SCHULTZ&FOREVERWe’re obsessed with age. We can’t really hide it. Whether we’re being reminded of past experiences, dreaming of the future or trying to figure out if we’re even where we want to be in the present. And then, sometimes, you stumble upon young artists who seem to be so wise beyond their years that you can’t help but be impressed. One such artist is 17-year-old Jonathan Schultz, also known as Schultz&Forever.
The young Dane has been compared to his countrymen Choir of Young Believers, but his folk-rock rather reflects an aesthetic closer to bands like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and The Tallest Man on Earth. Besides the Scandinavian brotherhood, Schultz also shares something else with the latter: a voice that is truly weird and mesmerizing. At times, one might even think of a contemporary singer like Dan Bejar (Destroyer, The New Pornographers). The NMO fell in love with the Odd Stories EP and the strong vocal harmonies. Don’t be fooled by the namedropping above, this is a deeply personal effort. For live shows, Schultz and Forever grows into a quintet with four of Jonathan’s close friends joining him on stage. Schultz&Forever are playing SPOT Festival at Radar at 9pm on Friday 4th. For more info: damsholtrasmus@gmail.com |
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Name: SCHULTZ&FOREVER / From: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Q1: How did you start? And where did the name come from?
I started out by recording and writing two songs one night, one year ago. The recordings are really silent, and melancholic. Very different from what I do now. Nothing was really planned, and I was just fooling around with a glass of red wine. I wrote the songs while recording them and the lyrics was actually improvised on one of the songs while recording the vocal track. I threw them out in cyberspace, and wanted to give the project a name that had my last name in it. I don’t actually remember why I thought “And Forever” was such a good idea to put in there, but I guess that it has a deeper meaning to it. I don’t think those two first tracks are available anymore.
Q2: For anyone who has never heard of you, give three reasons why they should?
Actually there are so many great tunes, and so many great artists out there, so it’s hard for me to find any non-egoistic reasons why people should listen to what I do. I think people should listen to us if they want a new experience, musically. I hate myself for saying something that fucking cliché-ish, but if people like what I do, it’s very fine. I can’t give three reasons.
Q3: Tell us a little about where you’re from and how your surroundings affect the music that you create.
I’m from Denmark, and I’m raised up with two lovely and caring parents whom I still live with. I’m raised up in a home where Christianity had a big role in my childhood. My father is a preacher, and when I was a kid we went to church nearly every Sunday. I was sent to the sundayschool for kids in the church, where the Bible was preached educationally. When I was seven I remember the preacher talking about porn. I remember that being terrible, and I was really frightened to even look at a girl for a week or so. Radical, religious institutions like these should be abandoned. I remember a lot of episodes in the first 5 years of my family’s anticipation in that church, some good and some were terrible. My parents have always been supporting, and if I didn’t want to anticipate in the sundayschool at church, I could’ve not, but I felt that it was something I needed to do, my duty in a way. I kinda just took it for granted that God created everything until I was sent to a Danish efterskole, where people questioned the existence of God, and when I started in high-school I wasn’t just questioning the existence of God, but arguing against. Suddenly I felt that science was more convincing for me than faith. While loving and respecting my parents, I still doubt one of their strongest beliefs, and that’s tough I think. These things are literally what my songs are about, and what inspires me the most.
Q4: Which other artists influence your work?
I think that Bob Dylan have influenced a lot my lyrical work. I can’t name artists that have actually directly inspired me. I think it’s just a collapse of all the music I’ve ever listened to. I think maybe Sigur Rós has influenced my work.
Q5: What has been your most memorable experience of being in the band?
It’s all very new, but the announcement of us playing at SPOT festival 2012 made me very happy.
Q6: If you could organize your own dream festival which THREE acts would you choose to headline and why?
I would love to have Moon Duo, Deerhoof, and Fleet Foxes on the headline. I think they all have very interesting sounds, and that’s what we need to have in music today – unique sounds. Else we’ll all be copying something already made and there’s nothing more fucking annoying than that.
Q7: What are your current plans and what are your main ambitions for the future?
Right now I really want to make a record, but my computer is broke and I can’t record. I need a studio and someone to publish it, else than Bandcamp.
Q8: Which other new acts from your country would you recommend to The NMO and its readers?
I would like to recommend The New Spring. He’s releasing a new album in May, and I’ve been waiting for that record for a few months now. I think The New Spring is one of the most interesting acts in Copenhagen at the moment.
For more information contact: damsholtrasmus@gmail.com
I started out by recording and writing two songs one night, one year ago. The recordings are really silent, and melancholic. Very different from what I do now. Nothing was really planned, and I was just fooling around with a glass of red wine. I wrote the songs while recording them and the lyrics was actually improvised on one of the songs while recording the vocal track. I threw them out in cyberspace, and wanted to give the project a name that had my last name in it. I don’t actually remember why I thought “And Forever” was such a good idea to put in there, but I guess that it has a deeper meaning to it. I don’t think those two first tracks are available anymore.
Q2: For anyone who has never heard of you, give three reasons why they should?
Actually there are so many great tunes, and so many great artists out there, so it’s hard for me to find any non-egoistic reasons why people should listen to what I do. I think people should listen to us if they want a new experience, musically. I hate myself for saying something that fucking cliché-ish, but if people like what I do, it’s very fine. I can’t give three reasons.
Q3: Tell us a little about where you’re from and how your surroundings affect the music that you create.
I’m from Denmark, and I’m raised up with two lovely and caring parents whom I still live with. I’m raised up in a home where Christianity had a big role in my childhood. My father is a preacher, and when I was a kid we went to church nearly every Sunday. I was sent to the sundayschool for kids in the church, where the Bible was preached educationally. When I was seven I remember the preacher talking about porn. I remember that being terrible, and I was really frightened to even look at a girl for a week or so. Radical, religious institutions like these should be abandoned. I remember a lot of episodes in the first 5 years of my family’s anticipation in that church, some good and some were terrible. My parents have always been supporting, and if I didn’t want to anticipate in the sundayschool at church, I could’ve not, but I felt that it was something I needed to do, my duty in a way. I kinda just took it for granted that God created everything until I was sent to a Danish efterskole, where people questioned the existence of God, and when I started in high-school I wasn’t just questioning the existence of God, but arguing against. Suddenly I felt that science was more convincing for me than faith. While loving and respecting my parents, I still doubt one of their strongest beliefs, and that’s tough I think. These things are literally what my songs are about, and what inspires me the most.
Q4: Which other artists influence your work?
I think that Bob Dylan have influenced a lot my lyrical work. I can’t name artists that have actually directly inspired me. I think it’s just a collapse of all the music I’ve ever listened to. I think maybe Sigur Rós has influenced my work.
Q5: What has been your most memorable experience of being in the band?
It’s all very new, but the announcement of us playing at SPOT festival 2012 made me very happy.
Q6: If you could organize your own dream festival which THREE acts would you choose to headline and why?
I would love to have Moon Duo, Deerhoof, and Fleet Foxes on the headline. I think they all have very interesting sounds, and that’s what we need to have in music today – unique sounds. Else we’ll all be copying something already made and there’s nothing more fucking annoying than that.
Q7: What are your current plans and what are your main ambitions for the future?
Right now I really want to make a record, but my computer is broke and I can’t record. I need a studio and someone to publish it, else than Bandcamp.
Q8: Which other new acts from your country would you recommend to The NMO and its readers?
I would like to recommend The New Spring. He’s releasing a new album in May, and I’ve been waiting for that record for a few months now. I think The New Spring is one of the most interesting acts in Copenhagen at the moment.
For more information contact: damsholtrasmus@gmail.com