Interviews

Pacific

Bill Cummings 21/07/2008

We caught up with new Swedish band Pacific. Like a French disco Beach Boys or ELO. Justice, Fluo Kids and Sebastian Tellier are big fans already.

Their new album 'Reveries', is out on Half Machine Records on 11th August, as a taster they're putting out a 12" of the song 'Sunset Blvd' a week before it features remixes by frYars, Popular Computer (Kitsune) and Triangles (Luke Smith from Clor and producer of Shitdisco etc). Simon Lord from Simian and Black Ghosts also remixed the song, Which you can download here:

Pacific- Sunset Boulevard(Lord Skywave mix)- free download

Hi, there how are you?

D: Very well thank you.

What's your name and what do you do?

B: My name is Björn Synneby and I play guitar and sing in a band called pacific! With me I have Daniel Högberg that plays keyboards and keeps the martinis chilled.

When did you meet as an act?

D: We knew each other from school, but didn´t see each other for many, many years. Then we met by chance a few years back and a great friendship evolved. After a while, we decided to get a place together where we could keep all our instruments and where we could sit and write and record music. As we had so much common ground musically, it didn´t take that long until we started to write and record together and eventually it evolved into pacific! But it was all very organic - there was a lot of walks and talks in the park and a lot of martinis until we decided to call it a band.

Who would you pinpoint as your main musical influences?

B: Good songwriting and discussions about inspiring images. We love a nice chord change in a song. A chordchange that makes a melody jump high over a beautiful valley is a nice one. And composers that treats their melodies that way inspire us a lot. It could be everything from Jeff Lynn to Claude Debussy.

Can you describe your sound in five words?

D: The World Above The Clouds
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What can you tell me about your label? How did you end up working with Half Machine?

B: We have been working on a cool remix single with Half Machine for some months and it was a natural step for us to ask Richard Onslow if we could release the whole album on his label. This label is a satelite label to XL Records and a very cool label on it's own with interesting releases like Stardeath and MIT.

What can fans expect from your live show? Who is supporting you?

D: We try to choose our gigs carefully and to do them a bit special. Lights and lasers and video projections made by Stephane Manel, the French illustrator, who makes all our artwork and videos. I think our audience is fairly eclectic - some are attracted to our electro side, some to our indie/pop side. I guess we get about the same kind of audience as, say, Hot Chip.

Can you tell us about your new record?

B: We recorded it in a period of three years in our studio that consists of instruments left by friends that moved in with girlfriends such as two sitars, a harpsichord, an autoharp, organs of all sizes and shapes, some flutes and of course our entire guitar collection (we are both rock guitarists at heart). We also have some very simple recording equipment in there. The thing with this record is that it is like a collection of work we've done together over the years and a sample of our thoughts and dreams about a different and more exiting worlds. A bit of every day sci-fi so to speak.

Do you like touring? What do you like to listen to on your tourbus? What do you like to do on your days off?

D: We don´t really do touring as such. Usually, it´s more like doing a gig in London one week and then fly down to Paris for a gig a few weeks later, so we never really had to do the tourbus thing. When we have days off we like to just hang around seeing friends and eat nice food.

What do you think about the new music download revolution? How is it changing the business?

B: I like revolutions. This particular revolution changes cd record sales and gives the audience more access to audio material. Hopefully it will soon be possible to give the audience access to cool visuals aswell. And just perhaps it will support gifted musicians some income from royalties. It's a new world filled with holes to cover with great ideas!

Since my site is called God Is In The TV what's your favourite TV show?

D: I very rarely watch tv - I don´t have one! But The Mighty Boosh, Flight Of The Concords and the like are cool.

What are your Future plans?

To play shows in the UK. And also release our record in USA. We are also recording new material and planning a tour in India where we are famous.

Thanks for your time

Pacific's album, 'Reveries', is out on Half Machine Records on 11th August, with the 12" and download of 'Sunset Blvd' out a week before.