• photography by BEATRICE HOLMBERG
    stylist MEGHAN SCOTT
    hair & make up ANGELICA BECKMAN
    photographer's assistant ARDA EKEN

    jacket STELLA MCCARTNEY
    shirt BACK
    top WEEKDAY
    trousers 2ND DAY
    earrings ARTIST'S OWN

    An Interview with Tove Styrke

    Written by Mari Florer

    “I was unsure if I wanted to do music anymore”

    Tove Styrke is a very memorable person, somebody that if you meet her once, you’ll never forget her. After participating in the Swedish music talent TV show “Idol” in 2010  and releasing her first album, Tove Styrke felt like she was under a lot of pressure and needed a break.

    She decided to take a time-out and move to her parents in Umeå, in the north of Sweden. While living there, she was unable to escape her drive to create music and luckily she never stopped writing. After nine months break, she had created enough new material and was longing to go back into the recording studio again.

    – I wish that more people had the opportunity to get really bored in order to find out what they want to do in life. When you get really bored an insight arise and that was what happened to me. Even if I did not have a record label or anything, I realized that music is and always will be a significant part of my life, Tove says.

    When she eventually returned to Stockholm to work on her new album - a more experimental and personal one, ‘Kiddo’,released in 2015, which received excellent reviews. Tove is now working in the studio again with and has a  plan to release new songs next year. I had the chance to have a ‘fika’, basically a Swedish coffee break, with her in Stockholm recently.

    MB: What is happening in your career right now?
    TS: I'm working on new songs and I think they are the best I've ever done so far. Hopefully. You always feel that way when you do something, but then again, you are not always right. I do not know yet if there will be an album or not - we'll see. Today, there are no special rules for how to publish music. Anyways, next year I will release something new.

    MB: How do you make your songs?
    TS: Now, I have worked quite a lot with my producer Elof and we have slowly and steadily built up the songs. We are going through one at a time until they are finished. I've never been this meticulous before - I really like it.
    It’s all starting to crystallize, In the beginning when you make music you do not really know what it will lead to - it´s just a feeling. These new songs will be more stripped down and simple than the songs on Kiddo.

    MB: What are your lyrics about?
    TS: About love, one of them is like “just want to be with you - we are so good” and another is a “fuck song”. I like them both.

    MB: Do you write everything yourself?
    TS: I started to write my own lyrics after Idol. I really enjoy writing.

    MB: Time Magazine wrote that your album Kiddo “Is a Feminist Pop Triumph” - what do you think about that?
    TS: Yes, but it is usually in foreign countries where they think it’s special if you are a tough young woman, they see you as a feminist. I just think I'm a reasonable human being. I think it is quite normal. What else would I be?

    MB: You've released two albums; Tove Styrke (2010) and Kiddo (2015), Which of them do you like most?
    TS: I like both. However, I see Kiddo as my real debut album. It is more diffused and personal. There are a lot of personal impressions that have been processed in Kiddo. My first album Tove Styrke is more of an ordinary pop album. I like it too, it is a good craftsmanship, but it does not say much about me really. I was angrier on the Kiddo album. I had a bit of a crisis when I was 19-20. All of a sudden a feeling of empathy started to grow inside me. I woke up and realized that the world does not just revolve around me and that I'm just a small part of it all. To understand that others can be affected by how I act - it was hard to realize.

    MB: What happened after your break from music?
    TS: I was impatient to try new things. I had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish. Me and Janne Kask (Brainpool) were very productive, we made like five songs in five days.

    MB: Have you been interested in working with something else?
    TS: No, not really, I have been singing and involved in music since I was little girl.

    MB: How did you end up in Idol?
    TS: They had received an anonymous tip about me. I got a call and then I went to the audition.

    MB: Were you afraid of failure?
    TS: No, the first four times before it went live, I was completely convinced that I was casted as a Jester or something. I thought it went horribly..

