French interview by PtitBlog
Hello and welcome to "PTiTBLOG"! Can you introduce yourselves? John : Hi, I'm John! Tom : I'm Tom! Robin : And I'm Robin! John : And together we are JTR, we are brothers and we are from Sweden!
Tell me about your journey: how do three young Swedish boys find themselves in an interview in Paris? John: To go quick: we grew up in a musical family, so we more or less always played instruments. We also have family in Australia, so we went there to do X-Factor. We managed to unite a fanbase and then we went back in Sweden and signed with a producer. We also signed in France and since that, we made a lot of trips.
So, this is not your first time here! Tom: No! It's actually the fourth!
What do you like to do when you come to Paris? Robin: We like to walk in the small streets of Paris. Tom: We want to see everything! Robin: And eat! Because you have excellent food. John: Yes, you have very good cafes and restaurants. Tom: And pizza!
Pizza is not really a french food... Tom: No, but it's good! Robin: You have delicious pizzas! I also love paninis!
Coming back to music! You had the opportunity to meet your french fans, what do you think of them? John: They are awesome. They always find where we are, they come to look for us at the airport, it's crazy... Robin: And at the hotel too! I don't know how they find us... John: Actually, we once posted a picture of the building in front of our hotel and they found where we were!
This week, you're filming a music video in Paris. How it goes? Tom: Really good! Robin: Yes, we filmed more than half of it so far. We filmed some scenes in a cafe, some in a parc and tomorrow we're going to be in a studio. It's really cool!
Why did you come to Paris to film it? John: To begin, Paris is a wonderful city! Tom: And here we have a part of our team. John: Yes, our team is really awesome.
Your album isn't available in France yet. Could you talk to me about it? John: It's called "Touchdown" and it's composed of a lot of songs that means a lot to us. It's mostly pop songs with catchy melodies. So we hope French people will love! It will be available after the summer and we hope to come back here to play on stage.
If you had to choose only one song from the album, which one would it be? JTR: Until then!!!! John: Until then is a song that means a lot to us. We wrote about all those people who were doubting about us, who were telling us that we couldn't do this or that. But you have to trust yourself, it's what the song is about.
Your new single is Centre of everywhere, tell me more about the song. Robin: it's just about the fact that no matter where you are in the world, if you are with the good person, the one you love or just someone you like, you'll always be at the "center of everywhere". No matter if you're waiting for a train or if you're in an amusement park, you're going to spend a great time. John: "Home is where your heart is".
Are you famous in Sweden? What's the difference for you between countries? Robin: Yes! John: We probably have more fans in Sweden, but in France we are gradually building something bigger. Robin: It's really cool! We are waiting you! Come and listen to us!
Robin, you are the rapper. What John and Tom do? JTR: We sing! Robin: I'm not going to say I'm a rapper, but yes, I rap sometimes.
And who's the one writing songs? JTR: All of us!
The french version of your album will be different? John: Probably a little bit... Robin: We never know... John: We want to surprise you!
You made a cover of Papaoutai by Stromae. Do you have other french artists you like? John : We didn't have met a lot of french artists. There's Maude that we met during a concert. Robin: I like Maude! John: She's really nice. There's also Matt Pokora. But we don't know a lot of french musics. Robin: It's complicated when you don't speak french.
How did you find the song Papaoutai? John: Robin found it on YouTube! Robin: Actually, I heard the song on a swedish radio. He is pretty famous here in Sweden, especially since Alors on danse. It was a big tune and that's why a lot of people know Stromae in Europe.
You are a boysband such as One Direction, The Vamps, 5SOS... What's the difference between you and them, according to you? Tom: We write our own songs and we are brothers. Robin: We are not a group that people made just to make money. We are just "us" and we write music, we are doing what we love. John: We like to share our emotions and we want to see how people react.
And how does it go working with your brothers? It's not too difficult for your parents? JTR: Yes! (laugh) John: You may have sisters and brothers too so you know: sometimes we fight but it's normal. Robin: Yes, that's not a big deal, because we understand each other. We are able to be ourselves. We can be in the same hotel room without killing each other. (laugh) Tom: Yes, it's not so bad! (laugh)
You are also playing those songs on stage. Do you think about it when you're writing songs? John: Yes, of course! We are really focused on the fact we are a group. We love playing live! We also have three musicians who play with us: a drummer, a pianist and a bassist. This is awesome. We're going to tour with them this summer in Sweden, which will allow us to meet our fans!
You traveled a lot: France, Australia, Japan... Tell me an anecdote! Robin: Actually, what's great it's to be able to see everything! There's nothing in particular, a lot of things happen so it’s difficult to remember just one thing. But going everywhere and doing what we love is amazing. Sometimes we just need to stop and realise what we're doing, it's pretty cool.
You're going to play in a few hours in "Le Jardin du Luxembourg", what are you planning to do? John: We're probably going to sing our new single Centre of everywhere and few songs of the album. It will be great.
To sum up, what are your plans? John: We cannot wait to release Center of everywhere, on May 25th. Otherwise, tomorrow we're going to end the music video of our third single Oh my my, and then there is our Swedish tour this summer.
A final word? John: We really hope to see you all at a concert really soon and this summer when the album will be available!