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What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve been making up stories. I liked imagining things which turned into all these little stories. Most days I spent hours in the forrest close to my parents house or by the sea which was also close to where I grew up just thinking about life and death and everything in between which made me come up with all these stories. Stories that revolved around my own life, the lives around me, the things I dreamed of and things I made up. Often I was singing the words as they came into my head. And slowly I realised how much I liked singing. When I was around 6 years old my parents also bought me an old piano which I had been asking about for a long time because my grandmother had one I liked to play when we were visiting her. And then I started making up small melodies for some of the words and sentenes that came to mind. I guess that was how it all started, and then in my early teens I discovered PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Suicide, Nirvana, The Cure and Suede and a lot of other cool bands.. And my life would never be the same.. I just knew I also wanted to write music.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

I released the fourth ROXY JULES album simply called ROXY JULES IV back in October. Like the three earlier albums ROXY JULES IV is not necessary an easy album to listen to – that was never the point of ROXY JULES. ROXY JULES is supposed to challenge the listeners with musical complexity. It is balancing on a knife edge between something very fragile and porous and something very noisy and confronting. The songs are revolving around distorted guitars, electronic drums, eerie keys and my vocal and lyrics. Noise is a very important part of the music. In all the songs you hear noise somewhere. Sometimes it is just dancing quiet in the background, sometimes it grows into loud and confronting noise – but no matter what it is always there somewhere..

The lyrics are still moving back and forth between fictional stuff and my own life and thoughts – and then there is quite a few sentences with roots in scientific topics that have found their way into the lyrics throughout the album. I’ve been writing about interplanetary dust particles, black holes, fractured bones and straight lines disappearing into eternity because these are things that interrest me. And I think something really interesting happens when you combine those sentences about scientific stuff with sentences about your own life and thoughts and what ever else your weird mind comes up with. It’s like the sentences all of a sudden get an extra dimension in a way.. because they sort of mirror each other in a beautiful way..

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

Music-wise it must be Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Arab Strap and Suzanne Vega to mention some and non music-wise it is the beautiful novels and all the scientific, philosophical and spiritual stuff I’ve been reading.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

ROXY JULES is balancing somewhere between noise rock and electronic music and I think I’ve been able to combine those two in a rather unique way which I’m really proud of. I think ROXY JULES speaks a language of its very own and shows how beauty and raw power can interact in a beautiful and interesting way.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Argh, the hardest question ever!!! Hmm.. Instead of thinking about it I’ll give myself 3 minutes to answer this and just write the first things that come to mind. Otherwise this is something you could think about for days!!! So here is my very fast list:

Albums: Cat Power “You Are Free”, Jason Molina “Pyramid Electric Co.”, PJ Harvey “Is This Desire?”

Movies: Seven, The Godfather, American Beauty

Books: La Casa De Los Espíritus by Isabel Allende, Atomised by Michel Houellebecq, Perfume by Patrick Süskind

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Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

I don’t prefer one over the other. I like both for different reasons.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

I grew up in the middle of nowhere. At some point we lived so far away from everything that we didn’t even have electricity. I had a horse who was my best friend and sometimes I rode it to school where I tied it to a tree in the schoolyard while I was having classes. Also I sometimes slept in the hay in the stable next to my horse during the winter. I wrote a song about that horse on my first album – it was called ‘I once had a horse’ :-). It was my best friend for many years.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

Argh, that’s a hard one. Instead I’ll recommend a few songs that I think you should check out if you want to know more about ROXY JULES. And the reason why I’ve decided to point out a few songs instead of just one is that ROXY JULES isn’t a single kind of band. It is more a universe you can choose to dive into. The songs sort of depend on each other if that makes sense..? Anyway I would recommend you to check out these songs: Rubies & Blood, Come Away With Me, On The Verge Of The Usual Mistake, Fractured Bones and May The Bridges I Burn Light The Way. And if you like what you are hearing there is definitely more to come for..

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

I seldom plan ahead. But I know for sure that I’ll continue writing music.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

Photo credits: Johan Lei Gellet (1st one), Kim Matthäi Leland (2nd one)

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

Recommended listening:

Connect with ROXY JULES:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ROXYJULESMUSIC/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roxy.jules/