the making of writer’s block by peter bjorn and john - featuring Peter Morén, Björn Yttling and John Eriksson

Intro: 

Dan Nordheim: You’re listening to Life of the Record. Classic albums, told by the people who made them. My name is Dan Nordheim. 

Peter Bjorn and John formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1999 by Peter Morén, Björn Yttling and John Eriksson. Morén and Yttling had been playing together since high school and after moving to Stockholm, they connected with Eriksson. In 2001, they self-released an EP called Forbidden Chords. In 2002, their self-titled album was released on the Swedish label, Beat That! Records. For their second album, they moved to the Planekonomi label and released Falling Out in 2004. At this point, they thought about ending the band, but decided to make one more album and record it themselves with Yttling producing. Writer’s Block was eventually released in 2006. 

In this episode, Peter Morén, Björn Yttling and John Eriksson reflect on how the album came together. This is the making of Writer’s Block. 

Peter Morén: Hello, so this is Peter Morén from Peter Bjorn and John and Life of the Record, and we're talking about our album Writer's Block. We released two records, Peter Bjorn and John in 2002 and Falling Out in 2004. And nothing much happened. We mainly played some small student shows in Sweden and one show in London, and we had a song on Swedish radio, but it was really kind of lukewarm reception. So we, we kind of figured out that, “Okay, let's make one more record and then throw in the towel if nothing happens.” So that was kind of the plan going into what became Writer's Block that we’re gonna make one more record and then give up if nothing would happen with it, basically. So it was kind of a different mindset and I think because of that, we didn't think about the live performances, maybe because we thought about breaking up the band, so like, it was more about making a statement of a record.

When I was 15, 16, I moved to a town called Västerås because there was a music high school sort of thing there. And there wasn't anything closer to where I grew up. I grew up in a small village in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of Sweden. And sort of by coincidence, Björn was at that school too. And at that school as it was in this was like, you know, early to mid nineties, a long time ago, most of the students were into like playing classical music, maybe heavy metal, jazz fusion, stuff like that. I was never into any of that. I was mainly doing what I'm doing now (laughs), you know, like singer songwriter stuff. And I just got into like indie rock at that point, sort of that scene. And Björn kind of saw this in me because the city he comes from, they had sort of like an indie rock scene at that point. So he was kind of aware of what I was into and he kind of asked me straight out if I wanted to start a pop band as we called it then in Sweden. 

Björn Yttling: Hi, this is Björn from Peter Bjorn and John. And also I produced the record because I was producing stuff at the time and I played bass and sing some songs too. I went to a sort of music high school in 1990. I started and then there was not a lot of people that liked guitar rock music and Stone Roses and that sort of stuff. I guess it was only me. But then, Peter started also, so he was, you know, a little bit two years younger than me. And I realized he liked the same sort of stuff like Elvis Costello and, you know, like power pop and all that stuff. So we just started like, playing two electric guitars with a drum machine in a room, you know, that was the whole start of it. And then, me and Peter was playing a lot, and then we moved, both of us moved to Stockholm because it seemed like the normal thing to do in Sweden, because that's where all the music makers are in Sweden and the industry. So we tried to form a band, I guess, and looking for some drummers. 

Peter Morén: We auditioned to quite a few different drummers and also put up, you know, in music stores as you did back in those days, like “drummer wanted.” And of course, most of those people that turned up didn't really fit. But the funny thing with John was that he's also from the north of Sweden, kind of even further up than Björn. And he was like sort of a wunderkind of percussion and drums. So he came to Stockholm earlier than us, and at that point he played like in a symphony orchestra, like in the percussion section. But we didn't really know that he played drums. We only thought he played marimbas and stuff. But then he started coming to, we saw him at like Sebadoh shows or Elliott Smith shows, you know, shows we went to. We said, “Okay, John, is he into this sort of music,” like lo-fi stuff and stuff we listened too, so we finally asked him. 

Björn Yttling: We didn't really like, think he would be a drummer, you know, but after a while it was like, “Let's ask him, you know, like if he can, maybe he can drum,” you know, like a long shot. And then he was just playing so beautifully and great drums. So we clicked right away with him. 

John Eriksson: My name is John Eriksson and I'm the drummer and songwriter in Peter Bjorn and John. At that time I was working in a percussion ensemble and when I joined Peter and Björn, with their music project, this was like the first time I played drums in that kind of music. I used to be a heavy metal guy and I played a lot of jazz and stuff like that when I was a kid, but this was the first proper band I was playing in. So that was something new for me. 

Björn Yttling: We put out two records in Sweden and the first one was on a small label and the second one was on our even smaller label (laughs), and the guy that ran the label sort of disappeared when we were supposed to put it out. So we had to do everything ourselves and that was kind of taking its toll. So we figured like, we can't fight for this band no more. 

John Eriksson: For this album, we didn't have any pressure at all because we made two albums, nobody cared. And we sort of had nothing to lose (laughs). So I guess that's also the part of the naivety of it and the playfulness and the no pressureness, because we did what we wanted to do. At that point, we didn't have any record label and just inspiration, I think. 

Peter Morén: So the whole idea around the record I think was kind of to build an atmosphere around the songs and kind of, some people have assessed that it's sort of like a concept album, we didn't think about it like that, but we did want it to have, feel like a coherent piece of plastic or CD or whatever. Something that holds together from cover to songs and presentation. And Björn’s studio was really close to where I lived and it was really hot summer in 2005 when we recorded this album. So it was a lot of like walking around, taking a swim cause there's water everywhere in Stockholm. Taking a swim, having an ice cream, recording some songs, writing some songs. So it's kind of a really chilled out nice atmosphere. We were thinking about like, that came from me like a poem, “Writer's Block,” but we don't have writer's block, we have so many songs. We are just writing and writing, but we are kind of living in this block.

The first two records we did partly record, especially the second record, we did record in like a proper studio. Pelle Gunnerfeldt’s studio, who is famous for producing the Hives. And they were like professionally recorded. But for this third record, we had no budget whatsoever. And Björn had assembled some gear and some microphones. So we were basically recording in a space that wasn't built for recording. It was just like a space he had with different instruments that we had assembled. 

John Eriksson: It was a drum kit that Björn found in a trash, what do you call it, ah supro in Sweden. Yeah where you throw all the garbage from your apartment building. And so everything was very much do it yourself. 

Björn Yttling: We had like no money at all, like nothing. So we started recording at my place again, which was more like a studio. I didn't live in the studio now I had a, like a separate room space. So we went there and I figured if we can't record on tape, it's gonna suck. So if we record everything through a tape machine, you know, echo, you know, like, tape echo, then it's gonna be a little bit on tape anyway, so we hooked up the tape space echo and, ran everything parallel through the echo. And that was sort of like a little, it became a sound, you know, because we put reverbs on more stuff that anyone would have if they were just like doing it normal for the first time.

Peter Morén: We had like more band meetings and talked about the recording more and started to having dogmas and ideas around the recording. But for this one, we kind of started talking more about drum patterns and the idea that if you have one sound on one song, to tie the whole thing together, you have to try, if you're looking for a sound for another song, you have to try the sounds you already used to kind of, give like a overall feeling of the record. Sometimes it was like, you know, making, synth sounds that sounds like a whistle. What's the point of that? Just like, then we just took a mic and like (whistles),  make sort of like sirens and stuff like that. And I think that might have been an idea that we had way before “Young Folks” too. So we had the whistle that was like sort of like circling around on multiple songs for sure.

John Eriksson: The way the drums are so minimal was kind of both an aesthetic choice that we said that we didn't want any cymbals, maybe not even hi-hat because a lot of albums are too filled with that kind of frequency. But also it was because Björn, I think he only had one or two mics, so we couldn't have too many drums. So it was a room mic and one mic between the snare and the kick. So the setup was also very minimal. 

