My friend Andreas has disappeared in oblivion. I wonder what happened to him. Great guy the swede. For a while I contributed with some band recommendations on his blog Dance to the Sun. He had an exquisite taste and championed the same bands as me. Of course he liked eBay and getting rare records, like that Pristine Christine in mint condition, was the sport he most liked. To all of those rare findings he would call them his Holy Grails. And yes, today I stumbled with one of his Holy Grails: Pastel Collision. I remember the day he nudged me on MSN saying he got “Trouble with Capital T”.

Strangely enough, today by googling I found this website. A blog run by Duncan from the band! I’m also a big fan of this band mind you. I have a couple (or maybe three? I’m terrible recalling how many records I have) of their 7″s. I also have the album by Kaleida (the band they evolved to) which is GREAT! You could throw a party just by playing that record. I wonder if he is up for an interview for the blog. I’ve just sent him a message on his Youtube account. He has uploaded the video for Wherever You Go, Take Me With You if you mind.

It would be cool that all Pastel Collision was released on a CD. I would like to do it, but I bet Siesta would make such complications as they like to do. They pay recordings and they keep the copyrights. I guess it would be a matter of negotiations… but nowadays paying to get a license of songs is silly. It’s just not worth it. Okay, it is but if it’s Camera Obscura or something bigger than that.

I sent the questions to Darrel for the Home and Abroad interview. Maybe that will be up soon! Also I wrote Uwe to see what he thinks about these compilation ideas. Maybe both labels can join forces and make a compilation every year? It’s a possibility! We’ll see what he says!

Today I listened the Napoleon Sweetheart EP from Northern Portrait. Ok, it’s good. But for me it doesn’t live the hype. I think their labelmates Bubblegum Lemonade have more of an edge. Still I recommend it, 4 fine jangly songs. Also got today in the mail La La Love You debut album. This is a Spanish band, so I bet you haven’t heard from them. It’s punk pop, lovely stuff, fun, boy-girl chorus, handclaps, you know… the classic sugus and chupa chups bands from the early 2000s on Elefant: Juniper Moon, Vacaciones, even some Los Fresones Rebeldes (though they only had one 7″ on Elefant, everything else on Subterfuge). This is a strong debut. I may continue listening to it tomorrow!

On the Cloudberry street… got all the songs for the Christmas EP and boy it does sound great! Twig counts again with Kalle from Elenette to bring that marvelous sax to Antoinette’s Christmas Wedding! Strega bring the #Poundsign# pedigree, girl boy vocals, and chimes! The Soft City, now with female vocals… for a moment I thought it was Kicker! and closing the EP, Champagne Riot with pure elegance.

I just finished watching Le Cercle Rouge. What a good movie. The robbery scene, wow, Melville knows how to keep you in suspense! Tension is perfectly executed. Would Hitchock be proud?

Okay enough gossip, that should do it for today.

I promised five lines to Emma. Maybe I can start writing again? You tell me just before you take that bus to school.

I thought writing often in this blog but it just hasn’t happened. I always tend to get myself busy. I’ve sent some questions to Allan Kingdom from The Siddeleys, for an interview that I hope to post here soon. Also I already asked Darrell Mitchell from Home and Abroad and Mark Marrable from How Many Beans Make Five to do an interview with me. Hopefully I’ll get around those soon too. Maybe it is a good idea to have this blog up and running? Perhaps it helps as practice? For instance, I need to write asap for the Hari and Aino and Play People inserts. I want to have an smashing message. I have a couple of ideas.

The Indiepopedia could be a great tool. I found Peter Twee.net message on the poplist really bitter. He is one of the best friends I have in indiepop, I really hope he doesn’t get mad! Twee.net is great, is legendary, but the idea of the wiki is totally something else, is a community experience, it’s like the mass, not the bible. Twee.net is the bible.

I usually print the Cloudberry sleeves up north, a 45 minute bus ride. I went up there today, needed to print the new Java and Christmas CDs. Ironically the print shop had run out of paper. Then another 45minutes back home. 2 hours wasted. They say they’ll get paper on Monday. I’ll be very tight with time on the release schedule it seems.

Today I had two songs in my head. Feverfew’s ‘Give it Up’ and Nine Steps to Ugly’s ‘Vaudeville’. Both are pure pop bliss. I really wonder, as the state of the indiepop labels is, will these gems will ever pop up on CD. I wish I had the money right now, I would put them out. Maybe later? I would like to have in Plastilina a series of compilations of these forgotten gems. I know Firestation Records does it on the Leamington Spa series. But a release every two years seem like ages to me. I can’t get enough of these jangle slices. If I do something like that, will Uwe and the gang get mad? I really like those guys, and Uwe’s lemon juice is the best!

At least we are putting out the Bluetrain retrospective this month. And we are preparing The Bollweevils and The Cudgels ones. That for now. I really hope to do a couple more next year!

Records bought today? Yeah The Sorayas “Hours to Days” CD EP (this song I put out on a tape called C-06!!) and the new Fosca 7″… I just can’t remember the name. I got an email from their label, doing their promo. I immediately ordered it.

