Long interview with Carl - in swedish&english

Hej Guys

Here's a long interview with Carl in swedish.
The interview takes place in Borlänge during the P&L festival.

Go here to read it in swedish.

And here is the english translation:

Carl Norén, one of the brothers from Sugarplum Fairy, gave out his debut solo album 'Owls' earlier this year. We met up with him in Borlänge before his concert at the Peace & Love festival to talk about being recognized, Allsång på Skansen, poetry and the willingness to develope and challenge yourself. But the solo career does not mean the end of Sugarplum Fairy. "Sugarplum will always be stronger than anything else", says Carl Norén.

It is a very war Friday in Borlänge when we meet Carl at Café Esplanad in the center of Borlänge. The Peace & Love festival is yet to open the gates for the day, it's early afternoon and it's relatively calm to be the largest festival in Sweden. Carl Norén lives in Stockholm since seven year but goes home to Borlänge four, five times a year. At feasts and when the festival takes place. He feels comfortable in the green Borlänge and at home in Kvarnsveden in the garden. 

- I don't really like it in the actual town of Borlänge, says Carl. I think Borlänge overall is a very good city to grow up in, but it's a lot harder and tougher as teenager and adult. To hang out in cafes or go out is better in Stockholm.

 I've heard it's a pretty tough climate in Borlänge? 

- Yes, it is and you can feel it. When I left Borlänge there were a lot of street violence and people who got beaten to death, often completely unprovoked. But you still think back at the time. When you're back home it's still like you're a bit more careful. I've never felt that in Stockholm. Any fear.

Lately Carl Norén has both been studying and been working at a restaurant at the same time as being an artist. He started learning literature history at the university to get well-read and because he found it interesting. Now he does it all. Artist in full-time, work half time and studying half time.

- I thought I was going to take a break from the music and begin studying instead, Carl tells us. But I needed some sort of culture so I spent the days at the library. I still had some money left from the artistry to live on for maybe a year. So I sat in the library every day and just read, which gave me a lot of ideas. It is after all a weird life, to just sit in the library, but it gave me a lot as well. After that I wanted to study literature.

- Then I started working at a restaurant as well to be able to finance one more record and to get a studio and start all of that again.

 What do you think about working at a restaurant? 

- It's actually quite fun. I came there without knowing anything about the industry so I was very humble about it, I wanted to do good. I wanted to learn everything about it, that you're supposed to be subordinate and know about the hierarchy, that you got to show respect for the chef. Get thing out that holds a good standard all the time. It's a lot of fun and you meet loads of nice people. A lot of people there work extra at crafts and design or as musician, so it's a bohemian place. I like it there.

 Do people often recognize you at the university and at work? 

- Yes, but they usually tell me at the end of a course. At first they don't say anything but when they feel that they know me a bit better it gets out. One day I was on the cover of DN Kultur, and the ladies who read literature said "now you're on my refrigerator at home!". Then they knew me a bit better so they could say something like that. But other than that you can see some examples from people from Fattaru at the university. There are quite a lot of musician who study just for fun.

"One time someone pointed at me and said: 'Howlin' Pelle!'."

Other than that, Carl barely gets recognized walking down the streets of Stockholm. It's mostly when there are German tourists on visit. It also depends on who his company is, when he's all by himself it doesn't happen very often but if he's with the band or his younger brother, people notice them.

- I've kept a lower profile in Sugarplum than my brother has, so I get less awareness than him and my older brother, says Carl.

- My younger brother was in Gothenburg recently, and then two girls came to him and said "just so you know, you look EXACTLY like Victor Norén!". Things like that can happen sometimes. That we don't look like ourselves, but very much alike. And one time someone pointed at me and said 'Howlin' Pelle!'."

 No way? 

- Yeah. I guess they had seen my face on a CD or something. But stuff like that is just fun. You get a good laugh.

 What do you like to do a day when you're free from work? 

- That's almost never. But if I am free from any type of work then I do barely nothing. I do nothing and I sit down and talk with to family. Hang out with people, go out grab something to eat and stuff like that.

Carl also tells us that he got some small hobby projects he's doing when or if he got some time over that is too pretentious to be put into light. Like writing poems, just for fun and to learn how to write one. He's not planning on publishing them officially under the name Carl Norén, but has already done it anonymous on the internet.

- I got a secret account on a poetry site where I publish some poems every now and then. But it's not very often. In high school I wrote lots of poems and it's fun doing it. Lots of people do, just to get things out.

 Why do you want to be anonymous? 

- Partly because if I go out with my name, people might take it in a different way when they know who you are. It's not for sure they know me anyway but if they would, it would just be unnecessary. Maybe people take you more seriously, because you get feedback on this site. It's more honest. So I prefer being anonymous then. I'm doing it mainly for myself.

- It's pretty easy writing poems if you can figure out how it works. But to write good, so that people get what you mean, to get emotions out of it, is really difficult. 

What's the difference between writing a poem and a song? 

- First of all you got to get the language together. And then to get an emotion more than just saying it. It can be anything, use of metaphores for instance. In lyrics it's more of a story. It doesn't even have to be poetic, it can be the everyday language. If we take Broder Daniels' songs, which I think if really good, they get repeated all the time. "I'll want last long, soon I'll be gone". It's not very poetic but it tells something. If it would have been a poem in Swedish, it would have been just teenage crap.

- In a poem, every word must mean something. You got a certain number of words you can use and every word has to say something. It's must more difficult.

"I do consider it as one of Sweden's biggest TV shows, and if you don't want your music there, you don't have anything to say with your music. Then you don't want to reach out."

When we meet it's a few weeks before Carl Norén, surprisingly enough, is going to appear on Allsång på Skansen. But for Carl Norén it was never a question of saying no when he got asked.

- Of course I said yes. Maybe I wouldn't have done that years ago but it felt right. I wanted to do something different. I've always said that my music is about doing whatever you want without caring about what people might think. The person who seems cool is usually not the person who IS cool, cool is the person who is proud of what he or she does and can stand for it.

- The band Europe recently said that it's nerdy playing at Allsång på Skansen. And that says more about them, that they sort of demand getting accepted by the critics. I do consider it as one of Sweden's biggest TV shows, and if you don't want your music there, you don't have anything to say with your music. Then you don't want to reach out.

