Hailing from the beautiful northern region of Sweden, The Ghost of Helags are now based in Berlin. We caught up with them on the launch of their next single ‘Parallel’.
Tell us who you are and whats your sound
We are the Ghost of Helags, from Sweden, living in Berlin. Electropop, Synthpop, Dreampop, call it what you want 🙂
What exciting projects have you got coming up?
We just released our single Chemistry and will release our follow up on July 24th, called Parallel.
Where did you grow up and what music influenced you?
In the Uppsala region and also a lot in the North of Sweden, near the Helags mountain, where the name originates from. There is a certain power that diffuses from this mountain, it almost has a supernatural energy. The bands that influenced us are Kate Bush, Fever Ray, Moby, Angelo Badalamenti, M83, Robyn, James Blake, M83, Bon Iver, Christine and the Queens, New Order, Aha, Kraftwerk, Jamie XX, Daft Punk, Blood Orange, Nina Persson, Mgmt, Paul Kalkbrenner, Desire. And currently can’t get enough of K-Lone’s debut album Cape Cira. Such a driving energy, drives me crazy. In a positive way.
What cool places do you recommend to visit in your city (bars, restaurants, etc)?
It depends what you are looking for. I love nature and mountains, so I go to the surrounding areas quite a lot, to the 1000 lakes around Berlin and the quiet paths in between the countryside. In town I go to Kreuzberg a lot, by the canal. It is worth a visit for sure. All the new Cafes and restaurants. We recommend Okay Cafe, a Swedish cafe near the canal that has the most tasty sweets for “Fika”. And favorite restaurant: Beuster Bar. Feels like Paris in the 20s.
We love recommendations – what have you been listening to, watching, or reading recently?
New Order Biography. Amazing read, also Moby, his 2 books about himself, his life, his crazyness. Definitely inspired me a lot.
I am listening a lot to Chemical Brothers and Desire lately. And the Strokes new album is just stunning. Cant get enough of the song Eternal Summer. Also M83 is always somehow present and a lot of 80s sound. Watching: everything documentary. Recently watched many documentaries about painters like Matisse, Picasso and Tracey Emin, whose book Strangeland I can also highly recommend. She is a fascinating woman and an amazing artist.
Finally, what was the last thing that made you swear out loud?
I cannot hold back in the car. And there I swear all the time, especially in the rush hours.
Be sure to check out Ghost of Helag’s music and get following them on their Instagram @theghostofhelagsofficial , Facebook page The Ghost of Helags and Spotify link below!
Interview by: Alex Minnis
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