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| May 6th, 2006 by Dillon Flynn (Permalink) Add Comments |
El Perro Del Mar is an album. It’s a beautiful album that speaks and pines and weeps and giggles, sometimes within seconds of one another. Think 60s-era doo-wop slowed to a crawl and stripped away at until it hardly had any room to move.
El Perro Del Mar is a girl named Sarah. I had begun to figure this out with the help of Google and the occasional press release, but it hadn’t really been settled. Was there some mystique behind it all? Ghost writers or session musicians or some omnipresent invisible hand?
El Perro Del Mar is fixing to explode. With friends like Jens Lekman and Jose Gonzales, and with a collection of music this impactive, it’s not a matter of how or if but when. El Perro Del Mar was also kind enough to spend a few moments with Indie Cult to swap our questions with her answers.
Indie Cult: I hear a lot of sounds throughout the LP, but I only know of your involvement. Who worked with you—instrumentally or otherwise—and how did they happen into the project? (particularly those horns on “Here Comes That Feeling”)
El Perro Del Mar: El perro del mar is a strictly one-man (woman in this case) creation. It’s me playing all the instruments except for the saxophones on the song Here comes that feeling which were played by a guy called Alexander Nilsson.
IC: For live performances, do you play solo or with a band?
EPDM: It very much depends on the occasion, the venue, the opportunities given such as economy, technology etc. Sometimes it’s just me with a guitar and some backtracks backing me up. Sometimes I play with two guitarists and a Hammond organist. I try to keep the live thing as open as possible since that’s an area that for me is not the most important one. I’ve intentionally strived for not setting up a live band since that would trap me and El perro del mar in the whole band cage scenario. It was one of my most important principles when starting El perro del mar to remain a solo artist - and it still is.
IC: The project has been described as “low-fi Phil Spector.” This makes sense, I suppose, considering you often create a wall of sound with minimal ingredients. How would you describe your sound?
EPDM: My aim is to create a very complex and significant world of sound. I’m also very interested in timeless qualities in a song and production so I tried to study the means to create that kind of feeling as well.
IC: Who inspires you as a writer? Who inspires you as a musician?
EPDM: As a writer: Brian Wilson, John Lennon, Ray Charles, Nico, Lou Reed, Jason Pierce, Bob Dylan among others. As a musician: Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Arvo Pärt, Kate Bush etc.
IC: Describe the timeline of the album (when things were written/recorded), either track by track or in a general sort of way.
EPDM: For this record it was kind of special I guess since I started recording everything track by track and then releasing it as singles or EP’s (in Sweden) during a period of about one year. Later the songs were put together as a kind of compilation which later was released as this album outside of Sweden. I like recording one song at a time. I feel it gives the song the kind of focus and attention it deserves.
IC: How did you end up getting to know and work with Jens Lekman? Was he easy to collaborate with?
EPDM: Jens Lekman contacted me after having been played one of my songs through the phone by his American label. It just happened we lived in the same city. Up until then we hadn’t met. So he got in touch with me and suggested that we make a split single together. And so we did. It was released in November 2004. Since then we’ve been good friends. He is an inspiration and a very talented musician. Very fun working with as well!
IC: The lyrics on the LP are often understated. Should any of them be interpreted sarcastically? For instance, on the sugar-sweet opening track, appropriately titled “Candy”?
EPDM: Absolutely! I love sarcasm and especially towards myself. That was one thing that inspired me most, talking to myself in an almost ironic tone. I’d become so tired of myself seeing everything in black that I’d just wanted to turn that against myself. It turned out to be quite an interesting way to write lyrics I soon realized.
IC: Many tracks, Candy and Party for instance, mean different things to me depending on what kind of mood I’m in. On a good day, this LP is overwhelmingly happy feeling, but if I come at it from a darker perspective, the record seems to get darker with me. Am I insane, or is that the kind of thing you were going for?
EPDM: I think that’s what I aim for in my music, the constant ambivalence, never knowing how to feel or what to think. That is I guess what makes the music special, it gives the listener a chance to make the music his or her own, I guess. As for me, I can only say that I write with complete sincerity - it’s the only way that works for me. I am quite a up/down-kind-of-person so I guess it makes sense.
IC: What inspires your lyrics?
EPDM: A sudden flash or a concentrated emotion, something that hasn’t yet been processed or analysed by the brain. A sentiment that can be expressed in just one sentence.
IC: The Dog of the Sea. Does that reference anything?
EPDM: The expression came about after having spent a desperate and pathetic holiday in Spain. I found myself sitting alone on a tourist beach, completely lost in life and identity, wondering what to do with everything, when this tiny stray dog came up to me. In my state of depression I felt it spoke to me, maybe I saw a reflection of myself in it. With the little school Spanish I knew I named it El perro del mar, which in itself turned into some kind of very private name for me. When I decided to take up music again it was the first and most natural name that came to mind.
IC: How did the distribution deal with Memphis Industries come about?
EPDM: It came about with the help of an amazing album and an amazing manager. That’s all I can say really.
IC: How long has the record been finished?
EPDM: It was released in Sweden as a compilation in May 2005. So it’s been finished since then basically. The track God Knows was released on an ep in Sweden in November 2006 and was added to the European album.
IC: How have people reacted to the LP outside of Sweden?
EPDM: It’s been received with beautiful reviews and reactions. The reception has been better than I could ever have dreamt to be.
IC: You toured with Jose Gonzales. Any stories from the road? Was the audience reaction to your liking?
EPDM: I did a tour in the UK together with José Gonzalez in February. It was nice! I have no really interesting stories to tell apart from that it was really nice to get to see places that I hadn’t been to before, such as Edinburgh which is such a beautiful city. I took a long walk up the hill which is located just outside the city and I felt completely medieval. It was as if you could envision how it must have looked hundreds of years ago. José is a really nice person as well so it was a great tour all in all.
IC: What are your future El Perro Del Mar plans? Will there be a tour? Have any steps been taken to record a second album?
EPDM: My future plans are to start working on a new album. Since El perro del mar is not about touring there will not be any apart from specific shows here and there, now and then. My immediate aim right now is to head back into the studio to work on something really grandiose. Looking forward to it!
El Perro Del Mar’s self titled LP is out now.
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