Interview about Thirteen Eight

Ollie Oakman from Australia interviewed me today, about my up-coming album, and this is what the conversation looked like:

Considering the album is mostly recorded, how do you feel about the almost-final product?
– I honestly think it will be quite great! There are seven “prog rock tracks” which fill up most of the album, and I’m proud of those. Then we have a couple of slower ballad like songs, that I also think are good. Then finally there are two tracks I didn’t really want on the album, because I personally don’t like them that much. But I did a few surveys before deciding what 13 songs to have on the album, and some people really like these two songs, so I had to include them after all. One of them is Vampire Bride, and the second was my attempt at participating in the Eurovision Song Contest last year.

Can we expect to hear any classic YouTube hits on the album?
– Well, I don’t know about “hits”, but my three original songs from youtube will be on the album, but remade. That is, Beside Me, Vampire Bride, and a longer version of The Wayfarer.

Are you mixing and producing the album yourself?
– I have been recording everything at home so far, and I’m still waiting for the drummer to send me all his drum tracks, but after that, I’m gonna send it all to a studio here in Gävle and get help with mixing by a professional. We might add a few things there, depending on whether we think it’s necessary or not. I’m a perfectionist, so I will want everything to be perfect!

You play all the instruments yourself (excluding the drums). Do you feel this has given you an advantage in the music composition or not?
– It’s obviously an advantage to understand and be able to play around with all the instruments when composing. And recording everything myself, I can make sure to that it is exactly as I want it! I guess the disadvantage would be that the instruments will stand out slightly less. For example, a different bass player might have added his personality into the mix, and it could have made things a bit more interesting.

Considering the entire process of making the album, in your point of view, what was the most difficult part?
– Definitely the lyrics. I’ve always been all about the actual music, and I’ve never even cared about lyrics when listening to my favorite bands. So it’s been really hard to come up with those, and getting help with them has also been harder than expected. There are still a few songs with incomplete lyrics, but I’m getting closer and closer.

Does the album name have any context or meaning behind it?
– Yes, it definitely has! I don’t know if I want to give everything away, but I realized that most songs on the album include the time signature 13/8, so I felt that “Thirteen Eight” described pretty well how I view music, that I like the technical part of it, with odd time signatures and experimental progressions.
After that, I just added lots of details based on 13 and 8. And some things just happened to work out, even though they were far-fetched. The F and G in FreddeGredde for example! F is the sixth letter of the alphabet, G is the seventh. 6 plus 7 is obviously 13! There are lots of references in the artwork too, and obviously the release date, 13th of August.

We’ve seen many improvised instruments in videos such as “Wind Waker Unplugged”. Do any odd items appear throughout the album?
– Yes, they do. There’s one track with similar orchestration as Wind Waker Unplugged, so all those instruments will appear again, like the water glasses and oven pan! It will mostly be “rock arrangements” though, focusing on drums, bass, guitars and keyboards. And the occasional accordion.

Where will the album be available for purchase?
– That’s not entirely decided yet, since I still have to decide for a label. It will definitely be on iTunes. Hopefully in most music stores all over the world, but who knows.

Well thanks Fredde for answering my questions! I’m sure your fans will be happy to have a sneak peak into the album and your direct work with it!
– You’re welcome! If anyone ever has any questions, I’ll gladly answer them anytime. :)