- It feels weird thinking that my music will appear on there, but on the same time it's pretty cool. When Håkan Hellström played there the Swedes taste of music got better at once. People started listening to something that really means something.

Would you have felt different about it a few years ago? 

- Yeah, I probably would have. Maybe it's about maturity. And also because I felt that Anders Lundin is some kind of childrens' show host. He was a bit too much.

You didn't like him? 

- Nah. Måns feels more.. he's in the same age I am. Younger even. And very nice. Maybe he's a bit too good. I heard that Filip and Fredrik said something about that in their podcast, that it should be a more broken person. But I still think he does a good job, and then you should be nice. He's perfect for it!

"I often feel that I don't want to do it, but if I do I'll get pass it and develope as a person."

Will you be nervous before the show? 

- Yes, says Carl quickly. Definitely. I'll be that. But I usually do things I perhaps shouldn't do or can do. Because that challenge you. I do lots of lectures and sometimes songwriting schools or talk about something in front of people. I often feel that I don't want to do it but if I do I'll get pass it and develope as a person. Allsång på Skansen is one of those things I suppose, I'll learn something out of it.

Does the fact it's on TV make you more nervous? 

- Not really, I don't think much of the TV. It's more the fact there are so many things going on and so many things around you. But I keep myself calm.

Carl is quiet for a few seconds.
- I get nervous for everything. Nervous for tonight. I don't really think it's fun doing stuff until it's done. I've always been a bit worried when it comes to music. I hate when you're about to release a record and critics are about to have their say. Every time, I ask myself why I'm doing it, what's the point? But then comes the rush of creating things, and to be out meeting people who like your music. That's the meaning. But this whole thing about having to achieve something, that can be hard on you.
"Sugarplum is like a family. It's something I grew up with. Sugarplum will always be stronger than anything else"

Right now his younger brother is doing his stuff, at the same time their recording with Sugarplum Fairy with whom they're planning on releasing something new as soon as possible. Carl is also currently writing more songs for his solo career.

- Yeah, absolutely. I'm writing songs the whole summer. Trying to find something, trying to make something that to me is different. Take another step, at some direction.

Do you feel like the things you do solo wouldn't work with Sugarplum Fairy? 

- Nah. Not really. Sugarplum is like a family. It's something I grew up with. Sugarplum will always be stronger than anything else. When we're all together, we do it better than me or Victor would do it by ourselves. Because we have played together for so long. So there's no reason for me to write a slow ballad, then it's not Sugarplum, then it's Carl Norén, and I might as well do that on my own.

- When we're all playing a song like 'Stay young' it's Sugarplum and it's damn good. Because we've been working together for ten years to get our sound and given each other every seconds of our sparetime to get it to sound like that, and that will last.

- It's like the Russian, Soviet hockey team who won against everyone. They lived together. That's how hard we've practised as well, just to be able to do what we're doing.

What are your plans for the future? 

- I've got new plans all the time. Always trying to come up with things I can do. If you would have asked me ten years ago if I would still be making music today, I would have said no, probably not. I might have said that I would have a family and living abroad or be studying to be an engineer. But that's not the way it turned out. So let's see what happens. Maybe I'll graduate master in literature and start reviewing books.

- I think that for each door you can open, there are ten more to open. The way of life gets painted one piece at a time and you never know where you will end up.

Published: on a Swedish site called Rocksoul.se 

Translation: Celine Jacobs

Love
S.

English translation of the interview on Sydsvenskan.se

Most people are aware of the fact Carl from Sugarplum Fairy is going solo now. The debut album got released February 23. Tonight he'll play at Mejeriet in Lund.

- It's an incredible rush of adrenaline to enter the stage and play in front of 50,000 people. The rush is so powerful the everyday life can get boring afterwards, says Carl Norén when he talks about how megalomania and hubris easily gets on a young artist.

He's glad he has experienced the thing between teenager and 20-something when he toured with Sugarplum Fairy. He thinks that it was good that he got to experience that then and not now when he's almost in his thirties.

- The everyday life and calmness becomes more interesting, I've already experienced the other thing in an early age, says Carl Norén.

But all Carl's concerts haven't been of the monstrous size. When Musikhjälpen last fall collected money to stop child trafficking, Carl offered some auction items. One of the things was a home gig where the winner got a concert with Carl Norén at home.

It's a huge step from a venue with 50,000 people to a home gig, but Carl Norén sees the allure of the small things in life.

- Such things are fun to do, we did a similar thing in Lund before christmas, where we played in a student hall. It was someone who had won a competition. To do such small gigs at peoples' houses is very rewarding. A little more focus on the music when all the people get to sit down and listen to the songs acoustic, says Carl Norén.

Carl Norén often gets questions about his brothers' music careers. The two years younger brother Victor Norén is also known from Sugarplum Fairy, and currently with his solo project Viktorious. One of the frontmen of Mando Diao, Gustaf Norén, is Carl's two years older brother. He doesn't get questions about he cousin and hip hop artist Prop Dylan (Per Norén) very often though.

- He's a very talented rapper and works with DJ Premier now, so he has also succeeded with the music, says Carl Norén.

He's sick and tired of the preconceived ideas which get spread about him and his brothers. He thinks they get portrayed as arrogant 'louts' and 'retro rockers'.

- Last Saturday, someone who was going to review my gig twittered that he was going to listen to 'the lout rocker Carl Norén'. I'm 27 years old now and play folk music, so I don't know if I'm a 'lout rocker'. We're not arrogant, we're pretty decent guys and none of us listen to retro rock, all of us got a quite modern taste of music and listen to hip hop, Carl Norén tells us.

The Borlänge son lives in Stockholm at the moment, but it's not a city where he sees himself in his hat for the rest of his life.

- I would like to live in a smaller city. Live in a house. I would consider living in the south actually.

Carl Norén actually recorded his first record with Sugarplum Fairy in Lund, so the link to Skåne is there.

- It was so calm and nice to have the lowland around us, especially when you're used to being in Dalarna. It's really beautiful, says Carl Norén.

Published: yesterday at sydsvenskan.se

Translated by Celine Jacobs

Interview with Carl on sydsvenskan

Hi folks!

Here you can read an interview with Carl. It's in swedish, but translation will come soon :)

We are thinking of all the people in japan!!