I just noticed that I have lots to tell. Maybe I can continue tomorrow? I hate long posts. I bet you do too. Let’s keep it this size.

PS. Have a nice ride.

This interview happened September 2007

++ Tell us a bit of your first release “A Short Melodrama”. What are your expectations?

It was meant to be an EP but I think it turned out to be more of an album. That mostly because I wanted to “get rid of” all the old songs that otherwise would be stuck in a computer folder forever. The songs together form the story of my past two-three years, not chronological though. You have to piece them together!

++ You signed for a new little label called Cosy Den Recordings, that many haven’t heard about it. Why do you decide to do so? What are your future plans release-wise?

My first proper show was at Cosy Den (Gothenburg) in late April this year. It was a very intimate atmosphere at the club which was great since I don’t have a lot experience of playing live. The audience was really nice. Later, Mattias, the very enterprising guy behind the label and the club “Cosy Den” asked me how I felt about an EP release. Of course I agreed to release an EP, it’s not like I’ve had many offers before, and besides I know Mattias takes an active interest in the bands that play at Cosy Den, which also was what I experienced before and during the show in Gotheburg. I knew a first time release at Cosy Den would mean being in safe hands! Later it also turned out he’s really good at marketing the CD’s!
There are no future plans. Maybe I’ll record some new songs some day soon. No one knows.

++ When you play live you count with the help of your friend Agnes, what does she bring to After School Sports? What are the pros and cons of being a one-person band?

Recording songs alone means you don’t have to compromise with anyone else, which is one of the pros. But playing them live all alone is maybe one of the cons, so that’s why Agnes plays with me. She brings a lift to the vocals with some lovely pitches and since she is one of my best friends she also makes it all a party!

++ Your songs have a very strong sense of humour, what are your inspiration for writing such witty songs? How does the creative process works for you?

Maybe they become witty because they are honest, and by that maybe ridiculous too. I don’t write artificially, although with a twist of self distance.

++ Before being .. School Sports you had a wonderful band called The Never Invited to Parties, can you tell us a bit about it?

It’s still a mystery that people even know about The Never Invited to Parties. It was me and my best friends, 14 years old, rehearsing 1,5 hours every week with a neo-metal drummer who someone literally placed in our band to make sure our rehearsing hours was not just a waste of time. Our classmates had never heard about such a thing as indie pop, despite that most of our very few actual gigs happened to occur at our school.

++ Which are your favorite bands nowadays from the Stockholm music scene? What about the main influences for your band? Would you say you’ve been influenced by Swedish tweelectro bands like Action Biker or even Compute?

I would say my main inspirations are the mix of indie pop/twee and the mainstream pop of the 90s that I listened to when I was about 10. I think my goal sometimes is to sound like a girl who’s trying to sound like a random radio hit, but sadly fails to do so. Concerning the Stockholm music scene there’s not much to say. Besides, I’m not very updated. I get influenced by the bands of people I know or just random music. But OK I like Rough bunnies a lot. And Erik Halldén and Strawberry Fair. Action Biker is sweet but I’ve never heard Compute.

++ How would you define a perfect day for Alice? What will you do? What else do you like doing besides music?

Well I’m actually not very involved in music. Or maybe I am but I don’t feel like I am. And I think the perfect day always depends of what you did the day before.

++ What are the values of indiepop? Do you think indiepop can make a difference? Do you believe that there is in an indiepop international community?

Yes of course but the border between indie and mainstream is not very clear. Everyone wants a radio hit and everyone gets one! I don’t know if indie pop’s still indie. Or is it just Sweden? I don’t know.

++ If you could make three wishes, which will they be?

I would want a machine that could change other people’s actions in any way I want. A nice ending to the short melodrama. And world peace of course.

This interview was done on February 2007.

++ What’s been cooking in your studio in Bordeaux?

We worked on new songs between 2002 & spring 2006. Now I’ll wait until the next album release to work on new songs.

++ When is the new album coming out? It’s been a 6 year gap already since the last release Le Fumalin, what can we expect from this new album?

Next june, Hopefuly! It took so long because we had a lot of problems… First, Dogprint, that was to release Le Fumalin all over the world (except in Japan because Clover released it there), went bankruptcy. Then it took me so much time to finish new songs; I also started photo seriously ( http://www.watoowatoo.net/photo ). Then we had a problem with another label, blablablah… Btw, i’m very happy with the new album. I think we did much better than before: songwriting, arrangements, mix & mastering, vocals… Also, the album is still very pop, probably indiepop, but we have broadened our horizons with electronic, jazz, bossa & even 70’s funk influences!

++ How does Watoo Watoo compose their songs? What are their main influences?

The only instrument that I play quite well is the bass, but I compose with the guitar, or sometimes the keyboard. I usually start playing a few chords then the rest comes. I like writing lyrics under the pressure.

Then there’s a lot of work involved in recording the music. Since I started recording on my computer (in 1999 or 2000), I’ve become more demanding with the sounds & the arrangements. I want something as “beautiful” & perfect as possible! So I work with friends, particularly guitarists. For the new record, Anthony Rochester who lives in Tasmania (this is exactly the other side of the planet for us) plays guitar on one song! A friend of mine who lives in the Reunion island (13000 km) also plays on another song. Internet is very useful to send music tracks to the other side of the planet.

