You can watch the entire video on our main page or alternatively check it our on Pro’s official YouTube Channel. Also follow Professor Green on Twitter.

Addolorata

From ‘Like The Sound’

2010 is revealing a busy time for rising star Kevin Mark Trail whose 2005 released debut album ‘Just Living’ earned him respect and success in the music industry with with quality tracks like D Thames, Perspective and the oh-so flowing Ticket Line. He also gained acclaim recording and touring with Mike Skinner’s The Streets as far back as the Original Pirate Material days.

The Interview

Kevin : I meet Mike through Johnny Drum Machine (John). Me and John were in a band together in college, called A Minor 9 lol. Him and Mike were friend’s. Johnny got in contact with me, I met Mike sang on the tunes, the rest is history

Addolorata : How have you changed since then, what have you learned?

Kevin : I have changed loads, and am still learning. Enjoy life and don’t take your self too seriously, and life and people change, don’t be afraid of change

Addolorata : That’s very true. On stage you and Mike Skinner come over as having a great rapport between you? What are your strengths in personality and character?

Kevin : My strengths? on stage we have fun, I’m there to support mikes vision, fill in the gaps, make the show the best it can be. It’s important for me to connect with the people, it’s not about me, It’s about the people who have come to watch. I want to make people feel something, react.

I try to keep and open mind about people and life, I consider that to be a great strength, I plan but I’m also not afraid of going off road and see where it leads, I love adventure in all forms

Addolorata : You toured with Beverley Knight, what was that like?

Kevin : It was great, she’s an amazing voice, tight band

Addolorata : What inspires you when you’re writing, singing and making your music come alive?

Kevin : Life, I have lived most, if not all of my songs. I feel like singing and the songs need to be as alive as I am, growing and changing

Addolorata : That is a really good answer. To this day, what is your favourite Kevin Mark Trail song and why?

Kevin : They change, lol today Breathless, as I’m a romantic at heart, and I’m in love with the idea of love, today lol

Addolorata : I listen to songs like Green Land, Robin, City Boy, Just your smile, My gun and it’s clear you have a true and beautiful voice, did you ever take singing lessons?

Kevin : I have had singing lessons, not to learn to sing, but to understand my voice. Just as you grow and change, so dose your voice, I’m still learning mine

Addolorata : Who are your favourite singers of all time?

Kevin : I have too many lol, any one who sings from there heart

Addolorata : Do you write your own songs?

Kevin : Yes I write my own songs, always have

Addolorata : And you play guitar, what was the first guitar you owned?

Kevin : I have only ever owned two guitars both Tanglewood, I play more piano than guitar

Addolorata : What are you playing now?

Kevin : Today I was playing through some new songs, as I have a show in New Zealand soon

Addolorata : What was the last gadget you brought?

Kevin : A Lacie Hard Drive, for my Album files back up

Addolorata : Is it serving you well?

Kevin : So far so good lol

Addolorata : I know you have been very busy since The Streets American tour came to an end in October, so tell us what you’ve been up to?

Kevin : I do a lot of youth/Teacher support work, so I’ve been doing that, in between traveling

Writing and recording for my next album, Writing with a band called Part Time Heroes, a kind of trip Hop classical vibe, Working on a few Reggae tracks, one for a label in France called Special Delivery and another one with a UK Reggae producer called Curtis Lynch, Recording and performing with an artist called Nathan Haines from NZ, Producing and writing some tracks with a UK rapper called Lyric L,Writing with an indie band called Ledbetter. Doing some promotion for a a world music project I’m involved in called Hui-a in New Zealand And I’m currently in NZ promoting the single Pathways, and getting some sun

Addolorata : That is a lot of work! very admirable. Family seems very important to you, have they been of great support and encouragement to you?

Kevin : My family are great, I consider all my friends to be family, we need them

Addolorata : Who has been your greatest influence?

Kevin : Life, we are products of every thing we come into contact with

Addolorata : What is your philosophy in life? What is it that keeps you outside the box and excited about life?