And also thinking of Carl who will play in Lund tonight. People who are there: Enjoy :)

Love

Long interview with Carl + some before unpublished photos

Carl Norén, who has just released a record, is the 'middle brother' of three musical brothers from Borlänge. After eleven years in the band Sugarplum Fairy with his younger brother Victor, he tests his own wings with the new album Owls which is produced by his older brother Gustaf's Mando Diao colleague Mats Björke. Rodeo meets Carl half an hour between the release and tour to talk about Russian literature, reviews and music that makes him happy.

CARL NORÉN, WHO ARE YOU APART FROM THAT 'HANDSOME GUY'?
- Haha, is that a general perception? I'm a person who is curious, quite funny, happy and who likes to hang out with happy people.

WHAT DO YOU USUALLY DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT WORKING [WITH THE MUSIC]?
- I study. And then I read and look tings up. I usually start with different projects to conquer a topic or a subject. Like when I decided to read almost all Russian literature I could find.
WHERE DOES THE FASCINATION OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE COME FROM?
- I come from a family where reading has been respected, a bit too highly, and mum always bragged about her reading all the classics already at the age of 13. So after I began listening to classics on CDs I decided to read them instead. The Russian books were the most difficult ones, so I started off with them. I read a lot of them and eventually I found it fun.

"A review is for people with no taste of music, a person with a taste of music doesn't need to read reviews."

CAN WE FIND TRACES OF THIS IN THE SONGS YOU'VE WRITTEN NOW? SINCE IT'S VERY ROMANTIC AND EMOTIONALLY CHARGED , DOES IT GOT SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE LITERATURE?
- Yes, it definitely has. I guess we're afraid of being romantic in this way as it is today. Always what's cool, but the things that haven't been changed is romantic, or love, or real emotions, or children who are ashamed of their parents. Some feelings are constant and those are the feelings you can relate to.

IS IT DIFFICULT TO TAKE CRITICISM ON A RECORD THAT IS THIS PERSONAL?

- No, not at all. I don't know the people who wrights them [the reviews]. If they don't like the music, it's not for them. Music is as subjective as something can possibly be, you hear a tone and get an emotion (inside of you), and that emotion is completely unique for everyone. Reviews are for people who doesn't have a taste of music, a person with a taste of music doesn't need to read any reviews. They all know that Lykke Li's new song is good, they don't need to read in the newspaper that it has gotten 5 out of 5.
YOU GOT 3 OUT OF 5 IN DN, DOESN'T THAT MATTER WHATSOEVER?
- Oh, okey. Three, mhm okey. I don't know what that means, three out of five, well, that's good. I didn't expect to get more than that.
SORRY I THROW IT IN YOUR FACE!
- Nah.. Sugarplum for instance have never recieved anything more than 3 out of 5 in DN, so they won't suddenly throw four or five to you. If they have said you're 3, then you are.

SO WHAT YOU MEAN IS THAT YOU'LL ALWAYS BE CLASSIFIED AS THAT AND THAT CANT CHANGE?
- Then that would require a major change. But of course new generations of critics will appear.. and if I get 3 in DN then maybe I can get 5 in Germany or Japan. If I go to the US then maybe I'll get 5 there, or a minus, maybe I get a minus in other countries and then 3 in DN will be something great. In a way it's completely unnecessary to care about it. I never read any reviews, because in a review you often get to read "that was good and that was less good", and to get that in my head and start thinking about it.. then I would become schizophrenic. "I can't write that because DN wouldn't like that", that's not what you're going for.
SO YOU HANDLE IT BY AVOIDING CRITICISM?
- Yes, but it's a bit silly with reviews since no one buys any records, and no one spends any money on an unnecessary product. Then it's more "don't go online on Spority and listen to this in five minues". But time isn't that valuable that we don't have time to listen to music. If you read a review of a play for instance, you can't find 3 or 5 there. Because they think a literary play is higher, it can't just be reduced to a number. What they should do with the reviews is to remove the numbers, just wright a text and review what is high culture. As long as they'll put numbers we will always be oppressed to the popular culture.

"My music is more like home cooked meal and his is more like in the way they try to analyze what food the customers want to have with plenty of professional chefs cooking it."

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR RECORD OWLS!
- It's a very honest and creative record. It's made without any money whatsoever which means we had to conjure all the time. But then it's also a record made without the plan to ever get released. It was meant for a few supporters, for family and friends or the fact I just wanted to make a record. I didn't have a record deal when we made the record, no advances or anyone who paid for it. I just took a job and started. I wrote the songs when we had finished up with Sugarplum, so I wrote them for myself as well. It's a big difference and it doesn't turn out that way very often.

YOUR BROTHER VICTOR, HE'S ALSO GOING SOLO RIGHT NOW. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR PROJECTS?
- He's using song writers. If you do that, the music turns out more directed and analized. In Victor's case they want it to sound commercial and in this way it somehow gets more professional and some people would say less personal. My music is a bit like home cooked meal and his is more like in the way they try to analyze what food the customers want to have with plenty of professional chefs cooking it.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
- I'm going to release the record in other countries and start touring. And then I'll start with a new record, since it takes a while to make one.
YEAH, I READ SOMEWHERE THAT YOU HAD ALREADY BEGUN WRITING NEW SONGS, IN WHICH DIRECTION WILL THE RECORD BE IN?
- It's almost impossible to make a record that is like the last one, because I don't feel the same way. Some parts of this record is very sad because I felt that I would never play music again, and I don't feel like that now. To make the second record is the most difficult thing you can do, really difficult, especially when you wrote all of the songs by yourself. It's almost impossible, but I'm working on it.

"For some reason Eminem and Lil Wayne now dress like me, with skinny, black jeans and hoodies."