Peter Morén: We weren't allowed to use cymbals. So John would have like a pattern with toms and snares and stuff, and then we would overdub, if we wanted cymbals or percussion, we would overdub that. So that was kind of one, and the pattern of the drums should follow through the whole song. It was more like, almost like sampling yourself having a pattern throughout the song. And for percussion, we also used a lot of, yeah, we used our own bodies. We were hitting like our stomachs, we were stomping on concrete floors with the boots and you know, doing, (makes mouth noise) hitting your cheeks. And there's also a lot of acoustic sounds like a lot of nylon string guitar, which we hadn't used before really. And a lot of acoustic piano, but everything is like, gone through maybe a bit distorted and so we kind of had to fuck up the sounds a bit to make it cool and listenable. And that's kind of the sound of the record. 

John Eriksson: So when we started working on Writer's Block, we were into ESG a lot. And also I think this was a very important inspiration, the Langley Schools Music Project. There was a couple of albums being made by this Canadian music teacher, I can't remember his name, (Hans Fenger), but he put together this school orchestras in elementary school. So kids between I guess 6 up to 10, 11 years old, playing covers on famous rock and pop songs. And the sound of that album is so fantastic. I mean, you can hear the kids giving all their heart and also maybe a bit filled with shame or something. You know, in Sweden we have this music school thing. So I think we felt really close to that vibe. You know, you play as a kid something that's a bit uncomfortable, but you do it and you maybe not the best musician because your music teacher just tells you to do this and do that. And that sound was something we wanted to recreate on Writer's Block. This kind of naive, almost playful, not knowing what you're doing, style of playing. So I tried to play drums like it was the first time, like my music teacher has just taught me this cool funky jazz rock beat and we played guitar and piano with one finger at a time, just trying to be kids naive, not knowing what we're doing. But I think that was also kind of natural and organic because it was the first time I wrote a pop song. They, Peter and Björn forced me to write a couple of songs. So it was first time I wrote pop lyric, and first time Björn sort of produced it on his own and he learned some about the compressor, didn't know what that was, I remember he was quite new to a lot of technical stuff. And Peter was, it was the first time he wrote a song without 20 chords in it. So we were sort of beginners as well as trying to do this as an aesthetic.

“Objects of My Affection” 

Peter Morén: “Objects of My Affection,” the first proper song on the record was one of the songs I brought in, and it's kind of a very personal song. And the funny thing was at this point, as we were thinking about breaking up the band, I was kind of toying with an idea of, you know, “Yeah, I have all these songs, I should make a solo record,” which I eventually done a number of them. But I thought I was always like going for more like singer songwriter, focusing on something that I could like, present it with just a guitar, like a troubadour. So this song had sort of that almost like a Dylan vibe. And at first the other guys didn't want it on the record. They don't remember this, but they thought it didn't fit in, like sort of, and I can kind of see that. But I fought for it and now of course I'm really happy it's there and it's the only place it could go would be in the beginning.

John Eriksson: “Objects of My Affection,” I remember Peter playing it on his guitar. And sounded so good, just him playing that rhythm and him singing along to it. It felt like this, this kind of French guy walking around in a village playing his song to his relatives. The idea was to keep that natural atmosphere of it. And then also that affected maybe, I don't, can't remember what song we recorded first, but, but on the album we sort of kept that nylon string guitar on a lot of songs and then added like the whistling. I think there's whistling on this tune as well. Very simple drum beat on a snare drum, almost like, yeah, childish, minimalistic and yeah, so it's very stripped down, but it's a lot of effects on it. 

Peter Morén: What we brought to it cause it had this like shuffling acoustic guitar thing and we brought like some shoegaze textures to it, like with some noisy synths and guitars. And I'm not even sure what the instrument they are, but yeah, a bit noisier and also with the snare, with the march thing, so it's kind of melding like a folk sensibility with almost like a shoegaze thing, which is also our roots of course.

Björn Yttling: But on “Objects of My Affection,” we put like white noise on those like sections where there's like, you know, full on. I just like put that on like, and of course some extra electric guitar, I think is on there too, but it's probably like acoustic to begin with. 

Peter Morén: “Objects of My Affection” is a song about, you know, looking back and it's kind of funny when I go through the verses there and like looking back, it's looking back at the period when me and Björn met, like the high school period and then maybe looking back to when we moved to Stockholm and kind of, and then seeing as where you are now, and it's kind of, “Yeah, this is better,” and you kind of learn things about yourself. Now, of course, now 20 years later, you know that you're still developing, you're still kind of learning things and you weren't finished then at all. But it still rings true. It's one of my favorites and it's nice because you, when you play it live, there's always like people coming up and like, “I had that at my friend's funeral and that song helped me through so much.” And it's interesting when you write something that is essentially about your own life and that it really rings true for a lot of people.

We were all like, 28, 29. So it's kind of crossroads and kind of making decisions and, and probably that's why we thought about giving up the band as “Well, like, cut your hair and get a job basically.” And I started in this period, I went back to university actually after having had a lot of different jobs and played in other bands and stuff. And I was studying to become a librarian or an information scientist, as they call it, but obviously that I didn't finish my degree because something came in the way.

“Young Folks”

John Eriksson: Yeah, the opening fill of “Young Folks,” it's kind of a homage and a cartoonish, childish version of the intro for “Robot Rock” by Daft Punk, cause that drum intro was extremely cool, we thought. We tried to recreate that, or I tried to do something similar, but at the same time, dorky and stupid. So we wanted it to start like that.

Björn Yttling: We never like tried the drums in the rehearsal space before we did it just in the studio as we recorded it. So that's, it was me and John, like bass and drums. And we tried to get the good drum sound going and the bass was just like playing at the same time, I guess. Like, we didn't have like, and no one sang at the same time or it was just like bass and drums. So we got that cool sound down, great drum sound. 

Peter Morén: “Young Folks” was more of a group collaboration. Björn had this piano jazzy piece and he brought that to us and then him and John kind of toyed around with it in the studio just with a bass drum thing like. Trying to make it almost like a James Brown, like a funky, a funky track. And that's what was most like different with that song cause there's almost no guitar at all. And we were sort of a guitar band. 

John Eriksson: We started with the beat trying to get that right. And as I said, we were inspired by Langley School of Music and ESG, the way ESG played like a James Brown beat, but with, with quirkiness. And that was the vibe we wanted to create. So I think we started with the drums and the beat and added a lot of percussion. I was working, as I said, in this percussion ensemble. So we had access to a lot of stuff like, tubular belts and thunder plates and bongos of course, shakers. And so, and then the song started growing from that. Björn worked with the bass line a lot. 

Peter Morén: And I think the thing with the whistling was that Björn had this melody and we just wanted to get the idea of the melody down cause we didn't have a lyric or anything. And that's why he whistled and because maybe it was a whistle on other songs, it stayed, but we were talking about replacing it with something else. So it was just an instrumental track. It was whistling bass on drums. That was the whole thing.

John Eriksson: Regarding the lyrics for “Young Folks,” I think I remember some discussion. At first, it was supposed to be a bit like I'm “Losing My Edge” with LCD Soundsystem. Something about being a bit in the middle of being young and old, trying to figure out what is cool. But I think that idea is scrapped, and then it was decided to make this “Fairy Tale of New York” duet thing out of it. 

Björn Yttling: We had a little like, idea for the verse was sort of like, if you know something about like, not being with the cool kids or something, I don know, I can't remember. It was sort of like an outside perspective, but we decided it's gonna be a duet. We had to like alter the verse a little bit and also like, “Who's gonna sing when?” And like, “she sings that and you come back with a phrase, you know, and then you all sing on the chorus and that stuff.” So it was more of a Pogues sort of duet song. 

