100 Musicians Answer the Same 10 Questions

Part Sixty-Seven: Bobby of Irene

instigated by dave heaton

One of the most sublime pop-music pleasures of 2006 is surely the just-released debut album from the Swedish group Irene. Out on Labrador, the album -- Apple Bay -- is a quick and breezy collection of songs with an outdoors-in-sunshine mood, with real-life emotions like heartbreak and regret lurking not far from the surface. It's lovelorn pop music that's graceful, romantic, buoyant, and absolutely unforgettable. Bobby (aka Tobias Isaksson), is Irene's lead singer. Check out Labrador's website for songs and information.

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What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?

Irene as a band is evolving, getting tighter and moving towards a slightly new sound for our second album although the debut hasn't even been released yet. (Will be in a week.) The other day, during our rehearsal session I got the strongest feeling I've had as a musician so far. The band just made me shiver! That will be a big trip to develop further!

What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged?

Bad reviews and reviewers. Fortunately we haven't gotten too much of that, but I just can't help wanting to strangle some people sometimes. But even more discouraging is the fact that most people don't care about good music at all.

What are you up to right now, music-wise? (Current or upcoming recordings, tours, extravaganzas, experiments, top-secret projects, etc).

I kind of wrote the answer to this for question one, so I'll say that the debut album is getting a huge response from Swedish media right now, but it's too early to tell exactly where we're going except for some plans to tour Sweden this autumn and Europe in the spring!

What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording? How did the qualities of that place affect the show/ recording?

We did an improvised acoustic bonus show at the Emmaboda festival by a trailer with borrowed guitars and percussion. We were all severely hung-over but it sounded really cool with the vocals and trumpets all without mics. Someone filmed the thing and we look really ridiculous, nine of us on a lawn in front of a trailer, but it sounds great!

In what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived), affect the music you create, or your taste in music?

In every way for this band! Irene celebrates the west coast where I grew up and hung out at the beach as much as the short Swedish summer allowed. That's made me appreciate those golden moments in the sun or sunset and travel the world to see new waterfronts. And our current home town Göteborg, Sweden is a great pop city with lots of great bands. We know so many brilliant bands that it hurts to see how few of them that gets the attention they deserve.

When was the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us about it?

I'm working on a song right now that's about the end of summer. Hehe. I'm so predictable. The lyrics for the chorus are "at the end of the holiday there's something good". But I have so many songs written that I doubt this will make it to the next album. I can afford to be very selective.

As you create more music, do you find yourself getting more or less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other people...and why do you think that is?

To me inspiration comes long after I consume the music so I don't really think about this in the aspect of making music. It's more connected with how I'm living at the moment. If I have time to look for new stuff and so on.

Lately what musical periods or styles do you find yourself most drawn to as a listener? (Old or new music? Music like yours or different from yours?)

I listen to a wide variety of old and new music all the time. Right now I have a short Tim Hardin revival along with heavy listening to a great new soul pop act from Stockholm called Juvelen.

Name a band or musician, past or present, who you flat-out LOVE and think more people should be listening to. What's one of your all-time favorite recordings by this band/musician?

Tim Hardin. His 1+2 are fantastic.

What's the saddest song you've ever heard?

California Dreamin'. Nobody (in Sweden anyhow) seems to consider it a sad song. And that's sad in itself. :)

To check out the rest of the Q&As, click here.