Interview with Strip Music

Having released their astonishing new album of Wave-Pop anthems entitled "Hollywood & Wolfman" in Germany (on Drakkar Records), Strip Music's singer and band co-founder Henric de la Cour speaks about the current mission, as well as future plans in an interview conducted via e-mail with PoprockUnion.

PrU: Hello, Henric, how are you?

Henric: Just peachy

PrU: We described your music in our recent review as a combination of Gothic Rock and Dark Wave, including references to The Cure (i.e. Disintegration) and Clan Of Xymox (i.e. Medusa). Do you think any of these are accurate descriptions of your music? How would you describe Strip Music, especially the current album release "Hollywood & Wolfman" to someone who has never heard the band?

Henric: "Hollywood & Wolfman" is big, dark and threatening but it also holds choruses to die for. The song "Plainsong" from "Disintegration" is one song we always seem to find our way back to. We believe in simplicity and string machines.

PrU: What is your background? Who are your musical influences? What are the musical influences of the band members?

Henric: I was in a band called Yvonne who played together for about eight years and released four full length albums during that time. We mostly played shows in Sweden but we occasionally visited Germany as well. When we decided to lay Yvonne on ice, Christian (who joined Yvonne in the end) and I decided to start a band based on very strict rules: two members, two instruments, two chords, two minutes. But the sound grew and we found ourselves being a six piece rock band instead of a duo. We made the string machines our main instrument and never looked back.
People often compare Strip Music to bands like, OMD, Joy Division and The Cure, not the happiest of bands perhaps, but hey who's happy?

PrU: Do you find that people often attempt to pigeonhole you into one category or another? What's the most frustrating thing about being attached to any of these scenes?

Henric: People like to have control, they want to know what they are listening to, they want it served in front of them within frames they can relate to. I find this very sad. The biggest problem people have with Strip is that they don't know what to call our music, is it synth, is it rock, is it arena, is it gothic? Who the fuck cares? If you don't like it, listen to something that you do like and can relate to. People are stupid.

PrU: If you are embedded in some kind of music scene in Sweden, what is it called? Gothic?

Henric: I think we have most in common with bands such as Broder Daniel and Silverbullit, two great bands who I guess is a part of the Swedish Indie scene who holds genres from twee to garage. The gothic scene is almost invisible here, but Strip Music has always liked the aesthetics of the gothic.

PrU: How much do you listen to the so called professional critics who review music? Do they have any influence on what you decide to record or release? (Furthermore, do you as a band have any influence on what you decide to release as a single/video? Why did you choose "Sugar and Lime"?)

Henric: Critics don't have anything to say about what we put on a record or not. This time it actually was pretty hard to choose a single from the album, but we chose Sugar and Lime because we thought it was a song that stood out from anything we'd ever heard. We released it as a single and video here in Sweden but I think the song that will go out to German radio is Headlights.

PrU: Do you have songs on the album that you are more or less proud of?

Henric: My favourite track is Sugar and Lime because I think it has a beautiful sadness to it. For a long time the song The Cat and the City was a darling, but I think some of the original edge got lost during the recording.

PrU: In researching for this interview, I noticed a mention on your homepage (web site) saying that you love "string machines" - Did you use any? Especially a vintage one, like the Solina String Ensemble on your new record? (Was it hard to synchronise/integrate this non-MIDI piece of equipment with all the other gear?)

Henric: I have no idea which ones that was actually used on the recording; Jens is the technician of the group. Live we use a pair of E-MAX II. For further info give Jens a call.

PrU: Nevertheless, access to better equipment must have affected your work. There have been so many technological developments in recent years; what's been the most important innovation for creating your music?

Henric: My mind and the wall of sound.

PrU: Insider question: Cubase or Logic?

Henric: Both.

PrU: How do you write your songs, what is your process? Is there anything that you think you will do differently on future releases? What do the Strip Music members argue about while recording an album?

Henric: Often Christian comes up with something on the string machine and makes a quick recording of it and sends it to me. I write the melody and the lyrics and then we record it again with more instruments and vocals. Sometimes I write it by my self and present it to the band during the next rehearsal. We always seem to argue about the mixing of a song. It's ridiculous, really.

PrU: There doesn't appear to be much information available regarding the individual band members, as there is nothing on the web site. Is that something you have been intentionally quiet about? (e.g. who is missing on the bands press photographs? Why? Some interesting story behind that?)

Henric: The ones missing on the press photos are the guitarist Patsy Bay and Fredrik Balck the drummer. They both decided to leave the group after the recording of Hollywood & Wolfman was done. Patsy has a family to attend to and Fredrik wanted to pursue his writing career. When it was time to shoot the photos and the video we simply went on and did it without them. How the line up will look in the future I really can't say.

PrU: Do you have a showbiz lifestyle? What do you do all day? Do the particular band members still have day-jobs?

Henric: I'm not allowed to talk about this.

PrU: I've seen your press photographs and we all probably know the importance of imagery to how a band presents itself. How would you say your visual presentation complements your musical style? (Does Peter Murphy (i.e. Bauhaus) mean something to you?)

Henric: No matter how much make up we put on or what kinds of clothes we wear on stage it never shows. Mainly because all the lights that comes from behind us on stage makes us look like shadows. (The oldest gothic trick in the book works every time). But just in case I always put the make up on. Peter was a good looking guy back then.

PrU: This is your second full-length release, right? Are you happy with the amount of support the record company (companies) has (have) given you so far?

Henric: I expect nothing but the best from everybody I work with.

PrU: If you weren't from Sweden, would you be bigger than you are now?

Henric: Probably.

PrU: What have you found to be the best way to promote the band? And do you think a small independent music webzine (like our web site) will help to raise record sales?

Henric: I think the best way is to do everything, every show and interview no matter how big or small. Somewhere out there is a crowd waiting to fall in love with our music, all you have to do is to find it.

PrU: Top three records at the moment? (Old or new stuff, single or album, you choose!)

Henric: At the moment I love everything with M83, the "Gold und Liebe" LP by DAF and the song "Can't be sure" by The Sundays.

PrU: What's the last record/CD you listened to and absolutely hated?

Henric: Foo Fighters "One by one" was a terrible album, except for the single "Times like these" which I think is absolutely brilliant.

PrU: Well, that brings me to my killer final question, Henric. What would you most like to see happen for Strip Music in the future? Worldwide touring? Superstardom? How would you like to see the band progress musically in the future?

Henric: Come what may, I don't care (although I'm leaning towards superstardom).

Outro/Last Words: Henric, thank you very much for this interview. All the best and good luck for the German release of "Hollywood & Wolfman" and all your future plans.

Henric: Thank you very much and hope to see you soon. Thank you for listening.

[Original E-Mail-Interview with PoprockUnion 01/2007]