Peter Morén: And then, me and Björn sat down and talked about like, we never had done a duet. And since everything is up in the air and, and John is singing, Björn is singing, we're trying all sorts of things, “Why not duet?” I don't know, I always liked duets and kind of trying to write the lyric that is sort of like a dialogue in a film. And so we wrote the lyric for it to be a duet and, and it's kind of a similar, even though this is more of a written song, it's not like a personal, like “Objects” where I just kind of thought about my own life. This is more something where you sit at a table and write a lyric, but it's set in the same period. And that's a big misunderstanding of a lot of people because of the cartoon and the small kids in the video and the name, “Young Folks.” But it's written from the perspective of, as we talked about, people soon hitting 30 and, and maybe gone through a couple of relationships and feeling a bit burnt out on love and then meeting someone new in a bar and started talking and kind of connecting and feeling, “Yeah, maybe this could be something, maybe it's worth giving it a try.” But as Björn would tell you, like the chorus that “We don't care about the young,” that was just something to begin with. Didn't really mean anything but something he sang. So in the verses I had to make sense of it and build a story. So, and then bringing in a female voice.

John Eriksson: I just remember the discussions about who will be the other voice. And I think we had this idea that Nina Persson from The Cardians was supposed to sing it, but Björn had forgotten her phone number. He thought he had it, but he lost it, so we couldn't call her. But then we had played a lot with a band called The Concretes and the lead singer in that Swedish indie pop group was Victoria Bergsman. And we have also did a cover of one of their songs, “Teen Love” on the album before this. So it was kind of really natural to ask Victoria. We liked hanging out with The Concretes and done some tours together, and she fitted so perfectly into this song and into this naivety, this childish vibe that we wanted to create with this Langley School Music Project aesthetic. So it was just the best coincidence ever. 

Peter Morén: It just felt natural to invite her because she was always around and also her voice and my voice are so different. So it is kind of like a weird, it felt like the natural thing. 

Björn Yttling: We just loved her voice so I mean, it was just like a no brainer, get her in there.

John Eriksson: When Victoria was supposed to sing it, we had to raise the key couple of steps, and I think that's why the whistling also sounds pretty cool because it's pitched up and it's unnatural (laughs). 

Peter Morén: So I recorded the whole song and then so we didn't record it at the same time. It's like, I think Björn said they recorded it on Midsummer Eve or something, but yeah, we had to pitch the whole thing and then I had to,  after she recorded her part, I had to record my part again. And, I mean, that's fine. The only weird thing was that the whistling became pitched as well, so made it that it was really hard to do live for a male, but I had to practice a lot and now I'm okay (laughs). 

Björn Yttling: When we played Writer’s Block here in Stockholm a month ago, we met with, the guy that I shared the studio with, (Linus Larsson) and he was, he mixed “Young Folks.” And he said, when we mixed “Young Folks,” we went to Pelle’s studio, which we couldn't afford it for recording, but we afforded it for mix. And we went to the studio and realized that the bass sound was not good enough. The bass was, we had to pitch the whole song like a minor third or something, and the bass would not sound good, ;ike when we pitched it in the computer. I mean, so I had to go back from the studio and just take the bass and record a bass again in the new key and go back, take it back to the studio and while they were mixing, you know, he told me and I remember that now, but I didn't, it was kind of funny, you know, because bass is kind of tricky to pitch in the computer. It's sort of, it gets a lot of weird noises that you don't like. So still, but at that time it sounded horrible, I guess. “Young Folks” was definitely like the last batch of songs, which is not unusual to get like the single later in the process. I think that's probably 50% of the records I made. That's what happens.

John Eriksson: Well, the first time we played “Young Folks” publicly was at this bar that we attended at that time in Stockholm, and me and Peter was DJing and we put on this burnt CD-R with “Young Folks.” I think it was kind of ready, maybe it was not mixed or something, but we put it on and I think five, six, maybe more persons came up to the DJ booth and asked, “What song is this?” And that rarely happens, but for our own song that like, it felt that it resonated like that night with so many people just playing it for the first time. So I guess that was a kind of an a-ha moment. 

Peter Morén: We put “Young Folks,” the song up on MySpace and started getting reactions there. And that's kind of, now thinking of MySpace in 2025, it's like a graveyard. I haven't been there for, I don't know when, but back then it was kind of, we got a lot of like a lot of people liked the song there when it had no label, nothing. 

John Eriksson: It started this journey. It was like, seeing this baby bird just lifting and traveling around. I mean, it was like uncontrollable. And it was at some point, it didn't feel like it was something connected to us almost. It just lived its own life. And we heard like rumors that people stood up at a cafe in Portland dancing when the song came on the radio. And I mean, this was like weird rumors that reached us in Sweden. 

Björn Yttling: We were surprised that people in Sweden cared about it at all. Like it went up on the little, not like super much on the charts, but like on the radio it was played on the radio. We had to go like, to a big festival with, it was on a big festival. And we went out to like a big DJ party. And when the DJ played “Young Folks,” everybody went nuts. And like, you know, I was like, crowd surfing, I don't know, they just put me up in the air. Like I was crowd surfing, I'm like, I fell down with my head into the concrete (laughs). But I was like, that was like, “Okay, people like this song.” I was like, “Even people that I like, like this song, it's like everybody likes this song. This is going nuts.” You know, like there was an interesting moment for sure, and that was summer of 2006. 

Peter Morén: The way that “Young Folks” blew up over the course of a year basically, more or less. It was a shock to the system. We didn't expect anything when they started playing it a lot in Sweden, that was kind of, “Oh wow.” And then it came to Ireland and, and UK, Australia, Japan. And then when we finally played in New York, our first ever show in the states. The first thing we did was the Conan O'Brien TV show. So we didn't even play like a regular show. We went straight to TV (laughs), cause there was a lot of hype and I think we sold records on import and stuff. It was also the when all the blogs started coming. So it was like a first, like the MySpace thing, but then all the music blogs, so it's kind of like a new milieu, like a new environment for launching music. Not as dependent on, on major labels, more like a word of mouth thing. It was a couple of years, there was like, sort of like a wilderness period before the record labels took hold again. And, and we kind of sneak in between with our weird song, which shouldn't be a hit because it's too long and the intro goes on forever. And it's, you know, (laughs). 

John Eriksson: But it, I think it took a little while to, until we understand that it was such a big song. Now I can totally understand it because compared to a lot of stuff, other stuff you hear, it's a very, very, very, very special song.

After touring almost two years maybe on it, maybe you were a bit tired of it, just playing it on radio stations and live every night. But still, it's a weird song cause you never really get tired of it. And when I hear it now, it still sounds so special with this quirkiness that it has and combined with this beautiful love duet and the combination of Peter and Victoria’s voices and the arrangement. I mean, it's a song that I don't think you get tired of really. It's weird saying it, but it feels like that.