    MB: Was it fun?
    TS: It was very stressful. I wasn’t dead serious, and that was probably the reason why it went well for me. If you're not afraid you can just go for it.

    MB: What do you think would have happened if you won instead of getting third place?
    TS: I think it would have been about the same. Probably, if I had taken the break from the music earlier. The positive side of getting third place is that I have been saved from producing a stress album, and that is good - very good actually.

    MB: Tell us a little about your family?
    TS: I come from an ordinary family in Umeå. I have two sisters, one who is twelve years older and one who is four years younger.  My dad is a musician and mom has always been doing things related to dance. I have been in a three and a half year relationship and we live together in Hägersten, in Stockholm.

    MB: Do you like living in Stockholm?
    TS: I think it takes quite some time before you feel at home in Stockholm, but at the same time I get bored when I'm in my hometown Umeå. I can’t be there for a long time - there's really not much to do there.

    MB: You dance in your videos. Do you like dancing?
    TS: I love it. I like to combine dance and pop music in new ways. There is so much pop music that has the same type of dancing in every video and I think it's so boring. I want to show people that dance can be so much more than that and that it can be really interesting.
    My cousin, who is really good at contemporary dancing, has taught me a lot. I loved performing at the The Swedish Grammis, it was amazing. I begged for ten dancers for the show and I'm so glad I got them.. At first they said that I could only have three, but I said no because I wanted to bring a whole bunch of them.

    MB: Are you training a lot?
    TS: No, I have tried to make a valiant effort, but I'm really bad at doing stuff that has a specified time because I cannot decide to be in a specific place at a certain time. I never make plans longer than two weeks because so many things turn up all the time and then I have to prioritize.

    MB: Who picks out your clothes?
    TS: I have mostly been in the studio the last year wearing a hoodie, so I have not really kept up with the trends lately. I usually work with stylists when I do something on television or on tour.

    MB: Do you have a favorite designer?
    TS: Right now I like Ganni. I like these shoes I'm wearing now.

    MB: What are your plans for the future?
    TS: One of the goals I want to achieve is to be better at working more parallel. I need to start writing faster after a tour or maybe even during the tour. I really don’t want it to go 1.5 years before I start to write again.
    My other plan is to do the same tour I did last time, when we was touring around in the United States and UK .

    MB: Which place did you like the most?
    TS: It has always been a dream to tour in the United States. Even my band was into touring there. Every day, we ran into a new city and we all thought it was really exciting.  UK was also nice, but a little more grey. It was really fun to travel with the band Years and Years because they have wonderful fans and they are really great guys.

    MB: What kind of music do you like?
    TS: I haven’t listened too much to music lately - just my own. But I listen to a lot of podcasts.

    MB: Do you like any old music then?
    TS: The first musician I really liked was Bob Dylan and Patti Smith.

    MB: What do you think about Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature? Do you like him?
    TS: I like his texts very much. He's damn good at rhyming.

    MB: What are you doing for the holidays?
    TS: I’m going  home to my family in Umeå. Everyone will be there! And I especially can’t wait to see my sister’s child.

    jacket DIESEL
    shirt BACK
    skirt 2ND DAY
    stockings LOUISE KÖRNER
    shoes J.LINDEBERG 
    jacket WHYRED
    overalls 2ND DAY
    jacket WHYRED
    blouse 2ND DAY
    jacket STELLA MCCARTNEY
    top BACK
    ring MARIA NILSDOTTIR
    jacket WHYRED
    blouse, jeans & shoes 2ND DAY
    stockings WOLFORD
    earrings ARTIST'S OWN
    jacket WHYRED
    overalls 2ND DAY
    top LOUISE KÖRNER
    tousers MONKI
    sunglasses KAIBOSH
    ring MARIA NILSDOTTIR

  • photography by SANDRA MYHRBERG
    styling JAHWANNA BERGLUND
    make up ELISABETH CEWERS
    photographer's assistant STEPHANIE CETINA

    Agonist: An Invisible Wardrobe

    Written by Giovanna Pisacane by Stephanie Cetina

    “All the fragrances are inspired by our culture, our country; even the climate is a source of inspiration”

    Niclas Lydeen considers the perfume line as a storytelling.

