Carl von Arbin (left); Eric Edman (right)
a few days ago, I caught up with Carl (guitar) and Eric (drums) of the Shout Out Louds.
before you read the interview, you should know that their lead singer Adam doesn't eat oatmeal, and Carl takes his with sour milk. carry on.
Energy wise, Work is a much more toned down album than your first two. Why did you opt for a more mature sound? What led to this grown up sound?
Eric: We are grown up. We grew up.
Carl: This is more like a band-y record…the basics and foundations of the band. When we recorded it, we had to be well-prepared and just get our stuff done because we did it in the US. We wanted that foundation, we wanted it just to be like a band record. No fooling around.
You wanted it to be more representative of the band?
Carl: yes, and also we had a break
Eric: we didn’t have any discussion about it
Carl: it wasn’t like a fight, we all just needed some time
There were no rifts in the band then?
Carl: no, we were all just dead tired
So you were always sure that you wanted to go back and make music together?
Carl: Kind of. That wasn’t even…we were never really sure. It was more like, we need a break and then we’ll just see what happens. It was more like we will probably make another album but it was like this might be a long break or a short break
You guys are Swedish but the lyrics are in English. Do you write them this way or do you come up with things in Swedish and then translate them?
Eric: Adam writes the lyrics…they are written in English
Is there anything you wish you could express in Swedish but doesn’t translate well to English? What are some good Swedish expressions?
Eric: [laughs] there are some that might not be good for lyrics…there are a lot of fish references.
Give us an example of a fish expression.
Eric: "lipsill"…that means crybaby…actually, sill is herring.
Carl: "Aja baja"-- I like that one: it means “don’t do that”
You guys have made quite a name for yourselves, and are currently selling out headlining concerts. In the past you’ve toured with many big name acts, How has the touring changed over the years?
Eric: We are more experienced now than we were when we started touring. Especially here. When we first started, we were more like, we partied a lot more. We were like “oh we’re in this city, yeah yeah!” I think we were enjoying traveling a lot. We enjoyed playing shows and everything, but we really liked, like “oh we’ve never been to this city”. We still do that. I still do that. Depends on the city of course. In the boring cities, we stay in the bus. Most of the cities and states are good though.
So now, do you feel more or less connected to the crowd?
Eric: We’re more confident in what we do of course…and that shows. I can feel it. It’s hard for me because I play the drums. I sit up there playing in the podium in the back…it’s hard to see the audience because I can’t wear my glasses. I think Adam has gotten more…he connects more with the audience.
Carl: a lot of people know older songs and have followed us in a way. Earlier we were more, like it didn’t really matter. Yeah we’ll do it or we’ll not do it. We’ve gotten better at saying no to things.
Eric: Boring things
Carl: with the crowd, the experience talks to you…you can feel it
Your songs have been featured on television and the song “Very Loud” was the driving song behind the music-focused film Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. How does it feel to see your art adapted to visual media?
Eric: I haven’t seen that movie
Have you seen it?
Carl: No
I didn’t love the movie, but, you know, just knowing that you had a song in there…
Eric: It’s kind of weird…good weird. When I remember hearing our song for the first time on the radio…it’s like you’re not paying attention but you hear something you recognize. It seems like there is a lot of music in film and tv series nowadays. I don’t pay attention much, except for films that are about music.
Do you feel that your progression as a band has more to do with your personal experiences or with what fans want?
Carl: I’m sorry to say it’s totally about us. You can’t write in another way. It’s what we know and what we write.
Are there any fan favourites that you guys don’t like to play anymore?
Carl: Some songs…we have to wait, songs that we play too much, we have to wait before we play them again. Then we pick them up again and if it works well, we will play them more frequently. It’s kind of a cycle all the material that we have. Some songs we kind of always play because they work.
Which albums or artists were the driving force behind Work?
Carl: we had a big period of West Coast music
Eric: but that was after…and before. A long time before and a long time after. I would say [during recording, it was] Lou Reed records.
Carl: John Cale and Lou Reed
Eric: We had a break so we don’t know what the others were listening to.
Can you remember what you were listening to, personally?
Eric: not really…I can’t remember
So, everything and anything?
Eric: I do listen to anything and everything!
Carl: Eurobrat…he likes the bad European techno
Tell us about “Paper Moon”.
Eric: When we were writing it, I was playing around with these reggaeton drum beats…I started to play it [demonstrates] and was inspired by that
Carl: We played around with that...