Kevin : Live and let live, try and also ways be present. We’re all in some kind of box aren’t we? Not knowing what’s gonna happen next, not being able to control every thing, I love and hate it lol

Addolorata : Are there any new artists out there that you are feeling really positive for?

Kevin : Masiey Rika, Lady, Nathan Haines, all the people I work with

Addolorata : We’ll be checking all of them all out. What’s next for you?

Kevin : Touring NZ with Nathan Hanies, Exploring NZ, world domination, space travel, time travel, meeting Aliens, finding Atlantis, kids, grandchildren, Wealth and richness, politics, sex, love, truth, Africa, music, the universe! I want it all! I wealth, health and happiness

Addolorata : Hahaha, you go for it! thank you for a great interview Kevin.

Kevins’ Sketches EP is available now on itunes

More On Addolorata…and Like The Sound

Addolorata is one of our special guest writers, friend and fellow Streets Head. She is not only a massive Streets fan but a very talented writer, blogger and artist. We will feature a lot more of her articles on our website in the future but you can check out her own website below and follow her on Twitter.

http://like-the-sound.blogspot.com/

twitter.com/SpazioDiArte

Many of The Streets fans that follow DimeRock & Calzo Houdini will already know a little about 5.0 and what he gets up to. But we thought he’s worthy of a little recognition

Growing up, 5.0 had limited success with women despite appearing on TV and in stage shows and being a club/restaurant magician. His first relationship lasted nearly five years, which didn’t give him much time to learn how to meet and attract beautiful girls. Once out of that relationship, he tended only to meet women randomly, through luck or when drinking at bars to avoid dealing with his fear of approaching. He knew he needed to do something.

It was then that things changed.

Introduced to the dating science community by a friend, 5.0 soon discovered Love Systems, read everything he could find, and started putting it into action. Trained by lead instructors Mr. M and Sheriff, 5.0 impressed both with how quickly he absorbed the material and achieved results. It wasn’t always an easy journey, but after a couple of months he began improving by leaps and bounds until one day he found himself dating a Playboy Cybergirl. From desperation to abundance, 5.0 personifies the lifestyle changes that are possible with Love Systems.

As a successful 3D visual Effects animator, 5.0 has worked with many of the best agencies and artists in the business, including the The Streets. Once they heard about his involvement with Love Systems, he was asked to be featured on their TV show. “Beat Stevie” was  aired on British TV Channel 4 and shows 5.0 teaching the art of seduction to Streets’ frontman Mike Skinner and label manager Ted Mayhem.

Watch Beat Stevie’s Mike & Ted Mayhem on the pull…

Yes, even celebrity rockstars come to 5.0 and Love Systems to get more beautiful women in their lives.

5.0 is based in London and is available for one-on-one training and phone consultations. Get in touch with us if you are interested in his skills or visit lovesystems.com

Tame it,

- CJG

Written by Jaimie Hodgson @ Vice

Sorry, jaded white guy who professes to like rap music but can’t remember the other guy’s name out of Mobb Deep, but we love Soulja Boy. Since when did rap music being fun and goofy again become a bad thing? Ah yes, since out-of-touch old men like Ice-T and GZA started getting all grumpy about their nosediving sales and rapidly dimming limelight, that’s when.

I’m talking to all the white music journalists who went to the Wu-Tang reunion show last month and stood by the bar sipping flat Grolsch, trembling at the ten black people there. How come everybody thinks Lil Wayne is still good when his last record was boring? And all those rappers in their 30s doing expensive videos with hookers lapdancing in four-star hotel rooms while a guy from ’N Sync does some gay chorus? Please.

While these muppets desperately milk the shrivelled udder of the album sales cash-cow, “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” was busy selling five million ringtones, making Soulja Boy the richest 17-year-old on the planet. His stripped-back, hook-laden party hip-pop and dance routines are the good-times antidote to the dragged-out sagas of most “major” rap albums that have emerged in the last year.

Anyway, we got our friend Bradford Cox from neighbouring Atlanta band Deerhunter to go meet DeAndre Ramone Way and shoot him for us at a recent studio session (with a camera, not a gun!).

Vice: What was it like having Soulja Boy freestyle at you for a whole shoot?

