‘Ten Times Four is an album dedicated to my love of power pop and harmonic rock which was a lot of fun to do!’, says Tomas Dahl.
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
I really love the part where I’ve started to record my songs and I hear my ideas coming out of the speaker. It’s always a rush. I write songs all the time and not all of the songs end up in Caddy. I have a bunch of demos lying around from 10 years back and suddenly parts of these old demos can end up in a new song. But it somehow comes together once I start to record and it will sound like a Caddy record.
There is also a lot of art by accidents whenever I record. I’m really a mediocre guitar player, I’m no expert on the other instruments as well. But usually, there are these small details that suddenly happens while recording and the song can suddenly change shape. I’ve always loved harmonies and sometimes there are these magical moments, only a couple of seconds where the harmonies of the vocals suddenly blend perfectly with a guitar tone. Those are probably the best moments for me.
At what point, during writing, rehearsing, recording, did you knew you were on to something special?
This time I really didn’t plan to write an album. I was so happy and pleased by the support from my previous album “The Better End” so I kinda needed a break after that. It’s a lot of work being a one-man band and recording everything myself. I could never imagine getting the feedback I got from the Norwegian press and around the world on that record. It wasn’t really a full on power pop album, it was more of a mix between power pop, dreamy pop, some indie pop/rock etc. It had a real summer feel to it. I love writing and recording the dreamy songs, there are so many different forms of dynamics on those tracks than recording a full-on power pop song.
But the following year after The Better End I got these huge projects in my job where I didn’t have the time to write any music at all or work with other musical projects. That lasted pretty much that whole year and I kinda got depressed about not making music or anything else at the time. I knew these projects would take up most of my time that year, but I really missed the writing part. After that, some personal stuff happened and once I got around to finally sit down and write again, my head was really far away from writing a follow-up to The Better End and all those dreamy sounds. So the first songs I wrote were fast and catchy punk songs, which I hopefully will be able to record this year. I also made a lot of electronic music, not the EDM top 10 commercial shit but deeper sounds and much more underground.
So I did a lot of that to kinda get it out of my system. As I got my frustration got out I had some songs lying around which I thought would fit my Caddy project. Still more uptempo and guitar driven than my previous stuff but I felt it still had a Caddy feel to it.
The music industry has changed a lot (or so they say). What did it bring you? And what not?
I’ve never really felt that I’ve been part of the music industry. I’ve just been doing my own thing throughout the years. I’ve never gone down that path where I think my music is gonna be the next big thing or wanted to be a part of a big agency or whatever. I’m sure it could help in some cases to get some more promotion or maybe to get your name out there. I’ve always made music that will stay underground and probably never will hit it big. But I’m really happy with that I would be really uncomfortable if it did.
Many people ask me why I don’t tour or why I don’t do this and that because that’s what bands do. Well, I’m not a band and I have no need to be in the spotlight or on a stage. I feel really awkward on a stage and it’s nothing I want to do just because that’s what everyone else is doing. I really love making music and there has never been any money involved in what I’m doing. I’ve been approached a few times from other bands that like my sound and they’ve asked me if I wanted to produce them and so on. I rarely say yes to this but I have been working with a few bands lately.
These days I feel like many bands or artists care more about their posts and likes on Instagram or other social media instead of actually spending more time to write better music. I just want to make music as good as I can so I’ll leave the fame and fortune to other artists. I won’t be in their way haha.
Can you still recall the moment music became important to you? What happened?
One of my first big musical memories as a kid, was when I discovered my Dads collection of 7-inches in our basement.
Until then I’d basically listen to whatever my sister had in her room next to me, which was a lot of 80s music. She is 7 years older than me so I’d borrow cassettes from her. I still like a lot of the music from the 80s but once I discovered those 7-inches from the 60s my whole world changed.
Our record player wasn’t working so we bought a new needle and I started to go through them one by one. There was a lot of horrible music as well, like Swedish and Norwegian dance acts with accordion and funny haircuts. But then I discovered The Shadows and The Beach Boys and I couldn’t stop listening to them. I was so fascinated with The Shadows having no vocals but could still tell a story by playing only instruments. And those harmonies from The Beach Boys. Both bands still inspire me today!
What’s up for the rest of the year?
I will probably record a song or two with Caddy but right now I need a break from it. The album is out so I just need to something else. I really want to record some heavier songs, I kinda miss the time when I played in punk rock bands. Not necessarily the band itself but the music.
I’m also producing an indie-pop band called Family Values from Oslo, we are in the final stages of releasing what could become an album. I’m also working with some other bands in the studio now and then. I also want to pick up my electronica project. I need to do a totally different music genre once I’ve spent so much time working on pop productions. I get really easily bored and I need to have that balance to keep things interesting.
Sweet Sweet Music Blog 