Formula Indie Sessions : Interview with Primula
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Ella: I remember listening to Peter and the Wolf, a story with classical music, and being frightened by the music depicting the different animals.
Christoffer: My dad used to play Bamse (a Swedish cartoon) on the piano in different emotional moods, and then my sister and I would illustrate the feelings. And every Saturday, we were waking up to Herbie Hancock or Joe Zawinul blasting from the living room.
Olle: My dad played with Tom Waits when I was around 3 years old, which was obviously a huge deal in our family. I thought Tom Waits’ music was very exciting, especially because his voice sometimes sounded a bit like a monster. I used to imitate him a lot.
Jim: Mom is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I remember we had Born in the U.S.A. on CD, and we always listened to it whenever we went out in the camper van.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
Our passion for making music together comes from the fact that we love playing with each other. We had played together as a band for a long time before we started writing music together. The love for playing together naturally evolved into not only creating through other people’s (or each other’s) music, but also creating our own shared music.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
We started out as a jazz band and met at a jam session in a basement in Malmö. It wasn’t until a few years later that we began writing music together. Since we were already close friends by then, writing music together also came very naturally. It wasn’t something that needed a direction or any specific guidelines – the songs simply came and were allowed to become whatever they wanted to be.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Our sound is like a balancing act between beauty and the things that feel rough, without tipping too far in either direction.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music? Writing and creating music together adds something unique and incredibly valuable to the music, both for the final result and for what it means to us. The music belongs to all of us, and there’s something beautiful about sharing that.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process? When we write music, it usually starts with someone having a small idea. That could be anything from a chord progression, riff, to a melody. The instruments can vary, but there are most often two or more guitars involved.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Big Thief – Simulation Swarm
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision? All of our music is rooted in our experiences and the things we’ve lived through. Since we’ve been part of each other’s lives for a long time and know each other well, our experiences have also brought us closer together over time. It’s important for us to be who we are and not pretend to be something else. The music, our band, and our friendship are always at the center of everything. We hope people can see that we are ourselves, and that our music is us.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work? Our music is very much about the things that happen and the emotions you experience during early adulthood. About patterns repeating themselves, and things turning out differently than you imagined. One source of comfort and support during those years has been making music together, and that’s something we hope to convey. Things become easier when you do them together.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Music, and making music with others, is like a shortcut to really getting to know each other on a deeper level. Music forces you to open up, to be vulnerable, and becomes like glue between us – the thing that holds everything together.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Often the place itself is less important, what matters most is that we can reach the audience and that they can really listen to us. But, we’ve seen a lot of great music at places like Gröna Lund and the Way Out West festival, so it would be a dream to perform there ourselves one day. We would also really love to take our music abroad, and play at venues and festivals outside of Sweden.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why? Two late musicians we would have wanted to work with, because we think they would have brought new and unexpected things to our music: Elliott Smith and Maurice Ravel. Two contemporary producers who have worked with many artists and bands we really admire: Dom Monks and Luke Temple.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website, Spotify, IG, links) All links in one place:
https://linktr.ee/bandetprimula
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6jjkDJlJsOl35uLSyy2e7b?si=sKUeVgGfQeqwDRtvdhEkZQ& Social networks:
https://www.instagram.com/bandet.primula
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Right now, we want to get out and perform the music live, and we’re really looking forward to our release shows, as well as the summer and autumn ahead.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way? Our music is rooted in and comes from the four of us and our lives. We don’t want to put any boundaries or labels on our music. We always want to stay open to creating music that is honest and comes from within.
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