It’s a long way from Sweden to South Africa, so it says a lot about Marching Band’s Jacob Lind and Erik Sunbring that they would drop their studies and borrow money at the drop of a hat for the opportunity to tour the southern tip of Africa.
The invitation came from Harris Tweed lead singer Cherilyn Macniel, who lived in a house with Jacob five years ago in the United Kingdom.
“We talked about it on and off, and then finally we were, like, ‘Yeah let’s do it,'” says Lind. “We’re really meant to be studying now; we’re meant to be in class.”
Marching Band are a true indie band, self-releasing their albums of quirky melodic songs. Their sound is very unique, but fans of bands such as The Shins, Arcade Fire and Herman Dune should love their music.
They are a testament to the thriving Swedish music scene, which has seen breakouts by such diverse acts as Jose Gonzales, Jens Lenkman and The Knife. If bands as good as Marching Band are battling to get gigs in their own country, competition must be tough.
“There are so many bands in Sweden,” says Lind. “We are not big in Sweden because there are hundreds of bands and lots of competition.
“Here, it seems if you are a good band, people are going to know about you, because there are not too many. We’ve got the impression that people here are really hungry for good music; we have had a much better response here than we ever had in Sweden.”
Lind tells an humorous story of Aidan Cornhill, the guitarist from now-defunct band Deluxe, who approached them at their Durban show to say their tour to South Africa was like an Olympic swimmer travelling to Sudan to show people what swimming is like.
“We believe that we are talented enough and have songs that are good enough to reach out to a big audience,” he says. “I mean, here people really like us; we are bigger here than in Sweden.”
Sunbring agrees. “I think we feel better about ourselves now after this tour. I’m sure that when we go home there will be a huge backlash,” he says, before bursting into laughter at his own joke.
The duo say they will be working on new material when they get back to Sweden, but first they want to give their current album more of a push.
“I want to do new stuff, but I think the stuff we have done is really good and it still hasn’t reached out yet,” says Lind. “We’ll first have to catch up with our studies and then go to an Arcade Fire gig.”
When asked what advice the duo would give to South African bands, Lind curtly replies: “Think first, play later.”
Lloyd Gedye’s interview with Harris Tweed