Despite being some of Sweden’s finest representing bands such as Laakso and Shout Out Louds, Markus Krunegård and Adam Olenius are relatively unfamiliar names on this side of the Atlantic. With their latest musical project We are Serenades, Adam and Markus were keen to test the waters of North America and starting anew where they just recently wrapped up their tour.
May 15th, 2012
Words: Peter Quincy Ng
Hej, hej Markus and Adam! Good to see two of Sweden’s finest. I hear you two met at a gas station, Canada and the USA are big countries, meet any interesting talent along the way?
Adam: Yeah I mean just coming back to Toronto is great. I love that city. We started the tour - it’s only been a week. We started in Washington DC and then north to New York and Boston, so no gas stations at the moment. We’ll see maybe in the Midwest somewhere.
You two have been visiting a few places lately. Tell us about the musical postcards project.
Adam: Oh yeah it was something we came up with after Christmas and New Years just because there’s so many good bands from these cities all over the world and that was easy to record videos online. So the whole musical postcards was something we have fun with and I think we’ve only done five so far, we’ve tried to do (more) but with internet connections maybe we’ll do then afterwards. At least they’re up there the most important thing is that we upload them and maybe do them before coming to a city.
So you released your album late last year in Sweden where you’re already well known for your involvement in bands Laakso and Shout Out Louds. The following year you started up with your North American debut for Criminal Heaven even playing at SXSW. Even though you’re well-connected in this industry by now, what’s it like playing for much smaller crowds that aren’t familiar with your previous bands? Is it like starting from scratch?
Adam: It’s interesting of course it’s like starting all over again. It’s fun! I mean I met a few Shout Out Louds fans but I don’t know if my old audience got the connection with Serenades and Shout Out Louds. I mean we posted something online but its fun to know that people just heard this music and not other and our own previous projects. That’s always great, you know? I mean I played for six people in Montreal. I enjoy it of course but it would be great to play for a greater audience.
You also had to cut down the band size for logistic reasons didn’t you?
Adam: It works well. We have a drummer and some backtracks but very few and we have a two keyboardists playing with us and I play guitar on some songs while Markus is taking of the electric. So we actually managed to get a really big sound, I mean the record was recorded just by me and Markus and we used to have so many players and really big an orchestral sound and sort of managed to get that live too.
When you first started Serenades in Sweden with the release of “Birds” you were advertised you under an anonymous presence why did that happen? Do you think people will listen to the music closer knowing that it isn’t Adam Olenius or Markus Krunegård?
Adam: I don’t remember why we didn’t release it with our names on it. It’s quite interesting knowing what people would think. We actually asked to keep it secret for a month or so, then we started doing interviews and yeah we can’t really keep our identity the camera. So we talked about it earlier back in the day how we wanted to just not do any live shows just yet and just do more experimental stuff but we had so much fun in the studio doing these pop songs and we started doing TV, so that didn’t really go with our plan.
While still on tour as Serenades, Markus has also been working on his solo project. How do you balance the two and is it difficult to balance the two?
Markus: Well it’s not that hard when now the records are (already) made. I mean if you had approached us at the same time when we were creating my solo stuff then it might have been tricky but the Serenades record was already made so it’s not like being in two places at the same time. Sweden is small, so you can’t tour so much. So you have time.
On the Shout Out Louds side of it Ted Malmros is also working on the visual aspect of Serenades isn’t he?
Adam: Well first of all Shout Out Louds is a very talented band (laughs) in many ways. We got Bebban to write so much stuff and graphic design Ted is involved doing projects and stuff. So when I started with Serenades, I really wanted to bring Ted in to like help me out and get in some work while we were on break. I mean it’s great to work with your friends especially when you trust them and you know there style and things like that so it’s a big asset.
Like Bebban was recently featured on collaborations with the band Esther right?
Adam: Yeah that was great too I mean Bebban was doing some parts in other musical projects as well and Ted is doing something with his wife who doing something more of a small project as well. It’s great that everyone is doing something while I’m busy on tour so it’s great. We’re about to record in a couple weeks once we’re back on tour. It’s nice to get help from your friends.
What did you want to do differently this time as a band?
Adam: That’s a good question that’s something we talked about. We got more obviously in our way of recording the album, I mean me and Markus we are coming from being big leaders in our own projects, so that was interesting to work with like two big egos in the studio. The whole process was to create a sort of third voice, like maybe in the future there will be a Serenade person and we can be at home writing this stuff that was the dream (laughs). No, but that was most different thing about recording from Shout Out Louds and maybe more freedom because there were only two, so we kept it very open and tried everything and we learned from each other. That and on tour in Sweden we had a big orchestral sound, big strings and things like that and not to be with your friends that you grew up with that was sort of different, we had those decisions, everything was different. When on tour though you quickly get into your own way of how you usually do things with me and Markus. You are who you are, it’s sort of shaped how you do music and talk about music and tour like things like that. It’s a long answer but it’s difficult in the beginning trying to deal with the creative part of it.
What makes Serenades different is that it is a purely English language project. While Shout Out Louds is sung in English, it is a pretty drastic change for Markus who under Laakso sung not only in Swedish but Finnish as well.
Markus: Well we did do some writing in English, the language wasn’t the biggest difference I mean. I mean the biggest difference is that we are two songwriters, two egos (laughs) with a lot of ideas. So that’s interesting and it’s not only your own head where everything happens. So it’s giving and taking. I think it’s really interesting.
What about the tonal structures of each language and those subtleties that gets lost in translation when singing in a different language? Did growing up Tornedalsk have anything to do with being able to switch languages so easily? What’s it like singing in so many different languages?
Markus: No, but switching languages or projects for me it’s like keeping the freedom alive or something. I think creativity in music has to be free and free when you do it. So changing languages is a good way to do something new. I mean if you do a record in Swedish and then you do one in English, it’s not totally new but you think in different ways. Finnish was my first language when I was a kid so maybe that was the trickiest one when recording in Finnish with Laakso. I don’t know I always thought of myself as this perfect Finnish speaker but I am not any more (laughs) just because I used to be so that was tricky. I mean English is the universal “pop” language so music and most of the music I listen to is in English so in that way it’s the easiest language to write in.
I don’t know but personally I always thought about language as an instrument like the way the certain words sound in terms of textures and nuances.
Markus: Yeah I mean there are a lot of different aspects in a language but yeah it’s only one part of a pop song.
It’s interesting you’re both working on your own material and bands in the meanwhile. What’s next? Are there any long term plans for Serenades after the tour?
Adam: I mean we’re doing this tour in North America now, but we might do a few festivals for the summer but Markus is doing a lot of solo festivals and I’m going to work a lot right now with the Shout Out Louds record. So we’re going to have a little bit of a break for the summer but hopefully we can do some European shows like London and Paris in the fall. We’ll probably be back for some US shows in the fall, we’ll fit in as much as we can in between… between other work (laughs).
Markus: It’s not a side-project at all we’re dead serious we did it as good as we can I mean we’re just reckless souls and it’s just good for us to have something more to do as well. I mean yeah we hope to come back and tour soon and hopefully build something. It’s kind of interesting to start over again. It’s just exciting it brings new energy to the musical life.
Watch their latest video for “Birds” featuring a remix by Passion Pit:
