THOMAS DENVER JONSSON ZIET
BEIDE KANTEN VAN MEDAILLE
Hope
To Her, de debuut-cd van de inmiddels 25 jarige Zweed Thomas Denver
Jonsson en zijn September Sunrise kreeg van altcountry.nl vier paardjes.
De recensie sprak van 'een van de aangenaamste verrassingen van het
jaar'. Eerder gaf het Engelse muziekblad Uncut evenveel sterren weg aan
de cd. We zochten contact met Thomas Denver Jonsson en mochten hem per
e-mail enkele vragen stellen. Hij nam uitgebreid de tijd ze te
beantwoorden. Het leven in een Zweeds fabrieksstadje is niet altijd een
pretje, en alles blijkt twee kanten te hebben.Voor
de nabije toekomst stelt Denver Jonsson nog meer moois in het
vooruitzicht, maar het zou ook ineens afgelopen kunnen
zijn.
Tekst:
Peer Bataille Foto's: www.thomasdenver.com: Per Olsson, Fredrik
Wilde, Mikael Nilsson (www.northerntrailmusic.com)
Let's
start with probably the most difficult question to answer. As Thomas
Denver Jonsson is a new name, I'd like to know something about his
backgrounds. That IS a tough one. I'm 25 years old this Friday
(30th april). I was brought up in this small town in Sweden called
Grums, and had to move back here recently because me and my
ex-girlfriend Therese broke up. I started to play guitar and write songs
at the age of 20 and got my record deal when I was 23. One and a half
year later my debut record was released. I'm listening to a lot of
music and spend all my money on records. Among my major influences I
must mention the Beach Boys, Gram Parsons, the Band, Rosie Thomas and
Will Oldham. I wouldn't say I steal from them but their existence is
important.
You
hail from Grums near Karlstad. Is where you come from of importance to
the music you make? Proposing to label your music "americana", is there
a vivid americana scene over there, or in Sweden as a whole? If yes,
what's your position in this scene? I like this genre very much
and we do have some "americana" acts here in Sweden, but not much of
interest. Swedish americana artists tend to be either too well-produced
or too one-dimensional. In both cases it's boring. There's some
exceptions of course (Björn Kleinhenz, José Gonzalez, Bally), but in
general that's my opinion.
I
would say I'm a little bit of an outsider in this scene and I think
either you like me very much or dislike me very much. That's a good
sign, the worst would be to make music no-one cared about. I think you
have to dare to be pathetic to some people if you want to make music
that really matters for the one you want to reach. I will also say
that I'm either very unknown or very not-liked here in Grums, my
hometown. I had two shows here this year, at the first one not a single
one showed up, and at the second one about ten people came to see me.
One guy was asking for Sweet Home Alabama, and another said it was very
bad. It doesn't surprise me though, Grums is in many ways a factory town
with a very narrow mind. Anyway, this place is and has been very
important to me and my music. I can't say that I'm fully satisfied about
living here, but it has some good sides and some bad sides. I can find
some peace here at least.
Can
you tell something of the way Hope To Her developed? The original
thought was to record an EP entitled Hope To Her, featuring the tracks
Grums, Shades Of Green, Jeanna, and Golden. Some of those songs were
later put on the album or my first 7" EP Then I Kissed Her Softly,
although it was only Jeanna on the EP that was the only thing released
from that particular recording session. Then the record company was so
satisfied with the result they wanted to extract the whole concept to a
full-length album. That's the whole story basically. We started
recording again from scratch and made the album.
The
album is credited to Thomas Denver Jonsson & the September Sunrise.
I could imagine the album being presented as a solo record. Why did you
go for the band option? Could you tell us someting more about the
musicians, as they play an important role in the way the album
sounds? First the EP was meant to be an acoustic thing featuring
just me and Carl Edlom at Kite on backing guitar. Then Carl suggested to
bring some of his friends in for the songs and we tried it out and it
felt just right. I think it was just the extra kick I needed to be ready
for my first release on a record label ever. The September Sunrise is
first the drummer Henric Strömberg, who is the most experienced musician
in the band I think. He has being involved in numerous projects and has
been touring in Canada and Europe. Then we have Fredrik Wilde on harmony
vocals, guitars and pedal steel. Fredrik is just a wonderfully skillful
musician and he's doing fantastic things whith his voice and
instruments. Fredrik's part is often to add small details to make the
melody stronger.
