Interview: Helena Sundin (Cake on Cake)
I've been a passionate follower of Scandinavian music for over five years now, and it's probably accurate to say that in general, I've been most affected by some of the amazing female artists of the region. I think genre boundaries have been obliterated by many of the singers and female-fronted bands who've emerged from Scandinavia in the past few years. Helena Sundin of Sweden's Cake on Cake exemplifies the brand of music that I'm especially partial to. It's a sweet, ethereal, softly evocative sound that blends acoustic and electronic instrumentation into a warm, soothing confection. And yes, it's layered, just like a cake. There's not an ounce of cynicism in anything Sundin does; her music is clearly pure and heartfelt. My advance of the new Cake on Cake CD, "I guess I was daydreaming", reveals it to be similar to last year's "I see no stars", but with more instruments in the mix and a bit more of a stretched-out production. It's still as lovely and richly melodic as ever, though. Sundin answered some questions for me on the eve of her band's second big tour of the United States (I'll be catching them in St. Louis on Nov. 15). For a list of tour dates, go to www.cakeoncake.com.
- Kevin Renick
KR: When did you start performing or writing music? And how did your family influence your interest in being a musician?
HS: I grew up with a mother who's a singing teacher and a father who's a trombonist and a music teacher, so there was a lot of music surrounding me from an early age. I have been playing different musical instruments since childhood and until the age of 18 I had planned to study classical singing at the music academy. I began recording sounds in the summer of 2004. Of course, I had always been making improvisations on the piano, but didn't start to record them until pretty late. I never really had in mind to become a pop-artist. My small sound experiments, mainly the result of me exploring the recording possibilities with my new computer, grew into pop songs and Cake on Cake was formed. That is the story.
KR: What music did you listen to growing up, and was there a particular artist who inspired you to do the kind of soft electronica you now perform?
HS: When I was a young teenager I was very much into indie pop. A couple of years later, when I turned 16, I started to discover my parents' LP collection with some music from the 70's. After that, when I began studying music in high school, I was very focused on classical music, especially baroque. Now I listen to everything--classical, jazz, pop, country, world music... I can understand that you categorize me as soft electronica, but I don't listen thatmuch to other bands in that genre, and wasn't influenced by them. I don't really know where my influences come from. Probably from everything that I like.
KR: Whenever I mention the name of your band to friends, they laugh and want to know where the name comes from. So I have to ask, what's the story behind "Cake on Cake"?
HS: I was having a studio visit by one of my professors in school (fine arts) and I was going to explain something about an art piece I had made. Since the professor was Icelandic, I had to talk in English. So I used a Swedish expression for when something is a bit too much, and I made a direct translation of it into English. "It is cake on cake," I said, and he laughed, since the term does not really exist in English, except from when it comes to baking wedding cakes. I really liked the sound of it and I started using it. I don't want to use my own name for my music, because I use it when making art. I like to hide behind a band name.
KR: You also seem reluctant to be photographed; there are very few photographs on your website or CD where your face is visible. Any particular reason for this? Is it just shyness?
HS: No, it isn't shyness. But it is true that I choose to keep a low profile. It might change in the future but at the
moment that is what I feel most comfortable with.
KR: The new Cake on Cake CD is called "I guess I was daydreaming". What were you daydreaming about?
HS: I was very far away from people that I love and I imagined them having forgotten about me, maybe choosing new friends. So it is actually a song about jealousy. Also, I think that daydreams can provide some good song ideas.
KR: I remember that on your last album, you sang a lyric that went "Your dreams can come true." And there really does seem to be a kind of dreamlike atmosphere to much of your music. Do your actual dreams influence your songwriting at all?
HS: I cannot say that the dreams I have when I sleep affect me that much. Most of the time I can only remember them for a few minutes after I wake up. What does influence me a lot, though, is things that have actually happened to me and how I feel and act in my everyday life. Most of the time, my lyrics reflect a feeling, even if they lyrically seem to tell a story.
KR: Was there anything specific that changed from your debut album to the new one? Anything about your approach that was different?
HS: On "I guess I was daydreaming," I've been more open to the idea of bringing in other musicians in the process of making the record (although I still play most of the instruments myself). I now have a bassist, playing on all songs except two, and I also have a guitarist playing a solo and another musician adding steel-pan on three songs. I also felt inspired by different genres of music. I could write music with a greater awareness of style and from that, I plan how I would arrange the music. I was inspired by French pop from the 60's (Francoise Hardy, Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot), as well as world music sprirtuals. I feel that "I guess I was daydreaming," is more planned and arranged, in a good way.
