Malik: Your new EP “Emergency» came out, can you tell us about the vibe of it.
Caroline: We feel like we have not put any music out in a while, or it feels like it has been a long time since we have released an album. So we’ve been in studio writing and recording and we’re like wow! We have some really great tunes that we wanted to share with the fans especially for the summer. So “Emergency” is an EP that defines where we are right now musically.
Malik: The first single is called Emergency and the lyrics say “girls hide your man because I’m hot and I’m dancing” So you got it like that? You both have it like that? Tell us about the whole process of putting together that single.
Aino: Well we went to the studio and wrote “Emergency” in about an hour or two. We were in a weird annoying party mood when we wrote it. We feel like we are the party everywhere we go so the story is about how we party… We are the party emergency, we are dangerous when we go out.
Malik: Working together, what is the collaborative process?
Caroline: It’s different every time! I think we feed off of a lot of different kinds of energies. Sometimes I will write something and there would be times Aino will come up with something of the opposite totally different. We may go to the studio and start creating over a drum beat, we write things that are pretty free so we can go wherever we want to with our melodies and lyrics. It’s different every time, we don’t have a format that we follow when writing.
Malik: Another single I had a chance to listen to was “First Time” and really liked it. It talks about reminiscing about the first time you got high, drunk, fell in love. Is this based on real events? Real experiences?
Aino: Yes, it’s kind of like when you go back to Sweden… This was one of the first songs we ever wrote but we took it into the studio and remade it to what it is now. The song talks about when you go back to Sweden and people are getting married and having babies, living their lives and then you come back home and you’re like a UFO because you kind of still living the same lifestyle and as we say in the song, “things are never going to be the same but that’s ok so let’s create new memories now.”
Caroline: It’s kind of like beautiful but bitter sweet…
Malik: What was the growing process between this album and the last album you did?
Caroline: We have been going through so much since the last album. We are constantly traveling and living in this crazy chaos so I guess writing is the only time when we stop, read, and reflect. That’s when we realize, “shit!” How did we have time for all of these things?!” or “Do you remember when this or that happened….” We are only human so yes life happens and then we write about it. It’s almost like reading an old diary when you look through all of your notes that you wrote during tours. So it’s been a very interesting and fun process because it allows us to relive memories.
Malik: Tell us about how it felt when you realized how successful that song was
Aino: The song was released in 2012 in Sweden and it started to spread through bloggers, it got all the way to Australia and kept spreading like a virus. Then in 2013/2014 we released it in the states and it became a huge success! Still today I am like, I don’t really get it.
Caroline: It’s insane! Every time we play it, people react, it’s that energy that’s amazing.
Aino: We went out to a club and we were like “OMG it our song!!” You are always so surprised that people are still playing it everywhere you go, it’s a pretty awesome feeling.
Malik: Now you guys aren’t just singers and songwriters, but you also play instruments. What instruments do you play?
Caroline: I play the keyboard and a little bit of the guitar but on stage the keyboard.
Aino: Guitar mainly and a little of the keyboard and or piano
Malik: I also heard through the grapevine that you guys dj sometimes.
Caroline: we started djing because we wanted to get our music out there. We love the energy of the people in the clubs, and the dancing. So we continued doing it, it’s super fun!
Malik: Tell me about the vibe of one of your dj sets.
Aino: It depends, if we go to Vegas to play we would play more of a mainstream set. However when we started in Paris in dirtier clubs, we love to play Chicago house, Detroit house and the French weird electronic music.
Malik: I heard you throw wild parties; do you still do that as well?
Caroline: It used to only be me but, now we do it together. It’s even better now that it’s the two of us. It’s like double trouble parties.
Malik: We have to talk about the fashion. Talk to us about your fashion influences.
Caroline: It’s another way for us to express ourselves, we may not be the best ones to follow trends, but we manage to do it sometimes and other times it’s just a lucky day. We just put on whatever we feel like putting on. We are obsessed with shoes and love clothes, and over pack every time we travel!
Malik: Also your name derives from an Italian collection, tell us about that?
Aino: We were searching for a band name for a long time, we were actually nameless for a while. Then Caroline’s mom was sitting down for dinner with some Italian friends and they were talking about what we were doing and asking if we were going to be the next pop icons, they said it in Italian and her mom was like OMG! That’s awesome and she texted us and we were like of course! “Icona Pop!”
Malik: We don’t often hear about musicians coming over from Sweden, describe what the Swedish music scene is like over there?
Caroline: It is very small. It’s great! Super high quality but different because indie music is what’s usually playing on the radio. It’s different and a lot smaller, everyone knows everyone.
Malik: where would you see yourselves in the next 2 years?
Aino: On our own arena tour, here talking to you in Montreal about how amazing life is.
Malik: you guys had a chance to tour with Mylie, Katie, One Direction, how was that experience for you?
Aino: It’s crazy! It’s like we get to perform in front of over 50,000 people a night and that’s mind blowing. Especially when people are singing along to our music even the new songs. In the beginning we were quite scared because the One Direction fans were pretty hard core, but they have been super amazing to us.