Both
of the guys who run Kite Recordings also joined the band. Tomas Lindberg
is playing the bass and Kite-dude #2 Carl Edlom does the piano, some
guitars and backing vocals. He is also the one who has recorded and
produced the album. If I hadn't that much interest in a good result I
could really say straight out that Carl put just a little too much
effort in the recording work for this album. I know he slept so bad for
such a long time and was working his brain out on the hot Summer days
and nights last year while me and the rest of the band were eating ice
cream. He did some great things and the record shouldn't be nearly as
good without him. I think they are an extraordinary good band and five
of my absolute best friends.
I
think collaborations are great by the way, me and Carl are discussing a
lot about the songs we are going to play. I record demo recordings for
him and he works things out. I take all the credit though. I should also
say that I have always finished the song and it's lyrics before I
present it for the band. They have a lot of freedom to arrange it but
the actual song and the lyrics are already made.
The
band sounds as if it feels comfortable all over te album. Sometimes it
plays loosely, at other times more tightly. But always modestly, letting
as much space as possible to the songs and your voice. Playing only
notes that are appropriate, it seems. I think we really had to
focus and listening to each other and our part in the music. The band
knows they are my backing group and their job is to put focus on the
songs and melodies. It wasn't just the drummer doing his things and the
guitarists to do their favourite licks and riffs. We had really the
focus on building something together and think about our part in the
total sound.
One
of the great assets of the album is a kind of dichotomy in the way it
sounds. The songs and particularly your voice are sounding at the same
time vulnerable ánd self-assured. Quite exceptional for someone as young
as you are. There's always two sides of everything. Can't really
describe it better than this.
Your
lyrics are not straightforwarded standard (love) songs. They're almost
impressionistic, leaving a lot to the phantasy of the listener. Can you
tell something about how you write your songs, where the ideas come
from? The lyrics are about things that are very close to me, but
I can't really analyze my own songwriting. Each song has it's own story
why and how it's written. I'm working a lot with each song. Every twist
and every word must be right. Sometimes that process takes ten minutes,
sometimes several years.
In
your lyrics you don't look at life the easy way. For example, you don't
wish anyone to often wake up as you describe in Crashed
Ladybug. Life isn't always easy. In fact, most people seems to be
spending their whole life being afraid. People are so afraid about being
themselves and what other will think about them. As I said I live in
this small town where everybody smiles polite to the neighbours. I
simply didn't want my life to be that way. I want to have my dreams and
I won't stop reaching for them. And some times things have been hard,
but I don't regret a thing in my life. I'm doing better and better and I
have a lot of hope in what I'm doing, both as a musician and a
person.
One
of the highlights on the album is the a capella Pale. To me it's an
elegy for someone who passed away. In the Netherlands the most popular
song played at burials is a Dutch translation of Amazing Grace. Woulf
you mind if Pale takes over the #1 position on this "hit
list"? Of course I would be honoured if someone would like to
play Pale for a passed-away loved one. As long as people are not getting
angry and starting to throw things at me.
What
do you think of the comparisons that are made with Neil Young, Will
Oldham/Palace Music, and the young Bob Dylan? I can imagine you saying:
"It's MY music." It depends on how they use it. Bob Dylan and
Neil Young must be the most common references to this kind of music, and
it could be just an easy way to describe something in a genre you find
uninteresting. However, when someone compares my music specifically to
Neil Young's After The Gold Rush album or the sixtiess Bob Dylan I am
very proud of it. People are always trying to label music and I have no
problems with that. I can understand the comparisons but I still think
it is MY music.
As
the Topeka Twins you made a low key, acoustic EP with Björn Kleinhenz.
