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Dec 15, 2010 Web Exclusive By Under the Radar Staff

For Under the Radar’s 8th annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to 2010. However our printed pages weren’t enough to hold all the great responses we got. Pick up a copy of Under the Radar’s Year End issue for interviews with: The Antlers, Bon Iver, Caribou, Club 8, Delphic, Rose Elinor Dougall, Gayngs, Hot Chip, Lost in the Trees, Love is All, The Love Language, Mogwai, of Montreal, Okkervil River,Yoko Ono, Owen Pallett, Plants and Animals, Mark Ronson, Superchunk, Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend, Sharon Van Etten, and Vivian Girls. Then check here for bonus responses not found in the magazine. Here are additional answers from Johan Angergård of Club 8, The Legends, and Acid House Kings.

What are your thoughts on President Obama’s job performance in the last year? Has your optimism, if you were an Obama supporter, waned?

I’m Swedish. Can we discuss Swedish politics?

With the Internet making every artist’s music potentially available to a wide audience, is it now easier to find listeners or more difficult because you have to compete with so many other musicians?

It’s easier, as money put into marketing isn’t quite as “avgörande” as it used to be.

In the race to find new bands, are too many unworthy bands being hyped up by music blogs and websites? How are music fans supposed to filter through all these new bands being hyped?

For me it’s the same as always—find someone whose taste in music I trust, i.e. has the same taste in music as I have, and then just check out the bands they listen to. It could be a label, a website, a friend or…well, anything or anyone really. The fact that there’s millions of music websites and blogs in the world makes it a whole lot easier to find someone who’ll fit you well. And I think labels, like Labrador, which has a strong and distinct musical profile, can be of great help too.

Who would you rather listen to—a totally original musician whose compositions are groundbreaking but difficult to listen to or a musician whose songs are immediately enjoyable but derivative? Why?

“Groundbreaking” does of course sound a lot more appealing than derivative. But I probably wouldn’t listen to anything that’s truly difficult. I don’t listen to fusion.

Do you (or did you) have any pets? If so, can you tell us about them? Who takes care of your pets while you are on tour?

No, but can I add that I would like a cat? I would.

What are your thoughts on chillwave? Do you feel that it’s a legitimate genre/movement or something simply created by music journalists? In general, do you feel that most scenes/movements are organic or are created by the media?

I just heard the expression about a month ago for the first time. Perhaps I haven’t been reading blogs enough. It seemed like a weird expression because the bands weren’t very chill at all. Or does having a pad sound from a keyboard in your song make you chill(-wave)? Or am I missing the influence of the “wave” on the “chill” here?

If your house was on fire, what would you grab as you were running out?

My girlfriend.

When you think of the future, what scares you most?

Being dead.

(www.labrador.se)