During the Culture Collide Festival, I was able to sit down with one of my favorite bands from Sweden, We Met Tomorrow. This trio makes an instant impression with their unique stage set-up, dynamic songs, and signature blend of blues, rock, and country genres. Rickard (vocals, guitar, percussion), Carl (guitar), and Emil (bass, percussion) have only been creating music with each other for about 4 years, but they have built an impressive collection of songs, suggesting an innovative spirit and undeniable talent. They may be soft spoken, but I was able to glean some interesting tidbits from this promising up and coming band. Here are 10 Fun Facts about We Met Tomorrow:

1. The band met at a school for music in South East Sweden, an area of the country they describe as “cold”, “bland”, and “calm”. They were inspired by a need for something different.

“In our hometown there was a lot of the same music. On the radio as well. We got bored of it and wanted to play something else, wanted to hear something else.”  

 

2. The trio breaks down elements of a drum kit so they can all be played using foot pedals while the guys are using their hands to play guitars. The reason for the band’s unique percussion set-up is simpler than you might imagine. They just couldn’t find a drummer!

“We didn’t know any good drummers that wanted to play with us so we had to sort it out ourselves”

 

3. The band is greatly influenced by the blues, but Emil also mentions contemporary rockers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as one of his favorites.

 

4. The mulit-instrumentalist, Rickard, is currently working on another instrument to add to his repertoire, the clarinet!

 

5. The band’s songs are built around what they can do with their instruments in a live setting.

Rickard says, “[having to play percussion, guitar, and sing] limits what I can do, but I have to write songs that I can play. Sometimes I write half a song and realize that I can’t play this and I have to stop and write something else”

 

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For example, “Strong Enough” came about once they added a snare drum to their setup.

“That’s basically one of the first songs we did when we got a snare. It was just easier to do the ‘du du cah, du du cah’ and I wrote around that and it became a rock, gospel feel.”

 

6. Rickard has spent 15 years playing soccer but briefly went through a weird phase where he lost his ability to run.

 

7. The guys have a talent for videos games, mentioning FIFA Soccer and the role playing, dragon-centric, Skyrim series as particular favorites

 

8. We Met Tomorrow songs are influenced by band jam sessions, but many come from Rickard spending time in his basement with his music. The band’s newest song, “Down Down Down”, came from “a poppy part” of Rickard’s brain

9. While the band was in Los Angeles, they particularly enjoyed a trip to the Observatory in Griffith Park

 

10. The band doesn’t have a twitter account (gasp!).

“We started one but realized that we’re not fun enough. We don’t have anything to say. We’re not the kind of people who just talk. We’ll have to work on that. I guess someday we’ll have it, but not quite yet.

Sidenote: The band does keep up with a facebook account and have a pretty impressive website where you can listen to all of their songs

 

Bonus Fact: The guys listen to a lot of older music. Rickard mentioned Willie Johnson as a current favorite.

 

 

~ Kristen