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We all need to escape sometimes; and 'Get You Off My Mind', the latest track from independent Swedish pop-rock band, Louis Pax, is maybe not exactly what you’d expect to hear while you’re caught up in the moves on a crowded dance floor, but somehow it just fits. And yet, it’s also the perfect single for top-of-your-lungs, don’t-care-who-sees singing in your car at the stoplight. But beware: if you’re not careful, you may find yourself humming it on the way home from the club in the early hours on the subway. Or after you’ve parked your car, continuing to sing it in the elevator on the way to work.
With uptempo drums and bass, they masterfully create an incredibly beautiful foundation throughout the song, which lets the guitar and vocal melodies shine.
We spoke with the band on the release and more as part of our Get To Know series...
Introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about the band!
"Louis Pax is a four piece band from south of Sweden that used the pandemic to completely rethink what the band and music should be about. Louis Pax is about creating new music, exploring new ways of doing this and sharing it. There's no set frames of exactly which genre or what the music should sound like, who we should work with etc... Instead it's a dynamic process which guides us and lets us explore what comes up in the studio or in other collaborations."
How did you meet and when did you start making music together?
"We all come from the same small town in the south of Sweden called Lomma. We basically grew up together and knew that we were all interested in making music. Oscar (singer) and Gustav (guitar) are brothers and grew up in a Beatles-household and were taught piano at the age of 5 by their grandpa. The music interest was always huge and during the teenage years Oscar and Gustav started creating and composing their own songs which led to different early on garage bands. Later on they teamed up with their friends Hannes and Hannes to form what today is Louis Pax."
Is there a story or meaning behind the band name?
"There is - in a way. When coming up with a band name, we didn't like the focus on that the band name always needs to mean something. We want what we do to portray the music and we want that music not to be constrained by any genre or name. Louis Pax came along as a kind of label under which we could do this without any preconceptions. So I guess there is no real meaning behind the band name, but that's also the point and the meaning in itself."
Based in Sweden, do you think your surroundings inspire your sound in any way?
"We believe surroundings always affect you in one way or another, so also in our case. We are definitely influenced a bit by the Swedish pop scene by artists such as Oskar Linnros and Mando Diao. But in Sweden we are also quite tied to the British and American music scene from which we also draw a lot of inspiration."
For anyone who hasn’t heard your music before, how would you sum it up in a sentence?
"We always think it's difficult to categorise music, but guess 'Indie Pop' is the most accurate, although we try to draw inspiration from all kinds of places, and it varies. Right now we would say we're working on more electronic and 80's influences in the music. With that in mind it’s hard to sum it up in one sentence, but if you’d come to one of our live-shows, you would probably say: ”Louis Pax plays energetic and modern pop. It's a live act that we all can dance and have a good time to!”"
Who are your biggest inspirations, musically?
"As mentioned, growing up in a Beatles house you can't really get away or escape that music and of course John and Paul have been huge inspirations. At home this was also complemented by bands like Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, U2 and later Coldplay. But today, I would say we are inspired by Bon Iver, Tame Impala, The 1975, Sylvan Esso and tons of other cool bands and artists! But all of us really come from different musical backgrounds. I think what has brought our different tastes together as a band is our shared joy of music in itself. One day one of us could listen to a heavy rock song by Audioslave or Nirvana, and the next we’re all hooked up on the new Dua Lipa sound."
Who would be your dream artist to work with?
"All those mentioned above for sure! Justin Vernon is one guy that we can’t get our heads around. Everything he touches somehow turns to gold. But artists like Phoebe Bridgers or St. Vincent are cool artists that we could only dream of collaborating with."
You've just released your new single 'Get You Off My Mind' - how does it feel to have that out and what has the reaction been like so far?
"It feels great for it to finally be out since it has been a finished song for quite some time now. It's also a song underlining the direction of the band in a way. The response has been great so far with lots of people reaching out!"
Tell us a little about the track!
"It took a while for us to figure this song out actually. The first demo was written by Oscar and Jutta Stolt (co-writer). From that initial session they had the chorus down and it was so hooky it stuck in our heads. For about a year all we had was that chorus. So Oscar sat in the studio a lot and tried to come up with verses that could match it. He then listened to a Swedish artist called Benjamin Ingrosso and was inspired by a track called ”Tänd Alla Ljusen”. So from there the song kind of grew to become what it is today. Oscar recorded a demo-bass and loads of drums to get that thumping sound that makes you wanna dance when you hear it."
And finally, what can we expect from you guys next? Any more exciting things that we should keep an eye out for this year?
"Well, we have just started, we will continue to create and release music and perform more and more now! We can reveal that we will release our next single 'Ophelia' on June 9th - so that's something to look forward to. This summer we’ve got several gigs lined up, for instance 2 festival gigs in Denmark in August. We're so excited!"
'Get You Off My Mind' is out now. Listen HERE @louispaxband
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