Interview with Alternative Rock Band I Don’t Speak French

MuzicNotez: First off, it’s an honor to be doing this interview with you, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us. Introduce yourselves, what are your names and rolls in the band?

I Don’t Speak French: Håkan and Louise, Producer / co-producer and main songwriters.

How did you meet and form up? How long have you been together?

I Don’t Speak French: We met studying music production at University, been working together for more than a decade now.

How did you come up with the name I Don’t Speak French?

I Don’t Speak French: As I recall we wrote a song called ”Hopeless Romantic”, it was supposed to be on our debut album. The chorus goes ”I don’t speak French or Italian baby” with a little whistling hook to bring it all together. There was something so familiar with those words and it also brought back memories of summers spent in France as a kid.

Who were your musical influences, idols, or bands growing up that have helped mold you into the band you are today? Or helped mold the music that you create?

I Don’t Speak French: We all come from different inspirational backgrounds, but I would say a common denominator would be Peter, Bjorn and John, Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend and modern artists such as Oliver Tree.

What’s the greatest concert you’ve ever been to or performed?

I Don’t Speak French: Well performed must be our label showcase show that we did last year, that was so much fun. Greatest concert I’ve ever been to must be RATM at Hultsfred 2008 (Håkan). For me it will probably be Björk or Susanne Sundfør (Louise).

What’s the ultimate goal you want your music to achieve, or for you to achieve in your career as a band? Any particular message you wish to send?

I Don’t Speak French: I would say we’ve been lucky enough to reach some of our goals, but a big one has always been to tour the US. Other than that I’m just happy being able to work and create the music I love and feel passionate about.

Your latest release is the single ‘Millennials’, which really packs a punch. What was the process like writing and creating this song?

I Don’t Speak French: Our guitarist Dennis wrote the initial instrumental, he basically came up with the whole structure and send it over. We then added our ”production magic”, re-recorded some parts and wrote the topline and lyrics. It was a very easy process, the song just kinda wrote itself.

It’s hard to label you in any one genre, you have a sound of your own. How would you describe it?

I Don’t Speak French: If you’d ask me 3 years ago I would’ve called us Indie pop / rock. But I feel like the recent definition of indie has become so broad and a lot of the music under that flag doesn’t really sound indie to me anymore. So I guess I would call us alternative rock with a hint of psychedelic.

What else are you working on? What can we expect to see and hear from you in the future?

I Don’t Speak French: We are currently working on our third album, all the songs are written and most of it is in the final stages of production. We are going to drop a few singles before and maybe some fun unexpected collaborations.

Anything else you wish to say about yourself or your music? Any message for your fans?

I Don’t Speak French: Thank you so much for listening, caring and sharing. To be able to make the music we love and have other people love it as well is truly a privilege.

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