Bradford Cox: It was so rad. He ruled and his crew ruled. They would dance and act out what he was freestyling about like he had this troupe of interpretive dancers. They also pointed at him a lot. Like, “Here he is—listen to this guy”.

What was he rapping about?

You know, money, girls, guns and abstract ideas about cars. He also kept referring to weed as “cushington”.

What do you think of his music?

I might have dismissed it initially if my first impression had not been meeting the guy in person and seeing that he was a sincere and generally cool guy, but after a little research I’ve decided it rules. I also think it’s bullshit that all these people are accusing him of “killing” hip-hop. Not that my opinion on hip-hop is really that important or valid seeing as how I am a white kid from Marietta, but if he just wants to have a good time, hang out with his friends, make good music and be successful, what’s wrong with that?

If it had been a speed date how would you rate Soulja Boy?

Pretty sweet. I would say he was a good date, and I’d like to “see him again” or “stay friends”.

Jaimie Hodgson – Vice

New Soulja Boy material will be out soon. myspace.com/souljaboytellem / souljaboytellem.com

Professor Green, or Stephen Paul Manderson as he’s known to the government, is a name you are about to hear a lot. Having recently signed to Virgin Records, the East London MC is likely to have a very big year in front of him. And Rivmixx is counting on this talented lyricist to bring some substance back into the recently popularised urban mainstream.

Pro Green has been a well known name in the underground hip hop scene for a number of years.

‘Lecture #1′ was his first mixtape release, back in 2006. But, following some serious battling success, The Streets front man, Mike Skinner, quickly picked him up and signed him to his label, The Beats.

Career

His career, however, began primarily as a battle MC. Professor Green won the initial 2008 Jumpoff Myspace battle rap tournament, beating off Stig of the Dump, and winning a grand prize of £50,000; and quickly gained a reputation as the hottest battle rapper in the UK. He’s won in excess of one hundred battles; claimed the crown of second best MC in the world – second only to Jin – at the Power Summit 50k battle; and is the only rapper ever to have won Jump Off seven weeks in a row – which he did, twice.

Turbulance & Stabbing

Last year (2009) was pretty turbulent for the charismatic MC, though. Having left Skinner’s label – because the funding dried up – Pro Green began to forge his own way as an artist. But the release of his single ‘Hard Night Out’ got set back after he was stabbed in the neck, right through the centre of his ‘Lucky’ tattoo, after a performance in May at Cargo, London. According to his surgeon he “is alive by only a millimetre”.

The latter part of 2009 definitely looked brighter for our favourite horticulturist, however. November saw him signed to Virgin Records and tour with Lily Allen. Now, with a mixtape and an album scheduled for release this year (2010), plus the next single ‘I Need You Tonight’ due for release any day now, not to mention his support slot alongside Miss Allen on the Australian leg of her tour, Rivmixx is truly excited to see where Professor Green will go next.

The Interview

Rivmixx: What made you fall in love with hip-hop?

Professor Green: “I was nine or ten. My dad had played me ‘Pain’, the b-side to ‘Regulate’ fromTupac’s film Juice. Then I heard Biggie and I was hooked.”

R: How difficult was it to make the transition from a battle MC into making structured songs?

P.G: “I didn’t find it that hard, there’s still elements of battling in my music but there’s a whole lot more substance.”
R: You’ve just signed to Virgin Records, what difference will this make to your career?

P.G: “Well, it means I’ve got one, which is a start!”

R: Are we going to see a change in direction with your sound, like we have with Example?

P.G: “No, I won’t be making dance music. You will however hear a development.”

R: So many urban artists have been signed towards the end of last year, 2010 could be even more massive for urban music, what will make you stand out?

P.G: “The fact that I’m white. Kidding. I don’t think anyone else is coming from the angle I am… At least I hope they aren’t!”

R: Who are you rating artistically right now?

P.G: “Drake. I can’t wait to hear his album. It’s good because he doesn’t have the stigma attached to him that most rappers do, he escapes it but still gets respect ’cause he’s so fuckin’ good at what he does.”
R: As a big underground name, what is your view on UK urban music going pop?

