tunesday - tallest man on earth interview excerpt

What do Bon Iver and The Tallest Man On Earth have in common, you may ask? As you'll discover in this interview excerpt, loads.

We had a chat with Kristian from his home in Sweden for the magazine, but there was so much goodness to cram into such a short period of time we thought we'd give you a sneak peek here.

The Tallest Man On Earth is touring Australia from February 28th to March 10th, playing special sets at Womadelaide, Perth International Arts Festival and Golden Plains as well as the usual gig circuit. More info here.

Oh, and we have two three day passes to Womad for a couple of lucky people! Just email us here if you'd like to pop along to see Mr. Mattson.

So, tell us a little about where you live, Kristian.
I live two and a half hours northwest of Stockholm on the countryside. I just bought a new house and it's only about a half hour from where I grew up. I'm really a – I think this is how you say it in English – a homebody? I really love it here. I'm pretty stoked.

That's odd, because you're mates with Bon Iver too, and he still lives 20 minutes down the road from where his parents met! Is there a connection?
I don't know if it's something in the water that musicians drink, but Justin [Vernon], he's a Norwegian dude, and I'm Swedish, so maybe! Wisconsin, where Justin lives, is really similar looking to here. Their mountains aren't as big as ours, but I really love it up there. Maybe it's something like that – we lucked out being born in rad places! I can't explain why I'm here. For me, it's a big freedom: I can buy a great house for not even half the price of s a shitty apartment in Stockholm. I grew up around nature and it's just such a big part of me. I need that close by. I live by the river and just on the other side there are mountains covered with forest. It sounds romantic but I guess someone that grew up in the city might freak out after a while.

You live nearly in the middle of nowhere and when you're not there, you're playing gigs by yourself up on stage – do you consider yourself an independent person?
I don't know if I consider myself a really independent person. It's strange for me being a solo artist because I have a lot of people around me I depend on. I couldn't do this without them. You get more professional. I don't walk in circles as much and I don't drink as much before shows anymore. It's kind of hard to explain why I do this because it scares the shit out of me. You have a lot of people helping you, but they won't follow you out on the stage. And that's plain scary sometimes. Why do I keep doing it then? Because it's kinda fun out there and kinda fun to overcome this fear over and over. The shitty part is that it never stays. But it's good to have a little fear, and sometimes you're lucky enough that fear feels like excitement.

You'll be able to read more in Issue 53 of frankie magazine, out in April.