When The Sun Hits
Interviews Daybehavior
Stockholm-based Daybehavior was formed by Carl Hammar and Tommy Arell, who both had been making music in various constellations since the early eighties. In 1988 they got to know each other and soon they found out that they had similar musical references, particularly synthesizer-pop music from the early eighties was something that they both loved.
In the summer of '93 they got together and seriously started to consider the
possibilities of making music together. They decided in what way they wanted to
work and Daybehavior slowly took form at their own Graplur Studios.
In the winter of '93 they started the search for a vocalist, and a little more
than one year later, after having tried out more than 40 different vocalists,
Paulinda Crescentini entered the studio and the last piece of the Daybehavior
puzzle fell into place. Half Italian, half Swedish, Paulinda was able to add
even more beauty to the Daybehavior sound, turning their music into something
really special with her melodic voice, and her lyrics which she sometimes
writes in English, sometimes in Italian.
Daybehavior released their third album FOLLOW THAT CAR! September 2012. Check out their webpage: www.daybehavior.com
Daybehavior’s
previous albums and singles are available via iTunes music store, Amazon and
CDBaby.
How and when
was the band formed?
P: It was
formed when I (Paulinda) went to an audition in Carl’s studio and I played my
demo for them and they liked what they heard. They gave me an instrumental
track that I took home and wrote some
lyrics to and then went back and showed what I had come up with. Carl and Tommy
had already been making music together with
different singers but when they decided they wanted to go “all in” and form a
serious band they tried out over 40 singers. And picked me in the end!
Can you tell
us what the band has been working on and what you've got forthcoming in the
near future (new releases, tour, etc.)?
P: We’ve been
working hard to promote the album Follow That Car! to radio stations, blogs and
fanzines. Since we’re not signed up with a big record company we do everything
ourselves and that takes a lot of effort and time. We are planning to shoot our
first video to this album. The videos that you might have seen connected to
Follow That Car! are all made by fans which is great. We love that we have such
dedicated fans, but now we’re gonna do one were we perform ourselves It’s the track For a thousand years were I
sing a duet with the synthpop artist Julian Brandt. We hope that we will be able
to start writing new material although I have a little baby just two months old
so it all depends on how much time she is giving me For the same reason a tour is nothing we plan
for the nearest future…
Do you
consider your music to be part of the current shoegaze/dream pop scene, or any
scene? Defining one's sound by genre can be tiresome, but do you feel that the
band identifies closely with any genre? How do you feel about genres in music,
in a general sense?
P: Our band
was formed when the shoegaze era was exploding. Guitar based indie pop ruled
the world. We never consider ourselves a part of that considering the lack of
guitars on our songs and for the fact that we never gazed at our shoes when
performing live haha. But something we do have in common are the strong pop
melodies based on a classic pop tradition. We are also influenced by the genre
called trip hop. Nowadays people tend to look down on trip hop but I can’t
understand why. It’s probably the same people who looked down on synth pop
before and now when it’s trendy again everybody seems to love John Foxx and
Depeche Mode and go around saying they always listened to synth. The next step
is when H&M starts selling T-shirts with Kraftwerk on. The same people who
bought the Ramones T-shirts from H&M will buy them, haha. We define our
self like electronic pop music with synthpop and triphop influences. Actually I
just made that up, I ought to check with the boys first but I think they are ok
with that definition :D
What do you
think of modern shoegaze/dream pop/psychedelia artists, any favorites?
P: To define
a genre is difficult as you said and there are a few bands that might could fit
in Shoegaze that I love and they are: Deportees, Lissi Dancefloor Disaster, The
Naked and Famous, The Vaccines, Austra, Niva and Gossip. I don’t know if these
bands would accept themselves as shoe gaze but I think that they developed the
genre indie pop in a very positive way.
What is the
most important piece of gear for your sound? Any particular guitars/pedals/amps
that you prefer?
Tommy: The
lexicon Reverb. It's used on basically every track :)
Carl: We are
using Mac and PC computers for recording and using Logic as the music program.
