Q&A with Swedish band Those Without

We caught up with the Swedish pop-punk bank Those Without following the release of their latest single “Serenity”.

– Can you start by telling us how Those Without came to be?

Those Without started out in school actually, as most of us went to the same school. Oskar and Felix wanted to start a band with Martin and Filip joining us later on!

– What was the initial inspiration behind your latest track “Serenity”? How did the idea for this song come about?

I think Serenity started out as a vision of writing something pop-esque seeing as our single before Serenity (Rose-Colored Kaleidoscope) was very intense and explosive. We as a band have very varied taste in music with very different musical influences which gives us a lot of room to explore different genres when we write music.

– How do you balance the bittersweet lyrics with the positive message in “Serenity”?

I don’t think Serenity necessarily has a positive or a negative message. I wrote the lyrics from a place of own experience, where my struggles with mental illness has an effect on relationships around me. I like having the lyrics up for personal interpretation seeing as my perspective doesn’t necessarily have to align with others.

– You mentioned aiming for a pop/rock sound with subtle hints of pop-punk in “Serenity.” How did you decide on this new musical direction?

I think we decided on the pop-rockisch vibe based on that we had very different outlooks on what types of music we’d want to write moving forward where Filip and Oskar wanted to play more alt-rock and Martin and Felix wanted to write more skate-punky music. We found some sort of middle ground that just worked with everyone’s vision.

– How does the collaborative process work within the band when creating new music? Did anyone have a particularly significant role in shaping “Serenity”?

The collaborative process is pretty much the same for all of our songs – Filip, Martin or Felix comes up with a riff or chord progression and we build a song based off of that. Niki writes the drums and Oskar writes the lyrics and song melodies.

– Have you had the chance to perform “Serenity” live yet, and if so, how has the audience reacted?

We haven’t had a chance to play it live yet, but we will very soon 😉

– Looking back at your journey since forming in 2017, what are some key moments that have defined Those Without as a band?

I think our key moments have always been the tours we’ve gotten to play. We went on an EU tour with Self Deception and Awake the Dreamer 2023 as well as a Norway tour with Dead by April and Self Deception. We also played a small Sweden-tour in 2022 opening for Normandie and Envyyou. Playing shows defines us.

– Can you give us any hints about what’s next for Those Without? Are there more releases or perhaps an album on the horizon?

Our game plan right now is to write more songs and release them! We haven’t made a proper decision what comes after that, but we’ll surely make one soon.

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