Peter Morén: I've been really burnt out on “Young Folks” in periods, especially I think when we were like releasing the record, the proper pop follow up, Living Thing, and everyone was still talking about “Young Folks,” then I got a bit pissed off there for a while. But now, I mean, it's been so long and the nice thing, as we've been doing this past month, we've been playing the whole album. And when you put it into context of the album, I kind of like it more, but of course it is a weird thing when you have a song that is so big that a lot of people know it, like most people know it, but not most people know who we are or what the band are, or what the rest of the nine albums are, you know, so we've done so much music. So I think that that disconnect between the song and the band is kind of, I mean, sometimes you wish that, that maybe that would have connected a bit more. But I mean, that's just, we are a weird indie band and, and that's when we've tried to make like more deliberately commercial music, that doesn't really work. So I think, yeah, the reason this connects is just the whole album connects because we were relaxed, we were like, kind of natural and relaxed and we just trying out things and we didn't overthink things and I think that's why the album works. And some of our, definitely not all of our stuff that came after, but some of them, we, you can feel the pressure of having had a hit and you start to like, think too much. And also you think about, cause that's the special thing when you have, when you're a trio and all people are writing and we all have different tastes, you start to thinking about, “Okay, should I write the song that the other guys will like or should I do something I like?” So you kind of start to think too much.

Björn Yttling: It's still a huge song for a lot of people and cause it's so different too. So I think it's just like, it's got a great beat and it sounds cool and it's got an honest, you know, lyric and people just, I don't know, it's just one of those songs. So if we would've made two of them, that would've been absurd, I think. I think that one, one’s enough (laughs). 

“Amsterdam” 

Björn Yttling: “Amsterdam” is just like, the lyric is pretty straightforward. My girlfriend went to Amsterdam for four or five days and, and it was sort of boring, so I wrote that song, you know, when she was there. So, and that's a song that that think 2005, there was a lot of songs written for me because I was up north when she was in Amsterdam. I was up north and I wrote like all these songs. Maybe like, I don’t know, 80 songs or something. I was sitting watching, must have been 2005 or 2004 because I was watching the European Championship in football, soccer, and I had the TV on, like no volume. I was just strumming on the guitar and writing songs and recording them on a MiniDisc. And Greece won and it was, I watched every game, like the whole tournament. So I think I came out with like, so many songs that I used for like, so many records. So I, it could have been even like 2004. But so that song definitely is from that. And maybe also “Roll the Credits” probably from that batch too. And also some songs on Living Thing is from that batch as well. So, just that was a good summer for me.

John Eriksson: “Amsterdam” was sort of, one of the songs that really captures the vibe and the sound of Writer’s Block, like the beat, sample-like, drumbeat and the bit wonky, wobbly tempo and the simpleness of the one note at the time at on the piano and the riff on guitar and bass. So it was sort of that kind of song that really set the aesthetics for the album, I think. 

Peter Morén: The demo for “Amsterdam” was kind of like a heavy, that was a bit shoegazy too. It sounded completely different, but I think we were kind of talking about making things more sparse and open and working a lot with bass and drums and percussion. 

Björn Yttling: I had a totally different demo for that was more like My Bloody Valentine or something (laughs). And then we like rehearse it into like, it came to be like more like we have it. 

John Eriksson: I think to beat was inspired by a Peter Gabriel a song that I really liked on his fourth solo album that I think it was Phil Collins played it. So it's a bit inspired by by that. The shaker was sort of very sloppy and almost out of beat (laughs). 

Peter Morén: And then I was really into John Cale's solo records at that point, and there's a song called “Barracuda” on Fear, which I listened to. And I remember I listened to that and went to the studio and kind of had that in my mind. And I play the bass on this, so I don't know, it was something about that (sings bassline) that I think sort of came from that mixture of influences and that distorted piano. So it's kind of, it's a weird mix of noises. Also, I think it's the marching boots on the concrete floor again. So, yeah, it's a really nice and the kind of like, almost like a narcotic, is that a word? Or like a very slow. It's like a lazy beat.

But I guess that's another thing too, like I mentioned, I played the bass. That's another thing we are kind of throwing instruments around and like playing maybe not your first instrument. I think I played piano on a song too, and that we continued doing that on other records afterwards. Like everyone can sort of play. Like John plays quite a lot of electric guitar, I think, on a couple of songs. If you have an idea, it's better to let the person who has the idea play it rather than like teaching it to people. 

Björn Yttling: First it was mainly Peter writing songs and maybe on the first record I did some songs too. And I think maybe Peter was encouraging him to come up with songs too. So, and also like singing on them cause he sings on some, I sing on some songs, so it's like, I did on like the previous records, I sang like on one, you know, like the occasional like Ringo tune or something like that. So just to get a different flavor. 

Peter Morén: Björn had sung a couple of songs on earlier records, but for this record we kind of talked about like, “Yeah, let's have John sing some parts.” And there are also things where maybe two people sing one section and then another people sing another section. So it's kind of mixing up the voices a bit more. Which is nice on an album. I mean, to this day, I guess I'm the lead singer sort of, but it's just nice, especially when you're listening to a record, it's nice to have different voices and have like the Ringo song and the George song. 

John Eriksson: I don't know what the intention for asking me to write songs and sing. Maybe it was like this nothing to lose feeling when making the album. We could do anything and we didn't have to be good or bad or in tune. It was very open album process. So I guess also Björn asked me to do it while Peter was out dating his girlfriend, so we also came and went. So I think the summer vibe we recorded during a very good, nice summer in Stockholm. So it was a very laid back and open process.

“Start to Melt” 

John Eriksson: “Start to Melt” was probably the first pop song I ever wrote. I had made a couple of really crappy jazz fusion tracks before when I went to high school, but yeah, I think I had this Portastudio, portable, like hard drive, tape recorder, I don’t know what it's called. And that was, I recorded the demo there. And  Björn heard it and thought it sounded a bit like Brian Eno maybe, I don't know if it was my terrible voice or the structure of the song because it's kind of minimalistic. It's like a mantra or something. So Björn's idea was to enhance that to make it a bit more garage noisey track.

Björn Yttling: That was inspired by I think Brian Eno when we recorded, we listened to Brian Eno a lot on this record. And Brian Eno's solo albums from the seventies and on a few songs, Brian Eno put like one kit in one speaker and one different recorded kit in the other speaker, which we thought was cool. So that's what we did on “Start to Melt,” there's actually two kits. One is on the left side and one is on the right hand side. And then there's just a lot of, I guess, noises and, you know, reverb. I mean, delayed feedback stuff, you know, that's probably what we put in there. 

John Eriksson: And it was a bit scary just hearing your own voice recorded on your own song. But Björn made a good, good job hiding my voice in a lot of guitars (laughs). 

Björn Yttling: Yeah, I think he probably record them himself because, so no one could like hear him. He was sitting like, I do like too, like with a mic, like, you know, in very, like, not standing up, almost like sitting down like in a little cube or something. But on “Amsterdam,” when I sing, I put, what's it called? Stylophone that you can play with a pen, (sings stylophone part), I put it sounds like, so that's double tracking the vocal. I think it sounded better. It was just like distorted and at that time we had no auto tune and stuff like that, so I just felt more comfortable with that sound. So maybe we did something similar with John. I'm not, I can't remember. 

Peter Morén: I think it was a bit scary for them too, to sing. So they often wanted to do it in isolation and like hide with the mic somewhere and a lot of reverb.

I think the amazing thing about John's songs on this record, which is, this might sound weird and maybe he’d get upset, but I feel like maybe that's another thing about being natural and just being, you know, not overthinking and being relaxed. I kind of felt like he hit it out of the park immediately. Like his best songs are on this record (laughs). There's a couple of later ones that I really love as well. But no, it's just like a nice shoegazy jam. And I can't remember how his demo sounded, but his demos were really, really ambitious. Like, I only brought in like, I made just guitar and voice and some of yours were a bit more ambitious, but John's were almost like, like his demo record for this record, which also has a lot of other songs. It's almost like a record, you know, you can, I could listen to that. So I think you sort of have the feel of this song already there with like the guitars and everything. So I think it's both me and John on electric guitars. So it's like a lot of guitars on that song. It's nice. It's almost like a haiku, like the lyric is so nice. It's almost like a Haiku poem. 