AND YOU'RE WRITING NEW MATERIAL TO SUGARPLUM FAIRY, WILL THERE BE ANOTHER RECORD?
- Yes, I definitely hope so! It would be really nice to make another Sugarplum record as well. I can imagine it will be out about the same time as my second record, which I plan to release in 2012.
WE TALKED A BIT ABOUT FASHION AND MODERNITY BEFORE, HOW AWARE ARE YOU WHEN IT COMES TO STYLE? DO YOU THINK MUCH ABOUT CLOTHES WHEN IT COMES TO IMAGE AND BRANDS?
- No, it's almost like with music, I know how I want to dress myself and this is the way I've been dressed all the time. But then sometimes it's like fashion is catching up on my style and I'm catching up on fashion in some way, and for some reason Eminem and Lil Wayne have started to dress like me, with skinny, black jeans and hoodies. So apparently I dress like a hiphoper now. I go for a nice confortable style, but my jeans are way too skinny to fit comfortably. I gotta buy better jeans.
YOU ARE QUITE AWARE THOUGH!
- That's more because I see things. I'm good at seeing interior and such things, but it's not like I'm interested in buying a bandanna from the 70s because it's of a certain brand, you know?
CARL'S FAVOURITE MUSIC AT THE MOMENT:
Nick Drake
Yelawolf – Pop The Trunk
Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes – Look At Me Now (absolutely mental!)
PJ Harveys nya skiva
Nick Cave
Leonard Cohen

Published: on rodeo.net, translated by Celine Jacobs

A quiet observer - Article/Interview

"He felt the need to say how it was. The conflicts, the anger, the fights - everything was going to be put in light. When one of the frontmen of Sugarplum Fairy, Carl Norén, went solo he did it without a censorship. And with a wise owl next to him."

He's sitting on a chair and is watching 16 curious listeners. Above everyone else. He keeps them on the gridiron. Carl Norén’s student corridor tour has arrived in Gothenburg and the host of the evening is spirited but a bit restless.
- Can’t you play something we can dance to? I’m in a party mood!
- That atmosphere we’re going to get rid of, says Carl and a calm, acoustic version of 'The Anger' begins.
Carl was a Wednesday child and a 'middle child'. He had a safe childhood in Borlänge with his brothers and his friends. They hung out and constantly acknowledged each other. The music was also there in early days with a piano in the living room. Above the piano, you could find the cover of With The Beatles framed – four guys with the same haircut as the three boys. When mum got to decide, the style was of course the potty haircut, in true Beatles style. But it wasn’t until the first gramophone got broken that the three brothers began doing their own music.
Years past by and the safe atmosphere back home got changed into the insecure teens – knitted sweaters to wide and loose-fitting hooded sweaters in hip hop style. When Carl had reached 7^th grade, hip hop was everything for the Norén brothers. They were listening to Tupac and started the hip hop band Thug Brothers. Carl and his younger brother Victor were West Coast, West Side and spent the days in the shopping mall Kupolen in Borlänge, where they were checking out girls. It was also at that point games and jokes started to get serious. Different gangs took shape, some of them more cold blooded than others. The Norén brothers stayed on their side and stayed out of it and got to see how the city started to look more and more like a lawless country. They saw 14-year-olds who started with criminality, violence and drugs. When Carl was 15 years old he got offered to deal drugs.
- It was odd. We were still messing around but had ended up in a tough atmosphere, he remembers.
Eventually it had gone too far and Carl and Victor let go of the hip hop. A movie about The Doors with Val Kilmer showed the way to the next step and at the end of the 90s the brothers had become hippies and Sugarplum Fairy began to take shape.
But the gangs were still there. Carl remembers that the fights were many between gangs and other groups, who were still pretending to be gangsters. There could be fights because of what you looked like. At the end of the 90s and at the beginning of the next decade, Borlänge had a dark chapter.


Tired of the fights
The 16 listeners have now accepted the calmness and the darkness and are now listening carefully and with wide eyes when Carl starts to play songs from the forthcoming solo debut. The lyrics which suggest frustration oaks out in the 25 square feet small room. He’s tired of hunting, tired of improving himself, tired of the anger and the fights. Everything relationships bring to you. The album 'Owls' point towards the problems and has been given the appropriate release date February 14. The line 'tired of the anger' keeps coming back. In one moment towards a girl, in another towards a friend or towards the brothers. In our meeting earlier this day I asked if the album is a kind of protest, a call for help about reconciliation, and Carl approves the thought. But the reaction from people close to him hasn’t ended up in discussions.
- No, it hasn’t. After a while it all gets better. And besides, some of the songs does show a more hopeful side. That you would like to do something about it. But most of the time you choose not to do anything about it and leave it behind instead. What’s how it works in Sweden. We’re afraid of conflicts.
Carl talks slowly. He talks about the worst sides of a relationship. With vivid descriptions, well thought through sentences and with an accent that screams Dalarna he tells us why it was time to go solo and the good sides of not having to compromise. It’s not until now Carl feels that he’s doing what he’s intended to do. Music without commercial shortcuts and music containing themes which have grown inside of him for a long time. He doesn’t want a label guy to change that.
- I don’t want the focus to be on looks or presentation. The music should be free from preconceptions and shouldn’t be in a particular 'group'.


The story about Borlänge
Borlänge is a mill city. During the 60s and 70s, boys went to the mill where they got raised by the elderly. The whole tradition disappeared thanks to commercialism, says Carl. It was a big change, people began to work more. The boys were now free and they had to take care of themselves. Absent parents contributed to young people looking elsewhere for role models. On the same time, Vänsterpartiet and Socialdemokraterna had many votes in Borlänge and people wanted to help out. Foster families and rehabs were a big part of the city during the 80s. People got treated and later on they got out to the community and many of them fell back to a destructive way of living.
- So it has been a bit of a social distress during the 80s and due to that, criminal gangs appeared, says Carl.
He got old friends who have taken an overdose; some of them have been junkies since the age of 15-16. But he chose another way. He moved to Stockholm.
At first it was only to run away from a problem which had followed him a while back and locked him up.
- When I moved to Stockholm, I was afraid as soon as the time past 10pm and I was out on the streets. I remember I initially ran. And although he left the city behind him, he had become a part of the city’s attitude.
- You looked at people in a particular way, cold and hard and with your chin high up.
Now when Carl go solo he does it with hindsight. With friends who have come and gone in fresh memory and with a way he has followed his whole life: his own. To be strong enough to ignore external pressure, but on the same time be experienced enough to be humble.
It feels natural that he takes help from one of the nature’s wisest animals. An animal which once upon a time had an important role in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. The title 'Owl's is in fact a direct reference.
- "The owls are not what they seem to be", like they say and that’s exactly the way it is. A little owl sitting there in the middle of the night and got full control, when others don’t even dare to go out. It has become a symbol for intelligence. The owls are high up and are watching you, with some kind of solution to the problems.
But they don't tell anyone.
- Exactly, they just sit there.


