Acid House Kings

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/acidhousekingsinterview.jpg" alt="Acid House Kings : Interview" />The day after the release of the Swedish pop band's long-awaited fifth LP, <i>Music Sounds Better With You, </i>the Angergård brothers...
Acid House Kings : Interview
Acid House Kings

In the morning of March 22nd, Stockholm looked to repeat another sunny spring day – fit for a pleasant stroll to the trendy Södermalm district, where I met with Acid House King’s two original members and songwriters, Johan and Niklas Angergård in a comfy basement practice space.  The day after the release of the Swedish pop band’s long-awaited fifth LP, Music Sounds Better With You, the Angergård brothers sat down with QRO to reveal the process of making the perfect pop album, and why there are penguins on the streets of Sweden.  Unfortunately, the effervescent Julia Lannerheim, who sings lead on half of the albums, was unable to join in the discussion.

 

 

QRO: You guys have been around since 1991, and you just released your fifth album (Music Sounds Better With You).  How has your music progressed, and what factors contributed to its progress?

Niklas Angergård: We don’t do a lot of progressing – I would say.  We have a simple idea of making fairly timeless – hopefully – pop albums.  In the beginning, in ’91 or ’92 when we released the first album, we were really bad and now we’re fairly good.  So that’s the progression.  Doing the same thing, but doing it slightly better. 

QRO: You have plans to tour – to promote the new album?

NA: We have plans to at least go to Asia this autumn.  So hopefully, that will happen.  Maybe we’ll come to the U.S.  We haven’t decided yet. 

QRO: Are you guys big in Asia?

NA: No, big is probably an exaggeration, but we got a lot of dedicated fans in Indonesia, Philippines, and so on.  It’ll be great to tour then, and we haven’t done that before.  We were in the U.S. in 2006, I think?  It will be great to tour to somewhere we haven’t toured.

Korean commercial starring Drew Barrymore with AHK’s “This Heart is A Stone”:

QRO: The second single is “Would You Say Stop” (QRO review), based on listener’s votes.  And you also premiered music video for the song recently.  Can you tell us about the experience of making the video?

Johan Angergård: I think we wanted to sort of capture the grey, every day Swedish life in the video.  Little bit sort of depressing surroundings like hospitals and so on, where we shot the video – but then we have this sad penguin there to make it fit the song very well. 

[Niklas, who had been smiling the whole time, laughs]

NA: And the process to pick that single, we actually had a real problem ourselves to pick the second single.  We thought it would be nice to ask the people to see what they thought.  And they picked “Would You Say Stop?” which was our own thought as well, but we were a bit unsure. 

QRO: Can you tell us about who directed the video and the relation to the label?

JA: The video is directed by Phillip Ekström from The Mary Onettes (QRO album review) and from Det Vackra Livet (QRO mp3 review).  He hasn’t done that many videos.  He’s done some for his own bands.  This is one of the first ones for other bands.  I like the stuff his done before as well, but this is his masterpiece. [they laugh]

NA: This is what he’ll be remembered for.

QRO: Why?  Because you guys are in it?

JA: No, because there is a penguin in it!

[they laugh]

QRO: What is it about the penguin?

JA: It’s a sad penguin.

QRO: Could it have been any other animal? 

NA: We actually had a few alternatives, but we picked the penguin.

JA: Because it’s like Swedish – we have penguins in the streets?

[everyone laughs]

QRO: I don’t get it.

JA: Because it’s so cold in Sweden.  We have penguins in the streets.

QRO: Oh – OK – I get it. 

NA: Or maybe not. 

QRO: What were the alternatives?

NA: Actually, it’s an interesting background story.  Because a friend of Julia’s had a party in his apartment, and to make that evening a bit more special, he brought like ten animal costumes, which everyone had to dress when they entered the apartment.  So we had a huge assortment of animal costumes.  But we picked the penguin because it looks funnier.  And it sort of captures the loneliness of the video – even stronger. [shaking his head] There’s something funny about sad penguin. 

Video for “Would You Say Stop”:

QRO: I noticed that you self-rated all your albums.  How would you rate Music Sounds Better With You?

NA: It’s a 4.5 (out of 5) – the best one so far. [laughs]

QRO: So you’re just getting better with each album.  So the next album would be like 4.7 or 4.8.  And the seventh album would be 5?

NA: If we make another album, which is the plan. 

Then it would be better because that’s our small, personal objective to release the album – at least for ourselves – better than the one before.

  Otherwise, it sort of loses the point if you don’t think you’re developing in one way or another.  Especially since we do the same album every time.  We don’t change the appearance or the style that much.  So the only development is in the songs and arrangements and the lyrics, possibly.  The seventh album would be like 4.10.

QRO: Speaking of style, judging by your promotional photos, cover art, and videos – in accordance with your music, you have that certain retro ‘70s – maybe ‘60s look to it.  Is that a purposeful marketing strategy?