    Niclas with his partner (and wife) Christine founded Agonist in 2008, a niche Scandinavian perfume brand. 

    In just a few years, Agonist has expanded its borders. You can find Niclas and Christine’s fragrances in more than 267 stores, perfume boutiques and interior design stores in Italy, the United Kingdom and in the USA. “Next step: Japan. Many Japanese retailers are interested in our products. Sometimes I think about the moment when all this started. We were interested in raw materials, we were trying to understand patchouli, sandal. We were focusing on different inspirations. You know, when you work in fashion, for example, you have constant visual inspirations. But this is another world. You try to reproduce feelings with smell.”

    Niclas takes inspiration from literature, music and poetry. “A Swedish novelist I keep reading is Karin Boye. She has written amazing books and she can really capture certain “Scandinavian” feelings as melancholy, loneliness after a storm, the lights. And I personally love Tomas Tranströmer, who has died recently. With just a few words his writings are able to open up into infinite associations, and his use of metaphors is so inspiring”. 

    Both came from a creative background; Niclas and Christine were working for different brands, spending most of their time on creative concepts. “I was working as a visual artist and a product designer, while my wife was working in the fashion industry when we came up with the idea of launching a fragrance brand. I believe that design and fashion are two backgrounds that come together. One of our first ideas was to create an invisible wardrobe. Scents are abstract. What you wear can be considered as an extension of your personality”.

    Niclas explained that breaking into the niche perfume market has been a natural process. “We started producing our own ideas by launching expensive, limited-edition design products, presenting them to collectors and receiving international recognition. From this point we decided to go further, finding our way into perfumes. And we shared confidence, education, experience and also useful references from what we did before”.

    Today Agonist has a strong identity. Every fragrance is able to dress you.”When you get in contact with Agonist, it's like having the possibility to choose a different dress, a different style, depending on your mood”.

    Agonist wants to overthrow the idea that every person should have his/her own fragrance. “People should discover more and play with scents as a natural way of self-expression. We've received loads of positive feedback from people who have always been using the same perfume for years. You know, it is like with food in a way; people shouldn't be afraid to try new things. In the same way, it is so boring to always wear the same smell. Once a customer told me that “Solaris” was the first fragrance  he used after ten years of wearing the same perfume every single day”.

    Personalizing perfumes is a trend lately. “We have been asked (but we have never done it.) The closest we have been is creating a fragrance for a brand. This happened last year with the Swedish clothing brand Hope. We produced three candles and one perfume (Hope), inspired by tactile materials, the way they cut the leather, the style of their stores. And the names of the candles were very important for us, because they expressed perfectly the feeling of that moment: “Hope for diversity”, “Hope for freedom” and “Hope for courage”.

    A new scent “White lies” came out on the market in November and it is presented with a quote from the Scottish artist and musician Momos: “Every lie creates a parallel world, the world in which it is true.” Niclas describes it as a joyful and playful fragrance that doesn’t reveal itself at first, just like a little lie. It is a smooth sensation that becomes stronger. 

    “We wanted to create a scent that takes you to another dimension where dreams, stories and fantasies come to life. In the end it keeps its promise and becomes a symbol of truth, yet with some intriguing shades.”

    The packaging reveals the fragility but also the power of what you call a lie: a simple clean bottle with a little crack in the middle. You see, the bottle is cracked but it is not broken. At the same time a white lie can't hurt you.”

    blazer & tshirt NICOLAI D'ÉTOILES
    jeans & rings NICLAS' OWN
    jacket GANNI
    shirt FILIPPA K
    trousers & ring CHRISTINE'S OWN
    Christine wears
    blazer FRAME
    dress GANNI
    bracelet CHRISTINE'S OWN
    ring MARIA NILSDOTTER
    Niclas wears
    blazer & tshirt NICOLAI D'ÉTOILES
    jeans & ring NICLAS' OWN
  • photography by STEPHANIE CETINA

    An Interview with Ellen Sundberg

    Written by Mari Florer
     

    Ellen is ready for the next harbour

     

    23 years old, she released her third album “Cigarette Secrets” and she is already talking about producing a fourth.

