Future War Bride - Interview

  by John Clarkson

published: 12 / 8 / 2017

intro

Mikkel Bostrom, the frontman and guitarist with Copenhagen-based psychedelic pop band Future War Bride, speaks to John Clarkson about their debut single 'Gloves Off', which was was recorded while he was suffering from severe memory loss

‘Gloves Off’ is the remarkable debut single of Copenhagen-based psychedelic pop band Future War Bride. It was recorded against the odds when the group’s front man and guitarist Mikkel Bostrom suffered severe memory loss, which made it a struggle for him to remember lyrics or to play even the simplest of guitar chords. Bostrom and the other members of the group - Morten Puper (keyboard, guitar), Jakob Gravlund (bass) and Christian Ki Dall (guitar, keyboards) - decided to turn this to their advantage, and ‘Gloves Off’ combines jarring 80’s-style industrial electronica with pastoral passages of harmony-laden Beatles-esque pop. With the group’s debut album 'Majahua' due out in the Autumn, Pennyblackmusic spoke to the now recuperated Mikkel Bostrom about ‘Gloves Off’ and Future War Bride. PB: ‘Gloves Off’ swings between 80’s industrial-sounding electronica and 60’s psychedelic pop. It shouldn’t work yet it does brilliantly. You have all come from different backgrounds musically, which incorporate hardcore metal, blues and roots music and jazz. How much of that do you think is down to that diversity of background? MB: I really do think that it has a lot to do with that. We do try to look at song writing without having too many rules about how a song should be. I don't think that we try to battle conventions deliberately. We try to just go with the feel of the song and respond to where it is going. I also think that we are quite lucky to be able to draw inspiration from many genres and mix them into our own little thing. PB: With such a rich variety of musical backgrounds, what do you see as your main musical influences? Is it mainly 60’s music and 80’s electronica? MB: It's definitely 60's music. Despite our different musical backgrounds, we all share the same passion for that music and the sound of it. When we recorded our album we had a work title called 'sci-fi meets the past', and to create the sci-fi feeling we used a loads of synths. I think maybe the 80's vibe is coming from that. PB: ‘Gloves Off’ was recorded when you apparently were suffering from severe memory loss and was having trouble remembering both music and lyrics. What triggered that? MB: It is not an easy one to answer, but at the time I was working two jobs to raise money for studio time, and at the same time we were writing and recording the album. I think it had to do with having the feeling that I had to be in two places at the same time, and it got to a point where my body and brain just reacted, my memory just failed me, and things that usually seemed easy became a challenge. Anyway, I got fired from my daytime job which made some things easier. PB: It must have made both this song and the album very difficult to record. How did you get around that? MB: It might sound a cliché, but music really has a healing power that can fix things and put everything in place again. Instead of fighting the memory loss, there was a general acceptance amongst the band that we had to go with it and use it creatively, and in many ways making the album was a healing process and a way of getting a new perspective on things. PB: The lyrics for ‘Gloves Off’ have a fragmentary, abrasive edge. Were they inspired by your illness? MB: Yeah, most definitely. The song is very much a product of how the world looks from a dark place. You know, it's about telling the story of how ugly people can become in the pursuit of their own personal success, and how that affects people. I really think that it's about time to start fighting with the winners and losers mentality that is making people scared and inhuman. PB: You involve a lot of complex arrangements and sound like a group that have all the experience that comes from playing with each other for years rather than perhaps months. How long have you been together? Had any of you been in bands together before? MB: Thanks! Yeah, some of us actually met playing with another band on a tour in Germany, so we knew each other pretty well when we decided to go into the studio and record a few songs that later became a full album. I think that was a little more than a year ago. PB: ‘Gloves Off’ is apparently the loudest song on 'Majahua' while the other tracks are more poppy. Why did you decide to release it as your debut single instead of something perhaps more representative of the album? MB; Well, it's never easy to pick a debut single, and true 'Gloves Off' is the loudest song on the album, but it also shows the range of the band, we can be really loud but also very melodic and lyrical. And we think it's a damn good song. PB: When do you hope to release 'Majahua'? Will it be this year? Will you be playing live dates outside Copenhagen and in Europe? MB: We are aiming for a release in the late fall this year, and sure we will do a follow up tour outside of Denmark. PB: THank you.

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