Stereoboard Chat to Danish Newcomers Treefight for Sunlight (Interview)
Friday, 01 April 2011
Written by Rob Sleigh
With the exception of Alphabeat, Junior Senior, the Raveonettes and – dare I even say it? – Aqua, there aren’t too many groups from Denmark that have managed to break their way into the UK music scene in recent years with much in the way of success. There have been even fewer that have managed to do it with a particularly curious-sounding band name. Well, Copenhagen’s Treefight for Sunlight are ready to change all that.
The pop-indie quartet released their eponymous debut album in the UK in February and now they are getting ready to hit our shores for the first time since its release. Treefight for Sunlight’s bass player and vocalist Christian Rohde Lindinger recently spoke to Stereoboard to tell us more about the album and how they came up with their rather peculiar name.
You released your debut album earlier this year. How have things been going for the band since then?
It’s been going good. We’ve just been on our first European tour – Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin and Paris – which was a really nice experience for us. The good old story of touring - meeting new people and all that. It was awesome.
How have you all been feeling about the response to the album so far?
We’ve had a lot of good reviews, actually. We’re really pleased. I don’t have an overview on them, but they’re all pretty positive. Except for one from NME. I think they gave it two stars out of ten. We just thought: “Hey, what the fuck?” They must have not really gotten it [Laughs].
How long had you been working on the album prior to its release?
Three and a half year ago, our pianist joined the band and that’s when we started to think that we wanted to make an album. Then it took about a year to get a joint feeling about where we wanted to go with the album. It was very loose at the beginning. Then, for like a year, we wrote songs and recorded them. Then we went into an old church in our home town, which we borrowed for free, because we didn’t have any money at all. We recorded the bass and the drums and a lot of piano. Then we went home to Copenhagen and we started writing lyrics, because the demo had like mumbo-jumbo lyrics, and recording vocals. And then we started on the whole choir thing, which took a lot of time. We knew that we were pretty good at it, but we also knew that we had a lot of things to try out before we could ultimately settle on ideas. So that took a lot of time for us, but I hope that the next album will have a bit of a quicker process.
It must have felt pretty good to see the album finally get released after doing all that work on it.
Exactly. It was amazing. We never even thought about getting a label before.
When you were writing the songs for the album, did you have any particular sounds or themes in mind?
Yeah, but it’s always been like a general rule for us to keep experimenting all the way through the process. Things could change overnight if we had an idea that we’re really psyched about.
How long have Treefight for Sunlight been around and how did you all meet?
Three of us - the drummer, the guitarist and me - started playing together in grade school during sixth grade, I think. We could barely play our instruments back then. We knew we wanted to be in a band, but we couldn’t really play, so we started out playing a really crappy version of ‘Let It Be’ and then started to write some really childish, simple songs. But, you know, you have to start somewhere. We played a lot during our late childhood and then we thought of getting a pianist, because we had a lot of ideas for the piano and keyboards. So we called around to all of our friends and asked if they knew anybody. Then we called Niels [Kirk] up and he was waking from a nap and was like “What…?” He couldn’t understand anything. I explained to him about what we wanted to do and what kind of band it was. He was like, “Alright, yeah. Bye bye.” And then he went to sleep again. When he woke up, he was a bit confused about whether it was something he had just dreamt or if it was true. Then he found a little note with a phone number on it and he called it up. Then he drove up to our little town and we played together, ate some pizzas and had a couple beers. It was pretty much love at first sight.
Treefight for Sunlight is a very interesting name. Where did it come from?
When we were recording demos, I had this label writer for writing name tags on lunch boxes. I was sitting around while we were listening to stuff, just writing words I made up and nicknames for the other band members and all sorts of crap. Then I wrote “Treefight for Sunlight” down and I didn’t really think about it at all. I just put all those labels in a can somewhere and then about a year later, when we had to find a band name, we found all those labels and “Treefight for Sunlight”. We were like, “Hey, that’s a pretty cool name.” We put it on a list of potential names that we had. We were sort of angry with each other during that period because we were all like, “Why didn’t you like the suggestion for a band name that I had”. It was kind of stressful because we had to release something soon and do some press for it, but there wasn’t a band name. We couldn’t agree on anything. Then we said: “Let’s meet up tomorrow. Let’s go home and have a think.” We met up the next day and Morten [Winther Nielsen, guitarist] suggested that we put a camera up, film it, have a count down from three and then just shout out whichever band name we wanted from the list. Luckily, we all said “Treefight for Sunlight” and we had this very awkward cheering scene on video. Quite a good memory for us.
Do you all share the same influences as a band or do you all bring different tastes to the group?
We all liked The Beatles. Niels played a lot of classical music when he was a kid because he was a classical pianist. So he has a lot of that background and has a lot of the theoretical stuff, which is not really the case with the rest of us. He has a good “chord brain”.
When you were working on the album, were there any particular influences that you had in mind?
We had a lot of influences. As long as you don’t steal from the same things all the time, I think that’s alright. We all like sounds that you don’t know where they came from. Sounds that don’t put a particular instrument in your mind when you’re listening to them, so maybe the images you’ll get are a bit more abstract.
How are you all feeling about the upcoming UK shows?
We’re feeling good about them. We’re looking forward to spreading the music.
You were over here earlier in the year as well. How did those gigs go?
I don’t really remember it that well. It was only our second time out of Denmark and we were still a bit like Bambi on slippery ice. I don’t think we were that focused on the audience. We were just focused on getting it right.
Were there any particularly memorable nights?
We had a really good night at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen last time. There were a lot of nice people. And also at the Bull and Gate. I really like that venue. The monitor system was completely fucked, but it sounded really good.
What were the UK crowds like compared with the crowds back at home?
More people know of us in Denmark and they’ve heard the songs on the radio, so there are a few more sing-alongs. We hope to change that sometime. It’s really weird playing in different countries, because sometimes they’re very reserved and then sometimes they’re way more loose than you’re used to. You never really know so it’s difficult to prepare before a concert. You think you’re going to get up there and feel like a complete weirdo because all the people are like, “We’re all just going to stand here and pretend we’re not listening”, but sometimes they’re cheering madly. You never know.
Did you enjoying touring away from home?
It was nice to go out and meet new people and, coming to England, it was nice to meet our record label because we hadn’t met them before. So it was really good to put the faces on and talk to the people who are working with us.
Will you be playing at any UK festivals this summer?
Yeah, we are. I’m sorry, I don’t really know which of them I can say. But there are a couple and we’re really looking forward to it.
Treefight for Sunlight have since been confirmed for this year’s Bestival on the Isle of Wight in September. They will also play the following dates in April:
Sunday 3 April - BRISTOL - Thekla
Tuesday 5 April - LONDON - Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
Wednesday 6 April - MANCHESTER - Deaf Institute
Thursday 7 April - NOTTINGHAM - Bodega
Saturday 9 April - LEEDS - Cockpit
Treefight for Sunlight will also feature on Channel 4’s new music series ‘Abbey Road Debuts’, which is due to start on Wednesday 6th April
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Treefight for Sunlight is a very interesting name. Where did it come from? 
