The Raveonettes

A conversation with Sune Rose Wagner

(February 2008)

Interview by Safiya Sawney

Photograph by Kriangkrai Srithongthai

I met up with the Danish rock duo - made up of charming frontman Sune Rose Wagner, and attractive, platinum-blonde frontwoman Sharin Foo - in their cramped dressing room at the Bowery Ballroom hours before the 2nd leg of their recent US tour. They're sprawled out on snug, leather couches and as their tour manager, an intensive man with an unkempt ponytail and boundless energy, runs back and forth making sure all is well, Foo silently types on her laptop as she sees to confirming the night's guest list and Wagner, looking exhausted or perhaps still recovering from a hangover (he confesses later on), chats away with the other two members of the band. It's a comfortable scene. Not busy. One doesn't feel like they're intruding. As I entered, Foo motions me over to where her partner and musical half of the Raveonettes sits. It's clear that she wants Wagner, the less occupied Raveonette half, to do the interview.

The Raveonettes first made their way into popular music airwaves after being granted a notable mention by Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke following an impromptu performance at the Danish SPOT festival a few years ago. They've since released three albums with Sony Records: “Whip It On” (2002), their debut effort, “Chain Gang of Love” (2003), and ”Pretty In Black” (2005) - and now, “Lust, Lust, Lust.” Foo and Wagner are known for their affinity to the B-flat key, the same three, simple guitar chords and the 3-minute-and-under duration of their fifties rock infused, vintage electric pop-rock songs. While some may find their choice of music and lyrics a little off-kilter and repetitive, the music really has its own intrigue and appeal and the band has garnered a solid fanbase since their inception.

Tell us about Lust, Lust, Lust.

A really simple album, very simple. It has two guitars, bass and several drums. There's a couple of songs that have drummers which we've never used before. It's really cool and sounds really very good. I think its a very modern sounding album (not intentionally). We were writing a few songs for a while and just wanted see if we could come up with something that we thought sounded very interesting. It was still the Raveonettes but something that we hadn't exactly done before. It's very interesting.

Do you have a specific goal with this album?

Well our goal has always been world domination. [Laughs] We have failed for 5 years now. But we'll keep trying I'm telling you. Because otherwise there is no point to it. Seriously we really just want to play at Madison Square Garden. It would be really great. But I don't know I mean I listen to new music and sometimes I think its kind of like for some people and maybe not for all people. Even with bands like REM, they play for so many years and they're an alternative band and they get a couple of hits and all of a sudden they're like one of the biggest bands. So you never know. It would be great. We like to move forward.

Do you aspire to make timeless albums?

Yeah. I think our music is already lasting. I still listen to the first EP from 5 years ago. We still play a lot of old songs. People really love it and we like it too. What happens with a lot of bands is that most people get tired of their old music. We have never had that. We really, really like all our songs and they're still just as fun to play today as they were 5 years ago. Its very important and so I'm very, very, very happy about that actually. So its fun for us to play live because we play 16 songs tonight and its not like this one (song) we just have to play. We're more like oh great now we're gonna play this song, great.

How do you go about arranging your set lists?

We try to think of obviously what we would like to play but we also think about what we think people would want to hear. So we do some samples from all the albums and try to mix it up a little. Because now we're playing a bunch of new songs too and the album is not out yet so there will be a bunch of songs that people have never heard and we're trying to make it cool so we can actually play new songs but people don't get tired of listening.

Song suggestions from fans?

Yeah we do get them. People do a lot of shout-outs and usually when they do that its usually all the time all the songs that we actually were not planning on playing. So we always fail (in keeping with a pre-show set-list) in that sense.

Songwriting process for Lust, Lust, Lust?

I write all the songs. Usually what happens is that I sit at home and I like to write as many songs as possible. I think probably over 100 songs were written for this album. I'll write whatever and record whatever song that I feel like and as we go along then we kind of narrow it down to maybe a certain style or maybe a certain mood. I'll then hit on a song that I think "this is great, this is where we should go" and I'll send it to Sharin and she will either say "this sucks, or this is great, I like that direction," and so I will write another 20 songs around that one song. That one song for the new album is a song called "Lust" actually and that was really the one that triggered the new album. And then recording at home too we never really run into any studios except for with Pretty In Black. I'll send some tracks over to Sharin, she lives in LA and I live here (NY), and she will do some vocals at home and she'll send it back and we'll meet and mix the album.

Is it difficult recording an album while living in different cities?

It is. It really is. Its okay creatively. It works out well but I think in terms of the business stuff its really, really hard. You go back and forth with the e-mails and if we'd just meet for an hour and discuss all these things and get it over with it wouldn't take weeks. So it is a little hard sometimes and we miss each other a lot.

Excited about performing in any specific venue?
 

I was excited about yesterday because I love Maxwell, NJ and it was a really, really, good show and we had a great day out there with an amazing response for the fans. But I mean Bowery obviously is a great place to play. We're just looking forward to leaving town because its been a while since we traveled the US and with 4 people traveling its easy. We're all Danish people traveling together.

How would you describe your sound?

It's rock and roll but but its a lot of poppy elements to it. There is a lot of noisy elements to it. For the new album the keywords are sort of "dark, moody, introverted," but yet it a very groovy album. It's got some very nice beats to it. I like that aspect to it. Sometimes with bands they just want to be dark and everything about them is dark and that to me is sometimes a little one-dimensional. I like to have a song that's sort of like when you listen to it you think that's a nice little upbeat song but then you listen to the lyrics and they're really, really terrible. I like to have these changes where you can fool people a little bit. So there is a lot of that on the album which I really like.

If you were to dedicate this album to a major musical influence, who would it be?

[Laughs]  What just popped into my mind when you just said it, is "The Doors,". I think its because I was a little bit inspired by “The Doors” on this album. I wanted to have a keyboard base like they used to have so we didn't use any bass in the album at all jut an old sixties keyboard like Doors-style and sometimes it plays a little Doors beat. I would give it (the new album) to “The Doors”.

Do you read any of your album reviews?

I read as many as I can. I like to read it. I know people who get really upset with it. For me I really don't care. I just think its funny to read. When we released "Whip It On" in Denmark we got so many terrible reviews. I've never read so many terrible reviews in my life. I couldn't believe it. One was good and the other 20 were like, "This is the worse....". I can't agree with everyone so I don't care, but our drummer got so upset and I said why do you even bother I wrote the song, if they hate my song and I don't care. I like to read them still.

Was it specifically criticizing your songwriting or your music?

It was everything. There was nothing good about it. (Wagner laughs). Not one single positive thing. They absolutely hated it. We showed them we're at the Bowery Ballroom now!

What's your opinion of MySpace?

There's a couple of things to it. When we're not busy and when we're not doing anything I actually enjoy doing the MySpace thing. I go on many times and respond to all the messages. I take really good care of people. I make sure that under-aged people are able to meet us at sound check because our show is 21 plus or I'll try to get them in. The problem is when we're busy and we're touring we really don't have the energy to do it and people are like “nothings happening” so they go away and its just a shame. I think it's (MySpace) a great thing. We're really good about posting demos and they (the fans) have their own opinions so when we do the final track-listing for the album people want to know why certain songs aren't on there.