KR: Do you feel a kinship with the Swedish music scene at all? And do you associate much with other musicians in your country? Also, is it helpful or daunting that there is such a focus on Scandinavian artists these days internationally?
HS: I do correspond with other Swedish musicians, but most of them are not in the same scene as myself. Some of them are jazz musicians and others are classical musicians. Of course, I vaguely know people in my own scene as well, and there are a couple of people who really helped me out and that I like a lot. There are some Swedish bands/musicians that I think are great and I could probably make a small list, and then later realise I forgot someone really important. To end with, no, I don't find it daunting that there is a focus on Swedish bands now. I think that it is just very good and websites like It's a Trap! and blogs on the Internet is just a good thing as well. I can say that there is a general and very common stress around hype, but that's something that cannot be avoided in this society.
KR: Most of the music getting major attention from Sweden seems to be fairly high-energy rock, stuff that reflects an '80s influence. Yet your music is very soft, ethereal and personal. Does this make you feel at all "alone in the neighborhood," so to speak? Do you feel you have enough of an audience for your unique sound?
HS: I do think that there's a supportive audience for this kind of music in Sweden, and I surely do know that there are bands in Sweden who are not high-energy rock, but who are more like me. I don't want to make a speech about the Swedish music scene, though, because I know too little about it. But I do not feel alone.
KR: Do you compose songs by writing lyrics first and then creating music to fit, or do you come up with the musical ideas first?
HS: Most of the time I start with a rhythm and then I find chords and melodies by improvising on the piano. After that, the lyrics usually come by themselves. Sometimes I also hear a song in my head, or I know that I want to make a waltz about love or something else. But I usually don't plan much; I go on the feeling and work impulsively. Many times it's like making a collage. I start with one thing and then I add and add until I feel that the song is finished.
KR: Many of your songs have this nursery rhyme quality, or they'll repeat a lyric like a chant. On the new record, you said "I love to miss you" several times in one song, or "There's a smile on my face," "There's a smile on your face," etc. Your songs are rarely the verse-chorus-verse type, and it's interesting. How do you make those decisions, about whether a song will just have one or two lines, or have more lyrics?
HS: Some songs are more like a story, when it has more to tell and therefore the lyric gets longer. I write the music first, and then I add the lyrics that I feel belong to the song. A couple of songs on "I guess I was daydreaming" are, as you say, chanting or like nursery rhymes. They don't have much lyrics, just one line going on and on. Those are inspired by spirituals and goodnight-songs. And in that case, the lyrics just extend the feeling of the song.
KR: There seems to be something more romantic about your new album than the last one. I love the song "Francoise," it's really beautiful. That one and "The accident" have this kind of rhythm that I don't often hear, where it's suitable for slow-dancing with someone. Have you ever slow-danced to one of your own songs?
HS: "I guess I was daydreaming" is indeed more romantic than "I see no stars". No, I've never slow-danced to my own songs but I could definitely imagine it when I was writing them.
KR: Have you noticed a difference in the way people respond to your music in the US than they do in your own country? And what kind of feedback do you get at live performances?
HS: So far, most of my fans have been in the United States. Which of course leads to the fact that I get most of my responses from fans overseas. I have also done more shows in the US than in Sweden. I haven't played in any other countries besides those two. I would like to play Europe soon, I think that would be great.
KR: What were your biggest impressions of the US the last time you toured? What images stayed with you? And what do you hope to see on your upcoming tour?
HS: When I think about the last tour, I see one car, and I see landscapes, changing from mountains to flat fields, forests to rocky mountains, tiny small cities to skyscrapers. The country was very big and the drives in the car were long. A lot of places were just passing by me like in a movie. I imagine something quite the same will happen (on this tour), but less overwhelming since it will be my second time. I hope to see people who really love my music and who are coming to see me play of course. That would be quite fantastic.
KR: What's the happiest part of being a musician for you? And what are your main goals for the future with your work?
HS: I love to sit in my own small studio and write/compose and record. That's what makes me happiest. And then of course I find it fantastic that people like my music, that they want to buy it and listen to it. I suppose my plan for the future is to go on with Cake on Cake as long as I feel like it. I can imagine that I'll start to bring in more people to add things on the recordings, because I always discover new instruments that I'd like to use on my recordings but cannot play myself. I am interested in using clarinet and some other instruments in the woodwind family. I can also very well imagine myself starting up other projects/bands in the future. I do think it would be interesting to start a duo with someone. But at the moment I am pleased with things the way they are.