studies music and film science in
Stockholm and Henrik also studies economics.
Q. ARE YOU TOURING RIGHT NOW?
A. Well we're playing in V{stervik on the 5th [May], at a support gala for
Bosnia, then we're not sure if we're going to play in Sundsvall on the
12th, but we hope so. After that we're hopefully in Katrineholm on the
13th. Norrkoping is booked on the 19th, Malmoe on the 20th, Gothenburg
on the 22nd, Kristianstad on the 24th and Karlskrona on the 26th. In
june, we're only sure of a gig in Lund on the 16th right now.
Q. HOW ABOUT RELEASES?
FP. In december 1993, we released "My Special Applepie", the single and
the 7-track EP "Couldn't Bear To Be Special". And now recently, on the
9th of march this year we released the full-length "Schlager".
[See below for details on review scores].
Q. ANY DEMOS OUT THERE?
FP. "Wunderbaum" came first, then "April 1993" and the last one was "May
1993". [See below for details on review scores].
Q. HOW ABOUT INFLUENCES?
FP. James Taylor Quartet. And that goes for Henrik, Helen and Lars as well.
_Eggstone_, Smiths and early REM. Other than that, all of us have
different taste in music.
Q. ANY SWEDISH BANDS YOU LIKE?
FP. If I have to mention a couple, On A West Side Fabrication, Puffin and
The Bear Quartet. And yes, we like Brainpool as well.
Q. HOW DO YOU WRITE YOUR MUSIC?
FP. Magnus writes the lyrics and the melodies, then all of us arrange it
together, so most of the time, something comes out of what we do.
We're very self-critical, so it usually comes out okay. We work on
a song until we're all satisfied with it. Like 'Taxinight In New Dehli'
which some of us didn't like first. We only had to work on it a little,
and then it was okay.
[Later during the interview]
FP. Actually, three of us write songs. Which I think is great. It gives
us so much to work on at once. For "Schlager", we had 22 songs in
four weeks. But it wasn't easy to sort out 12 of them to put on the
album. Like I said, all of us have different taste in music, so it
wasn't a painless process. And sometimes such problems can create
funny effects. Like the last one we decided on for "Schlager" was
'Taxinight In New Dehli', and the last song we decide on is sort of
the song we all can say "okay, let's take that one then" about. It
got on the "Best Right Now" list in N|jesguiden. [laughter].
Q. AS A KEYBOARD PLAYER MYSELF, WHAT KEYBOARD DO YOU USE AND WHAT SOUNDS?
HW. I use a Korg M1 and I have Korg's own sound cards for it, though
most sounds I use, I have edited and changed from those.
Q. HAVE YOU BEEN FEATURED IN THE PRESS/TV/MEDIA?
FP. When we released 'My Special Applepie', we got a lot of attention
in the press. Especially Expressen. Actually, we got reactions from
every music magazine and paper. "Schlager" got reviews in every
music magazine and paper except for Aftonbladet. We've made a video
that has been shown on Z-TV and we've been featured in Musikjournalen
on the national radio (P3 channel). TV4 were in Lund last tuesday, to
cover the Lund music life. It was supposed to be recorded in march,
but the person who did the interviews was sick. They said they would
show what came out of it sometime during may, so keep your eyes open!
We're featured [on the cover + article/interview inside] in Svenska
Dagbladet's City magazine tomorrow. Be sure to check that out as well!
Q. YOU'RE SIGNED TO THE "RAINBOW MUSIC" LABEL. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
FP. When we released our last demo, "Maj 1993", the Ceilidh label showed
interest in us, but they had so much to do with Sonic Surf City and
Suredo and all that, so we were signed to Delicious Goldfish instead.
We released the single and the EP, and then when it was time for
the full-length, which really became pretty expensive, Rainbow Music
in Solna came in more and more. Payed for this and that and... So it
was only natural that they took over. Those who are left on Delicious
Goldfish are Sunshine and Crescent Venus (who now changed drummer for
the 4th time). We were also the only three bands who got to release
singles on that label.
Q. I'VE HEARD RUMORS ABOUT RELEASES IN JAPAN?
FP. Actually there are two companies there who are interested. We're hoping
for the best, and that we will be able to release something. Can't
say anything more at the moment though.
Q. WHAT FESTIVALS WILL YOU BE PLAYING THIS YEAR?
FP. Nothing is ready yet. We're first on the "reserve list" for Emmaboda
though [Absurt Trevlig, Emmaboda, Sweden, 16-17 June, 1995]. We hope
we get to play at the Hultsfred Festival this year. Last year we
almost got to play, but nothing happened. So we think it's our turn
this year.
Q. WHAT FESTIVALS DID YOU PLAY LAST YEAR?
FP. Emmaboda and Karlshamn (Sommarfestivalen). In Karlshamn, we were the
only pop band except for Brainpool.
Q. YOU'RE SOMETIMES COMPARED TO THIS PERFECT DAY AND WANNADIES?
FP. Okay, during our "demo time", I'll admit we did sound somewhat like
them, but not nowadays!
Q. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE WAY YOU ARE COMPARED TO BRAINPOOL ALL THE TIME?
FP. We started at the same time. We're all from Lund and we didn't know
about them until "At School" [single with 'At School' and 'Popstar'.
Released on the Ceilidh label in 1993] came out. When that happened
we thought "Wow! Buzzcocks again!" Other than that, there's nothing
similar. We're _not_ influenced by them, though we have listened to
the same things before, like Jam, Clash and Sex Pistols. That may
have had something to do with why both bands sound the way we do.
Q. JENNIE MEDIN [from Cloudberry Jam] WAS FEATURED ON "SCHLAGER"...
FP. Well, we both have the same guy getting our gigs, we play a lot
together, and one day we came up with the idea to include her on our
album, called her up, she said okay, came down here and we recorded
two songs, 'Schlager' and 'Plasticlife'. She's really a fantastic
singer.
Q. I KNOW YOU HAVE PLAYED IN FINLAND. WHERE AND WHEN DID YOU PLAY?
FP. It was at the end of may last year when we played in Finland at
Tavastia Huset in Helsinki and a student place in Tammerfors.
Q. ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO FINISH THIS INTERVIEW WITH?
FP. One interesting thing; A Hip-Hop band from Stockholm sampled the chorus
from 'My Special Applepie', though I don't remember their name. It
was fun to hear though.
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[Known Review Scores]
Demo/Single/EP/Album Magazine/Paper Scored/Out of
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Wunderbaum Demo Sound Affects #19 (1993) 3/5
April 1993 Demo Sound Affects #20 (1993) 3/5
? Demo Pop #4 (1993) 6/10
Couldn't Bear To Be Special EP Pop #8 (1994) 7/10
Schlager Album Pop #12 (1995) 7/10
Schlager Album Svenska Dagbladet (1995) 4/6
Schlager Album Corren (10 march 1995) 4/5
Schlager was reviewed in Dagens Nyheter (22 march 1995), but they don't
have a scoring system. It got a "so-so" review though. Compared to
Brainpool again.
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