Interview: José González
Over the last two decades, José González’s music has soothingly soundtracked late Saturday nights and early Sunday mornings alike with his signature fusion of hushed, multilingual vocals and intricately fingerpicked, nylon-stringed guitar.
From a career-breaking cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats” to the meditative “El Invento”, the Swedish singer/songwriter’s open-tuned arrangements are metered and melodic, landing softly in lower frequencies and autumnal tones, a la Nick Drake or Elliott Smith.
Before co-founding the indie rock group Junip and accidentally embarking on a solo career, González was midway through a PhD program in biochemistry. He’d spend hours in an ice-cold lab replicating viruses by day and four-tracking lo-fi folk songs in his apartment by night. When his Crosses EP quickly took off in Sweden, he pivoted from research to music full-time and hasn’t looked back since.
Asheville Stages spoke with González via Zoom from his home in Gothenburg about the recent 20th anniversary of his debut album, Veneer, which solidified the sound that’s carried through his catalog. The conversation also explored his hardcore/punk roots, his patient, slightly perfectionistic songwriting process, and two-week U.S. tour that will bring him to The Orange Peel for a sold-out show on Friday, Nov. 14.
Jay Moye: You’ve toured in many formations in recent years — with a five-piece band [The Brite Lites] and even a small-scale orchestra [The String Theory]. Why’d you decide to hit the road solo for your most recent tours?
José González: On my latest album [Local Valley], I played solo, so I'm just continuing with that. For the [Veneer] anniversary shows, the decision was to go back to the roots and keep things very close to the original. Not only the recordings, but also how I did my shows back then.
Now, as I'm writing my next album, I'm also focusing on solo versions at first. Later, I might add a couple of instruments, maybe bring some of the band or even make an orchestral version.
JM: Your music always starts with just you, then builds from there?
JG: Yeah, it's been like that for every album. I start on my own, and many times I want to keep it as simple as possible. Once in a while, I feel like I need to cheat to make something more interesting.
JM: It’s great to hear you’re recording a new album.
JG: Yes. I'm really excited. It's been a long time coming, as it is with all my albums. All the songs are written. I'm recording and have started mixing and mastering. It’s a relief once I get to this point.
JM: You recorded Local Valley at home. Are you doing the same with this one?
JG: No. I moved apartments and also moved studios. It’s the first time I have a studio that's completely my own. With the apartment [his partner and two children] moved to, there's always lots of noise. If I sing too loud, my neighbors can hear me, so I’d much rather be in my studio. I recorded [Local Valley] mainly at our summer house [in Hakefjorden, Sweden]. At that time, I was looking for a studio but couldn’t find one, so we decided to buy the summer house where I recorded.
JM: Do you enjoy having full control of the recording environment versus going into a professional studio?
JG: Yes, for a few reasons. One is having access to the gear I want — my guitars and microphones. Another is knowledge I now have. I've learned a bit more with each album. I think the fact that my music is not perfect is part of what attracts the listener.
Many times, when I'm recording, I'm also rehearsing and writing or rewriting lyrics, so I enjoy doing that on my own at my own pace. I’ll have friends or managers listen to different versions and give feedback that way, instead of having someone always hanging around in the studio.
JM: You mentioned preferring to work at your own pace, taking your time creating each album. Are you a disciplined writer who carves out time each day to create?
JG: With our kids [four and eight years old], I‘ve become more disciplined. Before, I think I was disciplined but ineffective. Now with the kids, it's all about being disciplined and effective. The day only has so many hours you can use, and when the weekend comes, there's no time for going to the studio.
I'm a veteran by now. This my fifth album, and I’ve done two with Junip and a couple of collaborations, so I understand my own problems in terms of procrastination and also which parts of the writing or recording process need the most attention. So, I focus on the weak parts instead of the fun parts.
JM: What are your “weak” parts nowadays?
JG: I seek out new riffs or chord progressions. It’s like putting together a puzzle and noticing which pieces are missing. Many times, I’ll have a demo that needs a bridge or change, but it's usually the lyrics. That has been my Achilles heel since I started. Initially, I didn't like writing lyrics, but slowly but surely, it's gotten more and more fun. I feel like I have more to say. If there are too many options, it's frustrating. You don't know where to start. That part is easier now. It’s still a bit slow, but it's getting better.
Another is setting the bar at a reasonable level, because sometimes I set it a bit too high and then need to rehearse for months, which isn’t good. Nowadays, I do very quick mixes — recording and mixing in the same day. That’s something I’ve spent way too much time on in the past. I've also been telling myself I am not allowed to buy any new gear: no plugins, mics, or guitars. Just rehearse and record.
JM: Local Valley is your first album to include songs in English, Spanish [his parents are Argentinian], and Swedish. Are you taking that same approach with this next record?
JG: It's a bit too early to talk about this album, but yes, two in Spanish, two in Swedish, and the rest in English.
JM: Are you always starting out in English and translating to Swedish or Spanish? Or are words are coming to you in a specific language?
JG: It's about the feeling of the demo and determining if the guitar and music contrast what I'm trying to say. Swedish is my main language, but the one I feel most awkward singing in, unless I'm trying to say something very specific. Spanish and English are like the two poetic languages for me, where I'm able to be a bit more obscure and enigmatic and use metaphors.