What song was the most difficult to perfect?
Eric: “Show Me Something New”
What was difficult about it?
Eric: It wasn’t anything in particular. Sometimes, it’s hard to get it done. Like, you have an idea, like a melody but it’s hard to…arrange…we actually recorded it first but it sounded like crap and we rerecorded it
So you’re satisfied with it now?
Carl: oh yeah.
If you guys could undo anything in the band’s past, what would it be?
Eric: there are some things we said no to that nowadays we’re like “why did we say no to that”. There are some things we said yes to that we shouldn’t have…it’s like “why did we take that fight”…we said no to this video game. It turned into this big discussion with our label back then. It doesn’t matter now but I don’t think it was worth taking the fight…it’s not a bad thing having a song in a video game. There were some shows we said yes to…there was nothing wrong with it…it was just off. I think we say yes because no one says no. Our manager or our label or who ever ask us and we say “I don’t really want to but I’m fine with doing it” and then we all get stuck. And we end up having ten of these things that nobody really wants to do but takes up our time and energy. I think we’re better at saying no now.
What musical territory would you like to explore that you haven’t explored yet?
Eric: I don’t think we know yet…when we start working for real with new songs, it might come across, like get ideas for new songs but it’s not like we know now that we want more harmonica on the new album
Carl: we’ve been listening to a lot of rap and pop actually. We’ve been very much into the French scene…more experimental stuff.
Eric: I think the next album will be a reaction to this album. This album was a reaction to the previous album. We don’t wanna do the same album again…[jokingly]The new album will have more techno. [chuckles]
Are there any bands, past or present, that you guys identify with? Like, can you see yourselves as The Velvet Underground?
Eric: no, I dunno, it’s hard to say…you can connect with other bands…when you go on tour…bands that you get along with really well…like The Concretes, who we were on tour with. But we don’t see ourselves as The Concretes….we just connect with them
What about underrated albums? Which albums do you feel more people should listen to?
Eric: Essex Green…the band from NY had an album…what’s it called? The Long Goodbye.
Carl: there are tons of Swedish bands that come to mind…like The Radio Dept.
You guys originally wanted to call yourselves Luca Brasi? Do you watch the G-dfather a lot?
Eric: no not really…I mean I have watched it. [Pauses deliberately and smirks] No…we’re not big fans
Carl: hahahaha
So it’s not worth seeing anymore, is it Eric?
Eric: [with a chuckle] of course it is
Eric: We are grown up. We grew up.
Carl: This is more like a band-y record…the basics and foundations of the band. When we recorded it, we had to be well-prepared and just get our stuff done because we did it in the US. We wanted that foundation, we wanted it just to be like a band record. No fooling around.
You wanted it to be more representative of the band?
Carl: yes, and also we had a break
Eric: we didn’t have any discussion about it
Carl: it wasn’t like a fight, we all just needed some time
There were no rifts in the band then?
Carl: no, we were all just dead tired
So you were always sure that you wanted to go back and make music together?
Carl: Kind of. That wasn’t even…we were never really sure. It was more like, we need a break and then we’ll just see what happens. It was more like we will probably make another album but it was like this might be a long break or a short break
You guys are Swedish but the lyrics are in English. Do you write them this way or do you come up with things in Swedish and then translate them?
Eric: Adam writes the lyrics…they are written in English
Is there anything you wish you could express in Swedish but doesn’t translate well to English? What are some good Swedish expressions?
Eric: [laughs] there are some that might not be good for lyrics…there are a lot of fish references.
Give us an example of a fish expression.
Eric: "lipsill"…that means crybaby…actually, sill is herring.
Carl: "Aja baja"-- I like that one: it means “don’t do that”
You guys have made quite a name for yourselves, and are currently selling out headlining concerts. In the past you’ve toured with many big name acts, How has the touring changed over the years?
Eric: We are more experienced now than we were when we started touring. Especially here. When we first started, we were more like, we partied a lot more. We were like “oh we’re in this city, yeah yeah!” I think we were enjoying traveling a lot. We enjoyed playing shows and everything, but we really liked, like “oh we’ve never been to this city”. We still do that. I still do that. Depends on the city of course. In the boring cities, we stay in the bus. Most of the cities and states are good though.
So now, do you feel more or less connected to the crowd?
Eric: We’re more confident in what we do of course…and that shows. I can feel it. It’s hard for me because I play the drums. I sit up there playing in the podium in the back…it’s hard to see the audience because I can’t wear my glasses. I think Adam has gotten more…he connects more with the audience.