As for instruments we are using both software and hardware. Old synths such as
Korg Ms-20, Mono/poly and Roland Jupiter8, as well as modern software synths.
How do you
feel about the state of the music industry today? There is no doubt a massive
change underway; how do you see it and do you feel it’s positive at all?
P: I few
years ago everyone thought that the major record companies was going to fade
away because of the downloading and streaming generation but we can now see
that they are bigger than ever before. The three biggest companies control the
mainstream music industry and are owners in Spotify for example. You can still
make a lot of money as an artist if you are signed up with one of these
companies. The smaller and indie artists have to rely on that the press covers
them. The bands also have to play live if they want to make money. We do as
many other small bands: we make music because we love it and not for the money
but we also have to work very hard to be seen and heard in the ocean of blogs,
radio stations and webzines out there. Personally I think it’s better to be
positive and try to see the advantages with the new structure. It doesn’t help
much to look back in anger.
When it comes
to label releases versus DIY/bandcamp and the like, what is your stance, if
any?
P: The dream
is to sign with a major record company. In the long run we are in to this
because we love to produce music, not to hunt different sites and band camp
pages that take a lot of time and energy. Time that we’d rather put in writing
songs or doing interviews for that matter
But in the position we now are in, we have no choice.
P: I’m a
dedicated Spotify-listener and love that you can do your own playlists and
listen to other people’s playlists. I mostly listen to others because I am too
lazy to create my own haha. I listen on my computer with ok quality speakers.
The sound could of course be much better but it’s very convenient to listen
this way. T: Prefer CDs. When i move to a bigger apartment i will start using
my vinyl-collection again. haha.
What artists
(musicians or otherwise) have most influenced your work?
T: Ennio
Morricone and many other filmscore writers...
P: John Foxx,
Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Portishead, Massive Attack, St. Etienne,Bjork
Can you tell
us a little about what you are currently into (books, films, art, bands, etc.)?
P: We
currently are in to old movies from the 40’s to the 60’s. The estetichs and the
layouts from the film posters and the clothes for example. If you listen to our
latest album you can hear samples from old films and the cover art in the
booklet is heavy influenced with older
movie theme. Also the title, Follow That Car! is a flirt with the movie
scene We are planning to continuing
having film as an inspiration source. We had it in the earlier albums and we
already decided that the title of our next album is gonna be “Based on a true
story”! I really hope no other band is reading this and stealing the title
haha. Remember where you heard it first!
If you had to
choose one track that was the ultimate definition of your sound, which would it
be and why?
P: Wow,
that’s a tricky question! We had that discussion when we were deciding which
track that was going to be the first single. We wanted to choose one that
represented our sound. We finally choose the track "City Lights" because of it’s
dreamy film noir sound, synthpop-ish touch with a strong chorus and a mixture
of sadness and hope in the lyrics. I still think that song represent our music
in a very good way!
Can you tell
us a little about the band’s song writing process?
P: Carl and
Tommy get together in the studio and work on a first sketch of a song
containing bass, drums and harmonies. When they are satisfied with the “ground
base” they mail it to me and I work on it in my little home studio composing
lyrics and melodies to the track. After that I send it back to them so they can
listen. Sometimes they are very satisfied and happy with what I’ve come up with
and don’t have much to say but “Wow, great job, it’s fantastic, let’s record it
in Carl’s studio” but most of the times they give me feedback on things that
they want me to try, like: “Great lyrics but these words are a bit too long,
can you try to re-write so we can hear what it sounds like?” for example. We
mail a bit back and forth ‘til we are satisfied with the demo. Then we record
it professionally in Graplur Studio.
What is your
philosophy (on life), if any, that you live by?
P: I don’t
know but I am really convinced that my friends are very important in my life,
without them I wouldn’t be who I am today. Besides that I’m working on being
more laid back and not take things so serious all the time. It’s getting better
and better the older I get. There are only good things with ageing so far, I
think. You get wiser and better as a person and if you work out you can look
quite good also haha
T: The secret
of remaining young is to have an inordinate passion for pleasure.
C: It's more
fun to compute!
