Part 1

Name: Junodef

Nationality: Swedish
Members: Karin Grönkvist (guitar, vocals), Norea Persson (drums, electronics), Tyra Örnberg (Bass, vocals)
Occupation: Songwriters
Current Release: Junodef's new single "Diane’s Robot" is out now.
Recommendations: Norea: My first recommendation would be the film The Nowhere Inn starring Carrie Brownstein and Annie Clark (St. Vincent). It’s a surreal mockumentary where both Annie and Carrie play themselves. Since I’m a big fan of both of their music I was thrilled when I heard they were making a move together.
My second recommendation is the graphic novel Nick Cave – Mercy on Me by Reinhard Kleist. I’m a big fan of comic books and a big fan of Nick Cave. This is the perfect combination of the two.

If you enjoyed this interview with Junodef and would like to stay up to date with the band's music, visit their official website. The trio is also on Instagram, twitter, Soundcloud, and Facebook.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

Tyra: I started playing and writing little melodies when I got a casio keyboard when I was about 10 I think, and then more piano bits when I got my grandmother's old piano a few years later. I just really enjoyed sitting by the piano improvising for hours, and still do to be fair, it’s such a good way for me to relax and let go of everything for a while. It’s a bit like meditating I guess.

When I started writing actual songs I was mostly inspired by Portishead. They have such a special sound, and the songs are so well written, and full of interesting chord progressions, melodies and arrangements. And then of course topped with Beth Gibbons’ gorgeous voice and dark, emotional lyrics.

That really spoke to me as a moody teenager, and they’re still one of my biggest influences when writing music.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

Tyra: I find it so interesting when people say that music makes them see shapes and colours and stuff, because I’ve never experienced that at all.

For me it’s all about the emotions I think. So the music I listen to will either enhance an emotion that I already have, or kind of wake up a new one, or just distract me from one I don’t want to have. So when I listen to music I’m always looking for things that make me feel a certain way basically.

So that definitely influences the way I write music in the sense that I’m always trying to convey an emotion as genuinely as I can through the songs that I write, and hopefully make it translate to the listener, so that they can relate to it and insert their own experiences and feelings.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

Tyra: For us as a band, it’s been quite a journey so far since we got together seven or so years ago. Me and Karin started Junodef just after the break up of our teenage punk band that we’d been in together since we were about twelve or thirteen.

One of the main ideas when we started Junodef was that we wanted to write music without limitations or direction, and let the band go in the direction of the songs that we make, rather than trying to write songs that fit into an already decided sound. I think that was really healthy for us to be so free in the writing process, and giving ourselves a lot of time to find our own personal sound.

We still have a lot of different influences when we write music, and sometimes it’s a bit challenging to fit everything we write into one coherent sound. I think that’s both a strength and a weakness for us to be honest.

When it comes to breakthroughs, I think that’s hard to know most of the time, because when you’re so wrapped up in a process, and kind of constantly evolving, it’s difficult to pinpoint any specific breakthrough moments.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

Tyra: Oof, difficult question. I’m kind of having an identity crisis just thinking about this. I haven’t had enough therapy to be able to answer this properly haha.

But one thing I do know about myself is that I like doing things my own way and feel like I’ve got a unique angle, and I don’t want to be put in a box. I like to be special basically. But also, who doesn’t.

So in terms of how this influences my music preferences, I listen to a mixture of wanky and obscure stuff, dark and difficult and mainstream and fun stuff. And in terms of my creativity as an artist, it’s the same I guess. I don’t want to write things that sound too much like other things, and I want whatever I do to be difficult to be put in a box.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

Tyra: I mean I think this goes back to the question about what music does to you when you listen to it. For me it’s all about what it makes me feel, what emotions it enhances in me and what it makes me think of and relate to.

I think if there’s no genuine emotion behind what’s created, it’s usually not very good. That’s the case for me at least. If I write just to write something it’s not going to be worth much. It can be useful for getting out of a writing slump, but the good stuff only comes when there’s something behind it I think.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?
 
Karin: As with all things in life I think balance is key. We are obviously always trying to push ourselves to create something new and exciting, rather than fitting into an existing framework of sound and songwriting or repeating what we’ve already done.

With that said, our songwriting is obviously heavily affected by the music we listen to, and the songs we’ve written in the past, so some level of “continuing a tradition” will probably always be there, although not very intentionally.

When it comes to listening to new music I personally rate originality and innovation highly because they grab my attention and feel exciting. However, I also listen to lots of older music, which of course would’ve been very original and innovative at the time.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

Karin: I think moving my songwriting from pen and paper to Ableton has had a huge impact on the way I write music.

Up until a few years ago I would sit with my guitar and slowly piece together a song and write it down with pen and paper, old school style. When I started using Ableton so many doors opened to new ways of approaching music making, and it’s given me a lot more freedom to be creative. I can write all the instrument parts, arrange the song and spend time producing the sounds I want before even presenting it to the band, which is kind of amazing. I have learned so much about songwriting and arrangement since I started working in Ableton.

The only issue now is that I tend to get so excited about drums and synths that forget to write a guitar part, which can become an issue when I need to figure something out to play live …

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

Karin: My morning routine is extremely simple - a cup of strong black coffee and a snus (Swedish tobacco thing).

Most of my days look very different, as I’m freelancing and literally doing different things each day. However some things are more or less consistent. I almost always go for a walk with my girlfriend at some point in the day and look at the birds in our local pond.

A big chunk of the day usually goes to doing band things on my computer, like emailing, updating social media, applying for funding, having meetings with our managers or other team members, planning releases and plotting new plans and projects.

Whilst typing this out I realise routine is really lacking in my life. If I’ll start working on that now, let’s check in in the new year and see where we’re at yeah?