Carl: a lot of people know older songs and have followed us in a way. Earlier we were more, like it didn’t really matter. Yeah we’ll do it or we’ll not do it. We’ve gotten better at saying no to things.
Eric: Boring things
Carl: with the crowd, the experience talks to you…you can feel it
Your songs have been featured on television and the song “Very Loud” was the driving song behind the music-focused film Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. How does it feel to see your art adapted to visual media?
Eric: I haven’t seen that movie
Have you seen it?
Carl: No
I didn’t love the movie, but, you know, just knowing that you had a song in there…
Eric: It’s kind of weird…good weird. When I remember hearing our song for the first time on the radio…it’s like you’re not paying attention but you hear something you recognize. It seems like there is a lot of music in film and tv series nowadays. I don’t pay attention much, except for films that are about music.
Do you feel that your progression as a band has more to do with your personal experiences or with what fans want?
Carl: I’m sorry to say it’s totally about us. You can’t write in another way. It’s what we know and what we write.
Are there any fan favourites that you guys don’t like to play anymore?
Carl: Some songs…we have to wait, songs that we play too much, we have to wait before we play them again. Then we pick them up again and if it works well, we will play them more frequently. It’s kind of a cycle all the material that we have. Some songs we kind of always play because they work.
Which albums or artists were the driving force behind Work?
Carl: we had a big period of West Coast music
Eric: but that was after…and before. A long time before and a long time after. I would say [during recording, it was] Lou Reed records.
Carl: John Cale and Lou Reed
Eric: We had a break so we don’t know what the others were listening to.
Can you remember what you were listening to, personally?
Eric: not really…I can’t remember
So, everything and anything?
Eric: I do listen to anything and everything!
Carl: Eurobrat…he likes the bad European techno
Tell us about “Paper Moon”.
Eric: When we were writing it, I was playing around with these reggaeton drum beats…I started to play it [demonstrates] and was inspired by that
Carl: We played around with that...
What song was the most difficult to perfect?
Eric: “Show Me Something New”
What was difficult about it?
Eric: It wasn’t anything in particular. Sometimes, it’s hard to get it done. Like, you have an idea, like a melody but it’s hard to…arrange…we actually recorded it first but it sounded like crap and we rerecorded it
So you’re satisfied with it now?
Carl: oh yeah.
If you guys could undo anything in the band’s past, what would it be?
Eric: there are some things we said no to that nowadays we’re like “why did we say no to that”. There are some things we said yes to that we shouldn’t have…it’s like “why did we take that fight”…we said no to this video game. It turned into this big discussion with our label back then. It doesn’t matter now but I don’t think it was worth taking the fight…it’s not a bad thing having a song in a video game. There were some shows we said yes to…there was nothing wrong with it…it was just off. I think we say yes because no one says no. Our manager or our label or who ever ask us and we say “I don’t really want to but I’m fine with doing it” and then we all get stuck. And we end up having ten of these things that nobody really wants to do but takes up our time and energy. I think we’re better at saying no now.
What musical territory would you like to explore that you haven’t explored yet?
Eric: I don’t think we know yet…when we start working for real with new songs, it might come across, like get ideas for new songs but it’s not like we know now that we want more harmonica on the new album
Carl: we’ve been listening to a lot of rap and pop actually. We’ve been very much into the French scene…more experimental stuff.
Eric: I think the next album will be a reaction to this album. This album was a reaction to the previous album. We don’t wanna do the same album again…[jokingly]The new album will have more techno. [chuckles]
Are there any bands, past or present, that you guys identify with? Like, can you see yourselves as The Velvet Underground?
Eric: no, I dunno, it’s hard to say…you can connect with other bands…when you go on tour…bands that you get along with really well…like The Concretes, who we were on tour with. But we don’t see ourselves as The Concretes….we just connect with them
What about underrated albums? Which albums do you feel more people should listen to?
Eric: Essex Green…the band from NY had an album…what’s it called? The Long Goodbye.
Carl: there are tons of Swedish bands that come to mind…like The Radio Dept.
You guys originally wanted to call yourselves Luca Brasi? Do you watch the G-dfather a lot?
Eric: no not really…I mean I have watched it. [Pauses deliberately and smirks] No…we’re not big fans
Carl: hahahaha
So it’s not worth seeing anymore, is it Eric?
Eric: [with a chuckle] of course it is
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