Who is Angelica Segerbäck?
Someone beginning to find her place in the world. Discovering the wonders of life.
At what point in your life did music started to play a role, to what music did you listen as a kid?
Ever since I was a kid I have always been very fond of music I couldn't sit still if there was music playing. It didn't really matter what kind of music it was just that I loved the sound of it. I'm still very much like that. The music genre is unimportant for me, good music is good music no matter what and I still love to dance.
When did you decide you wanted to be a singer and what things did you have to do to become a singer, like taking lessons and so?
I started dreaming of becoming a singer when I was a little girl and the dream has remained with me through all these years. Apart from singing occasionally in the school choir I only sang when I was alone. But I sang quite a lot when I was, and just played around and had fun. It was only a few years ago that I started singing a little in the company of friends and that's how Johan found out I could sing. I immediately started taking singing lessons after we started the band because I felt I wanted to improve my singing technique. That has been very helpful but I feel the most important thing was that I sang a lot and experimented with my voice.
You are part of Waves under Water, can you give a brief introduction to the band?
Johan is my wonderful musical partner. It is really great to work together. We have a lot of fun. It is a blessing to have both a musical and a romantic relationship.
Rickard is our live drummer. We felt that it would be fun to have more people on stage when we play live so that's when we decided to take in Rickard.
Ursula is our newest live member. She has taken over playing synth now that Johan has taken on the guitar.
At first I was very surprised that he asked me but of course I was thrilled because I had been dreaming of being in a band for quite a while. I was very nervous on the way to his flat but I felt it was something I had to do and obviously it went well. I had also heard a little of his music and thought it was lovely. The more I heard the more I fell in love with the music.
The music of Waves under Water consists of many influences of a wide range of music styles, how do you manage to melt all these influences into the music of Waves under Water?
Although we are inspired by a lot of different music there seems to be some reoccurring things that connects it all. It is often very melodious and it has a certain feel to it.
When you listen to the music, can you pinpoint a certain thing, sound that comes from you, what do you add to the music?
Since Johan had already written so many songs he has naturally shaped the sound the most so far. I have added a few melodies here and there, like the verse in “Serpents and the Tree”. I have been more involved in writing the lyrics. But I hope to be more involved in the creation of the music as well in the future.
The music is very suited for clubs but also never loses the melody, is it something that happens naturally this combination of beats and melodies, how do you come up with these great melody lines?
For us the melodies are the most important thing. It is the core, the spine in our songs. We see no trouble combining it with beats. Hard to say exactly how the melodies come to us. They just evolve when we play around with the computer or with some instruments. I think playfulness is very important for us when we make music.
Last few years many great melodic electro bands (Ashbury Heights, auto auto, Javelynn Fate, Octolab to name a few) are coming from Sweden, can you give an explanation for this, why is Sweden a good country for music?
We have a long tradition of folk music and people have been learning to play instruments and playing together, that has been an important part of the Swedish culture. We also have the Swedish music school where most children go at one time or another to learn to play and instrument. That provides quite a good basic musical knowledge.
Glockenspiel I have learned by myself but it isn't that complicated if you know a little about music. I started playing piano when I was seven so that helps a lot and makes it much easier to learn new instruments. As for cello I started taking lessons about 1½ years ago and still do.
The sound of these instruments you can’t fully use in Waves under Water, is that the reason why you started the folk band LinaLaukaR? What does the name mean?
We plan to start using them more in Waves under Water in the future and especially live. We started LinaLaukaR because we felt that we wanted to do music that was less electronic and more inspired by folk music and with Swedish lyrics.
What are the differences for you between LinaLaukaR and Waves under Water, not only in music but the way the music is made, the feelings you have, way of singing and so?
With LinaLaukaR we cooperate with a friend of our who writes poetry in old Norse meter. The way of singing fells slightly more natural to me but the difference isn't that great. I have also been a bit more involved here in the music. With Waves under Water we already had quite a lot of songs that Johan had written before we formed the band. But with LinaLaukaR we had to start almost from scratch. Here we also received the lyrics and write the music to that. With Waves under Water we usually make the music first or at the same time as the lyrics.
When can a demo of LinaLaukaR be expected and what are your goals with LinaLaukaR?
We have just rerecorded the songs so we are planning to release a demo in December. Now that we have released “Serpents and the Tree” we finally have some time to work with LinaLaukaR. We would also like to release it properly in the future.
Waves under Water just released the album “Serpent and the Tree”on Dance Macabre, can you explain the album title, it sounds mythological? Is the Norse mythology a source of inspiration for you?
“Serpents and the Tree” refers to the old Norse myth about Yggdrasil the tree of life which has serpents gnawing at its roots. For this album a lot of the lyrics are inspired by Norse mythology. We feel that the myths and nature are a good tool for describing emotions and the human psyche.
We have recorded most of it at home except for “Winter Garden” which we had the opportunity to record in a real studio. In the beginning we had a bit of trouble fining a sound technician that felt right for us but once we had managed that the album progressed well.
I read some reviews and they all are speaking very highly of the album, did you expect such great comments?
When we released our first demo the reviews we got were well beyond our expectations. It is important for us to make music that we our selves would want to listen to even if we weren't n the band. So it is amazing to find that so many have taken the music to their hearts as well. Since our first demo our sound has changed a bit and of course it was hard to know if people would still enjoy the music but we were thrilled that most reviews are still positive.
How important is the visual aspect for Waves under Water, do you want to make a statement with that?
We feel that it is very important to really make an effort when we play live. We want the audience to also get a visual experience and not just hear the music the same way as it sounds on the album.
Waves under Water did some live shows already, how did they go, did you get good comments, did people react well on the new songs?
They have gone quite well only a bit of occasional sound trouble. So far we have got very good response from the audience when we have played live. Even when we have played gigs where we weren't the main attraction people have been very appreciative.
How do you prepare for a live show, any strange rituals?
Yes, strange and very secret.
They are both very different sides of working with music and I love both. On stage there can be so much energy and we have a lot of fun on stage. While working in the studio the music is still very private and it's very enjoyable and creative working on stuff that no one but us has heard yet. Like being privileged to a wonderful secret. Also it is nice to start working on something new because by the time people get the CD and see us live we have been living with the songs for quite a while.
Will there be more live shows in the rest of Europe to promote the album?
Currently we have only a few gigs planned but we hope to come out and play more during the spring and hopefully a few festivals during the summer.
What will be next for Waves under Water?
We have already begun to work with new songs for the next album. Considering that we have been working with many of the songs for about 2 years it is very exciting to work with new material. We are also working on a music video for one of the songs from the current album.
Any last words for the readers?
Dare to dream and follow them.