When I first heard the music of Air France I felt high. High in that way you feel before a big night out. It's that heady mixture of anticipation, trepidation and the knowledge you will soon be laughing, dancing, being cheeky (on all levels), and generally not caring about a thing. Feeling like that I knew I had to do a little more digging, the more I heard the more I liked. We first connected  back in mid-2009, sporadically exchanging nonsense and trying to work out when we could get together and chat. It took over nine months but finally they pried themselves away from their studio in Gothenberg, Sweden, and over a bottle of rosé I threw Henrik and Joel some questions.

Air France photographed for EVB by Ida Lindström 

Richard Welch: Hi. So, how did you arrive at Air France as the name for your band?

Henrik Markstedt: Umm, I'm not really sure, it was Joel's idea.

Joel Karlsson: We hadn't decided on a name for the band, and the first EP was going to be pressed and, you know, actually, I can't remember, but it ended up on the record!

Richard: Have you ever traveled on Air France?

Joel: Yes, it was really good, they serve fine wine.

Richard: You boys met at school in Gothenburg, is that correct?

Henrik: Yes, in the equivalent of high school I guess. We were classmates and just became close friends. We started a band with some other kids, but it was a guitar band. It was quite different from the music we make today.

Richard: How did you move from guitars to electronics?

Henrik: We realized we couldn't play the guitar!

Richard: What electronic music first inspired you?

Henrik: Saint Etienne, New Order - that was like 15 years ago.

Air France - Collapsing at your Doorstep

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Richard: Are you guys together - are you a couple?

Henrik: No we're straight. It's funny because when we were last in America many people thought we were together. Maybe it's because we look like we should be a couple?

Richard: Yeah you do look like a little couple-y, maybe that's why?

Henrik: When we went to Moscow, people thought we were twins! Gay twins!

Richard: You have to be careful in Russia, it's not the safest country to be gay!

Joel: We heard we are quite big with the 'gays' in America. It's not the same in Sweden - our biggest fans are people that are very...

Richard: ...very straight?

Henrik: Yes. Very, very macho straight people!

Richard: In other words, gay! I think, like politics sexuality is a spectrum, a circle, where opposite ends of the spectrum are actually not so far away from their polar opposite.

Henrik: Yes , I think that's true.

Richard: Maybe the reason you are popular with gay audiences, despite your Swedish charm and looks, is that your music has a positive and carefree nature. I'd call it Balearic pop?

[Editor's note: Yes, we know that not all gays are into being positive or carefree, and they don't have to be charming and attractive... but... you know where we're coming from, WE HOPE!]

Henrik: Well, we're happy if it's because of those qualities.

Richard: Your music has been described as post-rave bliss, nu-Balearic and perfect pop. How do you guys describe it?

Henrik: We take it with a pinch of salt. We never set out to do a Balearic record, or whatever.

Joel: When people started calling it Balearic, we Googled it and still don't quite know why it is!

Henrik: We just wanted to make the record for a long time and that is how it ended up sounding.

Richard: Sweden has produced quite a few bands that have a similar style of music. Bands like The Tough Alliance, El Pero Del Mar, Studio, jj and CEO. Do you think there's a reason for that, or is it just a coincidence?

Henrik: I guess there's a million reasons you can come up with about why... um... we've never felt like we are part of a scene here. I wouldn't say there's a movement. I guess some people influence other people, as always.

Richard: So you don't all hang out in the same places?

Henrik: Oh god no! We're at work all day.

Richard: What do you do?

Joel: Right now we're recording our new album, and we do that about five hours a day, and then we go to our part-time jobs. I'm a market researcher.

Henrik: He talks to people who have rented a car and asks then if they are happy!

Richard: Despite the fact that Sweden obviously has great customer service it's hardly famous for its warm weather or its beaches. Yet your music is reminiscent of blistering  sun-kissed days... which I guess is where the Balearic tag comes from. Where does that feeling come from?

Air France - No Excuses

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Henrik: I think its a misconception that Sweden is quite cold, right now it's 70 degrees out, we're sitting on the lawn having a glass of wine...

Richard: ...yeah, right!

Henrik: We don't have many beaches but we have cliffs that are very smooth and we like to lie on them. Of course it's not as warm as the Mediterranean. I don't know where our longing for warmer places comes from. I've talked about this with my therapist - she can't give me any medicine, but she listens. And she just goes on about my childhood, Freudian I think. Its odd because I do yearn to escape but at the same time I love it here in Sweden.

Richard: Have you thought of getting on a plane and checking the world out?

Henrik: Actually neither of us really like flying, which is weird when you consider we're called Air France.

Richard: Your debut album 'No Way Down', came out in 2008, and was very well received. How has it sold, and where's the weirdest place you've found you have fans?

Henrik: Well it's not such a weird place, but when the album came out this guy from America from a magazine called The New Yorker contacted us and said they wanted to review it, they liked it... well... I didn't know what The New Yorker was and so I didn't send them a copy! We of course now know it's a great magazine, and we read it now... oh well.

We also have a lot of fans in Mexico, and we can't understand why! Poland and Mexico are, like, our biggest territories. We went to Warsaw last year to do press, etc, and were picked up at the airport by this guy in a rusty Trabant, also known as an old Soviet-era rust bucket. On the way to the hotel he thought it would be fun to drive into a park and show off his hand-break turns in the snow... it really set the tone for the week. A very crazy weird week.

Richard: Was he drunk?

Joel: We hope so!

