Kometfabriken

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Interview : Fredrik from Kometfabriken

When and how was your band created?
The band was formed in spring 2002 when Jimmy and Fredrik wrote their first song together.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
The band was without a name for a while, but then we entered a demo-contest and had to come up with a name. Fredrik (that´s me) was reading a book on astronomy and read that the word "Komet" (Comet) is greek and means "hairy star". I thaught that it was quite funny and suggested the name "Kometfabriken". The other guys we´re thrilled and so it was.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
We all have different musical backgrounds, so it´s very hard to name artists. For me personally (Fredrik) Bono and U2 has been a great source of inspiration. Jimmy is a great fan of the musicians in Toto. One person who has had major influence in our work is of course our producer Lasse Andersson, one of the most talented producers and musicians in Sweden. It´s been a blast working with professionals as Lasse and Per Lindvall (who plays drums on the record).

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
At the moment I think that especially one genre in the finnish musicbusiness is on a roll. I´m talking about rockmusic, heavier stuff. That´s of course a positive thing. The musicians in that genre get respect internationally and so on.
But when we´re talking popmusic we still have a long way to go. You only have to watch the difference between the swedish and the finnish Pop Idol-competitions to see that we still are lightyears behind.
One negative aspect is that most of the business is run from our capital Helsinki. If you´re not living there it can sometimes be hard to run your own business.
Another negative aspect is that restaurantowners often are "afraid" of new bands. And the common opinion that livemusic can´t cost you anything nowadays. The audience gladly pay 8 € for going to the disco on a saturday night, but if a liveband charges 10€ people think it´s too expensive.
Beeing a musician in Finland is mostly hard work and no money, but at least you get to do what you love.
To end with something positive, then. I think the most positive thing about finnish musicians today is that we´re more willing to learn, a lot more openminded now than we were a few years ago.

How could you define your style of music?
It´s melodic poprock with a lot of energi and heart.

During the years how has your musical style changed?
Today we´re kind of softer and at the same time more heavy. More dynamic. But we still make poprock that is easy to listen to and easy to like.

How do explain these changes?
We´ve evolved as a band. Both in studio and live. We´re bigger and better. Working with professionals makes you think like a pro, act like a pro and finally you become a pro yourself. And of course, in four years time, you get a lot of new influences and learn more about yourself both as a musician and as a person.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
Love and hate, hehe. Mostly we sing about relationships and what happens in our ordinary life. We get inspiration from the things that happens around us and write about that. You can´t make up a topic, because then it doesn´t feel real.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
My personal favorite is probably "Om vi lyfter nu". It has a good beat even though it´s a slow song and it´s filled with hope, happiness and love. That sounded kind of cheezy put out in words, but I´m prepared to stand behind my words. It´s a song about how easy life could be when everything goes right. It´s got a certain summervibe over it that makes it magical to me. Sometimes it´s nice to sing about something good instead of all the heartache.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Live, definitely. You get the actual contact with the audience then. But working in the studio has it´s moments too, of course.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
It´s that certain moment when you realize that, wow, this is good! It can be because of a phrase or a chorus or just a feeling you get.

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
If I have to pick one it´s One, U2

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
I don´t like the massive downloading, but right now I can´t see a way to stop it. I think we have to find a solution to the problem soon, because if we don´t then I and a lot of musicians will soon be out of work. Internet though is an exellent and easy way for promoting your music. We´ve put a lot of work into our website and we always try to find new interesting things to keep our fans interested in us.

What are your projects ?
We are about to release the record in Sweden and we´re working on the details with our record company. Because we sing in swedish it´s probably the most important thing for us that the record gets out in Sweden so we can start touring there. We´re getting ready for the summergigs here in Finland and hope to see you all out there this summer.

What "image" do you have of French music?
I don´t know that much about French music, but I´ve heard some of your rap/rnb-artists and I think they have a good groove. French is a beautiful language to sing in. Artists like K Maro have an interesting mix of english and french in their songs.

Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
I really can´t come up with one right now. The only one I can think of is this Celine Dion-ballad, but she´s not my favorite. Hey, wait a minute, there´s a song called "Lolita" or something, that I really like.

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2006