... ... a letter for the stars: Knowing... Air France

31 agosto 2008

Knowing... Air France

(Ir a la versión en castellano)
Hello, how are you? Are you enjoying the summer?
- Hi! We’re great, how are you? This summer has been really good to us, really hot but with small, benevolent cotton clouds on our side, providing shade when it’s needed the most, and the occational rains that came just as the forest fires got out of hand. How was yours?

To start with, we would like to talk about “No Way Down EP”, could you tell us something about the creative process? What are some ideas you want to develop in this release?
- Originally we had an idea of producing a full lenght album based on Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, starting at easter and ending somewhere in the Swedish midwinter. We have always worked with, and been fascinated by, contrasts. For example, the feeling of happiness needs something to elevate it, something that offers resistance to it. And the Swedish seasons have always been full of contrast, there’s such an extreme difference between a May evening and an evening in June it’s unbelievable.

Listening to your music we could imagine the most beatiful landscapes, do you feel composing something similar to writing fiction, in a story format?
- Yes very much so, it’s great that you mention landscapes. When we set out to record a song it is always with a hope of succeding to create a small world, not necessarily an isolated one set apart from everything around us, but a place where ideas and impressions can form a unity, where raging storms and purring kittens can co-exist side by side. It’s not just about setting the mood, it should hopefully feel like the song takes place somewhere, like it actually takes you there.

How do you decide to use one or another sample? Do you enjoy making music from almost unrecognizable samples?
- If we find something that really would help us achieve another level to a song, if it feels like it always were supposed to be there, like there always were a void that had to be filled by just that one perticular sound, we will use it no matter what. But we always strive to make the sample ours, change it somehow to make it perfect for our needs.

In our opinion, “Collapsing At Your Doorstep” is one of the best songs of the year. Could you talk about it and explain the feeling of the song? Have you been thinking about releasing it as a single of the EP?
- That’s funny, it barely made it to the EP, that was the song we argued most about, among ourselves in the band and also with the guys at Sincerely Yours. It was recorded very quickly during a chemical enduced high, very late in the recording sessions, with like a week left to finish the whole EP. We were feeling very bad at the time and the only thing to keep us going were old, happier memories. Anyway, it’s a great song and we’re proud of it.

Different musical styles could be found on your compositions? Could you tell us what have been your main musical influences? What do you think about the comparison with The Avalanches?
- When bands try to sound like The Avalanches, it’s almost always quite a bad idea. So we have mixed feelings about people thinking we sound like them. We adore the feeling of being totally lost on an endless summer party, and that’s what comes out listening to them.

Did you ever expect the great reviews of the EP?
- We always fight windmills, there’s always a feeling we have of swimming against the tide, so no, we didn’t expect anyone else but us to like it. We were terrified when we finally let go of the recordings. A horrid sense of angst.

Are you planning a future tour around Europe and, obviously, Spain? (We hope we could see you in Valencia)
- Well, we don’t actually perform, which is sort of stupid since one of the reasons we started this whole thing was the hope of getting to see the world. We just haven’t found the right way to do it in, something that doesn’t take away the mystique of the songs. Something is always lost in live performances, if the energy isn’t there, it’s useless. We need to find a way of directing the energy of our music the right way.

Thanks for all and please continue making such great music.
- Thank you very much. Invite us to your place and we’ll play records at your next house party.

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