A Projection

A Projection from Sweden will soon turn 10 years old as a band. Last time we talked to them was around five years back and we thought that time has come to check in on things again. The singer Rikard kindly answered our questions, and here´s what he had to say:

It´s been five years since we talked the last time. What have you been up to since then?

Rikard: Worked, toured, and recorded. Since last time we must have released "Section" and "In a Different Light", right?

                                                        Photo Courtesy: A Projection
 

In november of 2022 you released your latest record entitled ”In A Different Light”. What can you tell us about the recording process for that album?

Rikard: We went back to a way of recording that I personally like: recording the songs one by one, letting them rest, taking them up again and reworking them in different iterations, while still having the overall sound profile and philosophy in mind, until the result is ready.

 

The latest album has interesting sounding drum parts. How did you record the drums this time around?

Rikard: It is probably quite apparent that the drums are really processed on this album. Most of the drums are recorded from drum machines.

 

Can you tell us a bit about the background of the new song ”Paris Stockholm”? Who is the female guest singer?

Rikard: The female singer in Paris-Stockholm is Sarah Boom from the Belgian band Turquoise. The plot of the song is inspired by the drama-series “Vår tid är nu”, where Peter Löwander, who has been fighting for France in the WW2, meets Suzanne Goldsten in France and she follows him back to Stockholm.

 

You have toured Europe countless times and you seem to be bigger in for example Germany than your native Sweden, why do you think it is like that?

Rikard: Well, there are many bands that are bigger abroad than in Sweden. I think the quick answer is that there are too many bands and too few people in Sweden. Also, if the Swedish music scene is small, then the Swedish dark wave scene is even smaller, which means that it is enough for one (or a few) key peoples to like or dislike a band for it to be successful or not, in Sweden.

 

                                                            Photo Courtesy: A Projection 

 

Speaking of touring…What touring memory is the most foundest and why so?

Rikard: Meeting funny/crazy people and stuff like cranking down the window of the huge tour van and sing to random guys that you “want to take them to a gay bar”, etc., is of course great fun. But really, when people tell you how much your music has meant to them, it is so near the goal... I can personal, literally, say that a couple of groups have saved me. If we can pay forward for that, then I think we have served our purpose.

 

Your songs usually have a quite high Bpm rate…is it easier to write darker songs when they are played at a faster pace? Does the pace make the songs sound more uplifting?

Rikard: I am not really sure why our songs have the BPMs that they’ve got. But… If you listen to early Joy Division, Cure, Sisters and Smiths, you will notice that the BPM is pretty high in their songs too. Even song like New Dawn Fades are actually faster than most people (including me before I played it) would think. I guess it is the punk roots. Considering how hugely influenced we are by these groups, I suppose that the upbeat tempo simply was in the core of us and the group from the beginning. But that is just me speculating. Anyways, we started out that way and when you get a ball rolling…it has continued the same way, at least until " In A Different Light".

 

If you could dream for a while…which artists and bands would you invite to your own imaginative festival?

Rikard: Have never thought of that before… I guess “The Big Five” JD/NO, Cure, Sisters, Smiths and Depeche would have been awesome. Of course you could add Interpol, Editors and Bloc Party to that. And Skinny Puppy, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb.

The other guys in the band would maybe not agree but I would like to have Sinead O'Connor there too, just performing her first album “The Lion and the Cobra”, especially the song “Troy”.

 

Time flies and you are soon about to turn 10-years old as a band. What are the most important lessons as musicians that you have learnt during all these years?

Rikard: Don’t sell yourself to cheap as an artist. This is a really f****d up business where people try to take advantage of you from left and right all the time.

 

If we look ahead for a while, what does the future hold for the band?

Rikard: We might be going to America for gigs. And there might be some collabs with other bands. We’ll see…

 

Finally, is there any last words you would like to send over to the readers around the world?

Rikard: Oh, that is big 😉 Talking about big things. Something that I would really like is for Dark Wave to be a worldwide movement. And I think it is already happening.

Many thanks for answering the questions for us! Best of luck with upcoming tours and albums!

Rikard: Gracias!

 

For more info please check:

https://aprojection.com/