INTERVIEWS
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At His Own Pace
(Åse Andersson, Nojesguiden, May 1999, translation by M.C
and M.G)
His room spills over with instruments, amplifiers, post-it stickers, records,
black cords and red cords. The walls are covered by pictures of American
musicians and his own drawings. This is where Mikael Carlsson creates
his music, Homeland. One step at a time, at his own pace, without a record
label breathing down his neck with demands of styling or labelling. He
is not a recluse, but definitely careful.
“I don’t want to call myself melancholic but it’s that
feeling I’m trying to reach in my music”, he says. It’s
quite easy to understand his musical affinity to Mark Kozelek, the man
behind the American band Red House Painters. “I remember the first
time I heard Red House Painters. I think it was Katy Song. The tempo was
so slow and it felt even slower then, because I was listening to quite
fast music at the time. Now it’s not strange for me to do music
that slow”, Mikael says. And it shows. Homeland is music that slowly
fights its way straight to the heart, in a tempo that almost dies out
between the drumbeats, but you are kept there by the singing which is
hesitant yet strong.
Late fall last year, Homeland’s demo Blue Lines was reviewed in
POP magazine and was given a very rare top grade. Parallels were made
to Red House Painters and Paus, Peter Svensson’s solo project on
the side from The Cardigans. “That felt really good, but weird somehow.
But I believe in my music and I know that if Blue Lines had been properly
produced and mastered it would have been able to sell”, Mikael smiles
with a slight shrug and continues; “I know there are a whole bunch
of people who want to listen to this kind of music. My goal is to keep
making my music at home and release small productions here in Sweden and
hopefully even in a higher grade in America”.
Mikael didn’t start to play music until his late teens when he borrowed
a bass from a friend and started to figure out the chords to the Pixies
albums. When four strings weren’t enough he went over to playing
guitar. “Ideas comes immediately to me as I pick up the guitar,
chords and melodies. I find harmonies and build songs from that, but since
I never learned notes I have to keep it in my head”, Mikael says
as he pulls out the drawer to his bedside table, overfilled with tapes
functioning as an extra music memory.
“But it’s the music that is easy. To write lyrics is harder.
I write much for my own interest, emotions, like a diary. That’s
probably why the lyrics always in a way are about me, directly or indirectly.
It is about boredom, or I don’t know, I probably think too much.
For example, I wrote the song Blue Lines when I came home from America
(New York and Dallas) with my girlfriend. I had built up some kind of
strength in me when I was away. I tried to stay that way when I got home
but I realised the gloominess got me again.”
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Following interview was made with Mikael Carlsson
through email by Yumiko Yokoo in the early winter of 2000 and was printed
in her Japanese fanzine Skips in the Snow #2, 2000. In January 2001 it
was reprinted in Tony Ting’s fanzine (in Singapore) called Without
Reason.
How and when did you begin the band?
Well, I’ve been writing songs for a couple of years and I’ve
had a few bands together with a friend where we always shared the songwriting
50/50. Sometime in 1996 I started Royal Cassette as a solo project. In
1998 I changed the name to Homeland. We are not a rehearsing band so when
I play live I ask my friends (whoever is around at that time) if they’d
like to join in. Some of my friends who played on the record use to play
with me live.
Where did you take your band’s name?
The name, I think I read it somewhere in a scene in a movie I don’t
remember the name of. The word looks nice and it’s a strong word
if one would put it to meaning.
What was the cue of your awakening to the music?
Music has been the closest thing to me in my upbringing. I can’t
see myself ever live without music. I seriously got involved with the
music that “changed my life” when I got into skateboarding,
at age 14 I think. American skateboard movies introduced me to really
good obscure rock music, which was the very opposite to what MTV showered
over us in the 80’s. Bands like Pixies, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr
and others that were quite unknown at that time inspired me to play music.
What are your favourite bands?
Right now I listen a lot to My Morning Jacket, Will Oldham, Bedhead, American
Analog Set, Monroe Mustang, Red House Painters and instrumental bands
Labradford, Windsor for the Derby and Aphex Twin.
You have various taste. I was thinking you would say many acoustic
bands and singer/songwriters until I got your answer. It’s interesting.
Have you heard them? Will Oldham is the “best” singer/songwriter
of today I think. A few years ago he had a band called Palace Brothers
and now Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Both are very good. It’s
like the oldest singer/songwriter tradition from America in the 1930s,
but with modern features. I like traditional singer/songwriters Simon
& Garfunkel, Tim Buckley, Joni Mitchell, and a lot of new ones, and
I guess in some ways they’ve all influenced me. My song “Penetration
Denied” is perhaps a lot like what Elliott Smith could compose during
his acoustic albums. I listened a lot to his acoustic records at the time
I wrote it. That song and the songs on my album (Songs About Living) are
almost like a “history back-check”. For instant “When
I hide” is the first song I ever wrote, in 1993. And the rest is
at least 2-3 years old, except Westering, which is the newest. The songs
I write now are kind of more soulful and more expressive in some ways.
