Scandinavian Indie - Salt Interview


Scandinavian Indie Presents: A short interview with
Salt

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

Salt are:
Jim Tegman (drums)
Daniel Ewerman (bass)
Nina Ramsby (vocals & guitar)

(c) 1995 Scandinavian Indie

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

Q. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE GIG TONIGHT?

NR. It was a good gig. Everything went pretty much okay.
JT. I just lost the feeling in my arms!
DE. A small stage though we're only three. I'd give the gig about 4 points out of 5.

Q. WHAT SONGS DID YOU PLAY?

JT. 'Witty', 'Flutter', 'Honour Me', 'Lids', 'Bluster', 'Beauty', 'Frust' 'Undressed', 'You', 'God Damn Carneval' and 'Occasions' (the extra number).

Q. ARE YOU TOURING RIGHT NOW?

A. No, not really. We're playing in Gothenburg on the 9th, Skövde on the 18th and Lund on the 13th of April. We play a lot around Stockholm though we've played everywhere from Umeå to Gothenburg. This is our 27th gig actually. We'll plan more of a tour when we release our full-length album.

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

A. We started about 2 1/2 years ago. At first we were called God Damn Carneval but we changed it because it was so hard for people to catch. We were called a lot of different things back then. Miry Bliss (dirty luxury) was our name before Salt. Well, we tried to play most things just to find out what we could play together that sounded good as well. Salt was the best name we could think of that could describe what came out of it. Back then, we had a fourth member who painted on the stage while we were playing. We're from Stockholm, met at an art school, moved together on a houseboat, and here we are. This is our first "real" band by the way.

Q. HOW ABOUT RELEASES?

A. We've released an EP called Salt, just last week. Other than that only demos, but we've never released them. They exist somewhere, but they're not available. There are about 2 to 10 songs on each of them.
NR. You never get enough time to make a demo "ok" so it's no fun to release them.
A. On the 9th (or something like that) march, out full-length CD will be released. It's called "Auscultate".
DE. I was sitting at a lecture, and suddenly this word popped up. Bam! That's the title! It means "Educated apprehension through listening". A hint to journalists perhaps...

Q. WHO ARE ON THE COVER OF THE SALT EP?

A. We are! No, but you must see that there are similarities!
JT. The picture is from a movie poster, and the surrounding graphics are from a cuban cigar-label.

Q. HOW ABOUT INFLUENCES / SONGWRITING?

A. We've listened to everything. All of us have a wide taste in music and that's why we sound like we do. When we write our songs, we all say "this sounds like that song" at the same time, but never quite the same anyway, so you could never say we've stolen anything from someone else. We're influenced by most things on the indie/alternative scene though. When one of us likes the sound of something we're working on, the others automatically do too, but nothing sounds the same from when we start working on a song to what comes out of it in the end.

Q. WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO RIGHT NOW?

NR. Fireside, Deus, Dinosaur Jr...
A. Afghan Whigs, Sonic Youth.

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

A. We've been in Nöjesguiden - a review and also with an interview/presentation of the band. In Röd Press we had the whole middle pages last winter. A big picture but not that much text. (laugh) and we had long hair. When we played with Kajsa Grytt we were mentioned in Westerbottens Kuriren. That's when we changed our name to Salt. On the demo-pages in Pop #4, october 1993 we got 6 points (out of 10?), and was the second best demo in that issue. Beetroots (now Pinko Pinko) beat us with 1 point. Terry (the reviewer) had a strange label for our sound. ["Led Zeppelin-goes-baggy-land"].

Q. YOU'RE SIGNED TO MVG. IS THAT GOOD?

A. Yes, it's fantastic. Completely. It feels like a small company but it's big. There are three people working there (and secretaries) and it's impossible not to know all of them personally. They give us free hands and we're not pushed in any directions. Our contract is written that way anyway. What we like to do, we can do. If MVG wants us to do something, we don't have to, because it's in our contract. They spend a lot of money on studio time because they want it to sound good - not "you have three days, do what you can". It's a good concept! And we felt our producer fit us perfectly from the first time we met.

Q. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE BRITISH/AMERICAN/WHATEVER INDIE SCENE?

A. The American scene is the most interesting one, though there are interesting bands from the UK as well. Green Day, they're good. Offspring? Good music. We're happy that they sell records. If they're doing something good, on a big or small label doesn't matter. If they're good, they're good. Though we're all for the Pearl Jam boycott [TicketMaster]. It's a good initiative, but it was probably pretty hard in the beginning for them.

Q. HOW ABOUT SWEDISH INDIE GROUPS?

A. We like Puffin and Ray Wonder and Shredhead and Souls and Blithe. Stina Nordenstam. Mazarine Street, if you've heard about them, will release something on a small U.S. label. They sound like a mix of Rolling Stones and Beck. They're going to be big.

Q. WHO WRITES THE LYRICS?

NR. I do. Most of the time. Sometimes we all write them. They're about love, relationships, experiences. Mostly own thoughts and emotions based on things that have happened. The important thing is to recognize oneself in the lyrics. They're not for/to someone special at all. Just a product of feelings at the moment I write them.

Q. YOU PLAYED AT THE HULTSFREDSFESTIVALEN. HOW WAS THAT?

A. Wild but fun. We were really nervous though. We played the last day on the Stora Dans stage at the same time as Maria McKee. It was packed with people. Loaded.
JT. I loved the Verve gig. We all sat on a VIP bench sort of, and was there and gone at the same time.


Scandinavian Indie Salt interview 02-Feb-95



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 Dec 26, 1995 by Erik Söderström