Making Music
Interview Room
Selected quotes from the October '97 issue.
The Cardigans
From plastic guitars and crappy keyboards to lusted-after drum kits and priceless Les Pauls - Paul
Quinn finds The Cardigans hiding some unusual bushels under their lights
Probably the most significant event of The Cardigans' career was teaming up with producer Tore Johansson...
"He's in his mid-thirties, and a really original kind of person," says Peter Svensson (guitarist and main musical force). "Tore
would sometimes say, 'Let's not record anything today, let's take the van and go out and try to find instruments' - in pawn
shops and stuff. There's a crewmember on tour with us now who's working for Tore, going out to find stuff when he has
time."
Which is all fine by The Cardigans, who are serious gear collectors themselves: drummer Bengt, for a start has no fewer than
15 drum kits...
Bengt: "My favourite, sound-wise, is probably the first one I bought, a very small Sonor. Sometimes we use it when we
record. But I have a lot of beautiful drum kits: I have a few Vistalites [colourful see-though plexiglas kits made by Ludwig in
the 1970s and famously played by John Bonham] - I use a red, white & blue one live."
Magnus: "It's funny about Bengt's drums, because when we tour, like in the USA, there's always some technicians or other
musicians at Bengt's drums, touching them, going 'Ohh, the first time I saw those was in 1975 on tour with Led Zeppelin', or
something."
Peter: "I think it's good fun to collect instruments, either because they're beautiful or nice to play. And it's a good investment
if you buy old stuff. I buy a lot of old guitars. And I always have musicians coming up and watching my amps like they've
never seen anything like it - because they haven't."
Magnus: "We're like a museum."