When I started Watoo Watoo, I just wanted to make beautiful pop songs. I “stole” chords patterns & lyrics from Felt. Now I still love Felt but I have opened my ears to bossa, jazz, electronica & other kind of music… But whatever arrangements & instruments I use, I think the songs still remain pop because of the melodies & Pascale’s sweet voice.

Btw, we never rehearse like any bands. I write & record a song, & when it’s almost finished, I ask Pascale to add vocals.

++ You’ve released on a label I’ve always seen with curiosity which is Clover Records, I think their releases have always been really good. How did you ended up releasing so far away? How was that experience?

I was in another indiepop band called Mumbly, on the german label Marsh Marigold. They were friends with Clover, which even released a 7″ with 4 bands from the label (including Mumbly). Then some Clover bands came to tour Europe. I saw them in paris, where I lived then. They were good & very nice. When we finished Le Fumalin, I sent them a CD & I put some catfood packages in the envelope (Clover is mad about cats!). Then we agreed to release the CD with them in Japan, & with Dogprint in the rest of the world. Eventually I had to release it myself because of Dogprint bankruptcy. Working with Japanese people is strange. They will send you 6 emails one day then won’t answer for 2 months! I had already read that they feel that working on something is more important than doing it. This is true! Call that cultural differences!

++ I’ve read that you are not releasing with Skipping Stones the new record, I bet there are many more labels interested. What happened with them?

After making us wait for 6 months, they decided that they didn’t have money anymore to release the cd. We had contacts with some other labels, but some couldn’t release the CD soon because their planning was full. Letterbox Records can release it soon. Gav is a very nice guy & his new label is very good.

++ Something I’ve noticed is that you’ve played in 2 Popfests, one in New York in 1997 and one in Paris in 1998. With who did you shared the bill? How did you like that experience?

The NY popfest was absolutly great! The Best Wishes were very good. The day after us, Holidays was playing their last show & many people were crying during the set. People were nice, funny, many came to us to say thanks, that was sweet. The strange thing is that when we played, we were still jetlagged (our plane landed a few hours before we go on stage). This is why we look exhausted on the pictures! In Paris, I played with Mumbly & Watoo Watoo, & also with other bands that never released anything. It was also quite funny.

++ It’s funny that I uploaded to videos to Youtube of your live performance on TV. Not many indiepop bands get to play in TV, how did that happen? Would you do it again?

It’s a local TV channel, from Bordeaux. Basically, any band that can play 3 chords without mistakes is booked on this show. The guy who played the drums with us on the show had already played with 2 other bands on this TV channel!

++ What bands from France would you recommend us? How much has the Chanson Francaise influenced Watoo Watoo?

Les lollipops, that eventually became evergreen (now Verone) made IMHO the best indiepop French 7″ ever, about 12 years ago. I wouldn’t recommend many French indiepop band – but many “Chanson” bands/artists.
Julien Baer, Jean Bart, Mathieu Boogaerts, Albin de Simone, Keren Ann, Jean-François Coen, my friends from Gypsophile, Pascal Parisot… & some people from the older generations, who are generally very famous here: Serge Gainsbourg, Charles Trenet, William Sheller, Alain Souchon, Alain Chamfort, Jane Birkin, Alain Bashung, etc. Does Brisa Roché count? She’s californian but she lives in Paris. last year she made the best record in the last 20 years!

It is clear that some of my songs sound “chanson”. Well, it just depends on the mood I’m in when I compose!

++ I know you are a big Antoine Doinel fan! I’m a big fan of French Cinema too. What are your favorite movies from all time? And what about in literature?

Yeah, I named my first son Antoine! I adore the 4 Doinel movies, by François Truffaut. I also love good comedies (Yves Robert, huge here but I guess his name didn’t cross the ocean), Italian 50/60s cinema, Woody Allen… In fact, I like lots of movies that 80% of people would find boring & plain flat (also add Rohmer here!)

Literature: I love Science-Fiction (PJ Farmer) & French 19th century litterature (Hugo, Zola, Maupassant), & JP Toussaint, a Belgian contemporary writer. But when I started working on my PhD/thesis, I had to stop reading as much as I did before, because of lack of time -isn’t that sad?-.

++ Tell me about Mumbly, your other band! What’s the story behind it and what does it future looks like?
Mumbly was my 1st baby… I wanted to make a band that could play as perfect pop songs as Felt! We released “Being Ernest” (a tribute to Ernie from Sesame Street!) on Marsh Marigold. Then we never broke the band, but we haven’t rehearsed for 5 years because we don’t live in the same cities. Hopefully one day I’ll finish mixing the songs we started recording in 1999! In 1994/5, Watoo Watoo was just a side project – I had many songs so I recorded them quick on 4 tracks with Watoo Watoo for Mumbly members to choose the songs they wanted to play. Then I realized that Watoo Watoo might be better than Mumbly :).