P.G: “It’s a good thing, but I don’t think it needs to be so watered down to be there. I think next year is going to see the other side of our [UK urban] music come through and we’ll start seeing some substance.”

R: How has your transition from underground hip-hop MC to major label recording artist been taken by your peers?

P.G: “No idea. Probably a lot of dislike but in the words of the great Catherine Tate, Bothered.”

R: Who will we see you working with next year?

P.G: “Naughty Boy, Fink, Cores, I’d like to do something original with Lily. Hopefully another track with Mike Skinner (the track we did ‘Crying Game‘ is one of my favourite cuts from the album), and there’s a few people I’d really like to work with that I may get to but I’m not about to count my chickens before they’ve hatched!”

R: As Pro Green Twitter followers we have to ask you about Industry Hater. As a battle MC do you rate his parrs?
P.G: “Can’t believe you’re acknowledging him. Are you the Industry Hater?” [Rivmixx is, most definitely not!]

R: You’ve just finished touring with Lily Allen, from your Tweets it sounds like you’ve really enjoyed yourself. Any crazy tour moments you can divulge?

P.G: “I lost my boxer shorts in Berlin, and a bunch of loonies, whose names I won’t put out there sniffed hand sanitizer – the kind made mostly out of alcohol.”

R: How did touring with such a massive name come about?

P.G: “Facebook. We were just chatting when I mentioned clearing the use of ‘Dub Be Good To Me‘. I sent my version over and Lily suggested her doing the hook and us performing it live at Bestival. I was taken aback; I half didn’t think she was being serious! A week later we were in the studio where Lily suggested I tour with her. She’s been amazing. All that aside she’s a lovely girl, and very undeserving of the bad press she gets at times!”

R: UK urban music often receives a bad rep and is always connected to youth violence etc. Do you think that will ever change?

P.G: “Nope. The art form is very young and very belonging to the youngers. The problem’s not in our music it’s in our society, which our music happens to reflect.”

R: What is next for Pro Green and what can we expect from you in the future?
P.G: “The second instalment of my Lecture mixtapes, a couple of singles then the album, then more singles…an awful lot. I won’t be happy till I’m in Bizarre falling out of a club with one of The Saturday’s though.”

Firstly…

These are the opinions of me (Callum James Greens) and not of any affiliated record labels, partners or fellow bloggers.

The Ga Ga Awards 2010

Slavering all night hustlers with white powder chaffing their nostrils and spit flecked mouths chewing the well-worn clichés of music talk, gormless boy bands with their acne buried under make up practicing bad dance routines, token hip indie groups trying to pretend they don’t want to be there, badly dressed executives in expensive ill fitting suits, a blur of new bands and skinny kid hopefuls jumping indie chicks in grubby hotel rooms, pop starlets pushing their cleavage into leering middle aged men’s bleary yellowed eyes in a blur of expensive booze and blagged cocaine snorted in stinking toilets…

Ladies and gentlemen! It’s showtime!

Perhaps the most overblown music awards show has been and gone. Puffing it’s pigeon chest out and screaming phrases like ‘galaxy of stars’ ‘legendary x factor runner up’ and giving work to slavering paparazzi lining the red carpet taking photos of people you have never heard of and don’t really care who they are. It’s the Brits- the televised showbiz spectacular that likes to pretend it’s a music show.

There’s a lot of vile things about the Brits so we may as well get them out of the way first.

1. The stage set

I hate those flash stage sets that look like spaceships. All those millions of quids worth of lights and computerized specials effects that are meant to bombard you into servile submission whilst the ant like group fakes their way through their latest half hit and the international superstar polishes their ego.

2. The way the Brits likes to think it’s the greatest show on earth.

When it’s patently not. It drains all the humanity and excitement out of music and replaces it with bombast and loads of yelling.

3. The name of the show

I even hate it’s name- it’s like some kind of piece of crack slang, some ersatz cockney- ‘oi oi it’s the Brits!’ it makes yer heart beat faster with national pride just thinking about it.

