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Johan Norström &
Turister i Tillvaron |
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My first interview via MSN is done. My son sits with that but now I was “forced” to do this interview with Johan Norström with this program. One and an half hour went away fast when we “talked” about many different things. This was done the 14th of march between 14.00 and 15.30.
Please tell me a little about yourself? -Yeah, what to say? I´m 21 years old, I work in a rockclub. I have played in different band and constellations since I was 16, I started to write own songs in 99.
Which bands have you been in? Which rockclub is it? -My first band was a hardcoreband which was called Thurisaz,where I singed. We played together for a long time but we put our instruments down when the members starting to be spreading musically very much. And then I sing in a death/trashband called Terrortory. The rockclub is called Pinkerton, it´s a very needed place in this town- because the places to go is very few, it very boring. Where do you live? Is there any other good bands there? -I live in Skellefteå, and here it is really many good bands. To mention the bigger bands so dow e have Wannadies, Sahara Hotnights, Vintersog and many more. And then there´s a gang of bands which haven´t been big bands yet like Black Bonzo, Élodie, Brown Orange and many more. The town have a very active musiclife.
You seem to like a lot of metal, how come did you start with the calmer style, singer/songwritermusicthing? -yeah, I´m very found of metal, that´s true. But it´s more inspiring in some way to write in swedish I saw Lars Winnerbäck for the first time somewhere 96 or 97 and I got very impressed that he put the lyrics in the first room. Lyrics have always been important to me.
I have understood that Winnerbäck is a guy which you like, I interviewed in in the late 90´s a he was a nice guy. He started with punk as many others in this style, punk sin´t anything for you or? -Yeah, I come from there too. DLK was the first band I really listened to and the Definitivt 50 spänn records I have played so many times that I count them. But I haven´t played so much punk. But I play in a little project which is named "Tjock och liten hockey" but that´s more of a thing we do when we´re drunk than a real band. But we want the distorted halfpunky feeling in the songs. It´s very melodic and ridiculous. Ha ha
Punk is never ridiculous....I compared your music with Clash in the song Mellan svart och Vitt, a comment on this? -Yeah, that´true. It´s a really big similarity between that song and The Clash. And there is a bass in the chorus which comes from an Arch Enemy-song. A little bit redone but very similar
What are you being compared to? Can you understand that reviewers compare to other artists/bands? -Reviewers and musiccriticans have a tendency to be really narrow-minded so it´s much Winnerbäck and Sundström. “Skellefteås answer on Winnerbäck” have I heard so much so I´m really pissed off on that. It´s a whole world they have missed, it seems like that. The people –they have another view on this and they have different references. I have heard a lot of odd similarities like Charta 77, DLK, just to mention some...
What does people say then? -They seem to have understand that I´m an own person and and they listen top the songs more than the general picture people says about Johan Norström As I said Charta 77, DLK and Springsteen we have heard and that´s not wrong
The lyrics is important you say...what make you write a good lyric? -It´s varies, but often it comes from my thoughts and thinking. I make a lot of if and maybe in my head and sometimes it will be a lyric of that. Different things which is happening can inspire me to write lyrics too. The most, actually
Is it coming a lyric out of the terrorthings in Spain this weekend, or have you already written something about that? -No, I don´t believe so. I have never been good at make an expresision about those things. The only thing which came out of 11 september 2001 was ”Det Brinner” and I really tried. I have a lot of lyrics which is lying here and there about 11th of september and it will surely come lyrics about Spain- but I´m really bad at tie them together.
But music and politics goes together? -Yeah, sometimes. Music goes together with life and there comes the connection to politics via life. I think.
Who write the best political lyrics then? -It´s difficult to say. Have I got this question some years ago I had without dopubt answered Dennis Lyxzén but I don´t think that anymore. It´s too much straight on the point. I like the subtile when we talk about politics. Stefan Sundström do it good, but is he the best? I don´t really know
I got the demo singlar 02-04. have you done anything more that I could listen to? -Eh, nja. We shall soon put out some older material on the website. But earlier have we only recorded on the computer at home and it haven´t been so good soundquality in the end. But some calm songs which haven´t so much arrangements will be coming very soon that you can download.
Sounds really good. …….Dina Turister i Tillvaron(your band) what is that for poeple?