John Eriksson: Yeah I thought they were kidding me when they asked me to write pop songs, I was like, “What? What? Why should I do that? You guys are good at it. You've done it since you were kids.” So, but I think that affected the vibe of it. Like it wasn't that hard (laughs). And I think there was some of my best lyrics as well because I didn't think too much. It was just, “Okay, a pop song. It's not that hard” (laughs). Regarding the lyrics of “Start to Melt” and also “Up Against the Wall” and “Ancient Curse,” that was a B-side. I think it was also very naive, but of course it was about not, not, being successful in dating at that time (laughs). So my songs are probably the most bittersweet romantic, probably a bit self-lived, but also very much, do it for the first time and see what happens style.

“Up Against the Wall” 

Peter Morén: Well that's another, “Up Against the Wall” is another John song, obviously. And, I think he had like maybe more sections, like there was stuff happening like some weird middle eight, and at some point we kind of stripped that away and it just stayed with the one riff and just like the one thing going all the way through. And it's just nice. It's something we used later as well. Obviously the drumbeat is just fantastic. I think that was on his demo. I think he had it like a written thing, but then it's so nice with the bass and guitar. It's almost like a, we usually say like a Booker T. & the M.G.’s thing, 

John Eriksson: I had made a demo for “Up Against the Wall,” there was just drums and a guitar and the vocals, I think. And when Björn heard it, he wanted to extend everything and make it into this kind of New Order-type song, which was fantastic. I think I was so impressed by Björn's production on that song that that was kind of when I understood that, yeah, Björn is gonna work as a producer because, he made this very simple, minimalistic song into this kind of epic, indie kind of New Order song that keeps on building. And yeah, I think we worked a lot of just layers playing different kind of guitars, but it was mostly Björn sitting in the studio just putting layers on layers and really working out the arrangements. So he spend a lot of time doing that. 

Björn Yttling: I remember “Up Against the Wall” because we played it like a trio in the rehearsal space and we made a version of it and it didn't sound good. And we did one more take maybe even, but it didn't sound good. It was the same tempo, it was the same vibe, but it just, we didn't get it the right sort of, I don’t know, James Brown sort of like stiffness to it. So that's what we were after, I think. But it's such a cool beat, you know, but it's hard to get right. So that's the only song on the album that has, like a loop of the drums, if I remember correctly. And once we got that idea, we recorded bass and guitar to the loop that we had, the drum loop. And then I think I did a lot of editing on that one. If I remember correctly, I was on tour with Caesars Palace called the Caesars, and I had this MacBook white one, like small 12 inch MacBook, and I was sitting in the tour bus, like doing different things. So it was tweaking, it was like a lot of versions, but in the end we probably arranged it to, I mean, I sent it to the guys and, you know, “Do you like this and that?” And then, so it's sort of like a long, like drum machine stuff, like different stuff that we had. But the basic part is that the drums would be a loop, and that was the whole like, sort of cracked the code for us.

John Eriksson: Björn and Peter had played together for a long time and they were into their power pop Elvis Costello, and a lot of very nice songs with, sometimes complicated chord structures and a lot of parts. And that's one of the things we liked about the Lilys album. We sort of liked that thing, but the more we played together it felt like it would be interesting to strip things down, take away some chords, take away some sounds, take away some, and make it more the cliche, less is more thing. And to leave space in the production as well. And I think Björn was very into that as a producer at that time. 

Peter Morén: That's a thing I had to learn after a while. Cause when we started, I was so used to playing by myself or, you know, filling up a lot of space since I was a kid, cause I was doing troubadour shows, so I was like playing a little bass, a little chords, some melodies. So I was like, I was using the guitar as a band, basically, but John kept saying like, “Play less, play less, and like, play just one string,” and stuff like that. And I picked up on it and now I can do both so it's nice. But it was kind of hard for me at first cause I was like a machine. I was like singing and playing all this stuff and then like, just to think that, “Oh, you can play less. And then you just have the bass and guitar like working together like that.” It's, I love playing that. That's like my favorite song ever to play live, I think. And obviously our live version is quite different from the record. It starts like the record, but then it goes out into this long jam sections that are different every night. So it's sort of like our big jam song.

“Paris 2004”

Peter Morén: “Paris 2004” is kind of like a self-explanatory song. It's about the first holiday I went to with my girlfriend, now wife, to Paris. And it was kind of a shitty holiday in some respects because we didn't have any money in 2004 and it was expensive. And we went to bad restaurants. You hear all this stuff about the great food in Paris, but we, I don't know, we didn't find the right places. And it was raining all the time, but it was still that thing of like, “Okay, we are like really getting serious and we are kind of, you know, deeply in love.”

John Eriksson: Yeah a lot of the songs are about love and Peter was totally newly in love with his girlfriend, and Björn had met his girlfriend, same girlfriends they’re still together with now. So mainly it was kind of a very passionate time as well. So I think we can hear that. “Paris 2004,” I remember Peter being newly over ears and heels and head in love with his girlfriend. And so I think this song is based on a trip they made to Paris. 

Peter Morén: It's a cute song and again, it's just that feeling of singing that in front of people now and you get people really connect with it and talking about having it at their weddings and stuff. So it's a very romantic song and it kind of, we made it work on the recording. And the title is a nod to John Cale again, like “Paris 1919” (laughs). So yeah, that was another song where I wrote it at home like with this little riff on the guitar, and I thought maybe this is not a Peter Bjorn and John song. And then I started recording some songs with a friend of mine, Tobias Fröberg, a producer and, and singer songwriter, for maybe a solo record. And I played him this song and he said, that's a Peter Bjorn and John song. So it was him like, “Okay, well what's the difference?” Like, yeah, I thought he heard like some sort of pop sensibility in it that maybe the other songs didn't have, and I think it was right. But it is a sort of like a very folky song. But at the same time it has this kind of big chorus and, and this riff, and it's very simple. It has a couple of things where I really like in general in songs is the middle eight, it's different chords, but it's the same melody. I like stuff like that where you kind of, you go somewhere else, but it's kind of the same melody, but it becomes minor and obviously the chorus is really simple.

I think maybe I listened to “Across the Universe” at some point and I thought like, I've been a Beatles nut since I was a kid. And it is kind of the same melody. As, yeah, “Jai guru deva.” It's kind of the same. I'm all about, I mean, it's a different, but it's kind of the same notes (laughs). 

Björn Yttling: “Paris 2004,” It's such a great song. Now when we went out on tour, it's a pleasure playing that song. And it's a Peter song, the whole thing. It's his like, picking on the guitar. That's the whole demo, like singing the whole thing. But I think like getting the cool drums with no like hi-hat. It's I guess it's sort of like a shuffling beat, but leaving that out makes it really cool. I think it's a John arrangement. 

John Eriksson: The arrangement I really like. It's like also this kind of very French, stripped down song. And also this song, we tried to make the drums not as folky, maybe as you could have, but more like a drummer from a different band was supposed to play a folk tune. So it's also very minimalistic the way the drums are played. And I think we worked a lot of keeping it open as a lot of the other songs.

“Let’s Call It Off” 

Björn Yttling: When we made this record, Writer’s Block, we had, all of us was like Nuggets fans, you know, Nuggets was like a power pop and garage rock compilations with a lot of cool songs like, Question Mark and the Mysterians or like, you know, different like, different cool bands with, and maybe they had like one hit or one cool song or whatever, but a lot of that stuff was like, they had a cool intro, you know, and then when the song started, it was not as cool. So we tried to like, you want to sample the intro, like that's a breakbeat thing for hip hop people and everybody else too. You want to sample the cool part, but I mean, why not make the cool part into the song, you know, the whole, it should never go away from that. And you stay on the cool part. So that was like, we wanted the drums to sound very sampleable, I don’t know, like a James Brown sample. Like it would sound so cool so people would want to sample it. So when actually people did it, of course blew us away. But it was also like, I mean, it did make sense because that's cool stuff. You know, I would sample it myself. So it's like, we weren't surprised, but we were really happy.