4. Award ceremonies are rubbish anyway

Awards ceremonies themselves are pointless. You get to vote for the people that they want you to vote for- like a mini list of approved acts from the crumbling major label stables- dancing in the last days of Rome!

Tragedy

It’s the tragedy of music coverage on TV that the only mainstream window it gets is this prancing parade of over inflated egos when there is an endless stream of great music out there.

Anyone ever been to a pop gig? My mate went to see Mica of all people last year and he’s never been in a room with so little atmosphere- it’s like everyone has been bullied into buying music that they don’t really like…and the Brits is a major part of this process…

Awarding talentless “musicians” (and I use that word very loosely) with a party and a pat on the back is soul destroying to watch for all the real hard working groups out there who are the real talent. My nieces can sing better on SingStar than most Brit attendees can mime. And as for Lady Ga Ga beating Empire of The Sun… that’s sums it up right there. Terrible.

Go ahead, dislike me if it makes you feel better… but you know I’m right.

Yours,

Calzo

PS… A couple of my fav pics and vid from a past MTV award show and the arsehole that they call Katy Perry…

Arsehole….

Since it’s Valentines day, we thought we’d release a demo track for you all as a little gift. This is a very stripped rough demo of a song called ‘Hard To Find’ which will feature on the Calzo Houdini debut album ‘How To Kill Friends & Influence People’. Sung by our friend & Studio Engineer Trick Rick, the full released version will be a more upbeat dancy number but we thought we’d share this with you as a little taster of the album.

Download The Track (right click – save as)

The legal stuff

Lyrics: Traditional Blues (Son House)
Vocals: Trick Rick
Music Written & Performed by : Callum James Greens (calzo houdini production team)

Recorded at Shore Studios/DimeRock London & Edinburgh.

Copyright of DimeRock Records Ltd.

Meet Me On The Corner

What the hell do they want us for?

The movie is set for an early 2012 release and is to be directed by Gabriele Muccino. Some one who knows some one heard a demo track of ours titled ‘Meet me on the corner’ which features our WorldTime orchestra and was scored by Callum James Greens , the lead producer of the Calzo Houdini team and Larissa Dahlbeck, the lead engineer.

The Track will be re-recorded for “Hollywood” and so far we think it will be used in the end credit sequence but we don’t have the details at this time as the movie is still in the very early stages of pre production.

We will be posting updates on this page when ever new details about the movie and song are released but you can check out the imdb entry for more info.

Download it here…

We have included the ‘demo’ version below for you to download and listen to.

Download – Meet Me On The Corner (demo) (Right Click, Save As)

Written & Scored by Callum James Greens & Larissa Dahlbeck

Performed Calzo Houdini & The WorldTime Orchestra.

(DimeRock Records 2010)

Addolorata

From ‘Like The Sound’

It was a great honour to be approached by Cassell The BeatMaker for an interview, I have been appreciating his talents since he joined Mike Skinner’s The Steets new line-up last year.

So lets get to know Cassell a whole lot better in his own right.

Interview With The BeatMaker

Addolorata : Hi Cassell, how are you today?

Cassell : Well to be honest its 3am at the moment. Lol But feeling ok. This music game does not have set hours just taking a break from finishing a mix in the studio.

Addolorata : It’s time to get to know you a bit better, so let’s start from the beginning, where are you from? (Born and schooled)

Cassell : I was born in East London, Forest Gate. I went to St Bonaventure School.

Addolorata : Was the drums your first instrument of choice?

Cassell : I don’t have one drum hero, but at a young age I was blown away by a drummer called Dave Weckl, I still am. But I admire a lot of drummers. Dennis Chambers, Mark Mondesir, Steve Gadd, Bernard Purdie, Vinnie Colaiuta, Josh Mckenzie, Jerry Brown to name a few.

Addolorata : You gained my respect whilst working with Mike Skinner and the Streets, How did you meet Mike and join The Streets?

Cassell : Whilst recording with Akala in Germany I received a call from Mike’s publisher, who knew me through working with Plan B, he asked if I was interested in doing the next tour. About a month after that Mike rang me up and I went to a rehearsal and met the rest of the band. We jammed for about 20 minutes then went to the pub. From there on I became a member of The Streets.

