Slim Loris - Love and Fear
“Streaming services like Spotify etc. is the best thing that could have happened. Music is about conveying a feeling to the listener and not about cashing in as much as possible and now days you can have a whole world of music in your pocket. ” – @SlimLoris

Listen to the interview:
Episode #289 : A.V.A Live Radio Behind The Music with Jacqueline Jax : http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2016/01/14/episode-289-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax

Jacqueline Jax logo photoGETTING TO KNOW SLIM LORIS
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
Interviewing: Mattias Cederstam

Music business…
I think the music industry have changed for the better. Streaming services like Spotify etc. is the best thing that could have happened. Music is about conveying a feeling to the listener and not about cashing in as much as possible and now days you can have a whole world of music in your pocket. As an artist, especially an independent one, it gives you a reach you couldn’t dream of in the past. Fair enough it´s hard to get people to find your music with so much to choose from but at least you have the means for it.

Social media…
The chance to interact directly with people all over the world. It’s a brilliant platform for independent musicians to get their music heard. The challenge is to be active enough, it´s easy to spend ridiculous amounts of time on the music itself but once its recorded and released your more or less burned out and can´t find the energy to market it.

Singles vs an album…
We’ve always made albums with Slim Loris cause it gives us freedom to explore lots of different angles and write songs that takes a few listens before you get in to as well as more direct ones. It has its downside in marketing though since you put all the eggs in one basket and just get that one chance to get attention for it while a constant flow of single releases will give you a better momentum.

I grew up with my dads record collection…
He is a big Beatles and Elvis fan and some of my earliest memories are of me trying to sing along to their songs. Being Swedish I didn’t have a clue what they were singing about but that didn’t stop me from trying. We had a piano at home that my dad used to play and I tried to fiddle my way around it as well so that’s where it all begun.

Music trends…
I think people worry too much about it. As long as you do your thing it doesn’t matter. The people you remember is the ones who set the trends and not the ones following them. I’ve never considered Slim Loris as a trendy band but we’ve had an Americana element in our music since we started and a few years back when Mumford and sons broke through our music got sort of connected to them and seen as trendy. One reviewer called us “Mumford and sons on steroids”. It definitely helped promoting the album we had out at the time since our style happened to connect with what was currant at the time.

I am most afraid of… Indifference

Success is…
achieving a goal that you’ve set up for yourself. Like I mentioned earlier my dad was the one that got me into music and he´s always been my toughest critic (apart from myself). I don’t think any record I’ve made with any band has truly impressed him but out of the blue he sent me a message after I gave him our “Love and fear” album saying he loved it, especially the song “Going home” which really blew me away. It was a very proud moment for me.

Going home…
It’s about a bloke who is a bit of a player that chats up a girl that he then gets hooked by her. The song is inspired by a friend of mine. My lyrics are usually written from a personal perspective but I wanted to do something different and I have a friend who´s quite the notorious player and its about him finally being hooked by someone.

Our drummers is a massive reggae fan and he has a tendency to try and fit that into our songs for better or worse. “Going home” was written as a singer songwriter folky kind of thing but he decided add a reggae inspired drumbeat to it and that’s what made it really come to life.

 

“Going home” is…
of our third album called “love and fear” that we released earlier this year. Our music could be labeled as indie rock but what I think set us apart is our love for blending genres. There´s flavors of folk, Americana, reggae, disco and much more on it and a lot of it mixed together within the same song all wrapped in a Swedish melancholic feel. We´ve also worked with an excellent producer called Pecka Hammarstedt who helped us take our sound one step further.

Before releasing it we managed to get quite a lot of favorable reviews for it that has helped marketing it. For example: “Rarely does one hear a band that’s so polished and so poised to take on the titans of Top 40, but this album — especially “Down” — is bound to be one of best indie records of 2015. Do yourself a favor and take a listen, then brag about how you were bewitched by Love and Fear long before any of your hipster friends” (popdose) a genre boundary-pushing contemporary canvas that will most likely make it on to a few “top albums of 2015” lists by the end of the year. (axs)

Slim Loris

We live in Stockholm, Sweden…
which is a great music town. Lots of great bands so whenever you´re out at a live music venue it´s bound to be good. For anyone coming here “Debaser” is probably the hot spot for good live music or if you want to discover more unknown talents take a trip to “Pet Sounds Bar”

I like to plant annoying songs in peoples heads. Especially if I can do it discretely like working a line from a chorus into a conversation and the next second they start humming the song without knowing why.

 

I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
Tom Waits. Big fan of his music and the way he hears and arranges things is mind blowing and I would love to have the chance to find out what goes on in his head.

My over all goal for my life & career is…
Keep trying to evolve into making bigger and better things, music and otherwise.

3 Ways that I challenge myself…

1) Never stop and pet myself on the back for a song or something else I’ve done. The day I sit back and feel satisfied with my work is the day to quit and do something else. You can be over the moon about a song but it´s never perfect cause you always need to strive towards improving.

2) Give myself the time to get things right. It´s so easy to get fully absorbed by a project but it´s usually not until you allow yourself a break from it that you can see what´s working and what´s not.

3) Force myself to listening to what other peoples opinions. I am really bad at taking criticism especially when it comes to my music but getting a different perspective on things is valuable and makes the songs better even if my band mates might have to put up with a grumpy singer for a while.

Social Media:

http://slimloris.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4i1M26n7NN5vINKv3VfuHu
https://www.reverbnation.com/slimloris
https://www.facebook.com/Slim-Loris-214253388610637/
https://twitter.com/SlimLoris
https://slimloris.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IqjDZF-4Rs
https://soundcloud.com/slimloris