{"id":1857,"date":"2022-07-06T05:11:20","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T05:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aportaltothenordics.com\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2022-07-06T05:11:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T05:11:20","slug":"interview-vargen-mindy-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nightshiftblog.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/06\/interview-vargen-mindy-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Vargen – Mindy Morning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0Vargen (translates as \u201cThe Wolf\u201d in Swedish) is the stage and recording name for acclaimed\u00a0Bob Dylan<\/a>\u00a0interpreter and singer-songwriter Reine Johansson.\u00a0Mindy Morning<\/a>, released June 17, is the first track from his forthcoming debut album of original work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hi Vargen, how are you today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m great, thanks! I\u2019m in the middle of shooting the video for \u2018Mindy Morning\u2019 and it feels like it\u2019s gonna be awesome. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those that haven’t heard of you yet, how would you best describe your sound and who have been your biggest influences so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vargen has released two albums with translations and covers of Bob Dylan\u2019s songs, so yeah, obviously his songwriting has been a major influence. Lyrically, I\u2019m drawn to the dark storytelling that Tom Waits and Nick Cave master and I\u2019d say the vocal styles of George Harrison and David Bowie has influenced me as a singer. If you add some Rolling Stones and The Doors to all that you might get an idea of Vargen\u2019s sound. It\u2019s basically americana and rock with an indie twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are also based from Sweden. Can you tell us how the music scene there has inspired your sound at all?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say I\u2019m not very influenced by the current music scene at all, even though I really love some Swedish acts like bob hund, Th\u00e5str\u00f6m and Frida Hyv\u00f6nen. My songwriting has been more influenced by old Swedish folk icons like Evert Taube and Cornelis Vreeswijk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you remember what the first song was that made you want to start a career in music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember both \u2018Life on Mars?\u2019 by David Bowie and Led Zeppelin\u2019s \u2018Whole Lotta Love\u2019 made a great impact on me as a teenager. I still hold \u2018Life on Mars?\u2019 as one of the best songs ever recorded. Strange but great lyric and the arrangement just takes you away on this spectacular, almost spiritual, journey. \u201cWhole Lotta Love\u201d is just a great riff, but the way Zeppelin treats it in the studio is mind-blowing. Man landed on the moon about the same time the track came out. I can\u2019t think of a better soundtrack to\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have just released your new single ‘Mindy Morning’. Can you tell us how that track came about? Is there a story behind it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was originally written on acoustic guitar. The melody and the words \u201cMindy Morning\u201d came quite instantly. It has a melancholic and bittersweet touch to it, and it made me think of this person I met ages ago, this muse from the past, who introduced me to musical theatre, acting, the whole performance thing. For a while, I was a singing fire-eater and did stunts like live-piercing my body with pins while delivering the blues, haha. I added some qualities to this femme fatale \u201cMindy\u201d person and suddenly the appearance of 60\u2019s French actress Francoise Dorleac in Roman Polanski\u2019s Cul-de-sac came to mind. \u00a0Somehow it all seemed to fit together. I even ended up painting a scene from that film for the cover artwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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