Just because our “New Faces of Swedish Electronica” week is over it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have more beat heavy Swedish music on Swedesplease. The Stockholm based band MFMB combines electronica beats with shoegaze fuzz and agro vocals. It’s an od mixture and one I haven’t really heard since the UK groups New Model Army or The Damned.
The bands’ new ep is called The Fine Detail and is available as a free download here (updated link – thanks to those who wrote in).
I hoped that last week’s post of the music of Amanda Bergman (known as Hajen) would stir some interest with other music bloggers on the internet. While there hasn’t been a cascade of coverage some other people were as impressed with her as I was and followed up on my post (a particularly thorough piece here via Scratchy Buckles).
I was so taken with Hajen that I immediately sent her a set of questions I had about her music. Before you read further though check out another of Hajen’s songs; her theme song called “Sharks”:
1. I guess first, and it’s probably a question you get or will get a lot. Why the name Hajen? What does it mean?
My name doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps I just wanted to defuse my music with an ugly and childish name. I don’t know. But in some way I guess it reflects my person and the way I subconsciously think of my own music. I mean ugly, stupid, raw, immature, ironic, humorous but at the same time very beautiful, honest, fragile, solemn and above all warm hearted. For me it was clear that I didn’t want to go by my real name, as many other females artist do. I find that boring and very impersonal. I just grabbed something. Hajen means the shark in Swedish. Sharks are great animals.
2. There are some immediate comparisons between your music and some of that from Laleh or Regina Spektor or even Tori Amos. Do you hear that as well? You also list Bob Dylan and Neil Young on your Myspace. How do they influence your piano based songs?
I can see why people make those comparisons. I mean, it all comes from the same roots. But my own references are mainly from Bob Dylan and Chan Marshall, and then everything behind them. I guess my music is, as everybody else’s, a genuine mixture of all music I ever consumed. I see no real reason to define it other than emotionally. I mean, it’s hard to be revolutionary these days. It is what it is.
3. You are playing Hultsfred soon, what do you think that will be like and who do you think you’ll see perform?
Yes, I’ll be playing at Rookie Saturday. Actually I have no idea what it will be like. Hopefully peaceful. I’m gonna stroll around and see every single band, for the sake of good manners. And for fun. I look forward to Johnossi and RamDiDam in particular.
4. Some people who follow Swedish music think of Goteborg as some sort of central spot for indie pop. You live there. Do you feel that way?
Yes, I guess there’s some truth in that. Gothenburg is more raw, rainy and more dilapidated than Stockholm and I guess that makes up good for Indie rock. Stockholm is more beautiful and stiffer and has nothing more than weekend decadence. That’s good for electro pop. Well, no. This is just an assumption. I don’t really know anything about what’s going on in “the Capital of Scandinavia”. But it’s clear that there are lots of musicians in Gothenburg, and the climate is friendly. No backstabbing. People are helping each other out, and by that more music reaches a broader mass.
5. I’m going to be discussing Swedish music in NYC this week. Have you anything to add about the scene in Sweden? Any trends that people might be interested in?
I have few things to add about the Swedish music scene. If anything going on is special for the Swedish scene, it is hard for me to tell. The only thing I know is that my generation is a very dissillusioned one, and that most young people are involved in some kind of creative self-actualization. People have time to worry too much about themselves. It’s one downside of a stable society.
6. I see that you are signed to Knoppar Records. When might you be releasing your first record?
I don’t know when or if I might release my first record. I’m not sure. Maybe I will release an EP this spring.
7. Do you have any other thoughts about your music?
I am filled with doubt considering whether or not I want to put my poor heart into making music for real. For me it’s just a hobby and a way to channel, and I like it best that way. But it is also overwhelming to get any kind of positive response about your work and you feel you want to give something back. Like a cookie. So I probably will release something quite soon. I’m gonna think about it over Christmas.
8. What about the song “Scapegoat”?
This song, “Scapegoat”, is about how stupid one can tend to act if one bear a broken heart. Also how it’s easy to blame the one who had courage.
Of course the comparisons of Hajen’s music to that of Regina Spektor, Tori Amos, Laleh and nearly any other piano based songstress are apt. And I’m sure those are fair comparisons. But they’re just a jumping off point in this instance. Everyone’s DNA is so slightly different. So, like there are no two identical snowflakes, there are also no two identical singers. On the song “Scapegoat” there is a certain something in the way Hajen’s voice fluctuates and soars, something about her turns of phrase (”put down that shield”) and a certain something special when she growls out her lyrics that separates and elevates her from the pack.
However, it’ll probably be difficult for Hajen to break though all the clutter. She doesn’t have the big, dance beats of Lykke Li (and the incessant remixes, multiple videos and constant barrage of press) or the publicity machine of Robyn or even the big US label push behind someone like Frida Hyvönen. But from her three songs on her MySpace page and especially from her biting and bitter song “Scapegoat” Hajen deserves all the success these other Swedish imports have received.
Hajen is one of the four artists on the extremely promising upstart label called Knoppar.
Hajen will be performing this weekend at the Rookie 08 put on by RockParty in Hultsfred.
