Interview with The Lost Weekend

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

• Jefrrey: “My norwegian uncle who was a minister and a trumpet player introduced me to Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and The Beatles from a very young age. He opened up my ears to different kinds of music, which lit up my creativity from early on. If I wasn’t a musician, I would probably be a self-proclaimed shaman living in the woods with the wolves.”

• Jakob: “When I was 11-12 years old I started messing around with different instruments and poorly imitating Beatles songs on my grandad’s old trumpet. Then I heard Nirvana’s Nevermind for the first time and my head exploded. I hadn’t experienced that music could be so powerful, raw and emotionally charged at the same time. From then on I knew I wanted to play guitar and express myself through music making.

  If I wasn’t a musician I would be a winegrower in France overly obsessed with the moon cycles.”

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

• Jefrrey: I love reading books, especially big old novels and philosophical stuff. I also have a weakness for old classic movies and I often go hiking in nature. Walking in the forest and listening to its sounds inspires a lot of melodies and lyrics. Also a lot of the drama and romanticism of the books I read and movies I watch become themes in my lyric writing..

• Jakob: I have a nerdy interest in natural wine, and am also drawn to philosophy and spirituality. I like researching on topics such as the UFO phenomenon or consciousness. Recently I discovered climbing, which is nice because it’s extremely concrete; either you fail or you make it to the top. Music and creativity in general can be a bit abstract sometimes and you always have to define your own goals. I find it stimulating to have a bit of both worlds.

How long has your band been around?

• About 4 years since we first started playing together in this constellation..

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

• We are based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen has quite a rich music scene for its size and some pretty decent venues. Denmark in general has a strong festival culture - the country in the world with most festivals per citizen, and quite a lot of international artists drop by. Danish culture and media was always very influenced by North American or British pop culture. We’ve had a few original 90’ies and 00’s rock bands such as e.g. MEW and The Raveonettes - that came up with a new approach to what Danish rock sounds like. Those bands have probably influenced us.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

• The Lost Weekend is a reference to a period in John Lennon’s life, where he was separated from Yoko, and indulging in a lot of partying and drugs. There’s a search for inner peace within the chaos. The name resonated a lot with the noise and desperation that came up in our own songwriting. It also comments on the quick fixes and escapism of our times.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

• The first show we ever played was very spontaneous and happened magically. Jakob gathered the group for the first time for a gallery party the same week. We were asked among a handful of other artists to play our version of the old folk classic ‘In the pines’, and it ended up in a 10-minute noisy free impro, which surprised everyone off and on stage. After that, we formed the group.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

• Copenhagen’s venue Loppen in the ‘freetown of Christiania’ has a nice and unpretentious atmosphere. There are so many places we’d like to visit in the future, but ultimately it’s about the connection with the audience and with the music. We’re hungry to play, and we’d love to visit Canada and the US soon.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Alvvays, Einstürzende Neubauten

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

• Keep on being curious, keep on expanding your sound and choose your battles. Try to make it fun - and don’t let the business get you down.

• Jefrrey : My advice to my younger self would be: “sing don’t scream”.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

• Trust your artistic instinct. Relax a little bit more, trust your fellow musicians and trust the process. Don’t be a perfectionist all the time - but know your worth and own your voice.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

• Jefrrey: “I’m satisfied with ‘Breathe (don’t let go)’ because it became the only ballad I ever wrote that didn’t become too sentimental.”

• Jakob: I feel that ‘Real’ became defining for the sound we found on our album ‘Radiance’ and I originally connected a lot with that wall of noise sprinkled with hooky melodies and changing harmonic structures.”

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

• ‘You are’ is a lot of fun to play because it’s just a bit over the top…

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

• It often starts with a riff or chord progression and then melodies are ping-ponged between Jakob and Jefrrey, before finalized and altered in the rehearsal space with the group. Jefrrey does a lot of the lyric writing in his sketchbook but often it also happens as intuitive flow writing during our sessions. Recently we’ve tried experimenting with using only a beat as the starting point. Also, we’ve started producing and recording a lot more by ourselves which has sparked a lot of new ideas and sounds.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

• People are allowed to have their personal interpretations of the songs - but one theme that keeps reappearing in the songs is the search for light or hope in the noise and chaos of the “lost weekend”.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

• No we don’t. We only love each other all the time.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

• Right now we’re recording new material for an upcoming EP planning to release a single in the spring.

• We also have a big show coming up in February in VEGA which is one the great venues in Copenhagen - and a debut for us, which is exciting. The overall goal is to play more shows abroad in the coming year, and to meet our audience outside of Denmark.

How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

• Yes please, you can find us here :

  IG: @lostweekendmusic

  FB: www.facebook.com/lostweekendmusic

  And check out our videos: www.youtube.com/@thelostweekend8475