Sweet Teeth have a new track called "Love Panic" that starts for a moment like "The Monster Mash" and then erupts into a perfect blend of The Lemonheads meets Husker Du but even more syrupy sweet. Their brand of fuzzy power pop immediately caught our attention and we needed to know more about this cool Swedish export:
1. How did you form and what does the band name mean?
We formed the way most bands do – as a way to escape everyday life for a few days here and there. There’s no better feeling than going to the rehearsal studio to play your favourite music loud as hell after dealing with braindead people all day.
2. Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?
I could make this list take up most of this interview really. I think it’s safe to say we’ve been in like a hundred bands or so considering we’ve all been pretty active for the last three decades or so.
3. First concert that you ever went to?
I grew up in Stockholm and the Kafé 44 crowd was like my extended family, so I spent as much time there as I could, watching the early/mid 90’s hardcore scene in Sweden explode. Breach and Raised Fist was some of the first gigs I remember going to. Safe to say, I was hooked and started my first band.
4. What's your writing process like?
Someone comes up with either a riff or a full song, then we take stuff away and make it shorter and with less chords, lol. I don’t think we fuck around with a song in the rehearsal for more than a couple play throughs, then we might add some harmonic layers in the final recording. It’s as basic as it gets.
5. What other artists or songs inspire your music?
Well, I can only answer for myself and I’m a total sucker for The Stooges and that early "protopunk stuff”. I like me some Radio Birdman, James Brown, Discharge, Adolescents and so on. I work in a studio though, so I don’t listen to the stuff I really love that much anymore since my days mostly consists of recording bearded and stoned gentlemen with disturbing fuzz fetishes.
6. What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be it's own thing?
I just hang on for dear life. Every time I think to myself “this is my last show, what the hell am I doing here”, but then I actually find myself enjoying it. I guess we all have our rituals. I like when live music offers something more than a band rehearsing in front of me whose single aim is to play the songs as perfect as possible. Having said that, I realize I need to work on my dance moves, haha. I want to be taken on a crazy ass ride when I see bands I like.
7. Have you been on tour? What has the touring experience been, best shows?
We haven’t been on tour yet, but plans are being made as we speak. We formed the band a few years back just as covid reared its ugly face and halted our plans for world domination. We really need to hit the highways soon though. I very much prefer to see the signs for my hometown in the rear view mirror.
8. What's up next for you?
We have a new album coming out in a few weeks, and we just booked the studio to record the next one. We’ve been discussing some fun split releases with friends, so we’ll see if anything comes from that. Other than that, we’ll keep rehearsing and writing new stuff I guess. Hopefully playing a whole bunch of shows. You know, the usual stuff bands do 😉
https://www.facebook.com/sweetteethpowerpop/