Peter Morén: Most of the tracks are very sparse, so you can, you can hear everything, it's kind of, it's easy to sample and take a small part of it and use it for some, so it's kind of perfect, like, for sampling. And I think it has a lot to do with the drums and the bass sound, and that is so dry and so much space. And I mean, it's the ultimate compliment because I'm a huge fan of old soul and R&B and funk and stuff, so it's kind of being in the same category, you know. But I think, this record, in that sense, started something new for, I guess, indie rock. They started to get interested in these sort of bands, I guess. But before that, I can't remember. And obviously you can hear influences of this sound in other bands later. I think, you know, that kind of picking up on this sparseness, you know, like with “Young Folks,” it's sort of like a dance, a disco song, but it's, or like a club song, but it's a club song for dorks, you know (laughs), so it's a new thing. So I think it's a compliment. I'm not saying I like all of those versions, but it's, yeah, it's nice. 

John Eriksson: Just out of the blue we got this email with a link to Kanye West’s version of “Young Folks.” It was some kind of a mixtape that he made, which felt at that point really weird actually. And then I think Drake did “Let's Call It Off” a bit later. And yeah, I guess it's because of the aesthetic of the drums being very easy to cut out because it's a lot of space in the arrangements and also that they are played like, James Brown beat or ESG beat, but with this 10-year-old playfulness. So I guess that's, I mean, that's what you look for when you try to find a hip hop beat. So it's a very sampleable album.

Björn Yttling: “Call It Off” was a song that I wrote I wanted to make, like, there was a band called Electrelane back in the day, like in the early 2000s. They were a really cool band. They had some sort of like vibe with their like minor chords going around, I don’t know, something like that. So I didn't really steal it, but it was like influenced by their harmonic, sort of vibe. So it was made on an acoustic guitar, I think. And then I think Peter came up with a melodic guitar line. 

Peter Morén: Well that's mainly a Björn song. And we wanted the whammy bar and these Hagstrom have that. So we kind of made it, sort of had that surfy sound. And then there's a nylon as well. And there's not much else, is it? Like the tom toms and it's a very sparse recording. It's just basic guitar and drums, basically. I think maybe some hand claps. Yeah and also me and Bjorn sing in harmony all the way. So it's kind of almost like a Merseybeat, sort of like a Every Brothers Merseybeat thing. So very sixties, I guess. 

John Eriksson: “Let's Call It Off.” “Let's Call It Off” could have been one of the last songs being made for the album. And I think Björn had a demo that was more garagey, noiseier than it is on the album. But we managed to find this kind of Shadows, twangy sixties guitar sound that suited the song perfectly. So this was kind of one of the most easy songs, I think to record because it's kind of simple structure, but still it's the choices, having this nylon string chord guitar instead of electric makes it very like organic and it sounds more friendly and cheap in some way. So I think that's some kind of magic, the way these songs work together. And then another version was made after this with some steel drums and some added percussion. I think that was a kind of single version, but I still think this album version is the most suitable. 

“The Chills” 

Peter Morén: Björn used to work in the record store as an extra job and I used to hang out there as well when we were even younger, like before we met John. And we are listening a lot to Burt Bacharach stuff and, and Dione Warwick and stuff like that. And there was one song where she did a version of, it wasn't her originally, but “You Can Have Her,” and I guess she sang, “You Can Have Him.” (Sings) “You can have him, do do do do do,” maybe you recognize, I can't remember who did the original version. There's a Swedish version of it as well, but on Dionne Warwick's version, it isn't the same drumbeat. So we kind of, that's kind of how we work, we kind of, rather than sampling something, you kind of, “Okay, let's play that. I mean, it's not exactly the same, but it very similar.” Like through and just with their voices, (sings) “You can have him, do do do do do.” Yeah, it's a great version. So I remember that, that we took that like, “Oh, remember that Dionne Warwick track?”

Björn Yttling: “The Chills,” that's such a cool song. And now when we played it, people go nuts when they hear the riff (sings percussive riff). I guess it's John coming up with a riff or me, I don’t know. But it's like a, and that was like the origin of the song is like the the drum pattern, which we heard someone do and we just liked it. So we want to do it to get good. And also the vibe, I guess, that we were looking for was like the band, The Chills. 

John Eriksson: “The Chills” started with me having this stupid naive idea of making a version of the Miami Vice opening song. It starts with this, and this show was huge in Sweden because at that time, I mean, we were growing up in Sweden. That was the coolest thing you can imagine, like being police and catching drug addicts and criminals in Miami. Like, this was the coolest thing ever apart from McKay that we also had on national TV every Saturday. So those were our cultural influences when we grew up. So Miami Vice was something really important. So the song started with that idea to make the intro sounding like the Miami Vice intro, and actually the song started from that, and then stuff being added with the chords and then Peter wrote the lyric. And then we also love this song, “Pink Frost” by the band, The Chills. That's why the song is called The Chills, of course. So in the soft part, the chorus is like a homage to that song and that band.So we try to mimic their sound. This song, I mean, most of the other tracks are just played like songs are playing from almost beginning to the end. It's just a performance, the drums are varied. Some bars are, I mean, it's a live recording, but this song I think is cut out. So it's like a sample that gets repeated. I think you can hear that. It's more like chopped up. 

Peter Morén: This is kind of an interesting song because I didn't write any of the music, but I think I write all the words. So I think Björn and John wrote it together, like the music, and I don't know who wrote what, I wasn't there, but I wrote the words and I think something about how the track ended sounding and the, like, the vibe of the track reminded me of The Chills, like the New Zealand band and “Pink Frost” and just that vibe. So it was just something I picked up on and wrote this lyric. And funnily enough, later on, this was when we had an email address called peterbjornandjohn@gmail.com, I think, and I don't know if it still exists. But back in those days anyway, someone wrote about this song, I guess in Australia or New Zealand and Martin Phillipps, who's no longer here, he wrote us, he wrote a really sweet email and said, “Hey, I heard that this song was inspired by us,” and really like, yeah, such a sweet email. I wish I could find it somewhere, but it's just like, “Wow.” That's amazing.

“Roll the Credits” 

Björn Yttling: Yeah, “Roll the Credits” is an interesting song because it's made on guitar, so it's like, I can't really play guitar that well. But taking this D chord and then like, making a different chord with the same root note. I mean, this is like off the charts to be me, like making like different weird, you know, chords, but it's basically on the first three strings doing some shit, you know, and then like singing over that. So it was like, it was a short snippet of a song, but it made it, we made it into a longer thing with the dynamic going up, like that must have been like a group effort. I think we rehearsed it and just like made it long because it was cool.

John Eriksson: “Roll the Credits,” I think it was called “Tremolo” as a demo. Björn came with it and he had been playing with a guy called Nikolai Dunger, a Swedish singer songwriter. And also I think Björn was doing some kind of jazz project. So it, for me, it feels like this song comes from that period when Björn was into jazz. And there was this klezmer album that was made together with this Nikolai Dunger guy. So it was, yeah, the kind of Velvet Underground, do it yourself track that was like based on just having a guitar, doing a tremolo on just three chords. So it's very simple idea with a very cinematic lyric, I think.

