Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

The musical prowess of Malin Dahlström and Gustaf Karlöf's outfit Niki & The Dove is gaining momentum and the ears of the world are starting to prick up and take note of the glorious sound being created by this Swedish duo.

 Having caught my attention with their hauntingly pulsing, electro single 'DJ Ease My Mind', I found myself increasingly fascinated by electro-pop duo Niki & The Dove. Their sound has been described as a mix of vocals that can be noted between Siouxsie and Florence, melancholic electronic beats with sweeping theatrics tainted by a slight darkness and also a  nod towards witchery. What intrigues me further is their use of imagery within their videos and the fact that we are yet to see them feature makes them appear slightly elusive. This is not the case of course but it certainly adds to the magic that they are currently creating and I wanted to find out more...

 

For those who have not heard your music, describe your sound:

Our sound is electronic but with acoustic elements. The beat is mostly from acoustic drums and analog percussive instruments/sounds. We change between the big massive sound and the more simplistic minimal sound. We love going into details, and when they interact with each other.

 

How was Niki & The Dove born?

Niki was born in early spring 2010. We had recorded Dj ease my mind and we had such a good feeling about it that we felt that we wanted to write music together. And then the band was slowly taking form.

 

Do you find music easy to label? And what is the most surreal you have heard your sound labelled with?

No, we don´t find music easy to label. We´re in a constant good chaos.  When it comes to Niki, we met a journalist in London this spring who lined up so many descriptions of our music that he had read. Very imaginative and colourful descriptions, and we liked all of them...well, as boring as it sounds we cannot remember them now..but what is surreal is the wide range between the descriptions. People seem to interpret our music so differently. After the english journalist hade read them all aloud, we looked at each other and said: What have they been listening to? Us?

Your name is Niki & The Dove... Who is Niki and who is the Dove?

Niki is a symbol and the Dove is a symbol.

How do you want Niki & The Dove to be represented visually?

We love colour and we love movement!  We were so excited when we, after a long search, found the two trapeze artists whose act is so beautifully correlating with Dj ease my mind.

Putting music aside, what excites you in the world of art?

Art that is playful and free. That manages to touch you and make you feel that bewildered and fascinated feeling that has no name but is a feeling that you recognize in your body as something older than yourself. Like an instinct.

 You have been touring and also hit the festival circuit this year. Do you have the same enjoyment from the songs? How do you breathe new life into your set-lists?

It´s different to play the songs live. That´s why you feel a new enjoyment from them on stage.  We rearrange the songs and have some improvisational moments in the set, that keeps us staying alert and excited. We also work with so many talented friends, for example on this summer tour - we are really backed up in the drum section with two of the best drummers in sweden and on some concerts we have dancers on stage. And you would be a jerk not to get energy from them - they apply glitter and magic to the set. It´s lovely to feel the air moving when they rock on stage. 

Are there a differences to the audiences that you have played to in various countries?

There are more differences in aspects like; if you´re playing daytime or nighttime, what kind of venue it is etc. People tend to be quite the same :)

Your new EP ‘The Fox’ plays with metaphor. Is it important for the listener to be challenged? What did you want to achieve with this EP?

To challenge a listener is not a goal of ours really, it´s more to challenge ourselves.  We like to explore certain things and we like it when we get to figure it out and get to interpret the way we want. Achieve is not the right word we think. We wanted to explore certain things and this was the result. And we are happy with it! :) At that moment we were very influenced by the forest and mountain landscape. And to use them metaphorically for different stages in a person´s life, and for transformation.

What do you believe in? 

Love.

And there you have it. A brief glimpse into the inner workings of Niki & The Dove that only scratches the surface of details that unfold into bigger things. This enchanting duo are gently making waves and I urge you to take note too. For more information, click here.

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Written by Ben Taylor

TAGS: dolce&gabbana d&g dolce & gabbana d & g stefano gabbana domenico dolce luxury online magazine music interview electro duo swedish music niki & the dove dj ease my mind the fox Malin Dahlström Gustaf Karlöf'