Photo from: www.groundcontrolmag.com
We got a chance to chat with Sune of The Raveonettes on their new anti-album, finding inspiration through listening to music and what’s next for them. Check it out and don’t miss out on seeing them this Saturday, January 21st at Music Box with Gateway Drugs! Grab TIX here.
You spent last year creating a new kind of compilation project, a new song released each month. What was the inspiration or motivation for this?
Well, a couple one things. One thing is that sometimes to focus on one song is kind of nice, and another thing is you don’t have to makes songs that necessarily would go together or belong together as would when you do an album. They’re very individual tracks, which is kind of nice.. Whatever you’re inspired by that particular month or time, you can just do. It feels liberating. I mean, I like both concepts. I like albums because that’s what I grew up with, but I also like the idea of singles because that’s also what I grew up with. I would listen to a lot of music from the fifties and sixties and those were all singles. I think those concepts work, and I felt like it was more fun to do singles.
Now that all the songs are released, how do you feel about the final result?
I’m very proud of it; I think it sounds really good. Actually, it’s surprisingly coherent as well. I mean, I’m a songwriter so I guess whatever I write sounds like me in a way. I guess that’s good!
The upcoming show here in San Diego celebrates the release of this anti-album, was there anything in particular that made you choose to have it here? Do you have special ties to San Diego?
Well, we have a good friend down there who likes us to come down and have us play, which is why we go down and play every year. We always have a good time there. We started off playing San Diego many years ago and always had a really good audience down there. It’s funny, we live in Los Angeles so now it’s a short, little drive down, spend the night, and come back up the next day. We go down, have some good food, hang out a bit.
How does the completion of this project affect your plans for new music?
I don’t know yet, I haven’t thought that far ahead. We’ll just take it one day at a time and see what happens.
What current artist or band are you listening to on heavy rotation right now? Is there a particular artist that stands out to you at the moment?
No, there isn’t. But that’s also because I have a very strange way of listening to music that I think is not like most people. I listen to music for very different reasons. I listen for stuff that I can sample most of the time, and I listen purely for inspiration for sounds or beats or anything like that. So, I listen to a lot of music but not necessarily the whole song through. I’ll just skip through songs or albums. I get a feel for what there is, which is why I love Spotify. Most artists hate it because they don’t think it pays enough or whatever. I don’t really see it like that. I see it as a really great service and an incredible tool for inspiration. I mean, without Spotify, I don’t think I’d want to make music almost because where am I going to find all this music? There’s so many obscure things on Spotify. It’s unbelievable. You can the most obscure music that you would never be able to find in a record store or anywhere else. I like to really, really dig deep, so every time I find a song or artist I’ve never heard of, I find out who inspired this artist and who the related artists are. All of a sudden you have these playlists or compilations and then you just keep digging. I end up with a folder of like a hundred songs that I can use for inspiration that I’ve never heard of before. So that’s how I listen to music. I don’t really go out. Like, if you were to ask me, “Hey, who put out the best album last year?”, I would have absolutely no clue. I don’t know what album just came out or who’s on tour or anything.
So, what does the upcoming year look like for you? Will you be touring for this anti-album?
We don’t have any plans right now. I’m getting more into film scoring these days, and I want to release more of own music as well. That’s what I’m focusing on right now.
Interview Questions by: Jenifer Glor
Interview with Sune of The Raveonettes