-Turister
i Tillvaron is a gang of different people. Olof Almqvist (guitar), Petter
Lindström (piano,organ), Michael Bergvall (bass), Tommy Nilsson (drums),
Veronica Wiander (violin) and our own sceneSantaClaus Andreas Eriksson who
plays the most things. He use to pick up the things which are free. Some
of the people played earlier in a powermetalband called Armos Knight. Do you send out much of the record to labels, zines, papers and so on? Shouldn´t you got as contract or isn´t that anything you want to have? -We have been really bad at sending out demos actually. I don´t know what it depends on. I love to play music so it would be a dream to live on it and a contract would help out with that. Anyway to that grade so your name is a little bit more wellknown because we´re really bad to promote ourselves
Does Ljuv Musik helps out something to get foreward your music or is it most a place to admire yourself? -Nja, I don´t know. The old foxes there seems not to like my music there. But I have got really good critics from the younger as Peter Olofsson and Olov Hamilton for example. I have got some gigs through Ljuv Musik but the most things I have succed with have I done before I began to be on Ljuv Musik. The thing which have helped me most is my gigs on Laponia Visfestival in Arvidsjaur. Teher have I met many nice people,
Why dom you think the old foxes on Ljuv Musik don´t like what you do? -I don´t really know. But that´s maybe only a feeling that I have.
It´s sad…but what happens now if Ljuv Musik is closing down, does the singer/songwriterstyle dies then in Sweden? -No,. Not at all.The contacts is still there. It´s maybe good-it maybe leads us to newstart. Ljuv Musik have been some safety can I think and the missing of that safety can make people to stear up things again..
Which type of people is it who comes and listen to you, if we don´t talk mates and so on? -It´s varies a lot. I tried to define our audience some month ago and came up with that the people who listens to us is from 10 years and up.
How far up? -60-70, maybe and then take jazz the command, I think..
maybe that…but I don´t hope that a will like jazz when I`m 60-70. -The same! Jazz is boring.!
Now I will be nice and give you the chance to rank your five best records, five best concerts and five most important things in life? -Is that nice? It´s really difficult... Ehhm. Five favoruiterecords.. Lars Winnerbäck - Söndermarken, Arch Enemy - Stigmata, Opeth - Blackwater Park, The Black League - Utopia A.D and all DLK records. Five favouriteconcerts: Arch Enemy - Gates of Metal 03, Lars Winnerbäck - Idunteatern in Umeå latest.. when it was, Soulshield in the tent onTrästock, all who was there know that it must be on this list and which year I mean.. Dark Tranquillity on the club in Stockholm 200...2? Stefan Sundström on Pinkerton when he have released "Sundström spelar Allan". The most important things in life: music, movies, beer, food and toiletvisitings. And snuff! That I forgot. Away with the food! .
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Is it maybe so that you must go on the toilet? -Not for the moment, no
Good, then we continue …First, , last and most expensive record ever bought? -The first record I bought was, Queens first record. I don´t think it´s named anything. The latest was Winnerbäcks live-DVD…if it counts? Most expensive. I don´t think I have bought anything really expensive, embarrassing..
Was Winnerbäcks DVD something to have(my girlfriend loves Winnerbäck and I thought of buying that as a present)? -Yeah, I like it much. I didn´t thought it would be so good, it feels like you must have been thereto feel the magic – but I felt it in my sofa too. Very good present.t!
Which is the most embarrasing record in your collection? -Yeah, wait for a moment so shall I run and check this out. One More Time - Highlands. I can´t find it and that was good for me but it´s there somewhere.
Have it ever been so that you have bought a record for the cover because that it was nice or cool and then after that you have been realised that the record wasn´t so good? -Yeah. It´s often is so when I have money and it´s a gig and some distro takes their records there.
Which is the biggest miss? -Dead Beat is the name of the group. I don´t know what the record is called but it´s a 10 vinyl. Bad american hardcore. ,
Now over to you agai, what do you think that you do in about ten years? -I hope I sit with a little bit of hangover in a hotelroom in Trollhättan and wait for the tourbus to go so I can go on. I play surely short.
Why Trollhättan? -Why not Trollhättan? It doesn´tmatter so much where the hotelroom is, only the other things is correct.
But, it´s the music which is the thing, family and children don´t you have it then? –I have a girlfriend now but as it is now I put the music in the first place. She´s understanding the situation but it can be some friction, you can say…,...
Now back to music, how would you describe your own music in three words?, -Honest, funny and good. False modesty isn´t something for me.
