Frander – An Xperience Interview

Frander – An Xperience Interview – by Liam Sweeny.

Folk isn’t solid. It’s as fluid as the waves that carry tradition across oceans and seas, to take root on the shores of a faraway land and bloom with the colors of the national flag. We spoke with Gabbi Dluzewski of the Swedish heavy folk band “Frandr.”

RRX: So I’m speaking with Gabbi Dluzewski of the Swedish band Frander, singer and Swedish Mandola player.

GD: Yes.

RRX: What does the word mean in Swedish.

GD: It’s an old Viking word, it’s not really used in Swedish common language anymore. And it means kindred and kin and friends and family, but also extended family. So I usually say that in one way, it’s more than family because we are all friends. As long as we are not enemies, we are friends. So it’s a very inclusive word. But still, it’s not only being friends. It’s like we have blood. We are human. We are human beings, and we are related. So that that is what it means. And it was a very used word because back in the days in Sweden, that was the word you used for allies and people you liked in general.

RRX: It’s apt that you use that word for the band because you are siblings, right?

GD: We started out as a as a pure family band. My little sister was in the band, my older brother and my wife. Our little sister, she left, but the rest of us are still in the band. So yes, it’s a family band.

RRX: Have you ever played with a band that wasn’t your family? Have you ever played in another band with other people?

GD: Of course. There are other people in this band as well, but yes, I have, but me and my brother, we have played in the same bands for twenty five years. So he has always been there.

RRX: When you’re growing up as siblings; I’m an only child, so I have no idea what it’s like for siblings. But I can imagine you all endeavor to do something great together. Did that start early, or was that something you guys grew up and you just happened to find that you all liked the same thing?

GD: We all like the same thing, but I think it’s a-, not a misunderstanding, but usually people think that because all siblings are playing music, that’s what we do when we meet each other and we are just happy and we play tunes and we are having fun. That’s not really the case with families playing music all the time. I think it can be very complicated to try to create music together. Speaking about music and doing music separately, that’s fine. And it’s a lot of fun, but it’s not like we are having a big family band and it’s like ‘yeah, that’s not working.’ We have always liked the same things, we have liked music and we have liked the similar type of music. And we have all played with my brother. I think it’s just started because I didn’t have a bass player in my band, so my parents told him to step up his game and play the bass in the band. So he had to. And then he has continued doing it.

RRX: You play folk or do you call it something else? Am I right on that? Is that is that what you guys focus on? Folk music or is it something else?

It depends on who you ask and where you are in the world. I think in reviews we have heard people or seen people calling it heavy folk, which I like. I like that brand heavy folk. And that’s something we have started using because people started calling us that.

GD: Here in Sweden, I think we are more like traditional. We end up in the genre of traditional Swedish music. We call it folk music over here. But folk music for you is Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and those people over here. Folk music is traditional music, and that’s where we end up. But I think nowadays we are a folk rock band and we aren’t very traditional anymore. I think that the genre lines, the borders are moving and we are moving.

RRX: From where you are folk means traditional. Is that like looking at Europe because you’ve toured Europe, you’ve toured the United States, you’ve toured everywhere. So touring Europe. You’re talking about Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and we have a big folk audience, a big folk music scene here. But like thinking about it being different over there. How would you describe the overall scene, aside from just the music, the pure music itself, but the actual crowds of fans, is the scene different for Europe than America or are they very similar?

GD: No, I think every place is different. But I also think that even within a country, every place is different. So it’s hard to say. Of course you have extremes. I mean, Japan, for example, is extremely different. So we did a big tour a couple of years ago. We did a world tour. We flew one circle around the world. We played forty shows in a row during two months. Then we started in Japan and played twelve shows in Japan. And of course, it was super beautiful. People were super kind we were very well treated and we loved it, but it was very, very different from what we were used to.

The even bigger difference was when we continued from Japan, we flew from Japan to Canada, and we had a six hour layover at Hawaii as we went to the beach. Then we continued to Canada. That was the big difference because Canada and North America is so different to Japan. The Japanese people were standing in line before the door opened, they were standing one hour in line to get their best seats. And when they were sitting listening during the show, they were quiet and they were watching. And the first shows,, I was like, ‘Holy shit, they hate us. They hate us. They don’t like what we are doing at all.’ And then after the show, they come up to us and they speak to us with first names. They give us gifts, and they were crying because they were so happy with the show. So it was it was so different. Coming to Canada, people were chatting and they were speaking to us and they were shouting things. So very different. So in that sense, yes. Very different.

But also within a country, places are different. And it depends so much on the vibe in the room. Over here, people are different than in North America. We have a different temper. I spoke with some friends in Poland. We have a project with a Polish band. They’re coming here tomorrow actually flying over from Poland, and they were asking, what’s the weather? And we were like, ‘you know, it’s dark.’ It’s kind of light for two hours during daytime. Uh, but now we have had clouds for a month. We haven’t seen the sun in a month. And it’s raining. It’s raining all the time. And of course, why am I saying this? Yes, because people are different depending on where you go. And it depends on so many other things. Over here we are in a certain way and like we can’t ignore the climate. The climate is definitely one reason why we are different here.

RRX: Do you have, um, something recorded at this point? I thought I had seen something that you guys had recorded. No, you had actually recorded two, Frandr and Frandr II.

GD: We have released two albums and an EP with the Polish project that we are doing. Just a month ago, we finished two new albums, so Frandr three and four.

RRX: What is it like in the studio when you have so many different instruments? I’m a blues dabbler, so, you know, my instruments in any band is going to be a drum set, an amp and a guitar and a bass, super basic. But you guys actually have a bigger spread of instruments. What’s it like in the studio coordinating all that, or is it the same as if you’re going to be up on stage?

GD: In a way it’s the same as being on stage, and in a way it’s not because it’s in the studio. So of course it’s different. I’m raised as a blues and rock guitar player and played rock bands my whole upbringing. I don’t think this is too different, actually. I think it’s the same. It’s the same way of handling a band and handling the music. Of course, it’s a bit different because like in a rock band, you have one melody instrument and that’s the singer. Here we have three melody instruments. We have the fiddle, we have the flute, and we have the singer. That means that you have to find a place for all those instruments. But that’s also what becomes interesting for us in there, because we have been working a lot; the easy way would be to just play the flute. You play the melody, fiddle, you play the second voice, I play the chords, bass. You play the bass notes like that’s the easy way. But it’s predictable.

And I think it becomes interesting when you start playing around with roles like if we want this or we want that this is the feeling we want in this song. We want it to sound like an electric guitar, like the riff should be so heavy. But who is the electric guitar in this band? Like, who is playing the riff? Is it me? Well, not necessarily. Maybe it’s the fiddle. Maybe the fiddle is the one playing really growly, growly fifths on the fiddle, for example. Or okay, we need a keyboard line here because I hear Rock band in my head all the time. So I need a keyboard line here. Okay. Flute. Give me something that sounds like a key so that becomes interesting to start. We’ll experiment with the different roles in the band.

RRX: Okay. Um, now, do you guys have any new songs or tours?

We have plenty of tours this spring. We have the US tour, US and Canada now in January and in March we are doing a Swedish run, and in April we are going to Norway for a show. Then in summer we have a bunch of tours. We are going back to Canada and the US and also festivals over here in Europe. And then in September we start releasing stuff. Also, we have an album coming out and we have singles coming out and we have many exciting things happening.

 

 

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