Q&A: A chat with Junip's Tobias Winterkorn

There are plenty of adjectives that would suit Junip’s sound — ethereal, zen, otherworldly — but for the most part, they’d hint at a group whose sound evokes its Swedish origins.

_Diversions Editor Linnie Greene chatted with keyboardist Tobias Winterkorn as the band embarks on its North American tour, and caught up on what makes a great show and what’s going on back home. _

Diversions: What’s the biggest difference you’ve noticed between Swedish and American crowds?

Tobias Winterkorn: My first time in the U.S. was this summer, in June, so that was the first time for me. I thought it was more joyful. The crowd was more — cheering and yelled stuff like that. They do that in Sweden, but they’re not that enthusiastic about it. And now I’m here for the second time, and it’s probably the same. I like it a lot; I like it even more than Sweden. Outside Sweden, it’s good in Europe, but I really like the American crowd.

Dive: Do you expect a similar kind of crowd for your gig in Chapel Hill? *
TW:* We haven’t been there yet, but we’re going there, and I’m looking forward to that. I think we only played quite big cities so far.

Dive: Were you involved in choosing Sharon Van Etten as your opener? How did that come about?

FN: Yeah. We got to listen to her, and our tour manager — or, our manager — he liked it. We listened to it and we were like, “Wow, it would be really great if she could support us for this tour.” We got suggested that she could be the opening act, and we’re really thrilled about it. She’s so nice, and the guys with her are really, really nice guys as well.

Dive: Do you see any similarities between your music?

TW: Maybe a little bit of the melodies in her songs can be quite similar, but faraway from here. We’ve got some folk and rock in us, in our music, so I guess a little bit of her folky stuff maybe would be similar to us.
Dive: How would you describe Junip’s sound to someone who’s never heard your band before?

TW: We used to say that’s it kind of folk rock with some maybe kraut in it as well. I think the music’s very linear and repetitive, so I guess that will be the most correct description. It’s so hard to describe your own music, but I think that’s as close as you can get.

Dive: What’s changed between 2006’s Black Refuge EP and your latest album, Fields?

TW: Pretty much everything has changed. Maybe from the song “Black Refuge,” you can hear some similarity, but it was like we were starting fresh. We started to write Fields, and we didn’t ever think about doing one up-tempo song or something. We would just jam for hours and hours and hours, I think like 500 hours of music or something, and we picked out the best parts from the jams. I think that is the biggest difference from 2006.

Dive: Why was there such a gap in time between those two records? Was that intentional?

TW: It wasn’t really intentional, but we had a lot to do with our own lives I guess. The main thing is that we actually got together a couple of times and tried to write new songs, but the work was really slow and we didn’t have enough time actually between Jose’s touring and our private — raising families and stuff like that. When we actually sat down before, we decided to do it properly this time or never, ever do something again. I think it was for the best.

Dive: Where are your favorite places you’ve been able to travel on tour?

TW: I’ve never been to Canada before, so we played in Vancouver and that was a really nice place. I think I like the whole U.S., from where I’ve been so far. In Europe, I like Germany a lot, where we played there. Because in Europe, Germany isn’t that hip or in, but I think it’s really nice with really nice venues, and they’re really helpful.

Dive: Where have the best crowds been during this tour?

TW: In Germany, there were really quite a lot of good shows. In the UK and in France as well, and of course in — Chicago, no wait, Vancouver. There was a really good crowd in Vancouver.

Dive: What makes a good show, in your opinion? Is there anything that can make or break a gig?

TW: It’s so boring to say that it’s the crowd, but actually it is. For me, it is. Even if you play very good one night and the crowd is quiet and not so into the music, it seems like you’re playing really bad, and you’re not doing enough just to get the crowd satisfied. It really does matter if it’s a good crowd or not. If it’s a good crowd and you’re playing bad, you can forget that you’re playing bad.

Dive: What do you miss most about Sweden?

TW: Right now I miss my family very much, because I just had my third child the other day.

Dive: Wow, congratulations!

TW: Thank you. I miss them a lot. We were in a layover, just waiting. It’s nice that this tour allows me to take part of all this stuff, but I miss them a lot. But I don’t miss the weather at all!

Dive: Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to about playing in Chapel Hill?

TW: A great crowd, us playing really good and playing the songs that people want to hear, and to make it like, a memorable night for the audience.

Dive: What kind of feelings do you hope to instill in your audience during a show?

TW: I hope that they’re happy and a little bit sad and melancholic. That would be great if we could make people feel any of these things.