Andreas Johnson – Interview

Life has certainly been glorious for Andreas Johnson. Still, his notoriety here in the States hasn’t been anything like the love he gets overseas. If you take just one listen to his latest album, Liebling, and the stunning track “Glorious”, you’d quickly get the idea of why this man is held in such esteem.

Andreas is finishing the follow-up to Liebling while waiting to see if “Glorious” can find an audience in the US. The pressure is off now that fame has been his latest flavor, but to come to America and spread his sound would just be the icing on a tasty cake.

On the phone from his home in Sweden, Andreas talked music, life, and more.

How did you get to this point?

Well, I wasn’t always good at saying my feelings so I wrote them down instead.

Did you find that early on that you had some songwriting abilities?

The thing is we started out as a punk band, and at that time it was about attitude and high volume. Then it developed where I found it really amusing to find chords and write lyrics to it. It became everything. At the time, when I was seventeen or eighteen, I knew it was going to be what I did for the rest of my life. Since then I’ve been trying to just write better and better songs. Of course in the beginning you take yourself too seriously because you are into your attitude, but I had an accident where I fell down a staircase and landed on my neck. I couldn’t do anything for four or five months, and at that time I really got focused on what I wanted to do with my life. That is when I started to take songwriting seriously. I was about twenty then. That is when I moved to New York with my girlfriend for a couple of years. That is when I first got signed with my band called Planet Wave in like ’94.

When you were trying to learn new chords and songwriting, were there groups that you tried to follow?

Yeah. I was very much into the whole punk thing with the Sex Pistols and the Clash. That was the music I got into because my friends were into it. Then I started finding bands on my own. My brother was into Bowie and Bob Marley and I started to realize that they had great songs and they wrote great compositions. Later on I became an admirer of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and of course John Lennon. That was during my late teens. You can’t deny those geniuses. Of course everyone listens to music that was on the charts at the time, but I was also a huge Depeche Mode fan too. Suddenly when you start writing your own music it is yours, and you don’t think about what others are doing or if it fits in some genre.

With the attention that “Glorious” got, how did that effect you?

The most important thing to me is still the songwriting and not to repeat myself. Hopefully the people that stuck with me from the album before that will come along for the new music. This is the first time I’ve had a hit song and album and I think the most pressure comes from the record company who wants to see another follow-up and another smash hit. I think I’m pretty good at keeping them at bay. This is my third album, second as a solo artist, and I have to say it’s fun to play to sold out shows.

Why do you think that so few ever make it in music?

In my case I had a lot of difficulties with my record company and personal life, but you have some inner thing that keeps you going and there is always a good song to write. You have to follow your heart and not do things to please anyone else. I don’t know where my determination comes from, but I have always had this thing that has driven me to another point. At the same time, when it finally breaks through it’s about having the right people around you, and luck. All the effort and hard work I’ve done is finally paying off. I think sooner or later you have a better chance to make it in the long run.

Do you think in some ways your personality type is similar to songwriters who have made it? Especially since you share the same things, like your drive.

From all the people I’ve talked to, they are into the same things I’m into. I do think that it is the drive. I’ve met many great songwriters and musicians over the years who haven’t made it and never got that far because they lack that drive. Maybe they don’t want it or are afraid, but I’ve never been afraid. I think I’ve been too naive. (laughs) I think that is a good thing. I think that makes you go on and be creative. It makes you not think too much and just do it. Today, artists aren’t really songwriters and are manufactured. I think that now record labels may not care about artists in the long run and not give them a chance to develop. It’s scary. Some artists have difficulty in the beginning. You aren’t always good in the beginning.

You probably get compared to other artists. Are there some that are flattering and some where you are like ‘I can’t believe they compared me to them’?

I don’t really get upset with that anymore. Today it is more fun to read articles about other artists who get compared to you. There are artists and songwriters that I get compared to, artists I shouldn’t be compared to. (laughs)

Do you think it happens because some artists have voices that sound similar to someone else’s?

That happens all the time, especially if you are a new artist. They want to label you, it’s always been like that. My voice has been compared to some other artists, but I know where it comes from and it is inspired from how my mother sings. She was a jazz vocalist and the one who showed me how to sing.

Are there singers out there today that you admire?

I’ve always enjoyed Bowie and Bob Marley. Those two meant a lot to me in the beginning. I think Thom Yorke (Radiohead) and Bono (U2) are great singers, but I think Bob Dylan is the best singer because he’s got soul. (laughs) Maybe he doesn’t pick up all the notes, but he has soul. I think that is important when you hear an artist. I think it’s important that an artist feels honest.

Because we get so much music and most has the lack of soul, which makes it sound so average.

When you are an artist, you can’t be there just because you want to be a celebrity and be onstage. You have to be there because you want to sing and it’s in you. It’s the love for singing and writing that is important. There is so much music that is out there. I can’t really listen to radio today because it’s too much and nothing I can relate to.

I just hope we get back to a day when rock dominates.

I think it will. I think that today’s music is just going to eat itself.

I think pop came from the era of Nirvana. That scene ate itself.

Right. I just think people should do their own thing when they make music.

If you could sing one song from anyone, what song would it be?

This is a song I usually sing before I go onstage and it’s the first song I ever learned to sing. It is from Gershwin, a tune called “The Man I Love”, although I sing “The Girl I Love”. It’s the first song that I learned to sing. My mom used to sing it to me. Instead of singing me lullabies, she sang me jazz tunes. It would be that.

+ charlie craine