Can we expect something from the Twins in the future? As a matter
of fact, the Topeka Twins are probably going to reunite this Summer on
one of northern Sweden's biggest musical festivals. I haven't got the
final confirmation from the booking agency yet, but it seems to be
decided soon and it's seems clear. I love playing with Björn
Kleinhenz, he's such a gifted musician and songwriter. We had a great
time recording the record and doing some shows together a little more
than a year ago. I think both me and Björn
are
putting too much energy on our own music to be able to do something big
out of the Topeka-project, but on the other hand it was never meant so.
Hopefully we will do some gigs now and then, and perhaps a new record
later on. Topeka Twins was really an important influence to the making
of Hope To Her. I remember writing Long Life To Lose especially to
perform it with Björn on the Topeka Twins sets. Later on it became one
of my favourite songs to do with the September Sunrise.
You
played with Rosie Thomas and Damien Jurado, as we can hear on your
website (I think the live version of First In Line is worth to be
released officially, by the way). How did you get in touch with them,
and how was playing with them? I met the guy who was booking
their tour here in Scandinavia and asked him if I could join too. And
there were no problems. To play with Rosie and Damien was one of the
funniest things I've ever done. I did some really good shows and some
not so good ones.
Hope
To Her had a four star review in Uncut, one of Europe's most
authoritative music magazines. Did this review had any effects, for
example on record sales, distribution deals, concert bookings, and the
like? As I understand, the album still isn't distributed officially
outside Sweden. The review in Uncut has been very important. I
wouldn't say I sell tons of records because of it, but I have got a lot
of interest abroad since the review and I notice that a lot of people
remember my name and have downloaded the songs from my website. You
have to remember as well that I'm a debut artist on a debut record
label. We're all doing this for the first time and it will take time. We
are close to both Uk and US distribution and it seems to be an European
tour this Autumn or maybe a bit later on. The most important thing is to
feel that the progress goes fast forward and I really do so, things
happen day by day now. It'll come something really good out of this, I
can promise you that.
Let's
look to the future. Are you already working on new songs for a new
album? Besides, are there plans for touring outside Sweden? Yeah,
I'm working with new material now. I'm writing songs most of the time
but it takes time to write a dozen of songs so good you want to put them
on an album. I want my albums to last my whole life, they should be
timeless unless I don't change my mind and start doing pop music. That
would be terrible.
When
I made Hope To Her the whole spirit about it was that it was a debut
album and there would be more to come. Actually I think my point with
Hope To Her won't be shown completely before the other album is out.
Hope To Herwas
my try to show that I could write as good a song as anybody can. The
next one will be an album featuring songs that no-one else but me could
have done. I have had it in my mind the whole time since we started
recording Hope, and I guess you could see them as twin-albums although
they will be very different.
Now
when we're doing this new album I guess I have to be prepared to the
fact that this could be the last one. I don't see a follower the way I
did with Hope To Her and maybe this is it. I hope not, but on the other
hand, I would be very proud my whole life to have managed to release two
albums that are standing for all my feelings.
The
Hope To Her sessions were finished late May 2003 and just some month
after that, I wrote my first new great song. It's entitled Dancefloor
Borders and will be featured on the next album for sure. Now in May I
checked my list over new songs and found out I had about twenty songs I
want to have on the next album. Since me and the band only will pick ten
to twelve songs we have to let go of some really good songs. But the
better the outtakes, the better will the actual album be, even if it's
hard to kill your darlings. We schedule this disc to early next
year.
We
will also release another 7" EP soon, scheduled for release early June,
and it's called Dreams At The Film Club. It will feature the band but
will be a more acoustic piece.
Could
you give a quick comment on the following: -
Amsterdam. Never been there, I have never been outside
Scandinavia, hope to come and visit you soon. - Palace
Music. I like Will Oldham's alias Bonnie Billy much more, but the
album Days In The Wake with Palace is a genuine classic. -
Denver, Colorado. Townes Van Zandt wrote an excellent song about
that city in his Colorado Girl. - Ane Brun. Nice girl,
played support to her on a show yesterday actually. - Zlatan
Ibrahimovic. Love him, love soccer.
Finally,
which question that you would like to answer did I forget? And what's
your answer to this question? How
about this one: Which is the best song ever made? Easy question, it's
(Your love keeps lifting me) Higher and higher by Jackie
Wilson.
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