The band members/producers remind us that we are still animals...
TextEvan Goodfellow
Miike Snow is composed of three band members which include Andrew Wyatt from New York, and Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg who are both from Stockholm. In 2009, the three came out with their first album 'Miike Snow'. Dazed caught up with Andrew right before their American tour kicked off to get his thoughts on music and his well formed band which seems to attest to the changing of our society, globalization, and the new music that is reflecting this rapid change.
Dazed Digital: So Andrew where are you living right now?
Andrew Wyatt: I live in New York. I was born and raised here and Christian and Pontus live in Stockholm. They always have.
DD: Is it hard living apart from each other?
AW: No not really. Now we are together all the time because we are touring. Right now we are taking a slight break before we begin our American tour, which will end at Coachella.
DD: Are you the main song writer?
AW: No we all write the music jointly. Because I am the only native English speaking guy in the band I do most of the lyric writing but we have to all agree on the lyrics. We all kind of have an idea of what we want our album to sound like, so when we get in the studio we each work through our ideas to get the sound we all like and want.
DD: Does everyone speak English in the band?
AW: Yes, everyone is fluent in English. If not I would be extremely lonely on tour.
DD: How did you guys end up meeting?
AW: We met in a studio in New York and then didn’t see each other for a while. Then my previous band was in Scandanavia and we struck up a friendship that has lasted until now.
DD: I have to say that I loved the The Black and Blue video and how it was so elaborate.
AW: Yeah, they did a really great job on the location. I also liked the Jaguar. I kind of want to get one just like it.
DD: I understand that you studied classical music? Does it bring an influence to you still and the band?
AW: I studied opera composition, and I was in a couple of opera’s... Opera definitely has had an influence on me. I tried to jettison the concept of a pure romanticism simply because it does not seem to translate or feel terribly relevant today. It’s kind of difficult to be discreetly romantic. There are always moments for it, like in a note or a certain chord change. But to have romanticism as your bread and butter seems incongruent with society and the way we are living today.
DD: Where do you think Miike Snow as a band has been drawing its inspiration for the next album?
AW: Our inspiration is to not be inspired by all that much. We have been inspired by technology more than we have been influenced by other bands really, except for a few bands in Sweden. We think: “how do you make something that is satisfying?” We have bands in Sweden such as Uran, Osynlige Mann that are doing things that are awesome.
If you think about how crazy technology has gotten… there are like 16 million bands on Myspace. You can listen to any kind of music you want, without any kind of special introduction. You just type into the search engine on Rapid Share and you could be listening to something so obsure as Clock DVA and the next day you are listening to Barbara Streisand. I think the technology of how you make music is becoming more important and your own innate sense of musicality, which comes from your subconscious and childhood, will come out in the music you make.
DD: Are you always trying to seek out the newest trend in music?
AW: You don’t necessarily want to use only the new things out there. Now there are 15,000 lo-fi bands out there. I think if you are in a position of making music you want to get away from what everyone is doing.
Dazed Digital: So Andrew where are you living right now?
Andrew Wyatt: I live in New York. I was born and raised here and Christian and Pontus live in Stockholm. They always have.
DD: Is it hard living apart from each other?
AW: No not really. Now we are together all the time because we are touring. Right now we are taking a slight break before we begin our American tour, which will end at Coachella.
DD: Are you the main song writer?
AW: No we all write the music jointly. Because I am the only native English speaking guy in the band I do most of the lyric writing but we have to all agree on the lyrics. We all kind of have an idea of what we want our album to sound like, so when we get in the studio we each work through our ideas to get the sound we all like and want.
DD: Does everyone speak English in the band?
AW: Yes, everyone is fluent in English. If not I would be extremely lonely on tour.
DD: How did you guys end up meeting?
AW: We met in a studio in New York and then didn’t see each other for a while. Then my previous band was in Scandanavia and we struck up a friendship that has lasted until now.
DD: I have to say that I loved the The Black and Blue video and how it was so elaborate.
AW: Yeah, they did a really great job on the location. I also liked the Jaguar. I kind of want to get one just like it.
DD: I understand that you studied classical music? Does it bring an influence to you still and the band?
AW: I studied opera composition, and I was in a couple of opera’s... Opera definitely has had an influence on me. I tried to jettison the concept of a pure romanticism simply because it does not seem to translate or feel terribly relevant today. It’s kind of difficult to be discreetly romantic. There are always moments for it, like in a note or a certain chord change. But to have romanticism as your bread and butter seems incongruent with society and the way we are living today.
DD: Where do you think Miike Snow as a band has been drawing its inspiration for the next album?
AW: Our inspiration is to not be inspired by all that much. We have been inspired by technology more than we have been influenced by other bands really, except for a few bands in Sweden. We think: “how do you make something that is satisfying?” We have bands in Sweden such as Uran, Osynlige Mann that are doing things that are awesome.
If you think about how crazy technology has gotten… there are like 16 million bands on Myspace. You can listen to any kind of music you want, without any kind of special introduction. You just type into the search engine on Rapid Share and you could be listening to something so obsure as Clock DVA and the next day you are listening to Barbara Streisand. I think the technology of how you make music is becoming more important and your own innate sense of musicality, which comes from your subconscious and childhood, will come out in the music you make.
DD: Are you always trying to seek out the newest trend in music?
AW: You don’t necessarily want to use only the new things out there. Now there are 15,000 lo-fi bands out there. I think if you are in a position of making music you want to get away from what everyone is doing.
