Scandinavian Indie - Melony Interview


Scandinavian Indie Presents: A short interview with
Melony

by Erik Söderström (chief@lysator.liu.se) 
after a gig at Herrgår'n, Linköping, Sweden, 25-Jan-96.

Melony are:
Peter Kvint (guitar & vocals)
Måns Eriksson (drums & vocals)
Gunnar Nordén (bass)

(c) 1996 Scandinavian Indie

If the answer is "A." it was answered by the group as a whole,
if the answer is "ST." it was their sound technician who answered
the question and if the answer is "UW." it was their manager who
answered the question.

Q. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE GIG TONIGHT?

A. This was the best gig we've had so far! It was really great, and no pressure at all. Not like at Hannas and at Gino, where we filled in for Cinnamon when they should have played there with Honey Is Cool and Singer, in Stockholm. Everyone was there! Popsicle, Wannadies, journalists.. Enough to make everyone really nervous!
GN. My cord got stuck on Peter's guitar! But I just went over to him and removed it.
PK. Yeah! And you were pretty cool doing it too! Ha ha.
GN. Well, slow and easy is the name!
ME. After the first song I really wanted more bass, but it took a while before our sound technician noticed me...
ST. I know I know.. I always stand with my head looking down at the mixing table.
ME. But one of the guys working here saw that I wanted something, so he helped out.

Q. SO IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE PLAYED WITHOUT THAT KIND OF PRESSURE?

PK. No, we've played in Uppsala at Kalmar Nation and in Gothenburg at Underground, without journalists. But we really enjoyed the gig tonight. We could relax, you know?

Q. WHAT SONGS DID YOU PLAY?

PK. We played 'My Corona', 'Skycracker', 'Barbra Streisand Nose', 'November Blues', 'Supersonic Baby', 'Silicon Soul', 'Dial Heaven', 'Wearing Shades on Rainy Days', 'Mirror on The Freeway', and the two extra numbers were 'Stagediver' and 'Swoop Soup'.

Q. WHEN DID MELONY START?

PK. Almost two years ago. In March 1994. But we played "indie pop" back then, and the record labels never wanted to hear it.

Q. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT PLAYING?

ME. I'm a music producer. Sound technician. And I also work with animated pictures, as dub-producer.
GN. Music producer.
PK. I work with animated pictures and I'm a music producer as well. And I'm moving right now. That's hard work! Ha ha!

Q. ANYTHING YOU HAVE PRODUCED THAT ONE MIGHT KNOW?

PK. I'm the producer for Pineforest Crunch together with Gunnar. Gunnar is also the producer for Sive (on EMI). They sound like Brandgul, heavy and with swedish lyrics.

Q. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR NAME?

PK. We used to be called "Honey" but you know there are a lot of bands using that word in their names. Think of it, when we played with Honey Is Cool at Gino, how would that look like? Ha ha! Anyway, our label also wanted us to change our name, so Åsa, who sings in Pineforest Crunch came up with Melony and we grabbed it.

Q. SO HOW DID YOU GET SIGNED TO SOAP?

PK. Well, we sent our demo tapes to a lot of labels at first. Four demos to be exact. And Soup liked the fourth one, and made the EP "Skycracker EP" straight from it! We didn't have to re-record anything.

Q. HOW ABOUT RELEASES?

PK. That's it. Ha ha. the Skycracker EP on Soup, but we have rehearsed a new song that's probably going to be released as a single in May and we have recorded sixteen songs in the Atlantis Studio for a full-length that will be released in August. Most of it is recorded live, because we feel it sounds a lot better that way.

[The songs on the 'Skycracker EP' are: Mirror on The Freeway, Barbra Streisand Nose, Swoop Soup, Silicon Soul, November Blues.]

Q. IS IT A GOOD CONTRACT YOU HAVE WITH SOAP?

PK. We think so. It's not a life-time one, only for one EP, one single and one full-length, so we feel pretty free anyway.

Q. ON SOAP, YOU'LL SOON HAVE YOUR OWN HOME PAGE?

UW. They're working on it right now. It'll be up on IUMA pretty soon.

Q. HOW ABOUT INFLUENCES / WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO?

GN. I'd have to say Supergrass!
JK. Pavement, Pixies and Beatles!

Q. WHAT ABOUT SWEDISH GROUPS?

JK. Yes of course. Fireside, Bob Hund. And Salt!

Q. ARE YOU TOURING RIGHT NOW?

JK. No, but we play in Växjö tomorrow (26/1), and we'll be home on saturday for a dinner.

Q. A DINNER?

JK. Yeah, we learned about it just the other day. It's a dinner with a record label from Taiwan!
ME. Think about it! Made in Taiwan. Ha ha!

Q. ARE YOU GOING TO PLAY AT ANY FESTIVALS THIS YEAR?

JK. We're not sure. If any, it'll probably be Hultsfred or Lollipop Stockholm.

Q. ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO END THIS INTERVIEW WITH?

GN. MNW have their own Internet office in the southern part of Stockholm, and that office also has a bar! You should come there and visit some time! Only, most of the time, they only serve coffee. Ha ha!

Scandinavian Indie Melony interview 25-Jan-96

Scandinavian Indie - your Internet guide to scandinavian independent music E-mail: scan-indie-request@lysator.liu.se WWW: http://www.lysator.liu.se/~chief/scan.html E-mail: chief@lysator.liu.se Phone: +46-(0)13-175042 Snail-mail: Erik Söderström, Björnkärrsg. 13 B:34, 582 51 Linköping, Sweden

This page was last updated Jan 26, 1996 by Erik Söderström