They’re a band whose album sales have surpassed half a million copies, been nominated for both Grammy and MTV awards (and come out victorious) and have toured with the who’s who of rock’n’roll royalty, yet two decades on, both Daniel Bellqvist and Frederik Zäll continue on their musical quest.
To say they’ve accomplished a vast amount would be doing the pair a great disservice, treading an indie-pop road that’s had more junctions than the A1 motorway. “We’ve done a lot of fun things in our career but the cause of it all is the music we’ve made together,” remark the pair over an e-beer over at One Stop Towers. And in its rawest form, it’s something that says a great deal about the two Scandi musicians that sit before us. They’ve defied genres, decades, and now, in their most challenging feat to date, they’ve escaped from a One Stop interview without a scratch on them.
You guys have really managed to make it big in an era that’s shunned the CD, transformed MTV into a music-less shell and turned its back on traditional record labels. How different does it feel releasing new music in this day and age compared to when you first started out?
Well, it’s a brand new world when it comes to the music business, so we’re still getting used to the new environment so to speak. There are so many new ways to promote music and it’s a jungle that needs to be navigated in order to find the optimal path. It’s a challenge, but a fun one.
What would you say are the most striking differences between the music industry then and now?
It used to be kinda straight forward. You got a record deal with a company who paid for promotion, printing albums, tour support if needed etc. and the media was physical magazines, radio and TV. These days you can find sponsors that are usually not involved in the music biz to pay for your album and you have all corners of the internet to promote your music.
It’s crazy how much things have changed! So for those who haven’t heard your music yet, who/what would you compare your sound to?
Well, it’s kinda hard to narrow it down since we’ve made 6 albums that have a variety of production on them, from jazzy sounds to folk rock sound to quite electronic productions etc. Our upcoming album is produced by Oscar Harryson and he’s produced a lot of hip-hop in Sweden, so he had a bit of a different take which blended quite interestingly with our ideas. Our core sound though is based around my vocals and Frederik Zäll’s guitars; in its basic setting you could probably compare our sound to Chris Isaak, Mark Knopfler and probably a whole host of classic indie bands like House Of Love etc.
That’s quite a diverse mix; so what’s the most memorable experience you’ve had with Eskobar so far?
Wow, that’s a big question! Maybe it was playing our first sold out festival show in Hultsfred, Sweden, where there were so many people wanting to see us they were literally hanging on the fence outside to get a glimpse! Also playing for 150 000 people below the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Playing under the Eiffel Tower? Now that’s a claim not too many bands can make! OK, so give us one random fun fact about Daniel and Frederik that not many will know…
F: Daniel was a rapper in LA as a youngster and had a group together with Redfoo of LMFAO.
D: Frederik brews his own brand of beer.
In which case, we’ll hold you to a bottle the next time we cross paths! Alright, if we wanted to get a quick guide to Eskobar’s discography, which three tracks of yours would you want people to familiarise themselves with first and why?
“Cold Night” as it is one of our absolute favorites and it shows our original sound off in an intimate setting perfectly!
“Someone New(with Heather Nova)” since it’s our biggest hit to date and it has our sound and emotion caught in a full band recording.
“Untrap Yourself” as it is taken from our upcoming album and reveals our 2016 sound well.
So, in your opinion, unless you’re Rihanna or Lady Gaga, can you make a good living out of music nowadays?
Haha, we hope so! But seriously though, it’s probably possible if you’re smart about it and dedicated. In other categories of music it’s very possible of course. For example, in Sweden there’s a band who plays for young kids and sells out halls twice in a day and they have very limited costs as they perform with home printed t-shirts, two acoustic guitars and a lot of the music is straight off a CD!
Do you have any words of wisdom for all the new acts who are just starting out in the industry?
Don’t think about what others will think of your music while writing it. That’ll just rob your creative juices of uniqueness and originality.
What’s next for Eskobar after the release of the upcoming Magnetic LP?
We’re hoping to tour Europe and if we get time this year, we’d like to get back in the studio and record another album.
Goals for 2016?
Let as many people as possible discover our new music!
“Magnetic” the single is taken from their forthcoming album also entitled Magnetic. Both will be released on 18th March 2016 on their official eskobar.com site.
