Hot off the release of her latest album, Beauties Never Die, electro-pop Norwegian artist Sissy Wish refuses to limit her sound to a single genre. Her album combines rock stylings with pop sensibilities – this translated superbly to an energetic live set at Cicero’s last month. Before her show, ELEVEN spoke to Sissy Wish about American audiences, the music police, and defining European pop.
Sissy Wish – DWTS
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I got a couple questions, first question, Sissy Wish, are you talking about Pippy Long stocking from Astrid Lindgram’s novel?
Sissy Wish:
Yeah well, you can call me Pippy Long Stockings but she is like the strongest and most secure girl in the whole world, Sissy Wish maybe means something else. There is a different book from Astrid Lindgrams where he is like a tiny little boy, unsecure boy – Sissy Wish is something like that I think.
This album is a distinctive departure sound-wise from your last two albums, it seems like your last two albums are guitar heavy while this album has a more poptronica sound. Would you say that’s right?
SW:
Yeah. Everything is happening naturally, when you start to make music you’re not…trying to do things differently. Before, I really wanted to get more help to find my sound-scape. Now, I think its more fun to do it myself.
Now your from Bergen, and I know Bergen is a very big artist city – did it have a large influence on your album?
SW:
Ohhh, kind of, I think, all of us are like helping each other out, we collaborate a lot with each other, and that’s why I think you get inspired by the other musicians around. Also we are lucky in Bergen because we get a lot of funding… so we don’t have to do what the music industry tells us to do. You can do whatever you want to do first, and go and show people how amazing you are afterwards.
I came across you while listening to Anja Garbek. I was listening to her on Pandora radio, and it led to you. Do you think that what she does is inside your music and an influence in your sound.
SW:
Yeah – that’s why I started to make music, she has been my biggest inspiration.
Something I want to know – what’s your take that as you get more popular, the public is going to see you as part of that European pop project? You get bands like Peter Bjorn and John, I’m from Barcelona, Lykke Li – all these happy positive energy sounding bands coming out of Europe. Do you think you’ll be grouped into that, and would that be a good or bad thing?
SW:
Whatever! [laughs] I think its cool, people are always looking for references all the time, and you can’t do anything about it. I love to come up with references when people come to clubs and perform, and it includes music with bands everywhere. I think its cool and people need to make up their own decisions about stuff, and that’s fine.
Now you’ve been to the states three to five times.
SW:
Yeah.
So when you create a set list for a show where you can’t control the venue’s atmosphere or size, what goes into creating your set list?
SW:
We think about the venue we had the day before. We just talk about what we want to play, and we don’t have a clue about the venue sometimes. Maybe the P.A. won’t work as well as last time we played there. That’s the chances we have to take, and that’s what makes me the most nervous about playing these shows. Because you never know – the P.A. can break down in the middle of a concert and its already happened a couple of times [laughs].
Music has changed because of technology available to consumers. Do you think, overall, that this glut of technology that has come out is beneficial to music by creating opportunity for people who might not have otherwise had the chance to create and play music?
SW:
I think so. It’s the people’s choice, and I think people are nagging too much about how bad it is because people are losing their jobs. That is awful, but I think you have to think positive, to take action against what’s going on. It’s a new world for everyone and it scares a lot of people and it’s just a challenge. We need to think forward.
When you were here last, the American climate was different, different president and financial situations. When you come onstage, do you notice any changes in the audiences from last time?
SW:
When we toured last time it was really close to the…Volge!?
Ich spreche Deutshe?
SW:
[laughs] When we played in Minneapolis a year ago, really close to the election, people were really curious about what we felt since we were from a different country. People wanted to talk about that when we there last. Except that the people attending our shows are really enthusiastic all the time, and that is why keep coming back. Also people here are not music police. We have a lot of music police in Norway.
I didn’t know about that – tell me about it!
SW:
Well when you play in Norway sometimes, the show starts really late and people are drunk and they act like they are Superman – that they ‘know’ what kind of music you should play and they act like they know best.
Yeah we call those snobs.
SW:
You don’t meet those in the U.S. I meet all kinds of different people and everyone is enthusiastic, and that’s why we like being here!
When I watch videos of your shows the energy at your concert reminds me of the energy at a Girl Talk concert, everybody is dancing. Is that the energy you like going for?
SW:
Before, we were six people in a band, and I had a lot to hide behind. And now, we have a lot of stuff instead, and it is only two people on stage. And it makes me aware that it is important to make a connection with a crowd that is standing down there, because when everything is in front of me I need to move around and just make the sound-scape of the music come out. Because I think the music is best combined with my energy.
One random quick question – then we’ll be done. What do you like better a hand held mic or a mouth mic?
SW:
Physical is best, of course!