    – I hope it will not be too long before I release a new album. I'm in a very productive period right now.

     

    But first, Ellen Sundberg want to spread her songs from “Cigarette Secrets” abroad. She guesses that Germany becomes the first country to launch her new album in.

    - It looks like it will be an intense tour next year, she says.

     

    I meet her when she has just completed a short tour in the south of Sweden. She is a bit disappointed about that she had to cancel two gigs, because of her cold. She says that it´s the disadvantage of being a musician - that she is dependent on her voice.

     

    Do you enjoy being on stage?

    Yes, but it takes quite a while to get into it. It´s only when you start playing for real as the music gets into your muscles.

    When I was on my first tour for about three and a half years ago, I was very worried. How will this go? I thought. I´m a person who likes to be home in the country. I usually get stressed by meeting crowds of people, but when I came out on the roads it felt so right. I need the contrasts, I think.

     

    Now she longs to come home, charge her batteries and start writing. Ellen wrote her first song when she was around seventeen years old, and from that day she does everything on her own.

    – The best part of writing your own lyrics is that you can use your imagination freely. I can do whatever I want, she says. No one interferes you.

     

    From where comes your inspiration?

    Usually from my life and what has happened in the last year. My experiences need to grow for a while before I write them down. The lyrics are often inspired by a specific happening, but I love to fantasize so my songs contain a lot of imagination.

     

    Your albums have different sounds. Why?

    On the latest album “Cigarette Secrets” I had an idea about producing a more straight and accessible album. I was curious about how it would sound like. I also got a new producer: Sanken Sandqvist. He has produced a lot of music in that niche. He is also Managing Director at BMG Scandinavia.

     

    What song on the new album do you like the most?

    I like “I´ll be your Harbour”. I have a special feeling about that song. I can´t explain why.

    “Favorite town” is the listener´s favorite. But “Blame it on the dreamer” becomes more and more popular on Spotify.

     

    How will your fourth album be like?

    Once more, I want to record a different album from the earlier ones. But I still want to make a direct and available album for a wider audience. Maybe I will use more traditional instruments, but in a simple manner. I like the sound when your not to good playing a specific instrument. It feels very alive.

     

    It seems like Ellen is a little ambivalent about her singing style. She is the girl from the country who loves singing Americana and at the same time she is eager to learn and try new things - she is experimenting a lot. She also likes challenges. For example, you can see a video on YouTube where she sings Televisions “Marquee Moon”. It´s fantastic.

     

    How did this Television cover version idea arise?

    It´s all about contacts in this business. My producer Sanken Sandqvist and Richard Lloyd, who was the guitarist in Television, are friends. Richard was going to add some guitar in some of my songs and the day before we should meet him in New York, my producer asked if we could record a Television cover. So, I listened through some of their songs and I fell for “Marquee Moon”.

    I barely remembered the text and it all happened very fast. I think it took less than one hour.

     

    It´s apparent that Ellen is from the country. This young woman expresses the independence and humility you often get when you grow up in a smaller place. She describes the nature around her village Bjärme in the middle of Sweden, where she lives. She smiles when she talks about the woods, mountains and the big lake she has around the corner. It´s in this surroundings she write her songs.

    – I think that nature has shaped my personality very much, she says. People ask if I will move to Stockholm, but I like Bjärme. And it´s not that far from Stockholm.

     

    So now, on your trip back home, what music are you listening to in the bus?

    I will listen to a band I have never heard before; Little May. I´m not usually listening to new music so I´m very euphoric about that I have been discovering them.

     

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