The 27th of April 2011, @gravitonas-music.com
In the break between shooting of the video scenes Gravitonas kindly
agreed to give an interview to our site.
About recording a duet with Roma Kenga by Skype and different
versions of Everybody Dance
Alexander It was not difficult to record a song with Roma
via Skype. We had already written the song and we sent him our version,
which was already a full production. Roma added his vocals and we worked
on Skype to get the vocals right. We did several recordings until he was
pleased.
Andreas
But it just went better and better.
Alexander
![](images/moscow/DSC02850.jpg)
He was very good at that. And then when we got exactly what we wanted we
finished one production in Stockholm which is going to be released as
the Gravitonas Radio Edit. Roma made his own version which is more
Eastern-European dance style and it is called Roma Kenga Radio Edit.
There is also a third original version made by Adam Rickfors who is a
great Swedish remixer and it is also very good. It is more Ibiza, more
dancefloor. So there are at least three original versions of the song.
There will be a couple of more radio edits and then, we hope, there are
going to be a lot of different versions.
About duets and writing for other artists
Alexander
We are not planning to do any more duets now. But we have got a lot of
requests from the record companies around Europe, because we both write
and produce. I work with with Henrik (Wikstrom) and Andreas works with
Ben (Smith). So we actually have more songwriters and producers for us
in Gravitonas. So it is quite easy for us to write for other artists too
and there are a lot of artists who want to make it with Gravitonas. It
is a very modern way of work.
Andreas
We will probably make some duets on singles, EPs and stuff like that.
About working with other Russian artists and the remix contest
Alexander
There is a duet from Kaliningrad, Fagault and Marina, a guy and a girl
who really liked our stuff. They did a remix of Youth Is Wasted On The
Young, which is one of the winners of the remix contest. We had hundreds
of participants of the remix contest, but there were six winners and
Fagault and Marina’s remix is actually the first one that received a
radio play. So it is going to be very interesting to see how the
Fanworks EP goes. It will be released on May 25, the same release date
as Everybody Dance single. About the target
audience of Gravitonas and its difference from the audience of previous
Alexander Bard’s projects
Andreas
The target audience of Gravitonas are freaks (both laugh).
Alexander
The target audience of Gravitonas is the opposite to that of BWO. BWO
was a very sweet band and we wanted it to be light for the mainstream
people and have a lot of sugar and Gravitonas is probably the exact
opposite. For me it is like going from God to the devil. Both God and
devil are interesting, but I’m very much into the devil now (both laugh).
We like good-looking boys and girls too. They can be our audience,
that’s OK. About the other members of Gravitonas.
Alexander
We have a guitar player Ben Smith, who you saw in the You Break Me Up
video, because there are great guitar solos in that song, so it makes
sense to involve him in the video and he is also playing with us live on
stage. We also need some drummers and keyboard players, but that could
all be done by machines, so we have eventually worked out that as well.
But that is not the issue. Personally I think and we feel that it is
visually more interesting when I and Andreas are fronting the stage.
Because the relationship of the two men that do weird things on stage –
it is very modern and artistically it is very interesting to work with.
The tradition of our performers – four guys which are playing the
instruments and one is singing – it is all boring to work with, it is
not very modern, not especially interesting. That’s why we think that
the other guys also feel that it is great when Andreas and I are on
stage.
Andreas
Hopefully Gravitonas turns out to be a big circus or something in a
couple of years, more circus than a usual band. About what is needed
from a possible future Gravitonas member
Alexander
If you want to be our drummer, you should look great and be odd and play
drums well. We are not compromising on quality. We can have our weird
and wicked ideas, but at the end of the day, we can not be successful
unless we write the world’s best songs and then have the best production
ever and the best musicians. It is all very important.
About the changes in Russia in the past 20 years
Alexander
Russia has changed, let’s put it that way. Russia is a very very
different country compared to what it was 10 years ago even more than
compared to what it was 20 years ago. I’m not the one to say if it has
changed for better or for worse. It is for Russians to decide, because
they live in this country. I come to this country and I love being in
Russia, but only Russians can tell it. I think it would be kind of rude
of me to say what I think of Russia. It is up to the Russian people to
decide what has changed and how. About the
party in Russia that bears the same name as the party Alexander is in (Liberal
Democrats)
Alexander
I just think the name is similar, I’m not sure that the programme is
similar. Andreas is a very political person, but he has not determined
his political views yet. Andreas
I’m just a lesbian.
Alexander
A lesbian anarchist, maybe. I think he is more anarchistic than I am.
Aren’t you?
Andreas
Yeah, haven’t figured it out yet.
Alexander
We haven’t figured it out yet.
Andreas
We will
Alexander
We probably will, yeah. I can be gay or straight, he is a lesbian.
About revolutions in the Middle East
Alexander
What is going on in the Middle East is great. I mean, it is horrible
that so many people get killed and I’m disgusted by the dictators who
kill their own people. It is probably the worst thing and they should be
sentenced in the International Court, in Hague, to be thrown out of
space, because I hate them for it. But I think that what people are
doing is very encouraging, is very promising and I can even feel
sometimes that people in Europe are too cynical now.
Andreas
Yeah
Alexander
When I look at the Middle East, I love the energy and I like vibrations
coming out of those countries.
About the possibility of such a revolution in Russia
Alexander
You know, I’m sure that people get really tired of their leaders, and
the leaders get too corrupt. I think that revolution can happen in any
country. I don’t think Russia is any different from Libya or Syria or
anywhere else. Just because Russia has the most famous revolution ever
doesn’t mean that revolution can’t happen somewhere else and they can
certainly happen in Russia again. I hope they can happen in Sweden too,
because sometimes, perhaps, Swedes are too passive about their society
and things that are not right. Sometimes I think there is a need for a
revolution in Sweden too, you know. People are very wealthy and
well-educated and all that, but they are too passive about their own
good sometimes. We have racists in the Swedish parliament. When a
country has a racist party inside the parliament, I think that’s a
wake-up call. They need to do something.
About suspicions of some of the fans that Gravitonas may transfer secret
messages through the signs used in their videos.
Andreas
It could be true.
Alexander
Of course, we are. There are a lot of secret hidden messages in the
Gravitonas videos. That’s on purpose, that’s exactly what we want.
Andreas
If you play the video backwards, you can have some stuff.
Alexander
Well, I think, we live in a society where a lot of things are so
transparent they become boring, because they are everywhere. And I think
it is important artistically to try to communicate to your own community
and be loyal to that community and not that everybody understands what
you are doing. Because that kind of exclusivity is very important.
That’s what we call the Tribe of Gravitonas. Not Gravitonas, because it
is not about us, it is about the fans and it is about the connection
between us and the fans and how we connect with them, we love it.
Somebody came with the word Gravitonians.
Andreas
We like that
Alexander
We love that word. We are Gravitonians too, but
it is a word for everybody.
About physical releases
Andreas
WE will have one CD.
Alexander
You know, it is really up to Universal music, if they want to make
physical record. The album that comes out in September would probably be
a physical release in Scandinavia. There are some promotional releases
that are physical releases. But we don’t want to encourage that. We know
about the fans, that it is important that they have their physical part.
But we live in a very digital world. In Sweden Spotify is so successful,
it is incredible, it is really great for the artists. And the fact is
that we can release all our stuff on Spotify, we can even release our
fans’ versions also on Spotify. It is a great media. It would never be
possible if everything was supposed to be on a physical CD, because it
would be too expensive with distribution and so on. So streaming is the
future of music and we want it to be the future of Gravitonas.
Gravitonas to the fans reading our site
WE love you
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