After four years of silence, the acclaimed hard rock band Blues Pills is back with a bang. With a new full-length album, a new label, and a headlining tour, they’re ready to make waves once again. The album, “Birthday”, was recorded in just ten days, capturing the band’s raw, live energy and a more carefree spirit. Lead vocalist Elin Larsson also opened up about balancing motherhood while recording the album, sharing insights into her journey as both a musician and a parent.
So Elin, welcome back to Femme Metal Webzine. How are you and how is, this period treating you?
I’m doing good. Thank you for having me, and life is very well right now.
The production of Blues Pills”Birthday”
The last time we spoke together was in 2020, and now there is “Birthday,” which is a new chapter for Blues Pills. What would you like to share about the general production? I know a lot has also happened in the meantime.
I think, for the album “Birthday”, we worked with a new producer called Freddie Alexander, and he has mostly been working with big pop artists and more for the mainstream side of the industry. So meeting up with him, we met him in Stockholm with me and Zach, and then we tried to record a song together. And after that, we were just like, “We need to work with him for the full album because it was so easy”. He’s my age, we just instantly became friends, and he usually doesn’t work with bands and not in rock. Our rock elements blended perfectly with his pop sensibilities and catchy style, making for a fantastic match.
Production-wise, we recorded the album much like we did with “Holy Moly!” and our first album, capturing most of it live. It was recorded in a studio called Recordia which is located outside of Gothenburg, and then we did overdubs with the vocals. But most of it is from the same takes, like the drums, bass, and guitar, and then there are a few overdubs because we wanted to capture the live feeling. After all, we are a great live band. On the production side, he brings a more modern sound to the mixing and overall vibe. We also wanted to experiment, trying new effects and having fun with this record. And I think the outcome of it, I’m so proud of it, and it’s a good record.
The experience with Freddy Alexander for Blues Pills
So you mentioned the collaboration with the producer, Freddy Alexander, I wanted to ask you, given the experience with him, I was wondering, what is the main lesson learned for you as a singer and an artist that you take?
Well, he’s very good at English. So for my Swedish accent, it was pretty good. You know, singing, I don’t have much of an accent when I sing, but some words, he was good to like, you need to change that. For the most part, we run on a sort of democracy within the band. Even if he votes one way if the rest of us vote differently, that’s the direction we go with.
So, I’ve learned a lot about, the importance of working with people who are positive and, who come up with ideas. I’ve also learned a lot throughout these albums—like, if a song isn’t working, you can try adjusting it a bit, but sometimes you just have to let it go. That’s something I’ve learned for this record because we trashed a lot of songs.
Sometimes, I mean, especially in the beginning, you could work for a song for like, two years, and then then it anyways ends up like “Shit, yeah, it’s better to just, you know, fuck that we this. This ain’t going if we get a feeling for it, we pick it up. Let’s start a new song.” So, that was something I learned with Freddie.
Elin loves progressive rock
Then again, it’s also like, I’ve also learned something about myself that I’m the one that’s more progressive in the band and of the producer, because I always wanted to vote for longer instrumental parts, longer solos. But then the dudes, they’re like “No, I’m like, What the fuck it should be longer here?” But, you know, then everyone voted against it, then I was the one. But, I mean, we’re probably have to play it live . I guess they probably are right. Maybe you don’t want to have a solo for like six minutes for one record. I don’t know, but I like that.
Blues Pills and the new label
This album also represents a new chapter, because it’s the first album with a new, brand, new label Throwdown Entertainment. The last time we spoke, Blues Pills were releasing “Holy Moly” via Nuclear Blast. Indeed, there is also a new partnership. How you came in contact with them? When did you realize that Throwdown Entertainment were the right partners for Blues Pills?
I think for us, we wanted to go away from Nuclear Blast. We had three albums, so our contract ended. We wanted to do something new. And, you know, we were kinda fed up on that whole thing. So we went to Germany, me and my manager and then we met a few labels there. And the ones we clicked with were we were at the meeting at BMG with Throwdown Entertainment, and we got in contact with them through our old PR for Nuclear Blast, he stopped working there when they sold Nuclear Blast to a French corporation.