I dare to sing out more. Maybe someday I’ll buy a sampler and try
my inspiration on making electronica but that’ll not interfere with
my guitar songs, I promise!
Many of your friends took part in your album. How is the music
scene in your city? I’m not sure but it seems there are many nice
guitar bands in Sweden.
Malmö is really blooming! There’s so much good music coming
from this town right now. Yeah, my friends that took part in my recordings
all have their own bands, some of them are doing really good. To the world
Malmö is probably best known for bringing you the Cardigans, but
there are so much more going on here.
Seeing your sleeve of your album and writing paper you sent me,
you seem a drawing artist. Are you?
I’ve always drawn. I went through school with best grades in drawing,
but I never took it further. I wanted to become a famous artist but I
couldn’t see myself having it as a job so I kept it to my side.
I also found out that I could be just as creative making music and expressing
my feelings through my songs.
How and when did you get inspired to write songs?
Most of my songs happens by accident when I sit around just fooling around
with an instrument. Something always happens but only when I’m in
the right mood I finish a song, most often late at night. I get a lot
of inspiration from people, memories, feelings, places I’ve been
and things I have done…
What was the first record that you bought with your pocket money?
I remember when I got my first CD-player I bought Ned’s Atomic Dustbin’s
“Godfodder”.
I can’t recall the vinyls I bought before that, it’s not worth
mention anyway.
You bought Ned’s Atomic Dustbin’s “Godfodder”.
Were you ok on your neck? I don’t remember when it was I went to
their show, maybe 6, 7 or 8 years ago? How could he swing his head!?
Yeah, this one is a real head-killer. I heard the song “Grey Cell’s
Green” in a skateboard movie and then I bought the album. I still
have it but I haven’t listened to it for long, I remember I saw
them on TV and they had 2 bass players! That’s cool.
Latest record you bought?
Yo La Tengo’s “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out”.
I have only listened to it twice so I really can’t tell you what
I think yet.
Please tell me the plans of your new releases. You told me the
compilation CD from Grace Recordings would be out.
There are no plans for a Homeland release right now. We’re still
working with promoting the album. Though, we’ve been talking about
doing an 8-song EP or something before summer. I would really like to
put out a split 7” with some other bands. The cdR Grace Sampler
will hopefully be out in early March.
Tell me about your favourite things: books, movies and anything
except music.
My favourite season is summer. I tend to get very down during winter,
so I spend almost six months of the year longing for summer and when summer
arrives she passes on really fast. I haven’t read a book in a while.
The only thing I read now is the literature we have in school. I’d
like to read more biographies. One summer I read a lot of books about
Charles Manson, the serial killer. I enjoy reading some of Sweden’s
poets. I like to spend the evenings watching movies with friends. Some
of my favourite movies are Gummo and Kids by Harmony Korine, and Werner
Herzog’s movies… One of my oldtime favourites is the Graduate
with the soundtrack from Simon & Garfunkel. It’s a classic!
I watched KIDS but not Gummo. KIDS is a strong movie.
KIDS is certainly a reminder of where we’re heading. Gummo is just
a crazy movie I recommend everybody to see. It’s also said to be
very real but the scenes are just giving you the creeps. In one scene
a kid is taking a bath in really dirty water. His mother is serving him
dinner while she’s shampooing his hair. For dessert he gets a chocolatebar
which he drops into the water and picks up to eat…
Please let me know your snow memories like your favourite
snow song, snow sports, snow drawings, how to spend a snow day…
The easiest way to run away from this question is snow song.
Memories: When I was younger my best friend and I had the best winters
ever. We used to build these huge many-roomed snow caves, and we used
to light them from the inside with candles and we just sat in there excited
about our creation. Or we would start snowball fights with kids on the
street that wouldn’t end up for hours. I’m very pleased with
me childhood memories, they mean the most to me. We haven’t had
real kind of winters the last 5-7 years but if we’d get really much
snow again I’d behave like I did when I was young.
Songs: I once wrote a song called “Snowman” that ends “in
the snow I saw a man/he said Hi said he was fine/wrap a blanket over me
and leave me here in silence please/some will freeze until they die and
turn into a real snowman”. We have a lot of homeless people in my
town, and I wonder what they do during winter.
Sports: I was never taught how to ski, my parents never did. I want to
try snowboard sometime. Maybe it will be easy after been skateboarding
for so long?
Please tell me your image of Japan.
My image of Japan is thin. I don’t think I have a good answer for
you. Japan has so much history and culture attached to its name that I’m
just thrilled about. And of curse the technology industry that Japan is
famous for. I really love Japanese-, Thai-, Chinese-, and Korean food.
A friend once described me the taste of sushi of being even better than
a good kiss with a girl.
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