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Bob K is a Swedish outfit who just re-released their album Fragile via Liljegren Records to reach more fans. Guitarist Jonatan Samuelsson was so kind to answer my questions, read what he has to tell about Bob K!
First of all, please tell us, who's Bob K?
Bob K is just a band-name. When we started to play together for fun in 2000, we had no idea we were going to be a band for more than a decade. So when we got our first gig-request and needed a name for the posters, we thought that 'Bob' sounded cool enough for this temporary project. We soon found out that there were too many bands with that name, so we added a 'K'. And we have kept the name since then. But what the K stands for is our best-kept secret. ;)
When you use a search engine you get a lot results for Bob K, but then need to take a close look to find something about the band. Any idea how to change it?
No... Maybe it's different if you make the search from Sweden...?
Fragile is your second album and as far as I understood the self-titled debut was musically different and that the sound changed with new band members. Do you now have the sound you wanted?
Well, when we made our debut album in 2004-2005, we were a different band with a different sound than in 2009-2010 when recording Fragile. David, who was our singer on the first album, was more into soul music, which made us adapt the music to fit his voice. I think that is one of the reasons made us sound slicker.
During the years our sound has changed a bit, and on Fragile we tried to sound a bit more like when you hear us live. In 2008 we changed our line-up from 2 keyboardists and 1 guitarist to 2 guitarists and 1 keyboardist, which, of course, made the sound a bit rockier.
We changed a lot if you just listen to the 2 albums, but I don't know if we changed that much when you think about the fact that there was 5 years from Bob K to Fragile.
I surely like the sound better now, but I think we will develop our sound even more in the future...
Even if you are active for about 10 years, you mainly known in Scandinavia and the Baltic states. Fragile is now getting re-released via Liljegren Records, another step to make yourself known in other territories?
That is what we hope! We are very thankful to Christian Liljegren and the new opportunities this distribution gives us. We have already got attention from countries like USA, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, Brazil, and Japan. So, let’s hope for some tours in these countries as well!
The biography says "For fans of Coldplay, U2, Peter Gabriel, Muse, Mew". I would add bands like Alter Bridge and Stone Sour; don't you think that just kinda exclude fans? Or more exactly won't get their interest, coz the named bands only cover a limited audience?
You are probably right. This biography is written by our distributor, and we rarely mention these bands ourselves, by this reason. But we often hear that our sounds remind people of U2, Coldplay, Mew, Kent and The Killers, so maybe it has a point.
Peter Gabriel, Alter Bridge and Stone Sour is new comparisons, though!
After all, we are 6 guys with different musical tastes, and with pretty different influences. So we don't try to sound like these bands, even if some of the songs are inspired by some of the mentioned artists. We have always tried to make our own music.
Morningstar was released as a single when the album got released, have you considered to do a video to push the re-release?
We have had many thoughts of videos, but not for Morningstar. We also released the singles Falling and Coma from Fragile, and another single will be released later this year. So if we make a video, it would probably be on one of those instead.
Did you already got feedback for the re-release? Satisfied?
Yes, we have got some reviews for the re-release in media mostly in Europe, but also in the USA and Brazil. And yes, we are very satisfied and overwhelmed with all positive feedback! We got new reviews and interviews every week now. And until now, the reviewers seem to like our music!
As far as I know you are already working on the follow-up... How far in the recording process are you?
That is correct! Most parts are recorded now and our producer, David Larring, has already mixed some of the songs. We need to find a good title for the album, so all you readers, help us by e-mail us on Facebook or to bob@bobk.se! ;) Release is set to November 2011.
How many songs have you written for the new album? Do you have a main songwriter? Or does everybody contribute songs?
We had a lot of demos recorded to choose from! But we have focused on mainly 12 songs for the new album.
Lorens (keyboards), Peter (vocals) and me (guitar) are the main songwriters on this album. But Adam (bass) has contributed with some songwriting as well. Peter has written most of the lyrics this time, and the whole band has contributed with the arrangements.
What bands / artists inspire(d) you? What are you listening to lately?
Well, I think you will get different answers from all guys. :D But I think the music is inspired by all from arena-rock to electronica.
Some bands we like are Mew, Mute Math, Carpark North, U2, Jeniferever, The Killers, Coldplay, Future Of Forestry, Kent, Radiohead, and many more. But as I said… You will probably get a different answer if you ask someone else in the band. ;)
You have a studio Vblog, do you like to share insides? And probably get some reactions?
Yes. Or we had a studio vlog for Fragile. I think the clip when Peter and Lorens playing Rhodes in new ways, was the clip we got most reactions on. It was pretty fun. And you can hear some of their 'experiment' on Stalker and maybe on Heaven too. Maybe we should make another vlog for the new album...?
At you Facebook profile you ask your fans for an album title. No ideas? Searching for inspiration?
Well, it's always great to get feedback from listeners. We have some ideas, but nothing is decided yet, so if someone else has better ideas, it should be their title, and not ours.
Any idea when the new album will see the light of day
Yes. We are planning a release in November this year. But maybe we will release a single before that!
If you'll get the chance to do a decent tour, will you be able to hit the road?
I surely hope so. If everything works for us and the time is right, we will be out there! Hopefully we would come to Germany then as well. ;)
Tjet is also a member of Safemode, what about the rest of the gang? Are you involved in other bands / projects?
Yes, Tjet is lead vocalist in Safemode and guitarist in Bob K. We are all involved in different bands now and then, but right now Peter (vocals) is just involved in Bob K. Lorens (keys) plays keys and has made some programming for Safemode. Adam (bass) is guitarist / lead vocalist in his own band Adam's Apple, and plays bass with the Swedish artist Daniel Adams-Ray and also in our drummer – Fredrik Nelson's band – The Royal Nelson Orchestra. Myself (guitar) plays bass with Swedish artist David Castañeda.
So, what are your plans for 2011 beside releasing your next album?
Right now we are looking for more gigs. So if anyone is interested, please contact us! We also have some ideas for music videos that I hope we can finish soon. And we are all looking forward to the summer and more sun! ;)
Thanks a lot!
For many rock music fans Fragile is the first encounter with Bob K and the band isn't rushing things, but I guess, they want surprise us with a stunning new album.
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