Richard: So the new album, how's it going, and what are the release plans?

Henrik: We don't really do plans, it's a very slow labor. Progress is being made, but its very slow.

Richard: Is that indicative of the way you work and record?

Joel: Well, It's all done but we haven't recorded it yet. It's done in the head but not on the table, if you know what I mean. To match the sound in ones head with the sounds on a laptop can be hard, but I think we work better under pressure. Maybe we need some more pressure. I'm waiting for it to kick in.

Richard: Who's head is it in?

Joel: Well, both of our heads, and that's a problem too because we don't always have the same thoughts, even though we look like twins and act like a couple.

Richard: Um... yeah, so how do you share the head?

Henrik: It's hard, very very hard. Of course it's all about compromise, but more often than not we're both on the same page.

Richard: When it comes to recording do you have specific roles?

Joel: We usually just sit in front of YouTube and search for hours for something we can steal and get away with. We change stuff so much that it's not recognizable. It's more like recycling. If something is good it should be re-used and re-interpreted. To me it's more fun to do it this way, rather than to learn to play the guitar and play something.

Richard: Can you let us know what the new album is sounding like? How would you describe it?

Henrik: Like something stolen, something blue, something old and something new. Like walking down the aisle, nervous and yet confident that the one you love is waiting at the other end.

Joel: Once we've recovered from what we've done, I always want to do something that's a rejection of what we've done in the past, partly because I'm so fucking sick of all the obviousness, and too restless to do the same thing all the time. But also because it's been deeply instilled in me that pop music and everything around it is about daring to push the boundaries, daring to play a bit, and having the courage to challenge. But there's been times when we've been close to finishing a song, and suddenly panicked and thought "fuck, this sounds like Air France, I can't believe it's true!" When that happens I just want to give up and go on a long fucking holiday that's not in Gothenburg. But I guess you have to accept that our souls do not quite understand how our brains are thinking. It's obviously a slow process.

Air France - Never Content (Friend's Tropic Thunder Edit)

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Richard: Do you have any featured guests?

Henrik: Yes, we do. A few ladies and a few gentlemen. But it's all very hush-hush. I really want to tell you, because I am very excited about it, but if I did our management would call the cops and have me deported.

Joel: The police will come along and take us for a ride, and when we get home we're gonna get fried.

Richard: So... what's the release date?

Joel: The plan is to complete it this summer - we're getting pressure from our publishers and manager?

Richard: Is it true that you don't like to do remixes as a rule? Here at the EVB office we love your Saint Etienne remix.

Saint Etienne - Spring (Air France Remix)

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Henrik: Ur, we like to do them but we get so many offers and we really don't have so much time. We need to concentrate on the album, otherwise it will go on forever and we'll hate the songs, and hate each other! So we concentrate on that, we can't have too many distractions on the side.

Richard: Do you plan on going live, as a band?

Henrik: Ah. We always say "yes, eventually" on this question. But what I want to know is, exactly when does this "eventually" turn to "now"? I wish I had an answer. I really do. Joel?

Joel: Well, it's become a thing that we do not do concerts, so we should keep it that way. Actually, we would probably just want to go up there on stage and be like "Hello, we are Air France and we are going to fuck you up", but we don't know how! None of our favorite artists have been very good live bands, or maybe just too reluctant to set out to make their audience happy. But I'm starting to feel ready, and when I am I'll just stretch out my arms and love every second of it.

Richard: I remember a while ago you said you don't DJ, but I recently saw pictures of you DJing in Russia, and you're about to DJ at PS1.

Henrik: We do actually DJ sometimes. We went to Iceland a few weeks ago, and we've played in Chicago and Toronto - we wanted to come to New York but couldn't afford to fly down, so we are very excited to be playing at PS1. We had a great time in Chicago, we played in this small, scruffy 'hole in the wall' club where were supporting our friend Jens Leckman.

Richard: Which artists and bands are you currently most into?

Joel: Oh, this is a difficult one, I have music in my ears from nine in the morning (mostly birds chirping at that time) until I go to bed. I have listened to The Radio Dept's latest record a lot recently, and when I heard 'Never Follow Suit' for the first time I couldn't tear myself away from it, so I took it to a Gothenburg club that night and stood in a corner and listened to it on my CD Walkman and drank beer all night. I wasn't invited to the after-party that night.

Right now I'm listening to Wild Nothing's 'Chinatown', Cults' 'Go Outisde', a hip hop song that seems to be called something like 'Country Shit', a Scottish group called The Blue Bells, some Caetano Veloso, Korallreven, and thirteen UK garage classics I downloaded the other week. What about you Henrik?

Henrik: Unfortunately, Air France. Jesus Christ, it's gnawing at me like a hungry cat that wants attention. But I wouldn't want it any other way. But when I have to shut it all out I listen to stuff like Francis Lai's Emmanuelle 2 soundtrack. Beautiful and calming music.

Richard: If you could fly anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

Henrik: I would like to see the Maldives before they sink into the ocean.

Joel: Oh, everywhere, but just now, Kentucky, USA, because it's the birthplace of a funny guy called Paul Wathen. He's like a brother to me.

Richard:  The next time you come over, we'll have an EVB party, and you must play live.....?

Joel: Great, we'd love that very much.

Air France  spins a rare  DJ set at PS1 Warm Up Saturday, July 17 (they think they go on around 6:30). Afterwards they'll be DJing a midnight set at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. We'll be there enjoying the 20 beers, and the other cheekiness they promised us!