JA: I think the ‘60s thing was a little bit on purpose on previous album.  We wanted to look like a combination of The Supremes and Krafterwerk.  So that’s both sixties and seventies. 

Video for “7 days” from their previous album, Sing Along with Acid House Kings:

But this time, I don’t think it was really our plan.  I think it’s just the way – we look. [everyone laughs] Happened by accident. 

QRO: You (Johan) can pass for the look today, but you (Niklas) don’t look so retro today. 

Which songs stand out for you guys?

JA: [thinks for awhile] Well, it’s a really even album.  It’s difficult to pick favorites.  I think “Would You Say Stop?” and “Under Water” maybe.

NA: Depends on your mood, I would say.  Sometimes I like the slightly more subtle ones like “Where Have You Been?”, “There’s Something Beautiful” or “Waterfall”.  Sometimes, into more catchy stuff like “Would You Say Stop?”, “Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?” or “(I’m in) A Chorus Line”.

Niklas AngergårdJA: That was almost the full album.

NA: Yeah.

[everyone laughs]

NA: I think this time, we all feel that the ten songs we put on the album, we really like them, ourselves, at least.  Often you feel that – umm – that song might have been better left out.  But this feels like fairly solid one.  

QRO: Were there any songs that were left in the cutting room?

NA: Absolutely!  We got loads of songs that aren’t on the album.  We almost scrapped half an album in 2008 or something?  We were heading in a slightly darker direction.  But in the end, turned out to be fairly classic ten-song, three-minute pop song – sort of album. 

QRO: On your previous album, you made a karaoke DVD for every song on the album, which has never been done before.  Do you have plans or will you attempt something novel for this album?

NA: Yeah – we got castanets in every song. [everyone laughs]

A smaller idea – maybe?  Well, not that kind of an idea at least. 

JA: Completely different thing, but we’re planning to do like collaboration with like a childhood favorites – one of the most important artists of all time.  But it’s not finished yet so we’re not like dropping the name.  That would be big, if it happens, which I think it will. 

Karaoke video for “A Long Term Plan”:

NA: Maybe it’s not that novel, but we have one small thing where we let people follow the progress this time – in a public excel sheet.  Very novel.  We let everyone see where we were in the album process.  Have we finished the melody of the song?  Have we finished the lyrics?  The arrangements?  And so on.  We had an excel spreadsheet like a green, yellow, and red boxes and in the end, everyone could see that we were all green.

QRO: Julia (Lannerheim) – she sings half of the album?

NA: That’s the unwritten rule.  We have a set frame of almost – she sings the half of the songs, I sing half of the songs, Johan writes the half of the songs, I write the half of the songs – so that’s the unwritten sacred rules.

Johan AngergårdQRO: Why don’t you (Johan) take any lead vocals?

NA: He does that in so many bands so he’s not allowed. 

QRO: OK, that’s what I thought. 

Since because this is the only band you’re in, right?

NA: Exactly.  What band would I sing in? [everyone laughs]

QRO: Well, maybe you can guest appear on his (Johan’s) other bands.

NA: It wouldn’t fit.  Then it would be Acid House Kings, more or less. 

Video for The Legends’ “He Knows the Sun” (a band Johan Angergård entirely writes, and plays):

QRO: You recorded the album at Summersound Studio – the one you built?

NA: The first two albums we recorded in someone else’s studio, in a very tight time schedule because it’s ridiculously expensive and so on.  But having done that, we really felt that we want – the thing that we love – we need time to really completely accomplish what we want to.  Building your own studio was one way of doing exactly that.  That’s one reason maybe why it takes five or six years because you’re never finished.  You can always spend another month or six months or a year or something on fixing the small details that we think is truly important.

QRO: Does it take you long time to decide whether a song is finished?

NA: We work a lot on the songs, absolutely.  There is no natural end point to a song.  You can always elaborate little bit more.  But we know when we think it’s finished.

JA: Usually, I think we have a plan for like what the song in the end so you have like a picture in your head – oh, this is what it will sound like when it’s finished.  And when you’re there, I think you notice it.  Sometimes, you never get that, and you throw away the song.

QRO: Do you select the songs based on how they all fit together as an album?  Do you have certain concept for the album? 

NA: I think this time – we used more classic three-minute pop song – sort of ambition for all songs.  For this album, they might fit even better together as a clear idea of the album.  But usually, we just pick the best songs.

JA: This time, we wanted them to fit together, more like all songs should be – like singles?  So that’s what makes it stick together well.  Usually in an album, you try to have more of an ups and downs, this is more like a constant up. [everyone laughs]

QRO: I don’t have any questions left.  You guys want to add anything?

JA: [speaking in a radio announcer-like style] www.acidhousekings.com Go visit the website today! 

[everyone laughs]

Video interview of Johan & Niklas Angergård of Acid House Kings:

Interview with Acid House Kings from Photosphere LLC on Vimeo.

 

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