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Interview with SALT
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Short interview with v1.0
S A L T
02-Feb-95
by Erik Soderstrom (chief@lysator.liu.se)
after a gig at "Herrgar'n", Linkoping, Sweden
Salt are:
Jim Tegman (drums)
Daniel Ewerman (bass)
Nina Ramsby (vocals & guitar)
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(if the answer is "A." it was answered by someone. If the answer came from
someone special, the initials are written.)
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Q. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE GIG TONIGHT?
NR. It was a good gig. Everything went pretty much okay.
JT. I just lost the feeling in my arms!
DE. A small stage though we're only three. I'd give the gig about 4
points out of 5.
Q. WHAT SONGS DID YOU PLAY?
JT. 'Witty', 'Flutter', 'Honour Me', 'Lids', 'Bluster'
'Beauty', 'Frust' 'Undressed', 'You', 'God Damn Carneval'
and 'Occasions' (the extra number).
Q. ARE YOU TOURING RIGHT NOW?
A. No, not really. We're playing in Gothenburg on the 9th, Sk|vde on the
18th and Lund on the 13th of april. We play a lot around Stockholm
though we've played everywhere from Ume} to Gothenburg. This is our 27th
gig actually. We'll plan more of a tour when we release our full-length
album.
Q. WHY SALT, WHEN DID SALT START AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
A. We started about 2 1/2 years ago. At first we were called God Damn Carneval
but we changed it because it was so hard for people to catch. We were called
a lot of different things back then. Miry Bliss (dirty luxury) was our name
before Salt. Well, we tried to play most things just to find out what we
could play together that sounded good as well. Salt was the best name we
could think of that could describe what came out of it. Back then, we had
a fourth member who painted on the stage while we were playing. We're from
Stockholm, met at an art school, moved together on a houseboat, and here
we are. This is our first "real" band by the way.
Q. HOW ABOUT RELEASES?
A. We've released an EP called Salt, just last week. Other than that
only demos, but we've never released them. They exist somewhere, but
they're not available. There are about 2 to 10 songs on each of them.
NR. You never get enough time to make a demo "ok" so it's no fun
to release them.
A. On the 9th (or something like that) march, out full-length CD will
be released. It's called "Auscultate".
DE. I was sitting at a lecture, and suddenly this word popped up. Bam!
That's the title! It means "Educated apprehension through listening".
A hint to journalists perhaps...
Q. WHO ARE ON THE COVER OF THE SALT EP?
A. We are! No, but you must see that there are similarities!
JT. The picture is from a movie poster, and the surrounding graphics
are from a cuban cigar-label.
Q. HOW ABOUT INFLUENCES / SONGWRITING?
A. We've listened to everything. All of us have a wide taste in music
and that's why we sound like we do. When we write our songs, we all
say "this sounds like that song" at the same time, but never quite
the same anyway, so you could never say we've stolen anything from
someone else. We're influenced by most things on the indie/alternative
scene though. When one of us likes the sound of something we're working
on, the others automatically do too, but nothing sounds the same from
when we start working on a song to what comes out of it in the end.
Q. WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO RIGHT NOW?
NR. Fireside, Deus, Dinosaur Jr...
A. Afghan Whigs, Sonic Youth.
Q. HAVE YOU BEEN FEATURED IN MAGAZINES/PAPERS/MEDIA?
A. We've been in N|jesguiden - a review and also with an interview/
presentation of the band. In R|d Press we had the whole middle pages
last winter. A big picture but not that much text. (laugh) and we
had long hair. When we played with Kajsa Grytt we were mentioned
in Westerbottens Kuriren. That's when we changed our name to Salt.
On the demo-pages in Pop #4, october 1993 we got 6 points (out of
10?), and was the second best demo in that issue. Beetroots
(now Pinko Pinko) beat us with 1 point. Terry (the reviewer) had
a strange label for our sound. ["Led Zeppelin-goes-baggy-land"].
Q. YOU'RE SIGNED TO MVG. IS THAT GOOD?
A. Yes, it's fantastic. Completely. It feels like a small company but
it's big. There are three people working there (and secretaries)
and it's impossible not to know all of them personally. They give
us free hands and we're not pushed in any directions. Our contract
is written that way anyway. What we like to do, we can do. If MVG
wants us to do something, we don't have to, because it's in our
contract. They spend a lot of money on studio time because they
want it to sound good - not "you have three days, do what you can".
It's a good concept! And we felt our producer fit us perfectly
from the first time we met.
Q. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE BRITISH/AMERICAN/WHATEVER INDIE SCENE?
A. The American scene is the most interesting one, though there are
interesting bands from the UK as well. Green Day, they're good.
Offspring? Good music. We're happy that they sell records. If they're
doing something good, on a big or small label doesn't matter. If
they're good, they're good. Though we're all for the Pearl Jam
boycott [TicketMaster]. It's a good initiative, but it was probably
pretty hard in the beginning for them.
Q. HOW ABOUT SWEDISH INDIE GROUPS?
A. We like Puffin and Ray Wonder and Shredhead and Souls and Blithe.
Stina Nordenstam. Mazarine Street, if you've heard about them, will
release something on a small U.S. label. They sound like a mix of
Rolling Stones and Beck. They're going to be big.
Q. WHO WRITES THE LYRICS?
NR. I do. Most of the time. Sometimes we all write them. They're about
love, relationships, experiences. Mostly own thoughts and emotions
based on things that have happened. The important thing is to recognize
oneself in the lyrics. They're not for/to someone special at all.
Just a product of feelings at the moment I write them.
Q. YOU PLAYED AT THE HULTSFREDSFESTIVALEN. HOW WAS THAT?
A. Wild but fun. We were really nervous though. We played the last day
on the StoraDans Scenen at the same time as Maria McKee. It was packed
with people. Loaded.
JT. I loved the Verve gig. We all sat on a VIP bench sort of, and was
there and gone at the same time.
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