CARL NORÉN VS VIKTORIOUS
There won’t be only one but two records released in the name Norén during the spring. Not only Carl Norén will release a record, Victor Norén aka Viktorious will also release a solo album: I Am Hope.
You and Victor have decided to go for two diametrically careers. As far as I understand you don’t see that as a problem, but how come the two of you took the step towards a solo career at the same time?
- Maybe one of the reasons is because we didn’t do another Sugarplum album, we didn’t have the same ideas. I didn’t want songwriters to write our songs, nur get presented as some kind of an idol, like Victor wanted.
The fact you embraced two different genres wasn’t something you taled through then?
- Absolutely not. There’s no way in hell I would do what Victor does, because it doesn’t interest me. The things I do now, Victor probably could have done if he wanted to, but that doesn’t interest him, that’s not the way he looks at music. His idea of music is having an idol, but I’m a bit too cynical to look at music that way. The only thing I see is the package, that it is a product and the majority of the artists are a bit like that. They move freely. The artists that have got me hooked stand above all that.
Published: In GAFFA (Swedish magazine), translated by Celine Jacobs

Carl Norén Interview - article

There's no way in hell I would do that, to be famous is not in my interest."

It's impressive with artists who are humble to their existence.

That they don't take things for granted and assume that they got the whole world in front of them just because they have released a record. That's my first impression of Carl Norén when I meet him in a small room at Club Nalen in Stockholm. Carl is there to play on WiMP's big lanch in the middle of the day together with Norway's Donkeyboy and Denmark's Vinnie Who.

When I get to sit down with Carl it's right between two interviews with Sveriges Radio and between the soundcheck. I promise the EMI guy that it won't take long, because they have to go get a synth. I tell the EMI guy that "it will probably take 15 minutes" before he hurry to the car which he has parked at a not so good place with a high risk of getting fines.
Carl seems to have the steam since the previous interviews, he talks much and gives me long answers to each question, and he doesn't seem even the slightest bit worried about not having time to get the synth or weather the car is parked in an imappropriate place. For me it's just nice to get the time I need. Then I can get as detailed answers as possible for my interview.
Yesterday, Carl released his record 'Owls', which is his first album as a solo artist.

Earlier, we've seen him as one of the frontmen of Sugarplum Fairy together with his younger brother Victor. After a few disagreements, Sugarplum Fairy got put aside for a while. Victor had signed a record deal and became Viktorious - a 'product' of music producers and songwriters. That was a choice Carl wasn't completely satisfied with. He accepted the way his brother had chosen to do commercial pop music, but it wasn't the way Carl wanted to go himself.

"I started recording songs at home to put them out on Myspace, a bit like a demo band. It transformed to something big when I later on got a record deal, because I never thought I would get one."

It surprised me that Carl Norén, who isn't exactly unknown, was worried he wouldn't get signed as solo artist, but the answer was as smart as it is true:

"How many Noréns do you need? - If my younger brother and my older brother had record deals, the market should be saturated."

But the fact Carl didn't have a record deal when he began writing songs on his own enabled him to focus on creating the music he likes. During the years with Sugarplum there were a lot of wills who would determine. Back then, Carl went for 'less is more' while his brother wanted to make everything so much bigger than they had to be. Arena rock was in Victor's thoughts and he thought that it should be 5, 6 guitars in each song, and Carl had to work hard to convince his brother it would get too much with that many guitars.

Now he didn't have to take in all these influences from different people when he created his own music. As an inspiration, Carl listened a lot to Cornelis, Hank Williams and classical music. He had decided not to be a copy of another band of artist's music.

"When we produced Sugarplum, we tried to get the songs to sound like other band's music. Like 'this song is gonna sound a bit like Velvet Underground', which usually didn't work out because we had a guitar that sounded a bit modern anyway."

All the job with the songs resulted in a record deal with EMI

The best thing with EMI was that they didn't want to change even a bit of what Carl had created. He had previously been to smaller labels to get signed, but those labels wanted to influence his music and make changes and decide which songs were going to be singles, something Carl wan't really up for. It was his music and the music was created in the way Carl wanted it to sound. He got that respect from EMI who took the album for what it was. But on the same time he understands the risks that comes with a major label.

"It's dangerous! They have to show numbers and it's easier to get dropped as an artist then. Right now it's good to be signed by EMI, they are up to date when it comes to Swedish music. They got artists like Me And My Army, Robyn and Lykke Li."
For Carl, the most important thing on Owls is the content of the songs. Where would be no question of catchy songs you could sing along to when you heard it for the first time. His music would convey something. Since he reads a lot and also get inspired by a number of writers, the lyrics are as important as the music.
To make a good album isn't everything though. To have the surname Norén and to be a part of Sugarplum Fairy, it takes a lot of convincing that this isn't the same thing as his old band. Carl seems to understand this and when I tell him I'm surprised the record is as good as it is, he doesn't get even the slightest bit surprised.
He understood that the album would most likely take a punch or two because of his background, but on the same time he was hoping the album would get good response from people when they had finally listened it through. Considering the reviews that have been written, it seems like most people have appreciated the album and that the grades lie on 3 or 4 out of 5. So he doesn't have to take that many punches, because a good record is a good record regardless to which preconceptions people have about the artist.
 Before we leave the tiny room so that he and the EMI guy can go to get Carl's synth, I ask him what he thinks the future holds. Sugarplum is now resting, but can resume when the inspiration is there for both the brothers.
Does he have a wish like so many other artists in Sweden to for example become popular by competing in Körslaget or Eurovision song contest?
"I will definitely not compete in Körslaget! And never in Eurovision song contest! There's no way in hell I would do that, to be famous is not in my interest."
That's something that sums up who Carl Norén is and has always been like. He's the guy who stands in the background and is pleased as long as he gets to do his thing - real music he can be proud of.
Published: on beingblogged, translated by Celine Jacobs

New Interview with Carl

Hi guys!

Check out the interview with Carl. (in swedish)

Watch it here!

