The Raveonettes: Pretty In Black (Sune Rose Wagner Interview)

On their 2003 release Chain Gang of Love, The Raveonettes broke out in a big way. Determined to make music on their own unique terms, the duo decided to record all their songs in the key of B flat major, surround by three chords and each song had to be less than three minutes long. Not to mention, The Raveonettes decided to add loads of nostalgic guitar noise to mingle with their “Buddy Holly on acid” sound.

Unique is the keyword here, not many, if any at all take that precise approach when recording an album. Both members, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, have unique backgrounds, though they may not consider it so. Both hail from Denmark, with Wagner being a native of a small town near the German border, and originally had bigger aspirations than their geography suggested.

“When you grow up in a small town you dream about going to bigger cities and discovering the world, and I still do to this day,” Wagner mentioned via phone. Sharin Foo has a unique background as well, as her musical background reaches as far as Qawwali and Dhrupad, the most ancient styles of Hindustani classical music. The duo also hold another vital thing in common, a dismay for their homeland’s lack of music.

So, off to the states they came, both strongly influenced by the 50’s and 60’s pop and rock bands as well as The Jesus and Mary Chain. All of their work has had subtle and sometimes obvious nods to their influences. Asked about the nostalgic flair of their music, Wagner quipped, “I’m a very nostalgic person, I always think about things that happened, so it just comes out in my music, it’s the music I love, its what I grew up listening too.”

The new release, Pretty in Black follows similar guidelines as Chain Gang, except the guitar noise rose up occasionally and gone are the three minutes tracks. Gone is the B flat major rule of thumb and gone is much of the Raveonettes noise that made Chain Gang the recognized album it was. To Wagner, it was a no-brainer, when he recalls, “I just really didn’t want to repeat myself, you know, to do something different, its much more interesting for a songwriter to do something different, Chain Gang of Love was brilliant as a noise album, and there was really no need to do another one of those.” But this is hardly a reinvention for the Denmark duo as fifties and sixties music is well represented, most notably the cover version of “My Boyfriend’s Back,” originally recorded by The Angels in 1963. Meanwhile songs such as “Twilight” and the laid back sunny “Red Tan” suggest a fresh, artistic approach.

So, its quite obvious at this point that The Raveonettes aren’t trend followers by any stretch, as that would be unnatural for them, and certainly not unique. Wagner commented, “I don’t like any contemporary bands really, I could only name a handful of bands that I like and that’s it. I don’t listen to modern radio; it’s just not for me. We don’t do eighties music because its not in our heart, lots of bands now have this eighties revival, but that type of music, it’s just not in our heart.”

Pretty in Black suggests many heartfelt things however, including the influences that the band was able to work with on the record. Those included were Ronnie Spector, Martin Rev of Suicide and Mo Spector, the latter who drummed for The Velvet Underground, another big Raveonettes influence. “They were all beautiful, awesome people, and to be able to work with them was truly amazing, if we don’t get to ever make another record, I don’t care, because working with the three people who inspired me the most was really mindblowing stuff, they were part of the reason the Raveonettes are who they are today.”

Pretty in Black certainly shows maturation for the band as it evolves, with enough constants to not distance those who couldn’t get enough of Chain Gang. Another constant is the album artwork, as the nostalgia creeps up again as they stick with the retro movie poster look. I asked Sune what the inspiration was behind the album art. “The art is a mixture between film noir and a b-movie of sorts, its sort of a mixing of styles. Its really easy for us to do, we think its beautiful to look at, and really, nobody else is doing it, plus it looks great, and we really love that.”

So, come to the states and make the music you love…..check. Do the style of music that influenced you as a kid,……..check. Have great indie success in the studio and on tour…..check. Work with the artists that influenced you the most….check. What’s left for the Ravonettes?

Wagner talked about his future aspirations when it was suggested his music would fit nicely into a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack. “I’ve always dreamed of becoming a film composer, that’s what I wanna strive for when I get older. David Lynch is another great filmmaker we would love the opportunity to work with in the future too. So working on a film soundtrack would be great.”

As their unique brand of garage rock for the new millennium evolves, The Raveonettes are sure to keep listeners on the edge of their ears with their slick bag of musical tricks. However when you see them live, just don’t expect every song to be in B flat major and under three minutes long.

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