We had a chat with Swedish band Alicewell to find out about their new EP ‘Young Hearts’, their All Time Low cover, and if we can expect to see them touring in the UK anytime soon. If you like your rock mixed in with a bit of pop, then Alicewell may just be your new favourite band.
Hey guys! Firstly, tell us about the background of the band. How, when and where did you form?
We essentially come from two previous bands where Lukas and Robert played in one and Jonatan, Kim and Danny in another. We were located in different cities but had played together on several occasions. Back in late 2012 we decided to meet up and try some ideas out, for fun mostly. That resulted in some very interesting stuff which later on happened to be the first work of the ‘Wounds’ EP. At that time however, the drummer position was filled by our previous drummer. After he decided to leave the band, the decision to ask Danny came naturally, and gladly he was on board. Now we’ve come a long way but we have much more to do for sure!
How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard you yet?
Quite different! You can certainly hear that we have influences but the combination between our own style and our influences creates something of our own. We personally think that our “new” style of ‘Young Hearts’ EP is very interesting and it really fits the stage with enormous energy and great hooks!
Who or what are your main influences as a band?
We’re mainly influenced by British rock bands or other bands that share the style. We really like that authentic, polished but not overproduced sound. This included bands like You Me At Six, Lower Than Atlantis, Mallory Knox and Young Guns.
You’ve just released your new EP, ‘Young Hearts’. How would you describe it? What can people expect if they haven’t heard it yet?
A very different sound from our first ‘Wounds’ EP definitely! A more arena heavy sounding EP with more powerful and melodic tracks than ever!
If you had to choose one song from the EP as someone’s first taster of Alicewell, which would it be?
The first taster would probably be ‘Lost You Once’ as it was our first single. It’s an arena friendly song, with a powerful chorus. Hopefully the chorus will be stuck in your head at the first listen!
How was the writing and recording process for the EP?
Since everything we’ve done so far has been self-produced the writing and recording process has been very relaxed in general. Doing everything ourselves enables us to sit down at home and record some guitar ideas and then just experiment with different ideas and see what works. When we felt we were on the right track we simply went in to the studio and started tracking everything once again while making sure everything became as energetic as possible! Recording everything ourselves meant that we could take as much time as we needed to get things as we wanted them. Then the rest was up to Lukas to mix everything together and polish the tracks to what you can hear on the EP.
How has 2015 been for you? What have your highlights been so far?
2015 has been quite a calm year for us, as we’ve been focusing a lot on songwriting and performing and it all turned out into ‘Young Hearts’. Our highlight so far must’ve been the hype around our All Time Low cover which we released in early spring. The next highlight is for sure the release of this EP.
Do you have any touring plans at all? Can we expect you in the UK at any point?
Yes, we’ll try and tour a lot next year, and the UK is definitely a destination we’d gladly come back to. We had a tour in the UK back in 2014, and it gave us a sweet taste of the life over there so we’d definitely come back! We’re also trying hard to tour mainland Europe and hope to get out there as soon as possible.
What have you got lined up for 2016?
Playing shows, touring and making new friends! We want to be all over the place and we’ll focus a lot on playing shows, everywhere and anywhere.
Ideally, where would you like to see yourselves in five years?
As poster boys for Playboy. No, jokes aside – definitely on the bigger stages, playing in front of a lot of new fans and to have this as a full-time job. We love what we do and we hope that people appreciate it.
LAIS MW