“Whatever happens on tour stays on tour,” said Jesper Anderburg.

”But we sure have lots of fun,” says Felix Rodriguez.

During our country's birthday, I was busy chatting it up with the Swedish hotties discussing the advantages of being ridiculously good-looking, their snobby Swedish traditions, and even Justin Timberlake. 

The interview started around 3:30; a perfect opportunity to take a rest from the crazy mayhem that was the 10th Annual Vans Warped Tour. Keyboardist Anderburg and guitarst Rodriguez smiled from around the corner.  Shirtless and skinny, the two Swedes pulled down a chair and the interview began.

The Sounds have had a busy year musically; from touring around the world, to getting airtime on MTV2 and VH1.  Their debut album Living in America has become a dance party favorite, yet the boys are quite uncertain of where their next album will take them musically.
       
”Our next record is kind of divided on how we want it to sound.  It's hard to say how it's going to sound; it's going to sound completely different anyway.  Personally, I want it to be more guitar based perhaps,” said Anderburg.

”Everything goes through a ‘Sounds’ filter.  Everybody must be involved, otherwise it can't be done.  That's just how we write music,” said Rodriguez.

However will the Blondie comparisons ever fail to end?  Because of The Sounds stereotyped formula for success, they have found it difficult to escape these never-ending questions.

”Maya likes the comparisons.  She likes Blondie a lot.  Blondie wrote lots of really good music; however the other band members don't listen to Blondie. I think why people like to compare us to Blondie is because physically we look similar to them so of course it's easy for critics to compare us.  I mean...it could be worse,” said Rodriguez.

”We have a lot of heavy metal influences, you might not hear it in our music but we love it.  We get inspiration from every category; from hardcore techno music to cheesy pop music like Justin Timberlake.  We are suckers for metalists though.  I don't care where we get the music; I think you can get inspiration anywhere,” said Felix.

And unlike most carbon copy bands, whose lyrics and wardrobe reflect like mirror images, The Sounds is proud to stand out.  However, in Sweden this was not always a good thing.  As the boys explain, “selling out” in Sweden is just as easy as making it big in the States.

”We played all over Sweden.  People knew who we were.  You have to prove yourself.  If you get big really fast, like what happened with us, people don't like you anymore.  The rest of the people won't buy your album because they think your a sell-out. That's a typical Swedish thing to do.  We won seven awards.  So after we got aggravated and pissed off, we just laughed and went to the US for a year,” said Anderburg.

A marvelous idea for a band who can now be categorized with such acts as The Faint, Franz Ferdinand, and any other dance band making it big in the hipster scene.  But most importantly, who do these Swedish heartthrobs enjoy jamming too?

”The Strokes tour was really cool. We loved to tour with all the bands on Warped Tour; like NFG, Alkaline Trio, that Irish band...Flogging Molly.  They are really cool,”  said Anderburg.

These charmers sure knew how to light up a room with their subtle back and forth smirking.  Surprised by the fluent English, I was surprised to find out that unlike American students, Swedes are fluent not only in English, but American culture as well.

”Everybody in Sweden can speak English because we learned when we were like seven years old.  We have lots of American TV shows; like every major T.V. show.  We grew up with like Seinfeld and MacGyver,” said Anderburg.

This quickly followed with a short conversation about the beauty of doing nothing. If we can do it, rock stars can too.

”We sleep like ten hours a day.  We always get those questions about what we do when we are not playing.  Our answer is nothing.  Nothing isn't that boring,” said Rodriguez.

”Yea...or we find something to do. We go bowl, go to a bar, watch a movie.  Random stuff you do when you are at home but you're not. It's like asking a friend what they do after work.  The answer will probably be nothing,” said Anderburg.

Nothing is fine.  But what if the glamour ends, the dancing subsides, and The Sounds legacy had drawn to a close?  Like most boys in their early 20's, the future is unclear and exciting.

”Mmmm...I don't really have any other interests right now.  I might like to do soundtracks or work as a merch guy for a year.  As long as I'm doing something creative.  I don't know how creative it is to be a merch guy...but...you would meet a lot of people,” said Rodriguez.

And people they met.  After this enlightening, rather nerve-racking interview, I was invited to dance the night away with them backstage and at an all-inclusive “after hours” party.   A slew of other teenagers backstage eagerly took up the offer like kids in a candy store.  My friend was one; managing to fly down to California with the band and party like a rockstar. 

Although impressed, I managed to congratulate lead singer Maja Ivarsson on another incredible panty-flashing performance.  After a long drag on the cig, she graciously accepted the compliment yet failed to agree.

”Eh, we were okay.  The crowd is really rowdy.  I think all of us here are really tired,” she said.
Tired didn't seem a fit description for the two giggly Swedes managing to run around on low riders and chat the night away.  They even decided to leave Smash Magazine with a final plug to our latest cover boys, The Killers…well, sort of. 

”The new band I listen to is the Kills.  They wrote the greatest song and their album is really good,” said Anderbug. 

Ahh yes...the “Kills.” Close enough, I suppose.

Who can resist these Swedes?