Interview — Oakred

Skratch Magazine

Oakred hails from the tiny village just north of Sweden called Torsåker. But don’t let those humble origins fool you. Petter Svedén (vocals/drums/guitar), Tomas Demasure (guitar/piano/harmonica) and Moa Svedén (vocals/percussion) play music with a big sound. Big, folk-based sound centered around strong melodies. Check out what they had to say to Skratch Magazine.

Skratch: Describe your sound:

O: Our sound is pretty naked, we try not to sound pretentious or cool in any way. If a song sounds the way we want it to it’s the perfect reflection of the emotion we had at its creation. Now…who´s trying not to be pretentious? 

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?

O: In our family, Moas and mine, we have always been singing and playing with music. Our older brothers played in lots of bands so it came natural to me to start one of my own. Moa started playing music later in her life but she has been singing for as long as I can remember.

Skratch: What is your song writing process like?

O: A song “comes” to me. It could be at the dinner table when I see a deer outside the window or like 2 weeks ago, I was out walking and thought about a guy I knew who died. The song comes and I record the melody on my cell phone before I forget it, then I record it and send it to the others in the band. The weird part is I just sing, without lyrics written in forehand and then when I listen to it afterwards, the lyrics are good. My brain does the work all by itself without consulting me 

Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?

O: My number one inspiration is Damien Jurado, I completely adore that guy and I think you can tell from listening to our songs. I also love Idaho, the national and Nick Drake.

Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.

O: I think I get inspired by emotional periods in my life, the songs become an outlet for the emotions. I don’t seek out inspiration, it comes. I know everyone sais that, but what can you do?

Skratch: What is your musical background?

O: I’ve played guitar since I was seven and iv bin singing for as long as I can remember, I thought myself to play the guitar with a little help from my older brothers. I have played in many bands, even bin on a tour to Germany with a band called Tenlike. Tomas is a teacher at a music school so he learned to play as a profession, he also works in bars where he sings and plays the guitar. Moa have bin singing at home and with me since we where small, but never before in a band.

Skratch: Tell us about how you got started as a band.

O: I had just gotten fired by my own band, yeah…lucky me. I looked for a long time for a girl to sing my songs with, and then I realized I had a very talented sister. I worked with Tomas at the time and at a lunch break I played one of my songs, he started playing the harmonica. And here we are.

Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?

O: The most rewarding part is playing live, we all love it so much. Its also really nice to hang in the basement where we rehearse, it’s a good…social..bonding…kind of thing.

Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians?

O: We have played at a lot of places where people where too drunk, so they made more sound than we did. Also it’s sometimes hard that we are brother and sister in the band. She annoys me and I annoy her and Tomas gets stuck in the middle.

Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?

O: I would say its Bleeding Heart. The melody of the song is so strong, and the lyrics came from a place of desperation witch I think it transmits clearly. Our newest song “Born centuries to late” is about a man I knew who killed himself. He was a blacksmith in our village and never felt like he fit into modern society, so obviously its an even stronger song for me. I cant decide which one is the best one.

Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever bought? What was it?

O: The first album I ever bought was sadly a new kids on the block album, my older brother Oskar later destroyed it. With an axe.

Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?

O: We will all probably have kids in five years, so I’m guessing a big tour buss so all our families can come with us. Or maybe we will all just be hanging out in the woods with a pipe and a cup of joe. Five years is the future, take it up with Marty Mcfly. The tour buss sounds nice though.

Skratch: Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.

O: We want to live of our music because it’s the most rewarding thing in the world to do, so that’s the long term. Short term is to rehearse, get better and keep playing gigs and making songs.

Skratch: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?

O: In the year that we have existed in this constellation we have evolved into becoming a more rhythm based band. We haven’t yet recorded any of the songs with moor rhythm, but we are getting to it. Moas singing also really makes the songs better and better each time we rehearse, at least when she sticks to the lyrics…which sometimes doesn’t even exist yet.

Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?

O:We usually rehearse once every week, and we have a lot of fun. Sometimes we end up talking about other stuff and forget about rehearsing. So, lots of coffee and childish humor.

Skratch: What would you say is your band’s motto? Explain.

O: Throw pretention out and lock. Everyone in the band is really fed up with people trying to hard to be pretty, to bee cool, to be the next hot thing. We mostly just try and play songs for the soul and not so much care about how we look. Even thou we all shower regularly, I hope.

Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.

O: We have some gigs coming up this spring in Stockholm, we are in the process of setting the dates for those. We have a two festivalgigs in the summer, but that’s it for now. All the gigs are in Sweden. We recorded our latest album 6 months ago so, a new one will probably be done by October this year.

Skratch: Where have your performed? Tell us about the experience.

O: Our best performance so far was last summer at a festival. The sound was amazing and the audience really listened, I could have heard a needle drop to the floor, hundreds of people where that silent. Other gigs have bin mostly clubs that specialize in live music, mostly in Stockholm but also in other places in Sweden.

Skratch: What sets your stage show a part from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?

O: I play the guitar, sing and play the bass-drum at the same time so that’s a treat in itself. Tomas plays the guitar and harmonica at the same time, and Moa is just one of a kind so there you have it! I also tend to say embarrassing things that nobody laughs at. We have It all! I don’t think you go to listen to us to look at us, I think you come to listen.

Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?

O: We call ourselves the inventers of the bog country music without any real reason. That and also, Moa has a cat and my girlfriend has a horse called Amie.
To learn more about Oakred visit www.myspace.com/oakred.

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