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"I like writing with Robert better now, and I get loads of inspiration through him" |
It's a Musical
Swedish/German duo Ella Blixt and Robert Kretzschmar make enjoyable electro-pop music with a healthy dusting of melancholy. Their album The Music Makes me Sick came out last year and they have been touring relentlessly since then. When they got caught in London's snow chaos recently they had some time on their hands, so we posed some questions to Ella.
How are you?
We are fine, thanks.
Your tour dates in the UK were cancelled because of 20cm of snow.
Coming from Sweden and Germany, you must find that pretty ridiculous?
Maybe a little bit, but trust us, 20cm of snow causes chaos in Sweden and
Germany too. It gets really dangerous to travel, especially with a 7m long
and super heavy van. We are very disappointed about the cancelled shows,
we were really looking forward to playing. Hopefully we can come to UK another time
soon.
Apart from that, how has the rest of the tour been going?
Not that good, sadly. The first two shows were pretty crowded but
the following 7 shows we had almost no audience. It was actually very
frustrating and we don’t understand why, since all three bands are very
good. Maybe something failed in the promotion.
Do you like playing live, or are you more comfortable in the studio?
We very much enjoy playing live when the venue is nice and we can get a
kick from the audience showing its appreciation. But the
most exciting part about making music is being in the rehearsal space and
comimg up with new ideas and songs. When the ideas are flowing easily and
form into songs - it’s pure happiness! Recording the songs can be
more tricky, if the pressure is taking away the nice feeling
you had making/playing the songs.
Was there a particular episode that triggered you to write 'The Music
Makes Me Sick' or was it more a general reaction to banal music?
We wrote the song in a period when we were very fed up with our own music,
when we felt that we couldn’t even come close what we wanted to achieve
with it. This led to us getting sick and tired of music in general:
what came out of the radio, clubs, concerts and so on. 'The music makes me
sick' is thematically closely connected to 'Pain Song' – also about
being fed up with creating music. But this was a kind of changeover period
for us; we started It’s A Musical by writing these songs, and by doing
that we overcame that unpleasant feeling and started to love creating (and
listening to) music again!
Tell me a bit about your writing process?
Most of the time we come up with music and words together, at least the
main ideas. Then we might develop the lyrics and melodies alone at home
and but we always finish the songs together.
What sort of stuff are you writing/working on at the moment?
At the moment we’re playing live a lot and we don’t have so much time for
writing new material. But we plan to go on making new songs in spring, and
are really longing for it!
You both speak several languages, right?
Yes, we speak German, Swedish, English and Russian.
Would you ever consider releasing a song or an entire album in German or
Swedish?
No.
Never? Why not?
It's not like we're totally against it, we just think it's hard. And of course I can't speak German that well and Robert can't speak Swedish. I've never really been able to write in Swedish anyway, although it's amazing when you hear artists like Säkert of Markus Krunegård who can really pull it off.
What language do you dream in?
Since his early school years Robert dreams in russian sometimes. Ella
dreams in the language of the country were she is at the moment (even
though she doesn’t always understand it. She especially enjoys dreaming in
italian).
Do you remember the first record you bought/stole?
Ella bought some 90’s eurodance compilation when she was 10 or so (and at
the same time she bought a t-shirt with a black and white photo of a jeans
guy with a naked chest). Robert bought a The Police Greatest Hits when
he was 14 years old, and in his whole life he bought only about 15
records.
Do you think the fact that you both grew up in small towns rather than
big cities influenced your early creativity?
It had probably and impact on us developing our playing, there was not so
much else to do there except trimming your moped or watch the local (not
so good) soccer team. But what influenced us in our creativity was what
was going on in the big cities. Even though we didn’t live there, we
dreamt about one day moving away from our small towns and be a part of
something bigger and have more opportunities.
Your first project was a solo-project (Bobby Baby) where you wrote all the songs yourself. Do you prefer writing on your own or together with Robert?
I like writing with Robert better now, and I get loads of inspiration through him. Bobby Baby has been on the shelf for quite a while now, simply because I don't really enjoy writing alone any more.
What would you do if you weren't in this band?
We would probably play in other bands. Or do something real, like baking
birthday cakes.