Addolorata : There is no denying you are multi-talented in the field of music, you are an ace drummer, music producer, studio engineer and songwriter too. Have I missed anything out?

Cassell : Thanks for the complement. I am privileged to share great memories with all the people who come to shows or listen to recordings I’m involved in. I’m also involved in music workshops run by a good friend of mine who is a great musician. The organization is called Bassistry Arts, check it out!

Addolorata : It is only the beginning of February and you have already been very busy so far this year working with Plan B, Akala, Colin Emanuel and Keziah Jones – tell me more?

Cassell : I took part in writing and playing on all of the tracks on Plan B’s recent album. We had been recording for roughly 3 years and we ended up with about 3 albums worth of songs. The 1st single,’ Stay Too Long’ went straight into the top 10 and the album,’ The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’ is due for release on the 5th of April 2010.

I have also been busy writing/recording with Akala and working on a new project he has set up named, ‘Hip-Hop Shakespeare. His first single, ‘XXL’ is released in April and the album,’Double Think!’ Comes out in September. We have already started work on a new album for 2011.

Keziah Jones? Whilst on The Streets US tour, I got a call from Keziah asking me to do a show in L.A, which worked out great. I stayed there an extra week. LOL. Now Keziah is in the Caribbean preparing to write his next album.

Just finished Producing & mixing an E.P for Bassistry entitled,’ Try This’.

Addolorata : Wow, that’s pretty amazing, so what’s next?

Cassell : I have a few live promotional dates in Europe then a UK tour in April followed by festival dates with Plan B. Also more recording and festival dates followed by a UK tour with Akala. May also be performing at Glastonbury Festival with Colin Emanuel which is cool cause I’m also there with Plan B. Will be completing a new album with,’Bassistry’.

Addolorata : Will you be working with The Streets again this year for the fifth and final album? Will there be a tour?

Cassell : Watch this space on that.

Addolorata : Hahaha, okay, so what music have you been listening to lately?

Cassell : I have been listening to Alicia Keys, Paolo Nutini, Radio Head, Pantera, Jay Z, and Old rare soul & reggae music.

Addolorata : Who has been your greatest inspiration?

Cassell : In music it’s been Chaka Khan and Michael Jackson. In life there are too many people to mention.

Addolorata : Thank you for taking time-out from the studio Cassell, I really enjoyed that.

More On Cassell, Check out…

www.thebeatmakers.com

facebook.com/cassellthebeatmaker

myspace.com/cassellthebeatmaker

twitter.com/thebeatmaker

More On Addolorata…

and Like The Sound

Addolorata is one of our special guest writers, friend and fellow Streets Head. She is not only a massive Streets fan but a very talented writer, blogger and artist. We will feature a lot more of her articles on our website in the future but you can check out her own website below and follow her on Twitter.

http://like-the-sound.blogspot.com/

twitter.com/SpazioDiArte

Peter Bjorn and John —Morén, Yttling, and Eriksson, respectively— are a trio from Stockholm best known for their worldwide hit single “Young Folks.” With their members having worked with acts like The Concretes, Taken By Trees, Lykke Li, and the Shout Out Louds, PB&J are lynchpins of the Swedish pop scene. John Eriksson answered questions on the release of their fifth LP, Living Thing.

“We should be given a Nobel prize for interview answers.”

From the beginning of the band, what’s been the PB&J MO?

“From day one, we’ve just wanted to create classic pop-songs that we hope can live forever. Our style has changed, though, and that’s a good thing. We listen to a lot of music, and we don’t want to be frightened to discover new things. That makes you can the way you want things to sound. That’s the good thing about albums. It’s like when you start a new job, or meet a new person, you can start fresh, almost be someone else. I think it’s nice to change from album to album: the way you work, the way you’re sounding, you’re thinking, feeling.”

Did you feel a weight of expectation after the success of Writer’s Block?
“Yeah, it was a big step. Writer’s Block was the first time people really cared about us at all. Before that, we’d only ever played in Sweden and Norway; after that, we toured all over the world, didn’t stop for one-and-a-half years. We wanted to do something totally different after that, so we did an instrumental album, Seaside Rock. That was really necessary, really important step.”

