The life and times of Jose Gonzalez
The defining characteristic of Jose Gonzalez’ music is that it speaks to everyone. His ambient, stripped-down style embodies the essence of musical purity; a minimalist landscape conveyed in a language that is unequivocally universal. By the time the haunting harmonies of 'Heartbeats' had reached a global audience in 2005, courtesy of Sony, Gonzalez’ melancholic musings had already made a lasting impression in Sweden and mainland Europe.
With two critically-acclaimed solo albums to his credit, Gonzalez reunited with his original band Junip in 2010 following a five year hiatus. His return to the trio is marked not as a departure from his somnolent sound but rather an expansion into new tonal territories. Now set to embark upon a European tour in support of their first full-length album, Fields, I caught up with the sonorous Swedish songwriter to gain an insight into his past, present and prospective future.
2010 saw the return of Junip, was it easy to fall back into a band mindset?
Yeah, musically when we started playing it sounded good from the start and that was a big relief; I thought it might take a long time before we sounded ok. It took time to write the songs though, there were times when it was frustrating but that is normal for me when I’m writing.
How did you write Fields; did you work on parts separately or did the songs develop through playing together?
We jammed for weeks and weeks for the album. We always try to write together and we were lucky to have recording gear in our rehearsal space. Whenever we found something we liked, we recorded it straight away and just gathered a lot of media bytes filled with good music. It’s only in the last minute that I write the lyrics on my own.
Have you always written the music before you write the lyrics?
Yeah, I’ve tried writing lyrics before I had any music, and it’s always been a bit weird. It’s easier to start with the music and then start making melodies and then afterwards add meaning to it.
There was a five year gap between the band’s first ep Black Refuge and Fields, had you always planned to come back and make a full-length album?
Yeah, I’ve been talking about it ever since I started touring on my own, but it was always the case of trying to find the right time for it. Before I released my second album, we sat down and talked about trying to do this properly so we decided that after I finished the tour for that album we could give it a go.
Does the band have any plans for the future; is there a second album on the cards?
Oh yeah definitely, we’ve already written new songs. We’re going to save some of them for the second album and other ones are about to be released as an EP. It used to take me a while to write new material, now with Junip it seems to flow.
The artwork for Fields is quite striking, it seems like there’s a story behind it.
Yeah, it was all done by a Swedish artist named Fredrik Söderberg. I sent him the music before he painted it, and it’s in the same style of the things that he has done before. It has a lot of iconic, tribal and almost religious iconography buried underneath it. I love the way he combines very light colours, we try to avoid darker imagery.
Your music videos have always carried significant symbolic undertones, how did you develop the idea for the Teardrop video for instance?
Andreas Nilsson was behind it; he’s done many of my videos and three of the Junip videos. We talked about doing something that resembled He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a collage kind of video.
Your other collaborations with Nilsson featured characters created by cartoonist Jim Woodring. What drew you to his work?
Andreas knew of his stuff, so it was his idea. We sat down to talk about the videos and I mentioned what I was thinking about when I wrote the music for In Our Nature. The album played on the idea that we’re all humans and animals so the hog-man felt like an interesting character that embodied the two.
You sighted The God Delusion as an influence for your second album. How did the work of Dawkin’s help shape In Our Nature?
I was interested in the whole debate of science versus religion. I was searching for a topic to write about and it felt like one that influences the whole world. We know so much about nature right now compared to what we knew one hundred, two hundred years ago. I felt like it was an interesting clash to write about; on the one hand you have maybe more than 50% of the world believing in spirits and the divine creator and at the same time, we know so much about human biology that we’re able to take modern medicine for granted. I think Dawkins has many interesting punch lines when it comes to that debate. With Junip, I think I’ve continued a bit in that vein, especially on the song 'Howl', but I was thinking more about Daniel Dennett and his views on free will.
Your second album displayed a far greater depth in terms of lyrical theme, were there particular factors that led to this development?
I’m not sure to be honest; I’ve always been uncomfortable writing lyrics. I think I’ve always just wanted to avoid writing relationship lyrics. I have to say that when I’m writing, it’s mostly about finding words that sound good; most of the time it’s not as deep as it seems. I try to find images that fit the music; I like it when it’s not that obvious what it’s all about, many of the times I was thinking about a few things so it’s more about art than trying to be intellectual.
