We talked with Swedish band Tribe Friday about their new album “bubblegum emo”- Check it out!

What was your biggest inspiration behind this writing bubblegum emo?

Noah: Oh, loads of stuff. We were fresh back from touring the US and Germany for the first time and had so many new experiences to draw from. So we locked ourselves in for a couple of weeks and just wrote. To be honest, we just let ourselves write freely and bubblegum emo accidentally poured out. In the end, it became something of a “growing pains”-record – a lot of the songs are about stuff you have to go through in order to grow up. I tend to think about things like that a lot.

If there was one message you’d want people to take away from your music what would that be? 

Noah: “Everything sucks, but it feels better if you laugh at it”
Isak: This is real cheesy, but “be yourself”.
Robin: “It’s all about that bass”

As a band where do you feel you pull a lot of your inspiration from when writing your music?

Noah: From everywhere! From our idols, from strangers on the street, late nights out, episodes of depression, episodes of mania, travels, films, poetry.
Isak: Everything is a song when you look at it from the right angle.

With a busy tour schedule, and tv interviews , what has been your favorite experience so far? 

Isak: Performing at the Swedish Eurovision qualifiers AKA “Melodifestivalen”. It was crazy to perform in front of millions of viewers. Plus we got to meet so many talented artists and behind-the-scenes workers.
Robin: Melodifestivalen, our latest German tour and the late-night car ride home after we dropped bubblegum emo.
Noah: Seeing people sing our songs back at us at shows. I don’t think that’ll ever get old.

“shut me up” gave some explosive attention to the band, how has that changed you? Or do you see this as a bigger opportunity? How so? 

Noah: It did! We’re so grateful for the success of “shut me”, but I honestly don’t think it’s changed us much at all. We’ve been at this for a while now and our growth has been such a slow build that we’ve been able to work out most of the kinks before having our first “proper success”. I’m very happy about that. I don’t think 19-year-old me would’ve responded well to that sort of attention.

Is there anything about any of the songs on bubblegum emo that looking back you wish you had done different? 

Noah: Oh no, the killer question… Of course there is – I don’t think any artist is able to be 100% satisfied for any sustained period of time. I try not to think about it too much.
Isak: We’re focusing on making the next record instead!

For fans that may be new to the sound, how would you describe it? What emotions do you try to hit?

Noah: We like to call our genre “bubblegum emo” – hence the name of the record. It’s very much rooted in indie rock, but we always try to contrast the upbeat and happy qualities of our songs with darker lyrical themes. In other words, “bubblegum” is the surface-level joy expressed musically, while “emo” is what you find when you look a bit closer.
Isak: “Screech pop” is another good term.

You’ve been performing at many venues, on different stages, what has been your favorite stop so far?

Isak: Cadillac in Oldenburg, Germany! The hosts are the most amazing people, and they always serve us freshly cooked 3-course meals. Playing there feels like coming home.
Noah: I think my favorite spot so far would be the Mercury Lounge in NYC – mostly because it’s such a legendary venue to me. I remember walking onto that stage for the first time and thinking “yeah, The Strokes stood here just about 20 years ago”. That was a cool moment.
Robin: Melodifestivalen at Avicii Arena, Stockholm. I’ve always wanted to play Melodifestivalen so it was a dream come true.

And what would your dream tour spot be?

Isak: I don’t know why, but I really want to play a London rooftop show. HMU if you can make it happen!
Robin: Madison Square Garden!
Noah: I want to play the Urkult festival in northern Sweden. I basically grew up at that festival – it’s where I learned to love music and culture. It’s not super flashy or anything, but I’d be able to die happy if I got to perform on their main stage.

Check out their new album bubblegum emo!!

“shut me up”- Live at Melodifestivalen

“forward is the way” out official music video

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