Really? Lots of people don’t regard Seaside Rock as a ‘real’ PB&J album.
“Absolutely it is. Maybe it’s the most important for us in the band. Because it brought us more together than ever. With that album, we worked as close as humanly possible, like we slammed our heads together and fused our brains. But, record companies didn’t care about it, and it was only released on vinyl, and we didn’t do many interviews about it, so, I know that that makes it an ‘in-between’ record. But not for us.”

Why make an instrumental album?
“Maybe we were tired of singing. We’d talked about it for many years, but were waiting for the right time to do it. We thought of it as going back to our roots; it’s like Swedish folk-music meets some kind of f**ked-up Beach Boys music. It’s sort of a tribute to our old hometowns, where we grew up, and the way we played music in grade-school. You know, when you started learning recorder, or clarinet, or saxophone, and you sounded like a pig getting killed. We wanted to explore that period of our lives.”

Did you always want to be a musician?
“Absolutely. Me and Bjorn did the same things as kid: making our own songs on home cassette recorders. It was like it was only possible that we’d end up making music for a living. But, it took us a while to get to the point where we made any money at all. That only happened with Writer’s Block.”

Did you grow tired of playing those same Writer’s Block songs over and over?
“No, actually not. Maybe that time will come. It’s interesting: when you play a song 200 times, it goes in waves. Suddenly, it can be a nauseating thing to play a song, or just a total bore. But, then, 20 gigs later, suddenly it’s this exciting thing; you get so lost in the song that you’re not even thinking when you’re playing it. We looked at it like this: plenty of other bands never get the opportunity to play this many gigs, so how can we complain about it?”

Was it ever frustrating being treated as a one-hit wonder?
“No, because if people hadn’t heard that song, we wouldn’t be known by them at all. We thought of it as our business card. Or like a lucky star in a computer game: it gave us an extra life, and it was up to us to do something with it. We never started to resent “Young Folks,” because we love that song. It’s a great business card to have.”

How do you feel about Living Thing?
“I think we’ve managed to create a spooky, strange atmosphere. I think maybe we drank something strange, or ate some old cheese, but something happened along the way. I think we surprised ourselves with how dark it sounds.”

How did you think it would sound?
“We definitely wanted it be minimalistic. We burnt a reference CD of songs that could fill us with possibilities, and most of it was kind of sparse. The CD goes: Nina Simone, “Sea Lion Woman.” That’s like hi-hat, handclaps, flute, vocals. Alexander Robotnick, “Dark Side of the Spoon.” That’s one chord progression for an entire song. Young Marble Giants, we love them, their sense of minimalism. Suicide, “Dream Baby Dream,” that’s just one repeating motif, this mix of electronic and acoustic sound that just makes the music vibrate. There was also some old-school hip-hop, African folk-music, tropicalia, house music. Anything where there’s a sense of simplicity. It’s good to recreate this idea of what a song can be. You can make a song out of just one beat, a bassline, and some lyrics. We tried really hard to have the songs contain less information.”

Did you have a similar kind of ‘framework’ in place when you were starting, things you wanted to use as models?
“No, when we were beginning we were far too scared to ever use anybody else’s music as a reference. We wanted to go into the studio and find our own identity, our own sound, discover what happens when the three of us get together. We didn’t think about other bands, just about us guys.”

Frida Hyvönen has an amazing song called “Scandinavian Blonde,” about how the rest of the world, especially Americans, can reduce you to a Swedish cliché. Did you experience any of that?
“We got asked about Sweden in every single interview, but there was none of that Ikea and ABBA stuff. It was more like we were treated as ambassadors of the Swedish music scene, talking about all these bands coming out of Sweden. I can see why people are curious: we have so much amazing pop-music coming out of such a small country. I think, in interviews, you can talk about whatever you want. If you have a bad interview, you only have yourself to blame. You have to try and surprise yourself, try to find a better answer for each question each time it’s asked. We did so many interviews, we had to work really hard at that. We should be given a Nobel prize for interview answers.”