Thomas L Fagerlund (THE KISSAWAY TRAIL)

KISSAWAY TRAIL is quintet with two vocals from Danmark. Discovered by Simon Raymonde via their MySpace page they're new on Bella Union records Their debut album is in the best record stores (except Croatian). Here is what one of their singers Thomas L Fagerlund has to say… Where are you now and what are you doing?

I'm in my apartment. I've just finished my breakfast and am now listening to our second single La La Song which we have to approve before it is being manufactured. In about an hour I have to go rehears with the band. We're going to play a big festival show on Friday at the Danish Spot Festival.

Why did you name band THE KISSAWAY TRAIL and a brief history of how the band started?

The band started 2 and a half years ago. It's was three bands melting together. Me and Daniel had a band called Shane, Hasse played in a band called the spy in the mes and Soren and Rune in a band called Isles. We decided to play under the name Isles, but after a year we discovered another band from New York called the Isles and then changed our band name to The Kissaway Trail. We felt it sounded romantic, dark, and beautiful and that it covered the band's music very well.

Describe your debut album, in few words?

Bird, fish and in between.

Is it hard for the band from Denmark to score on international scene? And are there any new bands from Denmark that you can recommend to listen to?

I think it's hard for any band to make it on the international scene these days. People have so many bands to choose from with the internet and myspace. But Denmark is doing very well. Some of the Danish bands I think will do well internationally are Figurines and Oh No Ono.

Your cd/lp cover has the original background/picture. Who made it and what does it represent?

It's a lady called Tracy Maurice. She lives in New York now, but was living in Tokyo when she did our cover. She has her own style so we pretty much knew what to expect when we gave her the freedom to do whatever she wanted. I like that our cover has a story on its own and when you study it closer you'll find new stuff you haven't seen before, just like when you're are listening to music.
Which do you prefer, cd or vinyl?

I don't have a cd player, so I prefer vinyl, but I don't listen to music that often.

What do you think about my space as service to promote yourself?

As I wrote before myspace is a good way to reach many people, but I also think it has killed some of the magic in music and bands.

Are there any song that you would like to cover and any artist that you would like to play with?

I would only do a cover if I knew I could do it better than the original artist, and I don't think you can. But if I had to do a cover it would be Neil young's "Philadelphia" or I would like to sing a duet with Billy Corgan, maybe his song "tonight, tonight".

What do you listen when you're at home, on tour, right now…?

As I wrote before I don't listen to that much music. On tour the other guys in the band have iPod's and several of them are listening to the new Blonde Redhead album.

Tell me something I would never guess about you?

We are the most shy band on earth!

Thanks for your time and I hope I'll see you soon in Croatia …

pedja // 30/05/2007