Photo by Marco van Rijt
LITTLE DRAGON know each other since high school. Starting as some friends jamming together, Yukimi Nagan, Erik Bodin, Fredrik Källgren Wallin and Håkan Wirenstrand have slowly built up an international fan base. Their breakthrough came in 2006 with the hit single Twice. Since then the Gothenburg quartet has released three albums and number four follows on May 12. It bears the title Nabuma Rubberband.
NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION met the four for an interview and of course we wanted to know what the name means.
What is ‘Nabuma Rubberband’?
Yukimi: Nabuma is a Ugandan girl’s name. Rubberband is a kind of different last name. She is a fictional person and a strong spirited woman. She’s our hero and our muse.
I heard the album is inspired by PRINCE and JANET JACKSON.
Fredrik: Certain parts of the album are inspired by them. They are two artists we really admire.
Erik: I didn’t realize how special JANET JACKSON is until I started listening to her music. She has a lot of personality although she is a pop icon. She has a simple, direct way of singing and she has been doing some slow songs that are really freaky with explicit lyrics and a lot of dirty things.
Yukimi, you write the songs. What are they about?
Y: Each song has its own story and its own mood. It varies a lot. I wanted to write about more than just personal experiences. Something broader and more interesting.
What comes first – the lyrics or the instrumentation?
Y: music first and then lyrics.
The singles you released, ‘Paris’ and ‘Klapp Klapp’, are faster and more dancy than the other tracks. Is that a concession to your fans who might prefer your faster tracks?
E: I could see all of our songs going to the radio. But when you have a label they think ‘this one is really catchy, we want to have this as a single’.
No one of you has a special favorite?
E: I really like Mirror. It has this Broadway musical touch but it is also super dark and kind of scary.
Looking back to the past, was there a moment when you thought ‘now we’ve made it’?
Y: There was no certain point, it is an ongoing journey. Fortunately we are not like a one-hit wonder that comes and goes fast. We want to build something special.
Photo by Marco van Rijt
Were you afraid of being a one-hit wonder?
E: I remember the first time we played in L.A. It was our first sold out show and we started with our hit Twice. The people were screaming so loud after the first verse. It felt like the expectations were so high. I started shaking a little bit and thought: ‘Now it can only go down’. But we carried through and the people were really enthusiastic. They were not just into Twice.
So you are under less pressure by now?
E: Now we know that being us actually works, at first we were not really sure, we didn’t feel defined. But now we can stick to this and do our best.
Now that you are a quite successful, do you have to separate your friendship and your professional working relation?
Y: No. We are still friends. Of course now we are in a situation where we are kind of dependent on each other because we want to do this and we spent a lot of time together. It’s a little more like a family. You hate and love each other. All that what comes with it, mostly good stuff, though.
Living in times of social media, is it an advantage that you can easily communicate with your fans or a drawback because the people may expect constant updates or posts?
Y: In our case it is an advantage. We grew up with that. I mean we don’t answer all the tweets and comments but it’s nice that we are able to communicate with our fans and that we can let them know what’s going on. We are not like THE KNIFE or some band that is super mysterious.
No masks?
Y: No masks, this is us.
E: We tried playing with masks once. We couldn’t see each other, it was the worst experience ever. (All laugh)
So it didn’t make you feel more secure because nobody could see you?
E: No, it made it worse. It felt like people could all of a sudden see me. It was weird.
What are the first things you associate with the words ‘hope’ and ‘passion’?
Y: Sounds like Nelson Mandela.
H: That’s the force behind our band. We hoped and we have a passion.
F: It reminds me of Yukimi’s dad. He always says that you have to have passion and he is always talking about it.
Y: It’s his favorite word. ‘Follow your passion! Think about your passion!’
—