Translating will come probably on Saturday! :)

Love
Sophie

On The Couch with: Carl Norén

Hi folks! Here's another interview with Carl from sallys.net! Enjoy :)

For years he has been the head of the band Sugarplum Fairy, who with their pleasant Sweden rock unleashed a concert hysteria in best Beatlemania manner. Now the fair-haired guy Carl Norén presents himself with his solo record from a surprising calm and emotional side. In the following conversation we try to find out how well the sensitive singer can stand on his own.

Were you sometimes scared of your own courage to dare to take a solo step? 

I think as long as you do what you want, it doesn't matter. With your first solo record it's not yet about fulfilling expectations. There is a comparison but maybe not to Sugarplum. That was probably the only thing I was a little scared of. At the moment I have no clue who actually will listen to the record (laughs)!

Are you rather a team player or a loner?

I think I really am rather a loner. I mean I was the front singer of a band, it's difficult for me to follow orders. I I like to do what i want to, make my own decisions and rather don't owe anybody.

How well can you handle criticism?

That's a hard question. It depends of course on who stated it - if I hear it from people I know and that I am close to, whose advice I appreciate or from unknown people. There are many people whose opinion I don't care about at all. You always have to remember that music is an abstract art form. Mostly it is connected with very personal emotions and therefor is very subjective. It's difficult to say what is good and what is bad.

You're the one in the middle of three brothers - did you ever have the feeling that you'd have to prove something to someone to get attention?

Definitely, it was much easier for my brothers to get attention from our parents, I always had to fight for it. But on the other hand I learned to get my own way and especially to go my way in difficult situations. Now that we've grown up it isn't really a topic anymore and I see myself as independent person for a long time. 

Is independance also a reason why you're working in a restaurant in Stockholm? 

Yes! But most of all to get out once in a while. The most people you're dealing with in the every day life of music are managers, your booker and in the best case with a bunch of other artists. Sometimes i just need a change of pace and have to meet "normal" people. In addition it is very inspiring to do everyday things. 

Do you next to all of these things have time for yourself?

Yes this works somehow, I don't see weekends as free time anymore but I am trying to take breaks in which I go on holidays or just do sports in the night. But I really like to work. It helps me to avoid that I go crazy. And it's important to keep the connection to reality. I do what everyone else does as well. I am one of them. 

Let's say you didn't start to make music this early would you be somebody else today?

No! I've always been a little crazy and i would definitely still do something creative. Playing theaters or writing books. I am also studying literature and will soon start something completely different. It is a lot of fun to try out things. I've always been like that and will always be like that. Curious and happy to try out new things. 

source: sallys.net

Carl Norén - 'You have to see and read new things to do things'

You have to see and read new things to do things.

You rather know Carl Norén as singer of the swedish Band Sugarplum Fairy. As they don’t have anything new in motion Carl decided to record his own album ‚Owls’. He talked to us about the influence of HipHop, Dr Der and classical music of Chopin. 

Farrelmagazin: Why did you decide to record your own album far away from Sugarplum Fairy? Is this album in addition to the band or apart from it? 

Carl Norén: I started to write songs without thinking about if I would use them at some point. When I realized that there isn't another Sugarplum Fairy CD in the making, I decided to do something on my own. I called my brother (Gustaf Norén of Mando Diao) and asked if I could come along on the german "Give Me Fire" tour. When I landed in Germany I asked a friend to mine to create a Myspace page and to upload a few demos songs for me. I didn't have a record deal or anything. After getting a lot of support from fans and worked hard I finalized the record and got a record deal, with which I was content. This record is a new beginning for me as a songwriter and concerning Sugarplum Fairy. I think that we can do whatever we want in the future. Nothing has been decided for the future of Sugarplum Fairy. 

Rumore say that your literature studies have inspired you to write new songs.

I read a lot. I spent a year reading in in the library eight hours a day every day. At the same time I studied literature, read classics and many russian writers. It inspired me to new ideas how to express myself. You have to see and read new things to do things. The guy who built the first castle must have seen a house first before he started building a castle.

How do the new songs differ from the typical Sugarplum Fairy music?

They base on my personality and not on Sugarplum Fairy's. I am a restless person with a passion for romantic and this influences the music. It's more restless and more romantic. I also tried to avoid the instruments we use with Sugarplum Fairy during the recordings and to produce it in a different way.

Does it feel freeing to be able to do your own thing without having to care about your band mates visions? 

Yes, it does. I still love them, but on this record I had to keep them out of the music, to make it sound different. I still play live with them, but on this CD I had to play the instruments myself or have them played by other friends. I used classical educated world class musicians on this cd; I love classical music, that is why I was very happy to have included a concert pianist (who usually plays more Rachmaninov than pop).

Does "Owls' give you a chance to show a different side of yourself?

It is a different side of me, yes. A Moore down-to-earth, Moore modest side. Butt as I am a restless sohl, I will never succeed to end up in a certain Genre. The music is the Thing that will always change. ADN the personality Shows itself Moore in the lyrisch and in the Emotion.
What do you want to express with your music?  

I wish that pople dream a little. I want to make music which finde itself Outsider of time and Trends. I want to bring back some real Emotion to the music, so the soul can bleed a little. I want to make music that Gould be the soundtrack to a David Lynch movie. Nicht music.

Do you think you adress different fans with your new record than those of Sugarplum Fairy?

I hope so. I know that. People will see a different side of me. The old fans will recognize my music but at the same time people who don't like Sugarplum Fairy will understand this music. The inspiration comes from all genres, Rap and classic. I listened to a lot of Nick Drake, Dr Dre, DJ Shadow and Chopin when I was writing the record. 

What are other personal influences? 

As I said, I like to listen to different kinds of music. Music that reaches me and gives me the feeling that music is the only important thing in the world.

I like to listen to HipHop, because I feel more confident then, and I like to listen to John Lennon and Nick Drake because they move me to tears. I like to listen to classic and opera music because I can dream along and I listen to DJ's and Techno, because it is hypnotic. 

What is up next?
An 'Owls' tour is coming up and after that I will record my next CD "Wolfs". I am also planning a documentation about a band from Sweden called "The Local Dealer". Then I will also do a record with my cousin "Prop Dylan" who is a really good rapper. And I also hope, that I can make another Sugarplum Fairy record sometimes. 

source: farrelmagazne.com

The Re-Birth Of Carl

I just made the songs, one after another – and allowed myself to do whatever I wanted to do with them

So here is the promised interview with Carl Norén. You know each other. From several interviews and generally the Sugarplum/Mando connection. It’s very easy to talk about Carl’s very successful solo record ‚Owls’. A conversation, in which Carl expresses himself in a very open way about the future of Sugarplum Fairy, and doesn’t hold back with his opinion about his brother’s „Viktorious“ – solo project. 

