Surrounded Interview: SXSW 2010

Since forming in the snowy, maudlin forests of Vaxjo, Sweden in 2000, the spacey indie rock quintet Surrounded have already released two critically lauded and eclectic albums, their sound touching upon everything from Pink Floyd to the Flaming Lips to Wilco. Currently on the cusp of releasing their third full-length album, 'Oppenheimer and Woodstock,' the band is making its North American debut at the 2010 SXSW music festival. Spinner recently chatted with lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Marten Rydell about summer houses with no bathrooms, John Denver and a curious Swedish tobacco called Snus.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Well, honestly, I'd like to think of it as more urgent and "headphone-core" than just directly tagging it "dreamy" and "beautiful." I mean, it's certainly heartening if people see and feel beauty within your music, but since there's always an undercurrent when it comes to the lyrical side, it gets a bit one-dimensional if one just recognizes the innocent part of it. Overall, we are definitely suckers for a big, expansive and vibrant "wall-of-sound" sound but could change to something more stripped down and contemplative the next minute.

How did your band form?

Me and [guitarist] Marcus [Knutsson] had just separately quit our previous projects back in 2000 and decided to put up a portable studio to try to blend our ideas and musical backgrounds together into something new. We rented a desolate summer house -- including a fishing boat, but with no shower or toilet -- from an old widow and basically got it going. After a year, we had the foundation ready for what would later on become our debut, 'Safety in Numbers,' a really creative and fun period of time. Band members [since] then have come and gone, but the current lineup is steady since late 2006.

What are your musical influences?

As the songwriter of the band, I would say anything with great melody, unique lyrics and a decent structure. Even if they did take things way out of hand once in a while, '60s and '70s Pink Floyd are still numero uno for me. Simon and Garfunkel and ELO had some fantastic moments. During our first experimental year, I mainly remember three albums: 'Hope and Adams' by Wheat, 'West' by Mark Eitzel and 'The Singing Hatchet' by the Radar Bros. Great albums. I could, of course, go on forever so I'll stop here.

How did you come up with your band name?

Well, originally we were called Bread and Circus. I still miss it a little. Unfortunately, at the time of our US release, the name was already taken by two other bands and in the end we and the label agreed on Surrounded. Kind of nu-metal [sounding], but not too bad either. I assume all animal references are occupied at this moment in the "indiesphere," so I guess we'll have to stick with it for the moment [laughs].

What's in your festival survival kit?

Snus -- Swedish tobacco that you put under your upper lip. Awesome.

Have you been to SXSW before? What are you most looking forward to this year?

No, it's our first visit to the US, actually. [I'm looking forward] to perform as much as possible of course, the environment, the people and the atmosphere. And to chat with Jason Lytle and buy him a Staropramen Czech beer.

Surrounded has been described by a few critics as "the Swedish Flaming Lips." Do you feel that comparison pigeonholes your sound, even though you are being compared to one of the most eclectic bands to come out of North America?

I don't know about that. Perhaps a few tracks on 'The Soft Bulletin' and 'Yoshimi' are quite in the same vein, but apart from that I don't see too many connections, really. On the other hand, I feel we've been bunched together with Mark Linkous and Sparklehorse -- more for better than for worse, thankfully -- so many times now [that] I don't even know if I should be flattered or if we should just start a tribute band right away [laughs].

Compared to how you have made your past two albums, what have you done differently on 'Oppenheimer and Woodstock'?

Production-wise and regarding arrangements, we've been working more as a unit instead of merely doing our parts. I'm certainly no Pol Pot in the studio or too concerned about my babies, but the choice of tracks to be figured on the album also has been very democratic. To hand over the mixing procedure, instead of handling it ourselves, to such skilled guys as Tony Doogan, Paul Mahajan and Bill Racine was indeed very relieving and uplifting.

Why do you think so many Swedish acts find success in North America?

Swedes (the liberal ones, that is) and Swedish bands are in general quite open-minded when it comes to "globality," I dare say. We have a weak nationalism and no prestige in learning English very well in school. If you take that and add the receptiveness to take your own thing and blend it with the best that comes out of the US and the UK, I think you're getting close to the answer. Success is never a guarantee, but as long as your songs and albums have substance, quality and some kind of heart in them, your chances of getting heard and liked in the long run definitely increase.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Since I'm frankly quite far from being a "puritaliban," very few, if any. Give me A-Ha, Coldplay and the most maudlin John Denver seven days a week at the indie hipster Mecca Club.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

When I, on tour in the UK, one morning woke up in a luxury single room at Hotel Continental in London and the next found myself lying on a promoter's kitchen floor with rock hard minced meat bits everywhere and his dachshund gently licking my face.


Marcus Kagler is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.