Peter Bjorn and John frontman Peter Moren is stepping out into the uncertain world of the solo album. But just because it's risky doesn't mean it's not worth doing.
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As one third of Swedish indie rockers Peter Bjorn and John, Peter Moren is responsible for "Young Folks," one of this decade's most undeniably infectious songs: Since its release in 2006, the track - and others from Writer's Block, the breakthrough album that spawned it - has been plastered across TV advertisements, film soundtracks and a Kanye West mixtape, not to mention countless eardrums throughout the free world.
Not one to let complacency set in, however, Moren is back this month - sans usual bandmates Bjorn Yttling and John Eriksson - for The Last Tycoon, a debut solo disc of warm, introspective folk-pop. I caught up with the singing, songwriting Swede last week (via long-long-distance phone call to Scandinavia) to talk about the new album, the importance of being restless and why the next Peter Bjorn and John record might have more in common with film music than indie power-pop.
Phoenix: After putting out three albums as the singer of Peter Bjorn and John, now you have this album as just Peter. How does The Last Tycoon fit into the grand scheme of things?
Peter Moren: [Laughs] I'm not sure. It's just something I felt I needed and wanted to do. There's no big plan to take over the world. It's for myself.
Phoenix: A lot of the time, artists who take a break from their main gig to make a solo album, especially one that's more stripped down like this one is, tend to get the singer/songwriter label applied to them. Is that a term you shy away from, or do you think it fits what you're doing?
PM: I mean, it probably should because it's definitely more folky and acoustic, and I deliberately chose songs for this record that had a very defined way of playing guitar. I recorded everything, like the vocal and guitar, live, and then put everything else on afterward. So you kind of work around the song rather than building a wall of sound and putting the vocal on the top - that's what I usually do with Peter Bjorn and John. It's a totally different way of working. But then I think the songs themselves are pretty similar [to those of Peter Bjorn and John]. It's more about how you arrange them, I guess.
Phoenix: With the volume of the music turned down, there ends up being a lot more focus on your voice with this record. Did you feel more pressure than usual when it came to writing lyrics? Are the songs maybe more autobiographical than the ones you write for Peter Bjorn and John?
PM: Not really. I mean, most of my songs, or 90 percent of them, are autobiographical, whether it's this record or the Peter Bjorn and John stuff. I always focus a lot on the words; they're always pretty important to me. But this time around I could stretch out a bit more and play with it a bit more. Like this one song that's probably my favorite on the record ["This Is What I Came For"], I have six verses. To be able to do that kind of thing, maybe I wouldn't have done that in the band. I listen to music where there's a lot of attention to the words and where there's a rambling, rhythmic feeling to the singing and you have a lot of information in a kind of a stream-of-consciousness thing. So [I thought] maybe I could do that a bit more, and this record was a bit liberating.
Phoenix: Having recorded the album by yourself, how do you deal with suddenly not having bandmates to bounce your ideas off of? Does this record feel riskier than your others, or is it, like you said, liberating to do things completely on your own for a change?
PM: Of course it's riskier in a way [laughs]. It's a bit scary and at the same time liberating. But I actually just got the proper album now at home on vinyl with the packaging and everything, which is really nice - my girlfriend painted the picture for the cover. And I just put it on my little gramophone here, the vinyl player, and I felt that I succeeded because it's very intimate. You feel the voice in the room, and that's just what I wanted. And with the cover and the whole thing, it's supposed to feel very homemade, so I guess in that way it's more personal, maybe, the sound of the record. It's me, and in that way [it's] maybe risky as well because it's naked. But that was the aim, too - risky but good.
Phoenix: The Last Tycoon takes its title from the film of the same name, which of course is also based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's final novel. What's the thematic connection there?
PM: I'm not totally sure [laughs]. To begin with, I just really liked the name. And when I saw the movie - that was probably five or six years ago - I just remembered that name. I kept it in my head because I liked the way it sounded. But together with this very intimate and low-key album, it's kind of ironic to have this grandiose name, The Last Tycoon, and then it's me sleeping on the cover [laughs]. It's not a concept album or anything. I kind of liked the mix of that name and this music.
And there's something sad about it, too, because that film captures a film producer who can't really mix his work and his life. He's a very successful producer, but he has some health problems and some personal problems. He's sort of a success that's starting to fail. And in stories - maybe not in my personal life - but in stories and in songs, I like that thing, when it's not only success and achieving and ambition but also that sort of doubt and drawbacks. That's the way life goes, up and down.
Phoenix: The name also evokes a sort of earlier time, and the music is certainly a lot different from that of your Peter Bjorn and John albums in that the songs seem to have a lot more to do with the sounds of earlier American rock and pop - strummier guitars, harmonica on a couple tracks. And some of them even have a kind of country shuffle to them. Did you consciously try for such a different tone for this record?