Hello Carl, what have you been doing lately since one saw you the last with Sugarplum Fairy? 

Well I practically worked the whole last year – When was the last time we saw each other? 2 years ago?

Yes I think that’s right. 

At our last show in Munich? 

And again, when you supported Mando in the Olympia hall. We missed each other when you were touring with Johnossi. But I saw you at the concert they had to cancel, because John was sick. 

Oh right – yes I was sick back then too. Those have been bad days for everyone involved. 

You after all went through with your show. 

Yes, I never cancelled one single show. 

You don’t have to scream as much as John does. 

No, of course not, it’s much harder for him. He also parties more than i do, hehe. But I practically worked the entire last year, and just since January I have a little time and take each day as it comes and look for new inspirations for new songs. 

Did you work that much on your solo record, or did you also have a job?

Both. I worked on the record at night. During the day I started to study and also worked in a restaurant. I was in action 7 days a week. 

I read about the studies. Literature, right?

Yes, I started with this now. I am doing it for a year and I really want to focus on it. But we (Sugarplum Fairy) want to first of all meet again and plan our future. How to continue. The solo record was a good thing to pass the time, maybe a little obvious but I don’t mind. The literature studies were more to kill the boredom. To have a little fun, and literature is perfect fort hat, because it’s interesting and not that hard. 

Who are your favorite writers, and do you write something else besides songs? Short stories maybe?

I concentraded on russian writers, my first class was about russian literature. I just like them most – although I also like Camus, but besides of him I practically only read books from russian writers. My favorite is Chekhov, he is really good. I don’t write that much myself. I write my blog, my songs, from time to time poems but those only in swedish. I would like to write longer stuff, but for this I am lacking the inspiration and attention span. 

Maybe the whole pop – song shape is the right thing for you. 

Yes – or it made me incapable to write longer things. It’s pretty easy to write a pop song, and this probably makes you as writer impatient and lazy. A pop song is much easier to write than a novel.

When you write poems in swedish – it wasn’t planned to write the solo record in swedish? There are many examples of swedish frontmen whose solo records are in swedish. 

No, that would’ve been a too big step. I never really thought about that. At the beginning I didn’t want to go on tour solo, but there I was on tour with Mando Diao. And there on the other hand it would’ve been weird to sing swedish in front of a german audience. Eventhough english is not your mother tongue, english ist he language to which you have a connection. And since I played my first solo shows in english, it was clear that the disc would be in english. I have in mind to make a swedish record one day. This should be a classical, traditional swedish folk disc. But it’s not an easy language to write in. It can be very naive – I think you have to find a middle way between pretentious and naive.

Your Sugarplum – drummer Kristian Gidlund writes  screenplays. Could you imagine doing something completely different than music? 

Well, writing screenplays, writing in the first place that is not that far away from music. If i wanted to do something else I’d probably start to study Biology or something like that. Because I think...if you do something creative it is hard to judge yourself if it’s good. You try it but you don’t know if you after all just waste your time. I wouldn’t dare to sacrifice a year of my time to write a novel or screenplay. It would be more safe to get a good education, so you study for three years but you get a job afterwards. But on the other hand – you never know if inspiration kicks in. 

Your solo records differs from Sugarplum Fairy in so far that the music is calmer. Is this simply because there is no band behind or were you just calmer/quieter during this time? 

Unintentionally maybe. Three years ago I was in phase in which I mostly listened to loud pop hits from the 80s. After that I had a phase in which I rediscovered the songwriters of the 70s, like Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Nick Drake. After that I was in a hard hiphop phase. Meaning: When I recorded the record I mostly listened to hiphop. When I was writing the songs however, i was listening to 80s pop and to 70s songwriters. And somehow all of this has found its way to the record. 

It is of course something completely different if you have a band around you, but it’s nothing i thought about in the studio. I just made the songs, one after another – and allowed myself to do whatever I wanted to do with them.

I ask of course, because what you’re doing generally runs in Sugarplum – direction. Your brother however makes solo music (as Viktorious) which is the exact opposite of Sugarplum. 

Hmmm.

What’s your opinion on this? I find it..bold? But I haven’t wrapped my mind around it yet. I mean, respect for having the guts to try something completely different but he will snub many Sugarplum – fans with this.  

Yes, yes. But I think it’s not really HIS thing but a record label thing. He writes those songs with professional songwriters and different producers. It’s not his sound, it’s the sound of other people. If he went tot he studio alone, his record would’ve sounded more like Sugarplum than it does now. So it’s the sound of someone else but with Victor’s voice. That is why it sounds so different if you ask me. Someone tries to make modern music – for him. Victor writes with other authors on this record – with Sugarplum Fairy he only wrote for himself. That’s the difference. 

Do you think he’s not happy with this? Does he let someone push him into a direction to which he doesn’t belong? 

I don’t know. I do believe that he does what he wants to, but that he might regret it later – or maybe not. It’s not easy in the music industry at the moment. Even if you’re part of a successful band like Sugarplum you can’t keep up your income. You have to tour a hell of a lot and if you divide every dollar in between five people there’s not much left for anyone. You have to come up with something new, if you want to remain in the game. The music changes. When we started with Sugarplum Fairy, The Strokes scooped the market and rock music was the new thing – yet again of course, but guitars were in. Near our end, barely a person on this planet made such a sound. A few bands were left but rock became smaller – especially in Sweden. This will change again, but it’s just hard to keep a band up and running when you get older. 

Now you just said: „near our end’ – is Sugarplum Fairy history? I thought you were just taking a break? I thought you wanted to meet again?

 Yes.But it is the end of an era. Maybe we come back but you don’t know how we will sound like. I think we will come back as Sugarplum and not as Sugarplum Fairy. Sugarplum Fairy are over, but Sugarplum could still exist. I think it’s important to find the right music for your age. We have to see to where a new record could lead us. 

