Interview: Hold your horses Bob
Monday, April 12th, 2010 – 2:18 pm
HOLD YOUR HORSES BOB was formed in 2007 as a one-man-collective with Pete Smith, as the sole member. His idea was to experiment with sounds and free forms from the contemporary classical world in a 3 minutes pop-form. Soon he searched for people with the same kind of attitude towards the creative process. Some 24 months later they were still a collective with various members from gig to gig. This constantly changing of members is surely due to the fact that they all “are big egos that only occasionally can stand to work together” and that some of them “are involved in time consuming criminal activities“, as Pete commented.
Dear Pete, thank you for taking your time!
Which musicians and styles influenced you on your musical journey? How would you describe your style now?
Our inspiration comes from people who go their own ways. Not necessarily musicians. Politicians, homeless people, former alcoholics who start centers for drug users, animals, children. And our music will sound very differently from project to project. Our soon-to-be-released live cd is a show of only short, acoustic pieces. The shows in America will have more of a garage rock sound. And our upcoming cd “Small talks & Big egos” will be rather traditional pop. And our next project will be a co-work with a performance artist, a 45 minutes long theater/dance show due to be performed in art museums.
What is the background to your band name “Hold your horses Bob”? How is the story to that band name? When I heard it at first, I imagined a cowboy running behind his horses!
The name HOLD YOUR HORSES BOB is a quote from the awful American television show “Dallas” from the seventies. JR had in his natural manner done something stupid which led to a outburst from his brother Bobby Ewing. Bobby Ewing rushed into JR’s office cursing his brother, while JR leaned back in a relaxing pose with the reply “Hold your horses Bob”.
You are signed to the label MakeMyDayMusic in Stockholm. Would you maybe prefer to be signed to a Major Label, or dou you like it the independent way?
MakeMyDayMusic is our own company. It was formed to maintain the control of our music. Personally I have never understood why artists strive for major company deals. Major companies (record and publishers) don’t have the financial means to promote every artist they sign. Only the biggest selling artists will enjoy their support. To start your own company is a lot of work, but you maintain your creative freedom. And that’s the whole point.
Stockholm is known as music city. Is there a large community of musicians in Stockholm? Which are the main music styles they play in Sweden, what is “the sound of Stockholm”?
In Stockholm their is a huge music scene with clubs for 10-12 people up to concert halls for an audience of a few thousands. There are concerts every night in most of those places. This leads to a big variation of styles. There is no specific Stockholm-style (or Swedish style for that matter). There is simply all kinds of music going on at the same time.
How is the situation in the music market in Sweden? Do fans still buy CD´s or does everybody go online and download music?
The music scene in Sweden, and Stockholm in particular, is very vital. But very indie… If one wanna get rich and famous one still have to go through the established channels like major record companies, major production companies and the awful “Idol” on television just to mention a few dinosaurs. The problem for most artists, though, are that the major companies’ budgets only alow them to focus on a small number of artists. This leads to less risktaking from the ones who have the structural means on the music scene. And this leads to more commercial artists/music. However, this is not a problem in the long run since it only creates a melting pot of artists who start their own labels. And this creates a very vital environment with small clubs and small venues that invites more or less anyone to perform in. I believe that we wont see another Elvis during our lifetime. There will rather be groups of people rising to make a name for themselves for a few years and then reformed as new groups with new names. The superstar era is history while more people make more music than ever. And that is a good thing since it is more true to the essence of music - the music has a life of its’ own and shouldn’t be reduced to a product available to the highest bidder. So, in my opinion people don’t only buy cd’s - they CREATE cd’s and SHARE them with other creators. There is a huge you-scratch-my-back-and-i’llscratch- yours-thinking.
What are you planning for 2010?
In January 2010 HOLD YOUR HORSES BOB will release a live-CD recorded at Larry’s Corner in Stockholm. During spring we will tour in USA with live shows in Detroit, Michigan, New York, Twin Cities, Chicago and Washington. During summer we will play festivals in Sweden. We will also start the recording of our next studio production, an album called “Small talks & Big egos”. The release is scheduled to late autumn 2010.
openpot.com/Hold your horses Bob
Interview by Sophie