Blues Pills is coming home again
So he’s also involved in Throwdown Entertainment, but then we met Jan and Bjorn in Berlin, and they’re nicest dudes ever. I also met Jan when he used to work for EMP. so I’ve met him plenty of times, you know, along these years, and they had, like, a vision, a plan. They had the strong support from BMG Germany, and we also had our trusted connection with Andy, who originally signed us to Nuclear Blast. It really felt like coming home again.
“Birthday” also reveals a new side of you. I read that you found out you were expecting your first child during the recording process, which you proudly embraced in the promo photos—a detail I truly admire as a woman. How did you adapt to this exciting change while also managing the demands of recording and producing a new album? It must have been quite an intense experience. I’m curious—how did you live through that moment?
I think because we were three songs in on the recording. On the album, we have recorded three songs, so we have to leave to write and record. And I’m not the girl that planned stuff. So I, like, I somehow got pregnant with my husband. Like, that happened, but it wasn’t planned. So when I found that out. I was just, you know, I didn’t think I could mix my life, my lifestyle, with having a baby, or, you know, how, you know, having family, sort of this family life.
The band support
I’ve always wanted a family, and I knew there was more to life than just music. So, when I found out I was expecting, it felt like tough timing, especially as we were focused on recording and preparing for the album release—a process we plan years in advance. When I told the band, I expected them to worry or think I’d have to step back from everything. But instead, they were genuinely happy for me and reassured me, saying, We support you no matter what. They understood there’s rarely a ‘perfect’ time to have a child, especially as a front person in a band.
Recording while pregnant
Their support motivated me. I kept writing and recording while pregnant—I even recorded the last track at nine monthsand I was lucky; although I had some challenges, my pregnancy was mostly manageable. Tho, I could still perform live and make music with friends, which made me appreciate it all even more. I knew any day things could change—I could be bedridden or dealing with nausea. So, being able to fully experience those moments was such a gift.
The cover of “Birthday”
It’s also the fact that, you know, putting me on the cover when I’m very pregnant, that was also sort of a coincidence, because we have this photo artist that we loved, and she came to Sweden, and then I was nine months pregnant, and we had to take the photos. So, obviously, we took the photos, and that’s where the name comes after, you know, birthday should be called birthday, but I think it’s, you know, I’m celebrating the female body.
It’s incredible what, we women can do, and we can create a life, and we, you know, we managed to, you know, do the passion or the job and also be a loving mother at the same time that’s, you know, very possible. And also, you know, I’m front cover, you know, with a huge belly, which is also, you know, I don’t know people maybe see that as the, I don’t know, progressive. But for me, it’s like, I never felt so beautiful of when I was at that photo shoot.
Yeah, it is, yeah, yes, and it’s, you know, cool. And I wasn’t scared of, you know before I got pregnant, I was scared like, “oh, maybe you get, like, stretch marks, and you get this, and, you know, the birth, how’s that will be?” By the middle of my pregnancy, I just stopped caring about the little things; my main focus became my son’s well-being, and everything else seemed less important. I think that strength is something we gain from carrying children—it’s incredible what we’re capable of. Thank you—it truly is amazing.
Blues Pills and “Birthday”
I listened to “Birthday”, and it feels so free. This album flows like the wind. As a musician and singer, it seems like you had complete freedom to do whatever you wanted.
Yeah, that’s how I felt, too. It was nice. Okay, so, yeah, I also felt that you felt free to cross boundaries musically. It’s very diverse this album for Blues Pills. We just focused on every song, like, let’s make the best of this song. And it was like, you say, a freedom, I think, the pregnancy helped me with that, because I was just here and now, and I didn’t think I was more worried about, you know, how he was doing, or, if I could manage to do vocals later on or and so on.
So it was a freedom. And it was nice to, you know, have Freddie there to like ball ideas, and he come, you know, he’s kinda okay. He came up with the hook and really brought great energy to the process. Recording usually isn’t that easy, but this time it was smooth, quick, and just a really positive experience overall.
