Scandinavian Indie - Caraway Interview


Scandinavian Indie Presents: A short interview with
Caraway

by Erik Söderström (chief@lysator.liu.se) 
after a gig at Herrgår'n, Linköping, Sweden, 02-Mar-95.

Caraway are:
Daniel Glad (drums)
Conny Johansson (synth & backing vocals)
Mats Wernersson (bass)
Kristian Wernersson (guitar & backing vocals)
Per Backstad (guitar & vocals)

Address: Per Backstad, svardstigen 11, S-577 36 Hultsfred
  Phone  : +46-(0)495-12863
    E-mail : c92dangl@und.ida.liu.se

(c) 1995 Scandinavian Indie

If the answer is "A." it was answered by the group as a whole.

Q. WHY CARAWAY, WHEN DID YOU START AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

A. Caraway means "kummin" in swedish. The record company wanted us to change name from what we used to be called before. They wanted us to chose a name that we could get sued for to get publicity, but we didn't want to do that and decided on Caraway. We almost took "Delary" [a town in Skåne, Sweden] which we passed on the way to the recording studio, because it sounded good when pronounced in english, but decided later not to. We started 1989, but only with three members, Kristian, Conny and Per and called ourselves "Guttural Sounds". Per was the only one who knew how to play. Conny started from scratch. And we had a drum machine. We played mostly our own songs, but it sounded lousy! The rest of the history goes like this: first we fired Per, the best one in the band, then Mats joined, after that Daniel and finally we got Per to come back. He had played in a band called "Roomservice", sort of a party band, in the meantime. We're from Hultsfred.

Q. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT PLAYING IN A BAND?

A. Per sells reflectors, sponsored by a school class. Kristian works as a teacher and handles the computers at a school in Hultsfred. The other three studies. Daniel in Linköping, Conny in Karlskrona and Mats in Växjö.

Q. WHAT SONGS DID YOU PLAY?

A. 'Who?', 'Face of a Greater Love', 'Anything Like That', 'Pistolshot', 'Hold On', 'Spell', 'My Real Face', 'Walk On By', 'Utopia', 'Wrong', 'Two Years'. The extras were: 'A Bus or a Train' and 'Hey Hey My My' (a Neil Young cover).

Q. HOW DID YOU GET THIS GIG?

A. The band originally listed for tonight cancelled. Daniel studies here in Linköping and they knew about us here at Herrgår'n and that we had released a demo, so we got the gig.

Q. HOW ABOUT RELEASES?

A. We released a CD single (2 songs) on Hultsfred Records, october 1992. Sonet handled the distribution, which might have had something to do with the fact that almost no-one saw it outside Hultsfred. Other than that we have this new Demo tape [in three different colours] called "Wrong". [recorded and mixed in Hultsfred, december 1994 by Dan Lind and Caraway. Tracks: 'anything like that', 'pistolshot', 'wrong', 'walk on by' and 'utopia'. Length: about 21 minutes.]

Q. ANY SPECIAL INFLUENCES?

PB. Soul / Motown / Country / Folk music. Van Morrison is a house god.
A. The end of the 60's, Kinks, Who, Doors, Popsicle, Wannadies, This Perfect Day, Eggstone.
CJ. Early Cure.
A. Teenage Fanclub, Pearls Before The Swine, Waterboys, Springsteen...

Q. HAVE YOU BEEN FEATURED IN MAGAZINES/PAPERS/MEDIA?

A. We were on TV about 2 1/2 years ago, live from Metropol in Hultsfred at the Luciavakan, where we played with Wannadies and Sator. It was something different. Then we were also featured on TV when they broadcasted some live stuff from the Hultsfred Festival 1992, where we played at Stora Dans. We've got good reviews in a magazine called Backstage. Favorites even. And we've been "Powerplay" with the single on East FM Radio as well.

Q. OTHER GIGS THAT YOU REMEMBER?

A. We were the opening band for Sinners in Hultsfred once in 1992. That was fantastic! That got us the single recording. We've played with Popsicle as well.

Q. HOW ABOUT THE HULTSFRED FESTIVAL?

PB. I've has worked there since 1986. Now I have been the stage manager for the P3 stage since 1992. This year I saw Garmarna, Latin Kings and Kumikameli, who have released a CD (on a small label) with covers by the way. Smells Like Teen Spirit for example, though all songs starts just the same! Garmarna forgot their effect-boxes on thursday [the first day] on the stage and came back on sunday [when it's all over] and looked for them. We're trying to get a gig there this year again. It has been a while since last time.

Q. ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?

PB. Go to Roskilde! Conny and I have been there since 1991 and we've never been disappointed.


Scandinavian Indie Caraway interview 02-Mar-95



Scandinavian Indie - your Internet guide to scandinavian independent music
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Snail-mail: Erik Söderström, Björnkärrsg. 13 B:34, 582 51 Linköping, Sweden

This page was last updated Dec 26, 1995 by Erik Söderström