Ones to Watch: The Good Morning Spider

I covered The Good Morning Spider back in a previous edition of PULSE, and ever since said spider has slowly but surely structuring fantastical webbing all through my brain. I think my synapses have been replaced with said webwork. Hell, there may even be a nest of baby Good Morning Spiders living in there too. You’d think I’d be scared, but I’m not. Perhaps that means they’ve taken control.

Anyway, I’ve been hooked to the eclectic sounds of debut album Outergalactic for a wee while – especially perfect for those kinds of evenings when you go exploring but don’t actually, physically go anywhere. The band is the brainchild of head honcho Viktor Rinneby, who I managed to haggle my way into conversation with, and brought the resulting Q&A to life for you. Read on, enjoy, and have informative fun. There’s some great answers here.

Hello there, and how are you?

Hi there, I’m just fine thank you.

We recently included you in an edition of Pulse, but what would you say The Good Morning Spider is all about?

The Good Morning Spider is like a playground with an infinite number of toys, and I’m the little boy who’s making up the rules. I get the feeling that bands and artists in general feel the need for a niche, a sound and/or a style. And having played in bands built on that, I wanted to do something completely different. Here I can do what I want, when I want it, alone or together – it all depends on what weather it is.

You’ve got an eclectic mix of psychedelia, lo-fi, garage, Eastern music and more. There’s even hints of trip hop/electronica on tracks like ‘Sneaky Snakes’. What would you say are some of your biggest influences?

I believe I find inspiration in all different kinds of music, and you’re definitely right about ‘Sneaky Snakes’, that couldn’t have been without inspiration from instrumental hip-hop and what not.. however, the album is as you mentioned a lot of different sounds, and not all days calls for a slow feeling.

To name the biggest influences is cruel, but if I had to mention three acts it would be The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Sparklehorse (there of the name) and Pavement/Stephen Malkmus.

Outside of music though, what else would you consider influences? What big passions drive you outside of the band?

I don’t have any big passions outside the music bubble. Maybe my pets, I’ve got two boy kittens.

You released Outergalactic this year, how have you found the reaction to it so far? I for one spent most of a recent Friday evening listening to it.

People seem to dig it! I haven’t spent any time or money promoting it, since I was pretty tired after the release of this collection/album. But the ones who’ve heard it seems to enjoy it and for that I’m grateful!

What’s the music scene like around you? Are there any bands you’d recommend we check out?

There are a lot of great upcoming bands from Malmö, a few of them I’ve had the opportunity to work with myself (engineering and/or mixing). Sista Bossen (great indie-punk in Swedish), Technicolor Poets (psych-rock) and I am Super Ape (90’s Indie/Grunge) for instance.. but there are many more great acts. Hey Elbow, Julia Rakel (Julia Öjbrandt) and Stella Lugosi to mention a few more..

Speaking of the music scene, how are things going for you live at the moment? Touring a lot? Any plans for getting further afield?

We play every now and then here in Sweden. But not much touring, no.. Last year was a lot of recording and mixing, which ended up in  ‘Outergalactic’. This year’s been a lot of recording too, nothing released yet though. Next year we’ll play more however! Abroad as well!

Last but not least, if you had a pet vulture that you found to be especially cultured, what name would you give it?

Kurt.