Baker's Dozen: Interview with My Sunrise

I don't usually base my opinion of a band on who their fans are. But when you have the utmost respect for a celebrity and a band counts them as a supporter I pay attention to it. Such is the case with My Sunrise. Paris Hilton loves them (and I love her). True story just look at their profile picture on Myspace. Joking aside, My Sunrise is a wonderful band from Sweden that knows how to write catchy music. Their song "Fire Walk with Me" completed our Let Them Eat Pie Playlist. Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing My Sunrise (via email) as part of our Baker's Dozen series on Write.Click.Cook.Listen.

TB: Who are the members of My Sunrise and what roles do each of you play in the band?

MS: David-Keyboard
Frederik-guitar, singing
Henrik-drums
Jack-bass
Magnus-guitar, singing

TB: What's the story behind the formation of My Sunrise?

MS: We're all friends from childhood and since we did pretty much everything together (played soccer, watched, movies, went to concerts) we figured we might as well form a band.

TB: Your bio used to say that "My Sunrise is about your first kiss, your first letdown, your first truly beautiful moment. Three minutes and forever." Can this quote be applied to your songwriting as well because I feel something like this each time I hear a track of yours?

MS: As Always, songs are about feelings and when we started writing songs, we tried to write songs with a "Phil Spector" sort of vibe. Two or three minute songs with easy, yet beautiful melodies. After a while the songs grew bigger (length-wise)-but we still try to focus on the melodies, the haunting melodies!

TB: I was introduced to the song "Fire Walk with Me" by the Absolut Noise Blog. In the post about the song the author mentioned a reference to David Lynch's Twin Peaks movie with the same name. Was the song inspired by or about the movie or do they just share the same name?

MS: The first time we played the song, we didn't have a title for it. However when Lisa, Frederik's sister who is a huge Twin Peaks fan, heard it she thought it was very Twin Peaksy. Since she told us we figured we'd use it as the title. We're also big Twin Peaks fans now.

TB: Currently My Sunshine is unsigned. What does this mean as far as things that you can and can't do as a band? Are you in a hurry to find a label to put out your music?

MS: We look at the fact that we're unsigned with happy faces. We get to control our music 100 percent. Ain't nobody going to tell us what to do or how to write songs. Also, with the explosion of Myspace and blogs, the fastest way to spread your music nowadays is the internet.

TB: Your song "Pictures" has a video that goes along with it. The video features illustrations of the lyrics. Who drew the pictures and why did you choose this approach?

MS: We talked about making a video for "Pictures" but none of us came up with anything. That's when a 13-year old cousin made us a video as a two year anniversary present for the band. We're very pleased with how it turned out.

TB: December 3rd, at Metropol in Hultsfred, you guys will be performing. What are your live shows like? What can those in attendance expect?

MS: Chaos and beauty in symbiosis.

TB: Will Paris Hilton be there?

MS: Unfortunately she's busy with leading the My Sunrise street team in LA that very Thursday. However, we'll dedicate a song to her.

TB: What projects are My Sunrise currently working on? What is on the horizon?

MS: World domination. That is, keep writing new songs on the couch watching old MacGyver episodes, waiting for the world to be a better place. Oh yeah, and playing live for you one day.

TB: Tell me about Kalmar Ian.

MS: Located on the southeast coast of Sweden (right next to the island of Oland) it's windy but beautiful. Most tourists come to see the castle. That'll all change next year, when most people will come to see us. By the way the castle's haunted and we played their once. Didn't see any ghosts though.

TB: Is there a big music scene there?

MS: I hate to say it, but no. There are many bands but not that many venues to play. However it's gotten better the last two years with all the college kids that have moved here and started clubs. Still, you can't compare it to Stockholm or Gothenburg. There's only 40,000 people living in Kalmar.

TB: Does My Sunrise have any recipes they'd like to share?

MS: Chokolate Cake! (Find it here).

TB: Anything else you would like to say?

MS: "I think everybody should like everybody" (A. Warhol). Always good to end with a quote.

Courtesy of the Swedes Please blog, here is My Sunrise's "My Fix."
My Sunrise-My Fix


The anniversary video for their song "Pictures."