First Aid Kit have already conquered the folk world with their shimmering harmonies and heartbreak ballads, but backstage at Louisville’s Forecastle Festival, sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg are more interested in talking about sumo wrestling, Emmylou Harris, and how writing a protest song might be harder than writing a love one.
“We’ve been at it about eight years now,” Johanna said. “Coming up on ten.” That puts them just shy of a decade since their debut, Drunken Trees — the kind of anniversary bands usually celebrate with a tour, a documentary, or a very long Facebook post. But the Swedish duo are knee-deep in the Stay Gold era, running on adrenaline, harmonies, and caffeine. “We’ve been so busy,” Klara laughs. “It’s just been tour after tour — and some sumo wrestling.”
That’s not a metaphor. “She wins,” Klara said, nodding toward her sister. “She’s relentless.”
The sisters are equally relentless about their heroes. When they performed a tribute to Emmylou Harris — one of their biggest influences — the nerves were real. “All of them,” Johanna said, laughing. “All the nerves.” But she added, “It’s such an honor. You just try to focus on the song and not the person sitting there listening to you.”
That discipline is what’s always set First Aid Kit apart. They grew up idolizing artists like Conor Oberst, who later became a collaborator and friend. “We were such crazy fans of him,” Klara admitted. “Now we’re just friends. It’s weird. You never completely get used to that.”
When Stay Gold came out, the record’s expansive Americana sound felt like a leap from their earlier, sparer records. But by Forecastle, the sisters weren’t thinking about the next big reinvention just yet. “We’re always thinking about what to do next,” said Johanna. “But not working on anything right now. We’re trying to enjoy not working. It’ll happen by itself.”
They admit that writing on the road is nearly impossible. “There’s so much going on all the time,” said Klara. “We need quiet and calm at home to get inspired. The atmosphere really does matter.”
The conversation drifted to politics and feminism — topics that seemed to follow them in every interview. “It’s funny that it’s still something we have to talk about in 2015,” said Johanna. “You’d think we’d be past that.” But they took it in stride. “Writing about emotions is easier,” Klara added. “Writing about politics is more intellectual — you have to get it right.”
Still, you can hear the weight of the world creeping into their songs — or at least the empathy that could lead them there. “You want to have a clear message,” Klara said, “but it still has to sound like you.”
And that’s probably why their cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” lands so hard: two Swedes singing about a country they’re still trying to figure out, with all the tenderness and awe the rest of us have lost.
Watch the full interview above and then check out the video below.