JM: I've heard you speak often about your inner critic. I'm curious if that voice has gotten louder or quieter over the years?
JG: Going back to the high bar, I'm more aware of my strengths and flaws. I’m also more aware of what people seem to like. I know, for example, that I can sit with a guitar for hours, but most of my audience wants to hear my voice. I try to differentiate between when I'm trying to do something artistically unique or something with universal appeal and just switching back and forth between these different ambitions.
JM: Is it difficult to strike a balance between finding surprising and interesting musical ideas and maintaining a consistent thread in your songwriting?
JG: Yes, and I would say it's also a matter of taste. It's a difficult balance, but I've seen it work with some of the artists I like. For example, Beastie Boys did two albums that were very similar in composition: Check Your Head and Ill Communication. They each had 20 or so tracks mixing raw hip-hop with acoustic jazz. A better example is Dinosaur Jr. I've been loving that band since day one, and whenever they come out with an album, it's not about wishing they would change their sound. In that sense, I feel comfortable knowing that whatever I do with guitar and vocals, there will be a thread.
JM: What would you say that thread is that is carried through your albums?
JG: Musically, it's Spanish guitar and my voice. I have a way of playing arpeggios and recording with slight distortion, and dubbed vocals and harmony here and there. Lyrically, I've been changing from being an introvert at age 25 to — extrovert is a bit too strong a word, but extroverted at age 47 in the sense of looking at humanity more than my own person or pretending to write about one particular person's inner life. There are a couple threads from the second album [In Our Nature, 2007] and the Junip albums up until now. One is the sense of struggle; that humanity could do better and be more rational. The metaphors I'm using nowadays are many times about the force of growth, decay, nature, enlightenment.
JM: How has your relationship to the songs on your first solo album, Veneer, evolved over the last 20-plus years? Do you still connect in the same way with that material?
JG: I wouldn't say the same, but I do feel comfortable with them in a way that's a bit surprising. When that album first came out in Sweden, some of the songs were five years old. I was tired of them. I’ve evolved with those songs, which are documents of what I was trying to convey back then. Many are still reflective of an inner struggle. Then, of course, there's the audience’s relationship with the music. That's where I feel like it's not so much about me. When I play, we're all happy together, and I get to pull on the strings of nostalgia for some people.
When the anniversary was coming up, I'd seen many other artists do this type of thing and thought it wasn't for me. But it was actually fun to look through photos and ask friends for memories from that time. It ended up being pretty therapeutic. When we did the deluxe Veneer box set, I felt like I’d — in Swedish, we say “Tied up a sack and you're done.”
JM: Right. You’d put a bow on it.
The box set included several remixes from electronic artists and producers. What was it like for you to hear interpretations of your songs?
JG: I love hearing the different remixes. It's fun to hear how people pull songs in a different direction. It gives life to old songs in a refreshing way. For me, especially in the beginning, I didn't feel like a good songwriter. When I hear a remix, I might hear a song from a different angle and realize, “OK, it wasn’t super bad after all.” [laughs]
JM: And an interesting twist, given that one of your first big hits was a cover [The Knife’s “Heartbeats”]. Now people are covering your covers.
JG: Exactly. That was a big thing, how my versions of “Heartbeats” and, later, [Massive Attack’s] “Teardrop” and even [Kylie Minogue’s] “Hand On Your Heart” were all bigger than my own songs. Now, I don't care. But back then, I did.
JM: Your prior musical life is rooted in the punk/hardcore space, which blows my mind, considering your songs are so soothing and grounding. Quite the juxtaposition to think of you playing loud, electric guitars and bass. Is that still a part of your persona, and do you miss making that kind of music?
JG: I’m OK with not playing or listening to it that much. But, talking about nostalgia, I still can enjoy listening to Sick of It All when I'm trying to run my fastest. I have playlists for high-intensity interval training. There's a Norwegian study that shows the results of alternating four minutes of high-intensity exercise and four minutes of low-intensity exercise. I did a playlist of songs by 108 and Sick of It All mixed with lower-intensity stuff. It's amazing how much energy you can get from high-energy music.
JM: Was there a period when you transitioned from louder rock music to classical guitar? Were you straddling those two worlds for a time, or was there a clear break where you shifted, wholesale, into the music you’re now known for?
JG: It was about being a teenager and doing everything at the same time — playing with friends but also trying to learn Spanish classical guitar. I had dreads and baggy pants and loved to skateboard. By the time I started studying at university, I didn't feel like I had that much time for these “loser” bands. [laughs] I liked the music, but when we did recordings, no one really listened to them. But when I did my solo demos in my fourth and fifth year of studying, people were like, “Oh, shit! I like this.”
JM: And you made another big transition away from a biochemistry PhD program when your music took off. Do you ever wonder what your life would be like had you stayed that course?
JG: Oh yeah. Two weeks ago, we had dinner with my professor and some people from the lab, and they were all very curious about my touring life. They seem to be super happy people, but it's different when you can play a show for 1,000 people clapping compared to being in a lab and showing your results to your family who’s yawning. [laughs]
JM: Two very different worlds, indeed. Well, I know I speak for millions of people around the world when I say I’m very happy you followed your gut.
JG: Thank you.
IF YOU GO
Who: José González
When: Friday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m.
Where: The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave., theorangepeel.net
Tickets: Sold out
(Photo by Fredrik Egerstrand)