Developing as artists
Let me ask you something, do you also feel free as an artist now that you are on a label that allows you that ?
No, no, no, I think it’s just been a development. You know, we also like to want to develop as artists and as a band, and as songwriters. I said that, I could do a record with only songs like “Devil Man”, but I’ve done that. So you always want to find inspiration, and you want to develop your creativity to keep on doing music. Because if I end up doing the same I don’t, I don’t think I’ll feel so fulfilled. So I think it was just us again, you know, going further another direction, or, involving more pop implants or soul.
The title track as a single
I wanted to ask you, in April, the title album was released together “Don’t You Love It” for the Record Store Day. I love both singles. So would you mind telling me something about these songs?
This song reflects us just being happy and singing. Usually, we’re much better at writing sad, slower songs—we have plenty of those, and I stand by it. When I write, I feel like the song ideas, melodies, and everything else are just floating in the air, waiting to be grabbed. Upbeat songs are rarer for me; I’m not sure why. But isn’t it great when one comes together so effortlessly?
We recorded the first demo of it in my living room downstairs. Now I’m in the upstairs, and we were, in in a good place in life, like everything the band was doing good we, you know, had a lot in our personal life, that was, you know, giving us energy and happiness. So then that was just the mood, “Don’t you love it”?
“Don’t you love it” – the B side
Like, let’s, let’s make a fun song. And, like, reference to the 13th floor elevator, you know, and just play with the words more. And so, the song came like that, and it’s like a happy song. It’s about, you know, love it, don’t, you know, enjoy your life. Love, love it. Even though, when you know, I said that later, when I after we have recorded and released it, that was, you know, in the mid when my son had, like, you had to go up in the night and, you know, change diapers and everything like that.
It was sort of in the beginning when I still breastfed him. And then you could hear that song, like, don’t you love this? You know, you could also make it a bit more hopeful, like, even though the bet, or, like, the sometimes hard stuff in life, maybe you can, you know, see it as a fun thing as well. To the song, Don’t you love it? Like, going up and changing diapers in the middle of the night, and, don’t you love this? So it’s that one’s a happy tune.
The story of the waiter
And “Birthday” was a song that we wrote after coming back from Mexico. We played there. It was awesome. We had a great time in Mexico and South America. But it was actually on my birthday. I invited the whole crew and the band, and I was buying everyone dinner and drinks, and then this like thing happened at the restaurant with a waiter. He was a complete douche bag towards me and I didn’t have the time, I didn’t have the heart or energy to tell him what I felt there and then. So when we got home, I just wrote it down on the paper, like, exactly what, what happened to, you know, get the power back, or whatever, you know, sort of, sort of that. But I’ll leave it to that.
The European tour
Well, also it’s, there is also a plan for a tour I read, so it’s coming this out on this fall, and, yeah, I’m looking forward. It’s a full European tour in a long, long, long time. Yeah, I’m really looking forward. And also for you how it will be to be on tour being a mom also.
So Louis is coming with me and the dad. So they’re going to be staying with us on the bus, having this nightliner bus. I’m super pumped for for the tour. Like you said, this is going to be our first headlining tour for that doesn’t get affected by Coronavirus, you know, and all that stuff for our really, you know, the release of the album. So I’m super pumped for that.
Being a parent and touring
I’m really excited to bring Louie along on tour with Blues Pills —I’m definitely that kind of parent! I think there are two types of parents: those who focus on potential problems and those who see opportunities. For me, it’s all about the opportunities. I have this rich life filled with travel, new experiences, music, culture, and amazing people, and I want Louie to be a part of that. It’s super important to me, and it’s a huge part of who I am.
So, bringing him along feels natural because he’s a part of me. It’ll be amazing to see how it goes. I’ve never done a three-week tour with a baby, so we’ll see how it all works out. Worst case, he might need to fly home early, but honestly, I think he’ll be fine. Louie’s such a cool, social kid; he already loves music and even starts grooving when he hears a good song. I think it’s going to be a great adventure for both of us!