Is it much interviews, is it boring with interviews? -This is actually my first and it´s fun this far!
The first, it was like hell, first as usual. Which is the question you haven´t got but you want to have, please ask it and answer it -Or wait, I have done an interview before but I have almost forgot it- the woman who did it was a joke.Ehmm..yeah difficult. Question:If you must choose between the acoustic rock and deathmetal, what would you choose? Answer: I would say the acoustic rock but continue with deathmetal when no one saw it. Bad Question
Why did the woman who interviewed you was a joke? -She asked clichequestions and she wasn´t interested. She mixed up people in the band and it was really embarrasing.
Where did she came from , was it a serious paper? -It was a serious paper but you won´t get any name.
You have on own webiste, is it important to an unknown(his far) musican as you to have one and is it many poeple who finds their way to it - think it´s really important. You want people to listen to you-and there ´s a lot of people surfing on internet, after what I have heard. I don´t have any idea how many who find their way to it. But if you see on the guestbook it´s not so many. att det är otroligt.
Do you have any favoruitesite on the net? -No, not really. www.addictinggames.com.
In which way? -Addicting Games. It´s perfcet.I love small meaningless games. I have a hard to beat record in 87 seconds on MS Röj. ..
Are you a gameaddict, any other games you like? -NHL 2004, Fifa 2004, Civ 3 and the newcoming CM 01-02 I play really often.
03-04 you mean? -Nepp, 01-02. Newcome I mean that I precisly have begin to play it. All I know who plays CM plays 01-02 so it felt natural.
Which team are you having? Favouriteteam in football, mine is GAIS as you can see? dig av? -I don´t really like swedish football, I think it´s a little bit boring sportbut when I play I´m PSG, in NHL I have an own team called Springfield Isotopes where I have traded players with my heart. ,.
So hockey is your thing, SAIK and so? -Yeah. SAIK. The match have begin now and I must put on my TV.
Which do they meet today, can they take themselves to the premier disvison?, -It´s the last match tiday in playoff 2 today against Växjö. I don´t think they manage to go to The Premier Division this year, but the next. Ah, it begins at 16.00 o clock
Good luck with that. Now to another question again, about music, are you doing any covers? -Yeah, I write songs in periods and when I don´t write we do covers. I translate a lot , Leonard Cohen - Halleluja, Nick Cave - As I sat sadly by her side to mention the ones we play right now..
I will really want to hear the Nick Cave song but you don´t play any Bellman, Corrnelis and that type of covers? -No, it haven´t been so. I don´t want to put myself in thesinger/songwriter style and have taken away artists like these.
It´s maybe smart. Where do you stand in the mp´3 question. Does the record label get ruined because of the downloading? -The classic label maybe be so and I have nothing against that. The money is earned on concerts and on commercials anyway. I think that is better that people listens then that they don´t do it and it´s better that to force people to pay 200 swedish krona for a record..
Do you download much for yourself? -Right now I do it. I earn so little money so I have no choice. But when I get a steady income I will buy records again.
If you could choose five artists/groups to play with during a concert with you, which five would you choose? -Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, At the Gates and Metallica (with Cliff Burton)
Where is best to play, in a place for youths, a pub or on a big concertarena? -Places which is best for the thing-as for an example Pinkerton. A rockclub. But I will really want to try concert arena
Is it much so that people on a pub shouts after covers when they´re drunk and so? -I guess so, because I have never played on a pub like that but I can think that it´s a little bit so.
Now it´s soon the end of this interviews. How do you think it´s to live in Sweden, what is best and what is worst of living in Sweden? -It´s diifcult to say. It feels really simple to live in Sweden. I haven´t anything to compare with but that´s a feeling I get. The best is the fact that we´re really good at many sports even if we´re not so many in Sweden. The worst is the big brothercomplex which is everywhere. Skellefteå looks up to Umeå, Umea looks up to Stockholm and Stockholm sees up to USA….sick.
Which are the futureplans as a musican? -Play all the time. Live on the music I play. Take over the world. Those things.
And a sa human being, is it the same things? -Haha, yeah. Especiially those thing take over the world. No, but survive and to have fun.
Wisdomword? -Ah, I have a thing which is really good here. To dare is to lost the foothold for a while, and not dare is to lose yourself. I think it´s Kirkegaard who said it.
Something to add? -Visit our website, download all songs, love us and give us gigs. We come!! |
