FOREST SWORDS – ‘Sometimes it is quite liberating as you can do things on your own terms’
If I take a look at your music videos , knowing about your background as a graphic designer – what do you think makes a true artist? Being a musician, an artist or all together merged into one person?
I think it is just about being honest. Having honest intentions about what you are doing. Whether that is in visual arts or music or architecture. As long as you can communicate a message to someone, that is the most important thing about being a true artist. For me it is not that important to be an allrounder because I am really bad at drawing and painting – I can’t do that. I think it is good to find that thing you are good at and focus on that and make yourself really good at it.
You did everything by yourself on the record. Do you just like to be in control of things?
Partly, it is me being a control freak. It is quite difficult when you put a lot of emotianal energy into something, to hand it over to someone else and have them to understand it the way you intended it to. I had to finish everyhing before I gave it to the record label. I was like, I need to do the art work, I need to mix this myself, I need to make it this fully rounded product of mine. But for the videos, I just can’t do that. I don’t have the ressources or talent to do that. So it is the one thing you have to trust people with. You know you go to the director and say, I need you to do this and you hope it fits with your vision of it.
So it might be easier to work with friends or someone you know concerning your videos?
Yeah, I have done some visuals recently with a friend of mine from Liverpool. He is going on tour with me next month. And we are doing a live visual set together. He is on my wave length.
Do you consider yourself an outsider? Because I figured like your music doesn’t belong to any scene and therefore you might not be able to connect to other musicians?
Yeah, I do.
Is it hard for you and how does it affect you?
It kind of depressed me at first. Because it is like, you don’t fit anywhere. Sometimes you want to belong to a scene or you want to have a connection with people. But the more I have done this and the more I have played shows and talked to people the more you realize that just being a bit outside of things makes you more interessting and it makes people connected to you more. Because you are not just part of this whole thing, that is going on in a scene of some sort, where everyone sounds the same and does the same things. People really recognize that you are trying to do somehting on your own terms. So I kind of come to terms with the fact that I am an outsider now and it is OK to be one. Sometimes it is quite liberating as you can do things on your own terms.
What is your goal in general concerning your music? How do you think you could evolve in your music? Anything you would like to try?
Yeah, I am already thinking about the next album. The thing about going on tour and playing the same songs every night is, that you are constantly wanting to do the next thing now. I am really looking forward to start working on new material. I am constantly thinking about ideas, I am looking at different rhythyms and styles. I am not totally reinventing myself. It has to be a really natural progression. I don’t just want to change for the sake of changing. Just because people expect that the new record sounds completely different. Where I think it should kind of follow your life in a way. I should be naturally allied with your life.
We’ve come to the end. Since our magazine is called NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION I would like to know what these things mean to you?
I am a naturally cynical person. Sometimes it is difficult to have hope. But for me, it is good to have hope, it is good to have hope for the future about your goals and your life. For me even though I might not have hope all the time I always got passion. That is certainly an important thing everyone has to have. The more I have got into being a musician and coming to terms of being an artist I become even more passionate about it. So I left my dayjob last week, for good to be a musician. For me that shows that I have so much passion about it and I am willing to give up my regular job. I feel really strongly about it and I wouldn’t recommend it for everybody but I think having passion keeps you driven and keeps you moving forward in life.
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