Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo of Icona Pop
As of late, we’ve been all over the music scene. Whether being overwhelmed at Coachella or getting the opportunity to see fellow Swede (and FOK) Lykke Li on both coasts, we’ve seen some pretty amazing acts lately.
The best part is, we’re getting to know a lot of the new up-and-coming talent, especially those coming out of our homeland. And we're pretty positive we've found the next big thing in pop duo Icona Pop. We know, we know– we're suckers for anything Swedish, but we promise you, you won’t be able to get enough of the catchy dance tunes from Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo. Just try listening to their single “Top Rated” without getting up and making some moves. We dare you. And yes, this vodka likes to dance.
As if their catchy beats and Swedish spirit weren’t enough, the two love their social media just as much as we do. Last week, we threw a party back home with the duo along with record company TEN, which ended up being one big dance party (our famous shot machine may or may not be to blame). We also sat down with Icona Pop to talk about music, how social media has helped them connect with fans, and of course– what they'll be up to for Midsummer (21 days!!).
So tell us a little bit about yourselves.
We are Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo a.k.a. Icona Pop. We met about two years ago randomly through a friend, at a time when we both were bored with our lives and decided one late night that we were going to startwriting music (as you do sometimes at 5 AM after a night out). But we actually managed to follow up on it and decided to book a gig two months later so that we had a deadline to work towards with our music. We are both so restless and live in our own worlds, so that gig was the thing that triggered us to create music.
How would you describe your music?
From the beginning, it could have been described as Sugarbabes meets Quentin Tarantino, but from there it has evolved and become more edgy; a bit more electro with a lot of hard rolling drums. It’s always a dilemma when people want to know if we want to do more indie or more pop, but we just tend to go for it and see where we end up.
You are very active on Facebook and Twitter and are giving away one of your songs as a free download. As musicians, what are the advantages of using social media?
For us it’s been very good since we have reached out to so many more people than we ever would have had the ability to meet or play for. There have been so many opportunities for us that have come from social media.
One of those opportunities was that you were featured on the very hyped Kitsuné Maison album? How did that feel?
It was quite surprising since we were sitting in our studio when we got a call. They apparently found us through our Myspace before we even had an audience and probably thought they were the first to discover us; we weren’t complaining at all. We had a long-term plan on how we wanted to get our music out there, which completely changed after that.
How do you think it is that a small country like Sweden has been able to produce such big international artists such as Abba, Roxette, Ace of Base, Lykke Li and Robyn throughout the years? What were the Swedish artists you listened to when you were young?
It’s pretty weird when you think about it, considering the size of our country. I think Swedes in general are adaptive to new trends, but also critical towards things that feel “sell-out,” so the quality artists are the ones who usually make it internationally. The Swedish artists we listened to were GES and Carola, along with all the others that were fed to us from those Mr. Music albums you would buy and mime to in front of the mirror at home.
Another typically Swedish thing is music school, which most kids are forced to attend. Did that influence you in any way?
Yes, we were both forced to do music school in high school. We still can’t read sheet music or anything like that, but that was also an advantage of not having to stick within the set frames. We like to experiment more and actually try out what works or not, rather than workingunder the constraints of what “should” work together.
Where do you see yourselves in five years?
By that time we’ll be touring the world with our music, guest starring in an episode of X-files (which will be resurrected by then), and recording our third album.
How will you be celebrating Midsummer?
We’re actually playing the Glastonbury Festival. We were supposed to go to a traditional Midsummer party here in Sweden but gotoffered to play there, so we had to cancel our plans.
Photos courtesy of Lisa Grip.
