Interview: Magnus Ekelund (Elmo)
Elmo's second album "Once" blew me away the first time I heard it, a rare occasion in these fickle times. It's an album filled with the same sort of angst and melancholy perfected by countrymates Broder Daniel, but also enhanced by an overwhelming sense of youthful desperation and a strong melodicism that only can come from Norrland. Sadly, the band comes to an end this week with their final performance ever at LuleåKalaset on July 31, so I made sure to catch up with main singer/songwriter Magnus Ekelund before it's all over to see what brought him to this point and where he is going next.
You're from Jokkmokk, right?
Yes, that is correct. I lived there until I finished 9th grade.
Are you still living there?
Well, I've been moving around quite a bit. First I moved to Luleå for the music gymnasium they had there. Which, by the way, was quite terrible. And then I became really sick. So I moved back home for a year or so. Then, after that, I moved to Gothenburg at the same time as I got signed on a Luleå-based record company named BD Pop. And they sold half of the contract to Stockholm-based Bonnier Amigo. So the timing with me living in Gothenburg was slightly bad. I had to travel to Luleå and Stockholm all the time. So after one year I moved up to Stockholm. This was in 2007.
I released "Kamikaze heart" when I lived there. But then they dropped me from Bonnier Amigo, and I moved home to Jokkmokk again to live in my parents house for a while. But now, about one month ago, I moved back to Luleå again. And it feels like I want to stay here.
I've only been as far north as Umeå, so I'm curious as to what it's like. How does it compare to other parts of Norrland/the rest of Sweden?
Jokkmokk is nothing but nature. If you don't like silence, snowy winters, midnight sun and great views, it is not the place to be. I kind of like the heavy season changes. It's cruel and beautiful. But I think it's because I grew up there.
I like to take walks in the midnight sun out in the forest... Or at least I like the thought about taking long walks in the forest. It feels romantic. But it gets really boring in the long run. I can only live there for short periods of time. I don't want to grow old there. Or maybe that's exactly what I want to do. In a little house where no one else can find or disturb me. Maybe that's where I'll find peace.
How do you think your surroundings affect you as an artist? I can hear a definite Broder Daniel influence (intentional or not), but I'm curious as to what other influences you draw from, musical and otherwise.
I am a product of everything I see, hear and feel. I love Broder Daniel. Especially when I started to write music in my early teenage years. I don't really listen to them anymore, but I know that Elmo sounds very much like Broder Daniel. Disturbing for some people - 'cause they sometimes think that I want to become the new Henrik Berggren. But as a fan of the band, I know that no one can trespass on the symbolic status that he has, and the culture around the band.
So my music isn't very original. I think the power and integrity in my songs are that you can feel that I really mean what I sing. That it's for real.
I don't try to sound like anything else, and I don't try to sound like something you've never heard before. I just try to be honest with what I do. I think you can hear that if you listen to my music.
Another very big influence for me is Jakob Hellman. But I think its more likely to be heard in my new Swedish project. Since it's in Swedish.
Nowadays I mostly listen to instrumental music. The soundtracks from epic 80's movies like "Rocky II", "Karate Kid" and "The Neverending Story" go straight into my heart. If I listen to pop music, it's probably something uncool like Niklas Strömstedt or Enrique Iglesias.
I sort out and pick up small fragments of good melodies or lyric phrases and make them my own. You can call it stealing or whatever. That's how it's done. The song "Die alive" from my new album is, for example, heavily influenced by Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere" and the song "Once" is something Agnetha Fältskog did earlier.
I'm letting through more of my background and hometown in my new songs, compared to Elmo. My song lyrics always go hand in hand with my life. I write about things I know.
How so exactly?
I'm letting through more of my self in these songs. The are, in a way, closer to the chest. Mostly because it's in Swedish and the influences are more under the surface.
Do you find your subject matter changing as you get older?
I don't know really. I guess I've become more thoughtful. Less fuck off attitude and more pensive. But I think it's up to the listener to decide.
Is there a particular direction you aim to go?
It is hard to tell. I'd like to do more songs like "Skogens ljus". Kind of sounds like Sigur Rós, in a way. I think that vibe only can be found in the northern parts of Sweden. By the Arctic Circle. And I think it's unexplored. We'll see what happens.
So I understand you are putting the band Elmo to rest at the end of the month?
Yes, Elmo will be no more. Luleåkalaset will be the last gig.
How and why did you come to that decision?
It had to be done. "Once" is the ultimate Elmo record as I see it. I can't take it any further.
What exactly makes it the ultimate record?
The ultimate Elmo record. Important to say...
It is more clear. It is darker, more dreamy and the sound is messed up. It pends between dark blue and pitch black in the lyrics. With maybe one ore two exceptions. It is hard to talk about these things without sounding ridiculous.
The debut, "Kamikaze heart", is a very young, sunny and hopeful CD full of longing. With some dark undertones. "Once", on the other hand, is an album that speaks the truth. That tells it like it is - right here and right now. Emotionally.
That was the only goal I had. I did not care if it had a hit single, smooth sound or anything like that. Money had absolutely no power in the process of making this album. I did not listen to anyone else but me, and it turned out exactly as I wanted it to.
And why do you think you can't go any further?
It is complete. And Elmo is driven by a very youthful over belief in one's self. Elmo against the world. Very dramatic. I'm still like that, but that side of me had to make place for other things. It has not gone away with age, but it has gone aside.
What does "further" even mean to you in this context?
It just has to end.
So you are planning to concentrate on making music under your own name now?
Yes, full heartedly.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to see what happens to my Swedish songs. Maybe release an album and to play live, of course. I hope that people will like it, so I can go on and get appreciation for what I'm meant to do. I kind of see it like that. I can't really see me do anything else.