Did you ever encountered problems writing in English?
Yeah, when I started I wrote things with the wrong grammar or chose words that were a bit awkward, words that nobody uses; the song 'Storm' comes to mind. But nowadays, I’ve been on tour so much, I use English all the time when I’m speaking to people and I’ll read in English. I would say that writing is equally difficult with English as it is with Swedish. Most of the time, it’s more about finding stuff to write about than how to express yourself.
What was the first album that you ever bought?
I think it was called Break Machine; it was like a breakdance LP that I bought with my brother. I was six I think and he was five. After that, it took a long time before I officially started buying music myself; then it was Michael Jackson. The first one was actually cooler than all of the other stuff I listened to later.
You were working on a PhD in Biochemistry when your solo career took off, was it a difficult decision to focus on your music?
No, it was really easy actually. I had done one and a half years of my PhD studies, and in Sweden they have a half-way mark when you are supposed to present them with what you have been up to and how things have been going. It’s good if you have something published or at least have some results and I didn’t have that much. So I took half a year off to see if I could make it with just music and it went really well in Sweden in 2003, so the decision then was quite easy.
You were part of the Gothenburg hardcore scene in the nineties, how did that experience influence your solo career?
I’m not sure; of course everything that you’ve been into in the past affects you in some way. My lyrics have a tone that is similar to the hardcore lyrics that I used to write; maybe the diy mentality as well.
You’ve always had a down to earth approach to recording your music, was that in part due to the same diy mindset?
Yeah I think so. When we were playing hardcore, a lot of our friends had their own labels, so instead of going to big labels to try to release their stuff they would just put it out themselves. That’s what I did with my first solo album and also with Junip.
How did you make the transition from punk to acoustic music?
I never really switched, when I first started playing bass in the punk band I was also learning how to play guitar and writing my own acoustic songs, so I used to be doing the two at the same time. It was more like a gradual letting go of the bands that I was in because I was studying so much, I didn’t feel like I had the time to rehearse with different bands every day.
You have also become known for your unique cover versions; how do you decide which songs to record?
Most of time, I’ll pick something that seems interesting. If I’m going to record it, I always feel like it needs to be interesting in some way; that it’s so different you wouldn’t expect it to be a cover. 'Love will tear us apart', 'Teardrop' and 'Heartbeats', they would all be some of my favourite songs. 'Hand on your Heart' was a more interesting cover. The video was pretty happy and the production was pretty happy and yet the lyrics were about being heartbroken.
Can you remember playing your very first gig with Junip?
Yeah it was in 97 or 98; we played in a cellar in Gothenburg with a band from the States called Unwound. I didn’t know if I was going to play one or two of my own songs first and then play with Junip but at the last moment, we decided to only play as Junip. From then on, I decided to make Junip separate from my own solo work.
You’re going on tour with Junip in the coming weeks, is there a level of excitement in the camp at the moment?
Yeah definitely, I feel like we’ve stepped it up a bit and the songs are sounding better and better. We released the album in September so it’s been enough time for people to have listened to it. It’ll be our first time in Ireland as a group so we can’t wait.
Have you thought about making a third solo album in the near future?
Yeah, we’re already writing new material for Junip and I’m also writing solo stuff. During the autumn, we’ll take a break from touring and just write new music. But I don’t know which order the releases will come, there will be music coming out from both sides.
What have been the highlights of your career so far?
Having a crowd of people there to listen to my music is the greatest highlight I could ask for. There have been some weird shows that have stood out as well though. One was in my hometown, the Dali Llama was there and I was the opening act. It was in a hockey arena; it was pretty surreal.
What do you hope to be remembered for?
I’ve had people tell me that they met their partners through my music. Even now, when younger people tell me that they grew up with my music, I realise that I’ve been around for awhile. That’s more than I ever could have asked for. I’m just happy I can play my music and if people like it, it’s a bonus. My ambitions have always been more on a personal level, I just want to have an interesting and fun life and make the most of it.
Junip will play live in Whelan’s on February 4th 2011.
