Interview: Pet Politics
If you still haven't found your soundtrack to the winter, I think you need to go and discover Pet Politics sooner than later. Pet Politics is Magnus Larsson who lives in Gothenburg, Sweden (this is also where he was born). His songs make me want to go on long walks with my girl, while kicking stones into preferably French rivers (all done with a spring in my step, of course). Nick reviewed his latest EP the other day, make sure you read it. Magnus is coming to London on the 16th to play Tack! Tack! Tack!, and even though I haven't got a clue how he's going to be live, I'm looking forward to it like a toothless man looks forward to eat anything but soup. I've been in email contact with Magnus the last few weeks, and the other day I decided to conduct a short email interview with him.
- Simon Tagestam
[the interview has been translated from Swedish to English by the author]
ST: How long have Pet Politics been around for?
ML: I've used the name Pet Politics since last summer, or thereabouts.
ST: Are you in any other band?
ML: Nope.
ST: How would you define your music? Singer/songwriter?
ML: Not really, singer/songwriter feels more like a guy with an acoustic guitar, at the moment I look upon Pet Politics more like a one man band.
ST: What artists have influenced Pet Politics?
ML: There are quite a lot of influences, but to name a few: Magnetic Fields, Bonnnie Prince Billy and Sonic Youth.
ST: Do you like Jonathan Richman or Mountain Goats?
ML: Jonathan Richman's really good, unfortunately I haven't listened to Mountain Goats that much.
ST: How come you released your latest EP on Catbird Records?
ML: Ryan, from Catbird, contacted me after he read about and listen to me on a blog.
ST: Did you design the pretty sleeve? It's a very nice idea to release the EP in three colours, which one is your favourite?
ML: No, Ryan made the cover, and I like all three colours, it's very difficult to pick just one.
ST: What instruments do you play on the EP?
ML: Guitar, bass, melodica, tambourines, and computer programmed drums.
ST: Where do you record your songs?
ML: In my living room.
ST: Most of your lyrics appear to be stuff you've experienced, not too much fiction, is this the case?
ML: Most of them are, it feels most natural for me to write about my thoughts and things that have happened to me or to people I know.
ST: What do you think about Swedish music at the moment? Personally I think there are a crazy amount of new excellent bands, and it seems that every month I discover a new great band.
ML: There are plenty of great new Swedish band right now, and it's exciting that so many of them release their own CDRs, and then there's so much stuff being shared on the Internet. Internet is perfect for discovering new music, and promoting your own stuff.
ST: In one of your songs ("Provence") you sing about France. Have you ever lived there?
ML: I lived in France for nine months, six years ago, and it was an amazing time with tons of nice memories.
ST: Do you want to go and live somewhere else in the future?
ML: It's very difficult to predict the future and where I'm going, but it's not totally impossible that I'll move somewhere sometime - where it will be time will have to tell.
ST: Have you played live a lot of times, and what do you think of it? Will your upcoming London appearance be your first gig abroad or did play live when you were in France?
ML: There have been quite a few shows throughout the years, although they haven't been that frequent. It's always fantastic to stand on stage and play – a feeling of happiness. Going to London and play will be the first time I actually travel abroad to play a show, but I did some gigs when I lived in France.
ST: What's in the future for Pet Politics? Are you super serious with the music or is it more something of a hobby?
ML: Hopefully I will get the chance to release my music so that more people can take part of it. At the moment it's a hobby that I take seriously, but it would be nice to be able dedicate more time to it.
ST: Have you been in any other bands?
ML: I've been in bands since I was sixteen, although they're all local bands that no one knows about.
ST: Have you planned to release an album soon, or are you going to do any more EPs?
ML: Let's first see if any record company's interested!
ST: What would be your absolute record company of choice, if you could pick any you'd like? Would you rather be with a major or an indie?
ML: There are of course some labels that it would be a dream to be on, such as Rough Trade, Domino, Merge, and Matador. I think an indie label would suit me best, since they tend to let their artists have pretty free reigns.
ST: It's very hard not to think of Lou Reed when listening to your songs. Does this comment bother you? Everyone I play your EP to react the same way. Lou Reed got a great voice though, so it's not a bad thing at all, it could have been worse, people could have said you sound like a smurf or something.
ML: Velvet Underground were an awesome band, and sure, I've taken some inspiration from them. That I sound like Lou Reed I take as a compliment, although it's nothing I've done intentionally. My voice has probably been moulded throughout the years to what it sounds like now.
ST: How many songs have you written throughout the years?
ML: It's hard to say, I've written numerous songs, [but] can't really give you a figure. On the other hand, there are about ten or so that I think works at the moment with Pet Politics.
ST: Do you think it's difficult to write new songs? How do you write them?
ML: That varies, most of the time the melodies pop up when I least expect it, then I figure out the lyrics.
ST: You got any pets?
ML: No, I'm afraid not, I'd love to have a dog, so I think I'll have to get one eventually.
ST: I think your songs in general convey a pretty positive vibe, even though they can have a more depressing lyrical content (e.g. "The cold wind blows"). It's refreshing to hear "a guy with a guitar" not just being all miserable and depressed.
ML: Well, there are some less happy songs, and some that have darker lyrics, but with happier melodies. The slower songs aren't really that positive.
ST: Would you be able to list three of your favourite books and films?
ML: I find it very hard to list books, films, and music, but then at the same time it's fun so here goes:
Jack Kerouac – On the road
Charles Bukowski – Factotum
Sture Dahlström – Den store blondino (The great blondino)
The Godfather 1 + 2
The Shining
Lost in translation
.:About the author:
This was the first interview Simon Tagestam has ever done, but surely not his last! Before he does any more he needs to tidy up his room though, and get on top of things at work.