Peter Morén: Yeah, “Roll the Credits,” another favorite. It's one of Björn's most personal songs, I think.  I shouldn't talk about the lyric, but I love this one a lot. And it's interesting when you juxtapose like you think about “Objects of My Affection,” cause I think these two go together really well. They have like a similar, even though this is slower, it kind of has the same building blocks. It has like a lot of guitars and a lot of like snares and, yeah that sort of insistent beat that goes through the whole thing. And again, sort of like a folky, simple folk, like a lot of nylon guitar. 

John Eriksson: Yeah I guess it's very orchestral, this arrangement. And I remember it's not that common on a indie rock album to have gradual crescendos. I guess it's part of the, my classical background that it's a lot of dynamics on this song and a couple of other songs. So it was like a slow build, which we enhanced even more when we played it live, I think. 

Peter Morén: I know that I really wanted to sing this one, like, because I liked it so much, but I think it was too, I did try, but I think Björn wanted to sing it because it's very personal. 

Björn Yttling: Yeah I mean it's, I felt they were kind of personal, so I think Peter wanted to sing them first, but I wanted to sing them as well. So, I don't know. I just, I guess I just like took it or something, but because I felt it was very personal for me being in a relationship. Yeah, I think being like late, it was like maybe mid twenties when we wrote the songs too, and it was like about getting into more like proper relationships and not caring so much about other people, people's thoughts and opinions and it was basically, and also like understanding you could be the problem sometimes. So, and finding, you know, more deeper relationships. Maybe that's probably what most songs are about, I think.

John Eriksson: Björn was also quite newly in love and got together with his girlfriend. They're also still together. This is a weak memory, but me and Björn are from the north of Sweden and so is Björn's girlfriend. So I guess this was some kind of going up to the North song, like just leave everything and go somewhere else, just as a couple. So, and it sort of speaks for most of the album apart from “Objects of My Affection” and “Poor Cow.” There's a lot of this kind of finding your true love.

“Poor Cow” 

Peter Morén: Well, “Poor Cow,” it's kind of funny. We've been, as I said, we've been touring this record a bit. It's the 19th anniversary, like this, 20 years since we recorded Writer's Block, but it actually was released in 2006 in Europe at least. So I think we're gonna continue to play some shows next year. But what we did to make the record work as a presentation live is that we flipped the order, so we played it in reverse, which made for a much better track list. Like it would be a shame if you played “Young Folks” second and everyone leaves, and the second song, (laughs). Low self-esteem. No, but so we started the shows with “Poor Cow” and it was, it's really, it's great. I think it shows how different, like, you can't look at records and live performances as the same thing. It's two different presentations and what works is the last song might work as the first song and vice versa. It's very different. But what I like about Poor Cow, having it on here is that most of the other songs on the record, they deal with sort of being in and out of love or like feeling vaguely blue or sad or melancholic or happy or yeah, stuff like that. But this is something completely different.

Björn Yttling: I don't remember so much about the lyrics because it was a Peter song and I can't remember what the “Poor Cow,” what it sounded like in as a demo. It's probably him on guitar, you know, and that's usually his demos. So maybe we made it into a sort of more sparse, you know, having those boots like kicking the floor with some reverb and delay on it, made it into more of a dystopian sort of soundscape sort of thing. But, and there's some beautiful, you know, lyrics in that too. And it definitely, yeah, maybe a little bit more like looking out what's going on in the world maybe, type of thing. 

John Eriksson: “Poor Cow,” my memory from that song is recording a very weird, like, bass drum from a, like, toddler’s drum kit. It was like the thing you buy at a toy store. So it's, I played it with just my finger, but then it's enhanced with distortion and reverb. So it's like a very stripped down song, but it still sounds huge and yeah, I wasn't really thinking about the lyrics of that song until today, before this interview. I sort of listened to it more carefully and it's, I never thought it was, kind of, had a kind of political edge to it, which at that point maybe wasn't that coherent with the rest of the album. But I think it's a perfect ending song because it's some kind of reflection on the real world outside your small love bubbles. So it's also, I think it's kind of cinematic as well. 

Peter Morén: This is sort of an anti-capitalist tune basically about how, you know, all the worth that's put upon you is dependent on how much money you earn and what you can consume, and your self worth is sort of based on that maybe. And how stupid that is. And then of course, this double-edged thing of that you do want to have that as well. You kind of hunger for it. But, and I've thought about that sometimes. Do people get this when we play it? Like, because it's so different from everything else, but I hope they do. And I think it's more, it hasn't like lost its, it’s almost more fitting now than then, in a way, like the meaning of this song. But it's still kind of poetic in a way as kind of, I was surprised, “Okay, I wrote this,” I can't really remember what I was thinking, but of course the irony is when I wrote that I was really poor. Like I didn't have any money and now I have some money because of this record (laughs). So it's, but what I do remember about specifically it was like, it's kind of more connected maybe to the two first records in how I wrote the song. It's like more have that sort of Beatles-y Elvis Costello vibe. And when I presented it, I kind of heard it more like a proper, you know, not more uptempo, but a bit more arranged. But to kind of make it fit to this record, we made it like very sparse and, and I know we took away some parts as well. But I think this record needs a bit of that sourness or something more bitter and a bit, otherwise it would've been almost too chilled out, you know, like you need a bit of angst.

Björn Yttling: I think the whole album was rad for sure. Maybe, I think the mixing was great, I think the mastering was great too, and it, the whole album was definitely, it was, yeah it was the best one, I felt for us definitely at that time. Because it's so different, like with the nylon guitar stuff and all that. Then we did, like, for example, Gimme Some is a really good record too, but it's more like normal rock. But this is like, it's a very bold record, I think, Writer’s Block. It's like, it's cool without trying to be cool and it's, there's like some, a lot of nice instruments that people don't use, you know, daily or so much. It is actually a cool achievement to get that on the radio and to be able to play it, you know, as a trio. 

Peter Morén: I mean, it was definitely very different. I mean it's, if you compare to the first two records, it's a lot of evolution there. There's a lot of difference. And then of course we continued changing for the next couple of records, but I can't remember my feelings, I think I was a bit, was a bit doubtful because I wasn't sure about the, some of the sounds like, especially the vocal sounds of what it sounded, almost too like lo-fi. And I remember that I wasn't happy with all my vocals. I'm still not (laughs). I think sometimes, you know, I almost did it like an afterthought. It was a bit fast, maybe because we wanted this sort of chilled out vibe. I don't know. But what I can see now, like with hindsight and everything, like the sound of it and made cheap like that and making it personal with the, as you said, the tape echo, like the sounds we decided on and the mood we were in, I guess, and maybe the hot summer. It makes it very unique and very special. And also the songs are uniformly strong. Like I think they're all, there's not like one where you're like, “uh.” It's another thing when you're performing a whole record like this. I know some of our other records where there are songs I definitely love, but then there are songs I, you know, am not crazy about, and on this record, there's nothing where I feel ashamed or there's nothing where like, “uh” (laughs). And I think that's at the end of the day, the sounds, like the presentation and the arrangements, but also just the songs. The songs are good. 

John Eriksson: It's weird because the recording of it is fresh. I mean, I can still remember like moments and days in the studio and stuff like that, but when the album came out, the only thing I remember was the first time we played the songs live at a small, small, small cafe bar in Stockholm for maybe 40 people. But still, we could feel or I could feel the way we played these songs. That was the first time I felt like I was in a band. We felt like a trio that played, all of us sang chorus and like we were sort of piecing the band together for the first time the way we played and as a trio. So, and one of my best friends came up to me after that gig and said precisely that, “But wow, this is like, I've always hated your band,” even though he was friends with all of us. But he said, “Now, now it is like, you are a proper band now. This is the first time I can listen to,” you know, and so it was sort of very specific break. I think that we found our own voice in a way.

