Looptroop Rockers Interview: SXSW 2010

Sweden and hip-hop don't exactly go together like two peas in a pod, but Looptroop Rockers have been plying their rhythms and rhymes across the globe for years. Their sprightly and impassioned live show is set to go down a storm at this year's SXSW. Spinner recently spoke to Mattias Lundh-Isen (a.k.a Supreme) to get the lowdown on their music.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Basically it's our version of hip-hop music!

How did your band form?

Some of us met in school and some by mutual friends at different parties in Västerås, a small town in Sweden where we grew up. This was around 1992-95 and we put out "albums" in the form of cassette tapes. We started our own label, David Vs Goliath in 1998 and a bunch of 12"s later, we released our debut album in 2000.

What are your musical influences?

Too many to mention! Everything from classic Public Enemy or BDP to eastern European jazz and the Swedish prog-rock that our parents would listen to.

How did you come up with the name Looptroop Rockers?

I think that's the name that stuck with us from way back. We officially added "Rockers" to our name a few years back because that was the name we would always use in the songs and on t-shirts. We're thinking about adding an extra word to the name for every album from now on.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Personally, it'd be R Kelly.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Toothbrush. Good friends!

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

To me, it was the show we did in Kwa-Mashu, a township outside of Durban, South Africa some years back. We did a South African tour and had shows in the cities and some shows in the townships. It was really an amazing experience and I felt like we really had come a long way from where we started. Same thing too for our first time in Japan or our first time in Australia. As far as regular tour stories go - we need to write a book about those.

Beatles or Stones?

To me, neither. It'd be Nas.