PM: Yeah, I just wanted to take it in that direction, but there are songs on those older Peter Bjorn and John records that sort of sounded like this at first. It was more about keeping that original way of writing the song and not making it poppier. Around the time I started recording I was listening a lot to more acoustic music at home. I always listen to Dylan but also Tim Hardin or Fred Neil or maybe M. Ward, too - newer stuff in that vein. But also I listen a lot to The Go-Betweens, which is different but still has that poetic feeling to the words. It's not only about old singer/songwriters, but it's totally about the song and the classical songwriting thing rather than trying to make a poppier production.
Phoenix: Do you think then that this album is maybe more pure or true to yourself?
PM: I mean, it's me, so I guess [it is] in a way. On the other hand, a band is always a band, and you all have ideas and input. I could probably make a solo record that sounded more like Peter Bjorn and John, but there really wouldn't be a point - maybe if we had split up, but right now we're bound to go several more years. So if you want to do something by yourself, you should do something different. But I also have an urge to make a punkier record sometimes. I guess I like the extremes [laughs].
Phoenix: Let's talk more about the band for a bit. You've been making music with Peter Bjorn and John for a few years now and not getting a whole lot of attention for it. Why do you think Writer's Block finally stuck?
PM: A couple of reasons. Of course, there's the hit ["Young Folks"] - that's kind of obvious, and we didn't have any hits like that before. But then it's also pretty simple and direct, I think. The first records need a bit more attention before they get under your skin. But also, to be honest, the first two records weren't released around the world. They were only available in Sweden.
Phoenix: At a certain point, you kind of have to wonder, being a buzz band like that, if the reputation gets in the way of the music - you become more well-known for the attention that you're getting than the songs themselves or being hyped that people don't even give you a chance and just tune you out. Having been on the receiving end of all that hype, what's your perspective on it?
PM: Oh my God, I don't know. I mean, it's scary in a way. Of course, it's great because we're able to live off of it now because we actually sell records, and we didn't do that before. [Laughs] I pay my rent with music money and that's amazing; I used to have other jobs. But what I think is very important, and it's one reason that I'm making this solo record, is that you've got to keep striving for new things and different things and you can't be laid back and "Oh, I'm successful." You'll get very boring. Like, in the band, we try to do new things all the time, even though it's all about pop songs. It's still different ways of doing it. You've got to have that element of uncertainty and throwing yourself out of it.
Phoenix: The fact that Writer's Block was so ubiquitous or at least seemed so ubiquitous seems to have had a lot to do with the fact that you guys licensed a lot of the songs for TV commercials. Ten or 15 years ago, that would have been considered selling out, but today it's kind of standard indie rock practice. How do you feel about lending your art to advertising?
PM: Once again, it's a way of making a living, I guess, with record sales going down. I don't know. I don't really have a problem with it. It depends on what it is about, of course. I mean, there's a lot of things we said "No" to. And it also depends a bit on how it looks and everything. And I know when Writer's Block started to [get big] in Europe, there were a couple of things I kind of regret saying yes to now, in perspective. But then, it was like "Oh, somebody wants to use a song for a commercial!" And it was the first time that had happened to us, so then it was a good thing and we said "Yes" to some things. But there are a couple of those earlier ones we would have skipped, like one for Budweiser [laughs].
It's always from case to case. I wouldn't really say something general. I think it's easier when they don't use the vocal and just the music, like they often do. It makes it less personal and then it's less of a problem. If it's used in films, that's great, because everyone wants to make film music.
Phoenix: Do you plan on someday scoring a film or doing a soundtrack?
PM: I'm hoping to. I mean, we've finished an instrumental album that's going to be released in the fall, and part of the idea for that was for movies. But now I don't know, we'll see what's happening. It's still aimed to be released as a proper album.
Phoenix: This is a Peter Bjorn and John record? The next one?
PM: Yeah.
Phoenix: How did that turn out? What was the idea behind it?
PM: Once again, it was something we wanted to do, so we did it.
Phoenix: I guess I mean, is it going to sound like a Peter Bjorn and John record only without the vocals?
PM: It's pretty much all over the place. It's a bit freer maybe. Some songs are pretty noisy and some have that soundtrack vibe to them. I don't know. You'll have to listen. I'm not going to tell you too much.
The Last Tycoon comes out April 8 on Quarterstick Records. Peter Morén performs an all-ages show at Schubas April 26 at 7 p.m. Now that you've read about it, listen to it. Visit www.myspace.com/petermorn.
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