Firstly, thank you guys, for being my first ever interview on Svenskpop!
Your new single “Conquer The Universe” is now available to download online, how easy has it been writing material for your third studio album?
Dennis: It’s been quite easy for me since Larry is the main songwriter and so damn good at it. I mainly just go along for the ride. It’s a joy to sing his songs.
Larry: We haven’t released anything really new since “Deux” and that was – in our terms – very long ago. So right now we have songs enough for a double CD to choose from. New songs keep popping up whether we have use for them or not. Looking back I find “Deux” a bit unhappy, so the songs for the next album will be happier and poppier than the songs on “Deux”.
Dennis: Yes, “Deux” was a bit moody. Yet, I think that’s what we needed to record at the time.
I know Stefan Gemzell has been planning a video for “Conquer The Universe” – what can we expect from the video and when will it be released?
Larry: Stefan got so excited about the track “When Did Your Heart Grow Cold?” so he made a video for that track instead.
Dennis: He might have something up his sleeve for the title track too. Wait and see. Meanwhile, the video he did, using clips from the classic movie “Reefer Madness”, has gone down well. I think it’s hilarious. And I love classic movies too.
What can you tell me about the new album? Are there any details you can give me now?
Larry: As I said “Deux” for me is not a very happy album. It’s good, but it’s not very happy. So the new album will – at least in comparison – be a bit happier and poppier. A couple of tracks are ready for mix, others don’t even have a name yet.
Dennis: And rest assured, it will have the signature Eurotix retro sound.
Your first album “The Secret” was outstanding, did you find writing your second album “Deux” was a difficult process following the success of “The Secret”, as lots of artists refer to their second album was the most difficult to write?
Larry: It wasn’t that difficult to write, actually, since many of the songs were already written before “The Secret” was even finished. But it was an unhappy period in the studio due to technical problems and things not sounding the way we wanted them to. So that made it a bit difficult. Some songs were mixed over and over again, and I’m still not happy with a couple of mixes.
Larry, you’ve written for many artists during your career, how different is writing for yourself?
Larry: I love it! It gives you a sense of freedom not having outside singers, producers and A&R people interfering with your work and wanting to change things. It also gives me an opportunity to sing about things that I’m personally interested in.
You’ve covered some songs by well-known artists in the past, Alphaville and most recently, Shanghai – which artists or songs would you love to put your stamp on in the future?
Larry: None, really. I’m first and foremost a songwriter. I love writing, and I only produce because I have to. When you do a cover it means someone else has already had all the fun and you’re left with the tedious part of it.
Dennis: Larry makes a good point. There are a couple of tracks I’d love to cover someday though, at least as a b-side or bonus track. One of them is “You Think You’re A Man” by Divine.
As you know I’m a huge Eurotix fan and I would love to work with you one day, but, if you were to record a “duets” album, which artists would you love to work with?
Larry: Lili & Susie.
Dennis: Larry stole my answer ha ha! Seriously, it would be a dream come true to work with them. There are many other iconic artists that would be amazing to work with. Kim Wilde comes to mind. I think her voice and mine could work really well together. I’ve always had a crush on her voice.
You’ve previously made the decision to concentrate on recording music and not performing live, have you re-thought that idea now that you have a fan-base?
Larry: Nope.
Dennis: Sorry to disappoint you, but no. We are first and foremost a studio project. We love working in the studio and we love releasing our music online. Being on stage is quite difficult, especially for me, so we prefer to stick to what we’re good at. A funny thing is that we have sent a couple of songs to Eurovision over the years. Imagine if we got accepted. How would that work out? 😉
Who are your favourite Swedish artists, both older and current?
Larry: I came of age in the early eighties so I tend to prefer the music from 1979-1984. My favourite swedish bands were Reeperbahn, Lustans Lakejer and Ratata. In later years I’ve had the pleasure of meeting most of my old idols which is one of the great rewards of my songwriting career.
Dennis: My first idols were ABBA, I grew up listening to their music and I’m still a huge fan. But in the summer of 2000 – at the age of 15 – my love for 80’s music (especially late 80’s) really came alive and I started listening to Swedish artists such as Lili & Susie, Army Of Lovers, Ankie Bagger, Pernilla Wahlgren, Lena Philipsson and Britt Dahlén.
You always have such amazing b-sides on your singles, will you be thinking about releasing a second edition of non-album material as you did in 2016 with the release of “Besides”?
Dennis: I hope so! A lot of people are asking for physical releases of our EP’s, so it would be nice to collect all the digital-only tracks on one CD.
Larry: Most likely. We put so much effort, love and care in our b-sides so they deserve being collected as a collection of their own.
You obviously don’t want to short-change your fans, which is evident in the quality of the tracks you release, and the additional tracks that don’t make it to the finished album – is it difficult narrowing down the tracks to make a cohesive album?
Larry: Absolutely. Many good songs have been passed on because they don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the tracks. “Are you strong enough?” was lifted off “Deux” because we couldn’t find a slot for it, as was most of our b-sides.
Finally thank you guys for agreeing to be interviewed for Svenskpop, wishing you all the very best for your continued success and I can’t wait to hear the next chapter in the Eurotix story.
Thanks for interviewing us! 🙂
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