Redhouse’ drummer Håkan Boström is on his way to a lecture he’s having about leadership and communication when Worldkustom gets him on the phone. We immediately ask if that knowledge is useful when in a band:
– Naaw, not that much really, it is a crazy group of artists you are working with so that knowledge usually don’t do no good.
You won Worldkustom Music Challenge in December, how does it feel?
– Super great! It’s so much fun when people appreciate what you do and how you play considering the recording isn’t all that great. That’s when it’s extra fun.
What’s your plan for 2015?
– We just invested in a PA system that we want to try out, a Line Array. We are right now writing music and rehearse every Sunday, drink coffee and shoot the breeze. This summer we were having a barbeque and we think the sauce, Sweet Baby Rae is so terribly good, so we took it upon ourselves to write a song about it, it’s called Hot Chipotle! We did a live try run and they loved it! And then taking home this prize, it feels like a really good start on 2015.
How do you pick new songs for your set?
-Democratically. Someone brings a song that we listen to. Then we twist and turn it and do our own take on it that fits out sound and style, we are actually pretty disciplined in the rehearsal room, we want us to sound good.
On the question of which one has last say Håkan in Redhouse anwers:
– The bandmaster always has last say.
Scar Lee answers the phone with an alert and slight out of breath voice when Worldkustom calls to congratulate her.
– Excuse me, I’m walking uphill, she says. Maybe she technically does, but when it comes to music she’s already reached the top.
You won, how does it feel?
– Awesome, I never expected me to win, Scar Lee answers happily. The northern charm and humbleness beams through the telephone and the pencil draw a smiley on the note pad.
We ask about her plans for 2015 and she shares her long- and short term goals. Small plans like rehearse with her pianist every other week, bigger plans like expand the band to a full set up. Scar Lee is currently preparing for a performance on a Festival in the Culture house in Sundsvall.
How do you pick out new songs for your set?
– I go back to basic, to my favorites like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles. I listen to everything with them that I can get my hands on to find new stuff I missed before, to get inspired by old B-tracks everybody have forgotten about. Scar Lee is young and goes fishing on YouTube as well as Spotify and her own record collection and in old music bounders from high school.
Ellen Kay interviews the winners of this month December.
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