Peter Morén: We made a deal with V2 in Sweden, and through them we got signed to Wichita and it also started releasing the record in other parts of the world. But it's a lot of different labels in different countries, so it was kind of a mess there for a while, but it was kind of interesting because when, when “Young Folks” came out, that was in the summer of 2006, it started getting a lot of airplane on Swedish radio and we were kind of, “Wow, this is new. It's never happened before.” But then through Wichita, obviously it started, got played first I think in Ireland and then all around UK and then Australia picked it up and Japan, and it was kind of, kind of kept building. So it was kind of a different new situation. But we just continued, more and more shows. And of course, as everyone knows, when you start touring a lot and then your records start selling, you're not getting any money until much later. So I had to like borrow money from, I don't know, from someone to buy another guitar because I needed an extra guitar on stage. I couldn't afford it. So it was kind of weird. But then we just continued playing a lot, and then at some point we were going between some festivals in different parts of the world and I was on a flight with Björn, and I asked him like, cause I still hadn't finished. I had like, I'd done, the work training for, on this library course I told you about. I asked Björn, “Do you think I will be able to finish, should I finish that now?” And he said something like, “No, I think you can forget about that” (laughs). And it's like, cause then it just continued, you know? And also at that point, we said no to nothing. So we were all around the world at the same time, so it was no real plan. So it took some time for it to sink in. 

Björn Yttling: I think “Young Folks” coming out and we were playing in New York and people see me in the subway start whistling “Young Folks.” I mean, that's just like, it is really crazy. And it was crazy like going to Texas and be playing like this Swedish indie rock thing, and people plus 70 comes up at the hotel and like, tells me how much they like us, the band and stuff. That was just like, “Wow.” Of course, like “Young Folks” on MTV and all that stuff. Just like that, it's just, it was like, it was beyond, I think beyond our, whatever we could imagine. 

John Eriksson: Well, one of the strongest memories that this was actually happening was after we had played the Conan O'Brien show in New York. We were, it was recorded during the day and then they showed it on TV at, I don't know, was it 10 or something like that. And then we were at the bar watching ourselves playing on Conan O'Brien and was this surrealistic moment and also this very joyful weird feeling that this was happening for real. But it was, I think it was just seeing yourself on that TV screen in that bar made it like true for the first time, for me anyway.

Peter Morén: Writer’s Block is obviously the album that I have made it possible for me to continue a career in music and make a living, which is, I mean, amazing and I didn't expect that. And it's also one of the best records I made. I wouldn't say it's the best. I mean, there's always like different reasons why you like stuff and it's definitely one of the best Peter Bjorn and John records and I'm happy about it. There's still this thing as, as we talked about, like sometimes you wish people would find more things, but you know, it's a time and a place. Nostalgia is a weird thing. It's kind of of, going out and playing an old record and talking about an old record, it’s kind of weird cause you're always like, I'm not much for nostalgia. I'm always onto the next thing, like writing new songs and doing new things. But at the same time, like if I have a favorite band playing a favorite record, I might go check them out. And also meeting 20-year-olds and sometimes, like even younger people who somehow found us and loved this record and come to the show and maybe they heard it through their parents or, you know, grew up with us and couldn't see us back then, they were too small or maybe not even born. So that's like a beautiful thing to see, like different generations taking the same songs and finding this record. So yeah, I mean it's not just one emotion, it's a lot of emotions, but yeah. I'm happy we didn't quit before it (laughs). 

John Eriksson: Still today, I think I love this album. It feels like some kind of love child or something. It's I put the songs on and I get transported back until I get transported back to that summer when we recorded it. And it feels very summery and easy and joyful. And I'm really happy that I've been part of such an album that it has this kind of atmosphere when you put it on. It creates some kind of nice mood, which I think is quite hard to capture in music and on the album. So yeah, I'm very still proud of it. 

Björn Yttling: I think Writers Block is a real treat actually for us to play now live. It's, there's no dull moment for me. I like all the songs, I think they're well produced and sound really cool. I would definitely love that album if I didn't make myself too. So, and that's I can't say that on every album. And just, we went out on a US tour and feel so great being part of people's lives. They come up and say like, they grew up with this album, or they got married to a song, or something like that. It's just amazing. Something you don't expect when you're from Sweden making rock music.

Outro:
Dan Nordheim: Visit lifeoftherecord.com for more information about Peter Bjorn and John. You’ll also find a full transcript of this episode and a link to purchase Writer’s Block. Instrumental music by Rosetta. Thanks for listening.

Credits:

"Writer's Block"

"Objects of My Affection"

"Young Folks" (featuring Victoria Bergsman)

"Amsterdam"

"Start to Melt"

"Up Against the Wall"

"Paris 2004"

"Let's Call It Off"

"The Chills"

"Roll the Credits"

"Poor Cow"

All songs written by Peter Morén, Björn Yttling and John Eriksson

Published by EMI Music Publishing Scandinavia AB

℗ & © 2006 V2 Music Scandinavia AB, under exclusive license to Wichita Recordings LTD

Arranged by Peter Bjorn and John

Produced by Björn Yttling

Mastered by Henrik Jonsson at Masters Of Audio

Track 9 mixed by Janne Hanssen, Track 7 mixed by Lasse Mårtén, Tracks 2, 3, 4, 8, 11 mixed by Linus Larsson

“Writer's Block”

Piano – Bjorn

Field Recordings – John

“Objects Of My Affection”

Vocals, Drums, Electric Guitar – John

Vocals, Spanish Guitar, Electric Guitar – Peter

Whistling, Bass, Crumar Synthesizer – Bjorn

Written by Morén

“Young Folks”

Drums, Shaker, Bongos, Thundersheet, Tubular Bells, Footsteps – John

Vocals – Victoria Bergsman

Vocals, Spanish Guitar, Footsteps – Peter

Whistling, Bass, Armon Keyboard– Bjorn

Written by Yttling and Morén

“Amsterdam”

Vocals, Bass, Footsteps – Peter

Vocals, Piano – Bjorn

Vocals, Whistling, Drums, Shaker, Whip, Footsteps – John

Written by Yttling

“Start to Melt”

Bass, Armon keyboard – Bjorn

Electric Guitar – Peter

Vocals, Electric Guitar, Drums, Armon keyboards – John

Written by Eriksson

“Up Against The Wall”

Bass, Casio synthesizer Tambourine, Drum Machine – Bjorn

Electric Guitar, Drums, Tambourine, Moog synthesizer – John

Vocals, Electric Guitar, Oral Sounds – Peter

Written by Eriksson

“Paris 2004”

Drums, Dulcimer, Whip, Tambourine – John

Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Spanish Guitar, Harmonica, Piano – Peter

Vocals, Organbass, Synthesizer – Bjorn

Written by Morén

“Let's Call It Off”

Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Peter

Vocals, Bass, Piano – Bjorn

Vocals, Drums, Whip, Whoo! – John

Written by Yttling

“The Chills”

Vocals – Peter

Vocals, Armon keyboard – Bjorn

Vocals, Percussion (Shh Shh Shh), Drums, Bass, Guitar, Armon keyboard – John

Written by Yttling, Eriksson, Morén

“Roll the Credits”

Vocals, Bass – Bjorn

Vocals, Drums, Dulcimer, Tubular Bells – John

Vocals, Tremolo Guitar, Electric Guitar – Peter

Written by Yttling

“Poor Cow”

Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Bass – Peter

Vocals, My First Kick Percussion – John

Written by Morén

Episode Credits: 

Intro/Outro Music:

“Pulse” by Rosetta, from the album, Evening with the Roses

Episode produced, edited and mixed by Dan Nordheim

Additional mixing and mastering by Jeremy Whitwam