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Smith & Thell is one of Sweden’s most sought after songwriter & producer combos. The pair are making moves with pure sonic goodness and fresh folk sounds with pop delights. They recently dropped the fresh new track “Row” and are gearing up for the release of their debut album.
GroundSounds recently caught up with the duo to talk about their latest jam, musical inspirations and more, check out the exclusive interview below.
For those discovering Smith & Thell, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you two started this musical journey together?
We met in our hometown of Helsingborg, which is in Southern Sweden. Victor saw Maria playing acoustic at a local rock-club and asked her if she needed a drummer. After they started playing together, things evolved from that to writing songs together. We recorded a first un-official album together with some other band members under another name and the producer we hired back then was a major pot head. He smoked a lot of weed and would fall asleep on the couch every session, so we had to take over and finish the songs. We learned from this and definitely has a lot to do with why we like to to do everything ourselves and depend on producers or other songwriters to be able to get our vision through. We then developed into writers for other artist and continue to do so today, in addition to working on our own music.
What do you guys enjoy most about Stockholm? What is one thing every visitor should see or do?
In the summer it’s absolutely beautiful. We love the ‘hang around the park’ vibe the town gets during that time. Visitors should hang in one of our beautiful parks, have a picnic and drink some beer!
Can you tell us about the writing and creative process involved with you track “Row?”
Our latest single ROW is a fight song for grownups. When you grow up you realize that life doesn’t go “merrily down the stream” like we were told when we were kids. It’s a song about looking your demons right in the eyes and saying you will will make it through the hard times, no matter what.
The verses have been with us for almost 2 years. We listen to our gut feeling a lot when it comes to the writing process, especially when it is time to finish songs. If you continue writing a song on the wrong day, you can end up ruining it. We trust our instincts and with this one,we knew it was time when we traveled to LA and had a writing session with a producer friend of ours named Tommy Tysper. Halfway thru the session, we realized that the track we had been working on was perfect for ROW (and not the other artist we originally planned to pitch it to). So we took ideas that started two years ago, brought them to LA, then took all of the accumulative ideas back to sweden and finished there.
Can you tell us about recording the music video for “Row?” What was this day like?
That was a very interesting experience! We went to an island in Sweden called Gotland. It has very special landscapes. Yes, a lot of odd things happened. We got attacked by cows and sheep and we filmed part of the video next to an old ship-wreck. Maria has a fear of ship-wrecks, but she was brave and the video will come out great (It BETTER look awesome). We also carried around two gigantic batteries for 2 days to build a magic machine, which we end our video with. The team who shot the video was a group of perfectionists, just like us, so we can’t wait to see the final result. Video will be out in mid-November.
What was the inspiration behind your track “Statue?”
“Statue” is such a personal song. Maria: Both my parents passed away when i was 14 years old which was very hard for me. I was put on a lot of antidepressant pills and ended up with doctors thinking that this was the solution for me to deal with my sadness. “Statue” was written some years after i had decided not to take pills anymore and when i finally let myself feel the emotions and live through my “ups and downs” again and realize I’ll be OK. The Song is about that. That it’s ok to feel. Victor was a big part of having me quit and has always supported me, so it’s a strong song for both of us.
What bands/musicians are you two currently listening to?
Twenty One Pilots and Bon Iver’s new album <3 <3
You guys will be going on your first European tour soon, what are you guys most excited for?
We’re really excited to meet the audience and play our new songs!
When you guys hit the stage, what typically goes through your mind?
Maria: I put on my “invincibility cloak” and wave to my mom and dad in heaven telling them I’m gonna make them proud.
What’s next for Smith and Thell, what can fans look forward to?
We’re releasing our debut album in early 2017!
