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The venue was an iron façade loft space in Brooklyn, NY that served as a Dominican speakeasy in the 1970s. It was a humid June night that poured down Fat Albert raindrops; yet, the angelic-ruffian Brooklynites staid fast to hear Love is All, a punk/pop/jazz band from Gothenburg, Sweden.
With misunderstanding as their influence, and claming their sound is something like confusion, it’s no wonder their sound ranges from chaotic to Wild Iris limestone smooth. As soon as the first note hit the back wall, the crowd pushed towards the front of the stage, forming an obligatory pulsating mosh pit. Lead vocalist Josephine attacked back, playfully teasing the crowd with her all-embracing vocals. The rest of the band played fast and steady breaking out into jams now and again keeping the energy at a constant high.
Favorite recorded song:
‘Make Out Fall Out Make Up’ - a scream along with angsty lyrics, foot stomping beats and fist pumping horn.
Favorite live song:
‘I Ran (Flock of Seagulls cover)’ it’s a Flock of Seagulls cover. Need I say more?
I recently was given the chance to ask All is Love some questions. They’re currently touring in Europe but have plans on coming back stateside in the fall. Whether you’re a Brooklynite, Berliner, or Londoner, make sure to catch them if you can.
So who’s in the band and what do they play?
- Josephine Olausson - keyboard, vocals
- Markus Görsch - drums
- Nikki Sparding - guitar, vocals
- James Ausfahrt - saxophone and keyboard
- Johan Lindwall - bass, vocals
How did the band form and how long have you been playing together?
Josephine, Nikki and I used to be in another band called Girlfrendo. When we split up around 2002 the three of us still wanted to play music together, and we already had a bunch of new ideas for songs... and a new practice space! We would meet there every now and then and work on songs. First it was just me on drums, Nikki on keyboard
and Josephine on guitar. Then for a short while we made electronic music on the computer. Finally we were asked to play a show at the local DIY/punk club Starke Adolf, and we thought we should have a bass player for this so we asked Johan to help us out. Turned out he’s an excellent bass player and person, so he became a member of the band.
For a recording session in 2003 we were thinking it would be cool to add some crazy sax at the end of one song (Spinning And Scratching). I knew Fredrik from musicology class at the University here in Gothenburg, he was this kid who was always wearing a Ride T-shirt and talking about James Chance, so we figured he would understand what kind of sax we wanted. It sounded even better than we thought, so he ended up playing on most of our songs. Fredrik was in Love is All until the spring of 2007, and after he left we asked James Ausfahrt to join. (Markus)
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You recently visited the USA. Was it your first tour here?
No, more like our 6th or so. We played one of our first shows in NYC, opening for the Rapture at a NYU show in February or March 2003, when we were still a quartet. Since then, we did a number of short tours on the east coast and a couple of longer ones across the country. And we hope to come back and play loads this fall! (Markus)
What was your most memorable venue on the tour?
Probably the Cake Shop - packed with people, tiny and hot; and the Market Hotel, that place was extremely dark and humid and there was water dripping from the ceiling right on my head when I was drumming. (Markus)
I saw Love is All play in Bushwick, NY. It was really humid. Ever played in worst conditions?
Well, Bushwick was really sweaty...we once played in Sydney, Australia, in a really warm ands sweaty alley, and the electricity was generated from a diesel power unit that ruthlessly kept on polluting the air on stage... (Johan)
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All our early shows (but this still happens nowadays) were terrible. I mean, they were always fun and more or less like riots, but it was very hard to play because the equipment people would let us use was in the worst possible condition, drums falling apart, amps dying halfway through the set and everything just sounding really bad. But I think this is what it is like for most bands. (Markus)
How’d you come up with the band name?
Josphine and I were watching The Man From Uncle, and there was some kind of hippie/fascist camp with a banner over the entrance, looking a bit like the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign in Auschwitz, only it said "LOVE IS ALL". It's a good tv series, so we took the name. (Markus)
You’ve been described as a mixture of punk, pop and jazz. How would you describe your sound?
Like that, and most of the songs are hysterically fast. (Markus)
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You do a rad cover of ‘I Ran’, by Flock of Seagulls. What other covers do you play?
We recently recorded a five cover cd-r live and fast in our rehearsal space, just for fun and to sell on tour. apart from ‘I Ran’ it also contains ‘Kung Fu on the Internet’ (Lung Legs), ‘So Far Away’ (Dire Straits), ‘Golly Gosh’ (Jed Dmochowski) and ‘Darling Nikki’ (Prince). Other covers: ‘Nothing to be Done’ (The Pastels), ‘Motorboat’ (Kim Fowley) and ‘Epic’ (Faith No More). (Johan)
Have any of the band members rock-climbed?
Not that I know of. I really want to try though, although I am usually afraid of heights! (Markus)
I have dived from a cliff in Greece once...that was scary. (Johan)
James Ausfahrt How many instruments do you play? What’s your favorite?
I play whatever gets put in front of me. Maybe not always the way you're supposed to, but I like making noise. Right this minute I think my favorite instrument is electric bass. My 60's six-string teisco TB-64 bass is tons of fun.
Johan Lindwall You should buy Love is All music and never miss their show because...?
...because you want to learn the meaning of the word 'kalabalik'. (Believe me, you can’t leave their show without discovering its meaning)
Josephine Olausson What’s the best part of being a front women?
Well, i don't really see myself as the front figure of love is all. But I think being the only woman of love is all is pretty great just because whenever we stop for a pee break when on tour i never really have to wait in line to use the restroom like the others.
How can fans find you?
myspace/loveisall8 or loveisall.se or in some record stores and on a US tour in the fall. or they can write to us at loveisall8@gmail.com
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