The Asteroids Galaxy Tour Interview: SXSW 2010

Danish neo soul-funk outfit the Asteroids Galaxy Tour began in the studio with core members Lars Iversen and Mette Lindberg, and at the prompting of Amy Winehouse. The band swiftly grew into a six-piece featuring Mads Brinch Nielsen (guitar, keys), Rasmus Valldorf (drums) and horn section, Miloud Carl Sabri (trumpet) and Svend Meinild (sax). Speaking from Copenhagen after a bitterly cold and unusually long winter, 26-year-old singer Mette Lindberg tells Spinner what's up with her band before they head to SXSW.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Big and soulful in a Nordic way, like a cold soul. It's a primal groove. We think that the music is a mix of many different genres and vibes.

How did your band form?

The core of our band is Lars, who's the main songwriter, and me, the singer. We met in 2007. He's the producer of our album too. When he played me some music, the sound that he managed to get through to the music was so amazing, and it was my thing as well -- the horns, the sounds. It was like the thing I had in my head, but I can't use a computer like he can. We sat down and began working and finished more songs. Then we wanted to play live and we didn't have a band. We supported Amy Winehouse. That was our first show and we thought, "F---, what are we going to do?" so we found some of our friends in Copenhagen who are good musicians and we rehearsed. We played for 20 minutes opening for Amy and that's how it started up. It's still the same band. Though me and Lars are the main core, it's like a collage. It's one big thing. It's a family

What are your musical influences?

Both me and Lars share a big love for soul music, Motown and Stax. We love James Brown, Prince, the Doors, Gorillaz, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, the Smiths, Billie Holiday, Blur -- there are so many things that we like. We like hip-hop and soul and jazz and pop music. It depends where you are in your life. Sometimes you listen to this album for so long and suck it into your body. Then you move onto something else.

A CD collection can be like a photograph album.

Exactly, I had a band that I really liked when I was 16 and I played some songs last year. I hadn't heard it in years and I didn't like it anymore. I thought, "okay, I see why I liked it, but I didn't think it was that good."

Like growing out of an old boyfriend.

Or a friend. I got really sad, then I looked at my music collection and thought I'm never going to hear that one again. I haven't felt that ever before. It was depressing . I never thought that would happen to me. I'm not 20 anymore.

How did you come up with your band name?

The band name existed longer than the band. Miloud, who plays trumpet in our live band, he's an old friend. He has some really good ideas; he comes up with the strangest things. He sees life in a different, beautiful way. He had talked about he wanted to do an acid-jazz experimental band but he never made that band. We wanted to have a band name that had a story to tell in itself and that you would think about. We thought the Asteroids Galaxy Tour was also like a soundtrack, like a movie. It was long, also annoying, but you had to learn it. So we stole it form him and now he's in the band.

Unusual, the Asteroids Galaxy ... Tour

People say the Asteroids Galaxy or they say the Asteroid Galaxy. Every time we go backstage to a gig, it's spelled in a new way.

What's your biggest vice?

Well, I never thought about it. What I can't stop doing that's naughty? I really like chips with dip. I think it's very naughty. And I like the dip the most. Crème fraiche with salt and pepper and a bit of lime.

That sounds really healthy. Is that a vice?

Yeah, but I like the dip the most! So, I have dip with chips.

What's in your festival survival kit?

What do you call it -- rubber boots. In Danish, you call it gummistøvler.

So, festivals in Denmark are as wet and muddy as in the UK?

Yes, they're one big puddle. Then, of course, I'd take earplugs. I've been to so many festivals where you sleep in a tent. I pack everything in there: pots, pans, socks. I'm so prepared.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Leonardo DiCaprio when he was in that series, like a family in a house...

'Growing Pains'

Yes, that was it. He was so sweet. We had that in Copenhagen. Also Michael J. Fox.

You like the cute boys.

At that time.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Guilty pleasure? Things people don't think are cool? You see, I don't care if someone thinks something isn't cool, because then I will think it's cool. I'm older, not 15 anymore. I don't care that much about what other people would say. But if this is something that you do and feel bad about doing? Not to be a holy hallelujah about the world but I really think about buying organic and buying things from your own country, so it doesn't have to be flown in. I don't use bad products in my house, only natural and good for the environment. But I feel bad because I fly a lot and drive in buses a lot, so even though I do things that are good for the environment, I feel sad because in the end I do bad things. You should do what you can without being dramatic but it's clashing with how I feel.

Beatles or the Stones?

I'm totally a Beatles person. I grew up with the Beatles. I know all their songs. I used to draw their surreal drawings as a child. But at the same time, I love the Stones. I grew up with the Beatles and I discovered the Stones later. So, both.

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

We're not like a rock 'n' roll band making strange and dangerous things, but when we had an apartment in New York one time, our drummer got locked in. So, he had to climb out of the window in his underwear to get out so we could get our gear. He couldn't get the door open, he was taking a shower and it wasn't his apartment. So, he had to climb out of the window in his underwear. It was quite funny.