Im Hochsommer 2003 sorgten The National Anthems bereits mit "Before The Storm" für ein Pop-Feuerwerk erster Güte. Dass sich insbesondere Schweden auf Indiepop dieser Güteklasse verstehen, ist ja beileibe nichts Neues, nur verbanden The National Anthems eine sehr tiefgründige, melancholische Note mit einer seltsamen Eingängigkeit. Seltsam aufgrund der Tatsache, dass man deren Melodien noch so oft hören konnte, sie aber doch nie zu vertraut wurden. Nach ganzen dreieinhalb Jahren und fünf Touren durch Europa (u.a. mit den Weakerthans, Miracle Of 86 und Embrace) präsentierte uns das schwedische Quartett das von vielen bereits sehnlichst erwartete Nachfolgealbum, das den Titel "Paradoxical" trug, das jedoch nicht einmal im Ansatz dazu führte, dass die Band hier zu Lande bekannter wurde. Doch Qualität ist schließlich keine Frage der Popularität, was The National Anthems nun auch mit ihrem dritten und gleichsam selbstbetitelten Album einmal mehr unter Beweis stellen. Allemal schön zu hören, dass die Schweden anno 2009 wieder zu ihrem opulent-kitschigen Sound gefunden haben, der auch bereits das bislang ungeschlagene Debütwerk "Before The Storm" auszeichnete. Wir sprachen mit Robert Stålbro von The National Anthems über die Entstehung des Albums und die Pläne, die man mit dem dritten Werk der Band verfolgen möchte:


SJM: First of all: Could you please shortly introduce yourself and your band The National Anthems to our readers? If you would have to say what your band and especially the philosophy behind your band is all about – how would that description be like?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: I would say that music is our drug, an escape from everyday life. We’re a bunch of good friends that get together a couple of times a week just to have fun, something I consider really important if you play in a rock band. At the same time we’re all very purposeful and all band members are really committed to The National Anthems.

SJM: Your debut record "Before The Storm" has officially been released by Defiance Records over here, the follow-up "Paradoxical" hasn't been released at all. The National Anthems never was the kind of band that was about to branch out or become popular – so, could you please tell us your explanation why The National Anthems always was kind of an underground-band with an underground-ethic?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: Probably it’s because we as a band has worked hard and done a lot of things ourselves. We always work very close to record companies, promotion agencies and promoters and we also try to have a close connection to our fans.

SJM: Just let's shortly deal with the promotion of "The National Anthems". I know promotion is quite easy when you have promoters or a label or a budget that makes it easy to promote your band and your album. Let's just talk about the times before you got signed to Leon Music: As for "Paradoxical" – would you say it's harder to spread the name of your band throughout the scene without any label at all?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: Today it’s really hard to promote your band on your own since there are so many channels to choose between. It’s also hard to get the time to promote the band on your own in a good way since it takes a lot of time to work on new songs, rehearse old songs, prepare shows and on top of that have a fulltime work.. We are extremely grateful for all the great people we are working with!

SJM: I would say that musically "The National Anthems" is by far more epic as "Paradoxical" was. It reminds me of your debut "Before The Storm". Was it a conscious decision to create a record of epic proportions once again?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: Our focus was to make a more uniform record this time since “Paradoxical” was a bit too straggly. So the answer is yes, it was a somewhat conscious decision.

SJM: I'd like to know what you as a band think about file sharing. As for now, you might somehow profit from people who download your songs illegally, because it's exactly these people that spread the word about The National Anthems. But perhaps in one or two years, you and your future label depends on this money in order to promote your band and your record. What do you personally think about file sharing?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: It’s a tricky question, not only for the bands but for the records companies as well. Everyone wants so many people as possible to listen to their music. To be honest I can see a light in the tunnel and there are a lot of new ways to sell music, ways that I consider really exciting. But if the future will turn out in a way where every recording is equal to an economic loss, I believe that the quality of the music will be affected and a lot of bands will call it quits after a few records since they have to struggle so hard to survive.

SJM: Let's have a look into the past: When entering the basement at first in order to practice with your new found band The National Anthems – did you know in which direction you would head musically? Or was "The National Anthems" just the way it all turned out to be? Or in short: Did you have a clear vision?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: I wouldn’t say that we had a clear vision but we kind of knew how we wanted to sound. There were a couple of songs that we rehearsed from day one (“The unknown road”, “Walk with you” and “My picture”) and I believe that those songs in many ways have affected how we sound today. This record is a big step forward though and we just keep getting better and better.

SJM: When you were writing the songs for your new CD "The National Anthems" - did you have certain issues you specifically wanted to address? How did you go about writing your songs?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: I can recall a huge amount of boredom with everything when I wrote songs for this record. Bored with everyday life, bored with work, bored with the town you’ve spent your whole life in and so on. Songs like “New York” and “Last goodbye” came to life out of that particular reason.

SJM: "The National Anthems" sounds intimate, melancholic, epic, catchy and is digging deep at the same time. It is definitely a unique piece of music. Listening to "The National Anthems" makes me think of bands like U2, Snow Patrol, Embrace, The Gloria Record, and Radiohead.. When talking about your musical influences that have been and actually are quite important to you as a person – what bands are we actually talking about and why especially these bands? Do you identify in any way with the bands that I mentioned before?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: Nowadays we listen to all kinds of music but I grew up listening to bands like Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash and it was those bands that made me want to write my own songs when I was younger. Later on I discovered bands like U2 and Radiohead and of course they have been great influences as well.

SJM: What do you want to achieve with your third release "The National Anthems"? What´s your aim as a band? What hopes do you connect with the release of "The National Anthems"?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: I believe that every musician dream of being appreciated. Our aim as a band is of course to reach a bigger audience, sell more records and above all tour more than ever. I would definitely say that The National Anthems is a live band. We love to be on tour, meeting new people and discovering new places.

SJM: Will there ever be a chance to see you performing live here in Germany? What is your experience like touring here in Germany? I can remember having you seen promoting "Before The Storm" live over here years ago…

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: We will be touring Germany in December (check out the tour dates on our Myspace). After “Before the storm” we did 5 tours in Germany and I definitely hope that we can do at least 2-3 tours on this record before we enter the studio again. We love to tour in Germany. It’s a nice country with lots of cool cities and great venues.

SJM: I always leave the last statement to the band or the artist. Is there anything you'd like to say or add that hasn't been said before?

Robert Stålbro / The National Anthems: Check out our new album and come to our shows in December. Thanks for supporting our band!

(Dennis Grenzel)