Concerning Victor’s music I prepared a hobby-phychology-thesis: Victor maybe has a sort of urge, as he is the youngest of you Noréns, to distinguish himself. Sugarplum was standing in Mando Diao’s shadow – maybe it was more important to him to emancipate himself and you can handle this better than he can? 

There could be truth in it – but on the other hand I think you really shouldn’t read into Victor as person based on his music, because he doesn’t write nor produce the songs himself. It’s somebody else’s imagination how it should sound. Naturally he was the one who agreed on this. But he still listens tot he same music and wears the same clothes. 

Do you talk to each other about your music? Or is this something you don’t talk about?

Exactly. If it’s just the two of us we do different things and don’t talk about the music we’re making. I mean let’s just see where it leads him to, and if he has fun with it. We just developped into two directions. When I started with the record I didn’t have a record deal. I wanted to hold it small and indie and just do whatever I wanted to, to not depend on Hits or record companies. With hi mit was the other way around, a label was there right away, so you approach this differently. Well, we don’t talk that much about it 

When you wrote your solo songs – did you also reserve some for Sugarplum? Is there a difference between solo songs and band songs? 

Yes, there is a song on ‚Owls’ which was meant to be for Sugarplum: „That’s The Way I Like It“. But then i thought that this ne would be good fort he record, if there is a song  on the record with some more peppiness – especially because it wasn’t clear if and when there will be another Sugarplum record. If I think of Sugarplum, I think of faster, happier songs – on the other hand there were songs like „Caroline“ or „In Berlin“ on the last band record, these could’ve also been solo songs. 

Will you have a backing band for presenting your songs live? As support of Johnossi one has only seen you with an acoustic guitar. 

I want to try to mix it. I am just setting up a band, we’re rehearsing and played live twice, but this has only been three, four songs. On the other hand the plan was to do it alone. I like the little frame and it’s also a different feeling when you’re on your own while playing live. I want to keep that feeling and just see what I can do with it. The record however sounds very ‚bandish’ so maybe I do need one. We’ll see. 

I’ve seen you as support act of Johnossi – there the audience waits patiently for the main act and isn’t really in the mood to let the guy with the acoustic guitar in. But you didn’t have it easy this night. 

Yes this was pretty hard. Being support act of a rock band like Johnossi. Their audience consists of much more guys than girls. They almost come from hard rock. And then i show up with my ballads – that was hard. But you have to go through this. It would’ve been much harder to play after them. It was definitely harder as support of Johnossi than of Mando.

Maybe more have recognized you there. 

Definitely - but I think almost every Johnossi fan started up as Mando fan. And the Mando shows were so huge so many people didn't recognize me. There were 8'000 people at every show, with Johnossi it has only been 300-800.

Let's talk about a few songs of the record. The two singles "The Anger" and "Going Out Tonight" you for sure picked out with motives.

Yes - both songs first existed as a ballade just with an acoustic guitar, so there are two different versions of'em. 

Yes I saw that - the acoustic version is a B-side of the other single..

Those two songs were practically the first ones, I wrote for the solo record. They were easy to write, although such simple songs are usually the hardest. The songs that just come to you - but you never know when! The lyrics of the songs are very honest. This is also hard, because you want to change them later. Because they reveal too much, because you feel completely naked. So you sit in front of the lyrics and think: Shit, i now need some 'Dylan-style' metaphors with which I can overpaint this honesty. But the lyrics are so good, because they are so honest. I wrote "The Anger" when I was sick once. It still has some sort of groove but a dark mood. The lyrics - it's very honest as I said before. I had many fights with my friends during this time, I didn't talk to any of them at this time. But I was tired of this so I wrote this song about the feeling of having enough of all these fights. 

You wrote those songs acoustically and then arranged and recorded with Mats(Björke, Keyboarder of Mando Diao). How did the process go? 

Well Mats was the Sound engineer, I was the producer. The arrangements base on my ideas but I always went to him when I had a question. Mats is really great to work with, because he's very positive and is always honest. Of course he was also in for a creative idea exchange, but it's my ideas on which the record is built up. 

So I must have been informed falsely.  I read that Mats was together with CJ (Fogelklou bass player of Mando Diao) the producer.

CJ was involved at the beginning, he played bass on the entire record. And there was another sound engineer helping out, we were a good team. But the songwriting is an important part of producing especially when you rewrite the songs again. And this was my part.  

Slowly we come loser to the end of my 30 minutes. Some simple questions: What are you looking forward the most in 2011?

I look forward to keep on working a lot. To just let the things flow and see what happens. I am looking forward to the summer to play live. 

Which is you favorite record at the moment?

I really Ilke James Blake. I just listened to the record again this morning. It sounds really good. But in general I try to listen to something else every day, keep my ears busy. 

… and I always end my Interviews with an anekdote. Did anything funny happen during the recordings? 

Ach, it's always hard for me to answer such questions. When you're done with a record you can't really remember a thing. 

But sure - there is a story! We were mixing the record already and were done with a mix for "The Anger" which sounded really good. I had to master the song and called Mats: "Can you bring over the mix, it's on your hard disk." And Mats said: "Oh dear God, I hit the data processor today. It fell down and since then the hard disk is ruined." Me: "oh man, this was the only copy, we have to save this hard disk!" Mats said: "i will clear that!". He went online and googled "hard disks repair service". He called the first adress he found. He couldn't hand in the hard disk there - these people came by car to pick the disk up. Even after Mats couldn't come over or email the firm, he could just call. It turned out that it was a top secret firm which only works for the government. Mats either had a russian girl called Olga on the line or a british guy called Mike. This firm had a cleaning room and when they were in there, he didn't catch them either. Those people worked 48 hours on repairing the files, i slowly got really mad at Mats - but then they finally were done and delivered the Mix just in time. And then the bill came: 3'000 Euros! Mats didn't check the prices before. Man, we were so exhausted. That was the entire budget for the record! So: You should inform yourselves about the prices first. And you shouldn't hire a firm that usually works for the government!! It's a given that they are expensive!

Man, that was a really good anecdote - although i am sorry for you of course.

Seriously. We were handling the money so carefully for the recordings and then on the last day something like THIS happens! Well, anyways it is the most expensive track on the record.

Now my time is really over - Thanks a lot, and see you soon and good luck with the record!

Thanks,take care!

source: http://hennissey.piranha.tv