The Leslies

leslies

The Leslies are an excellent band from Sweden. Their first album was the best thing ever, and now it turns out their new one is better than that, even. Hard to believe. You need to check them out, and you’ll get a chance when Chris re-releases Of Today - For Today on Jigsaw. You will love it, I promise. Tony answered the questions.

Who's in the band and what does each person do?
Jonas, the drummer.
Tony, the singer.
Martin Engvall, the guitarist.
Martin Berndtsson, the guitarist.
Jens, the bass player.

Where in Sweden do you live? What's it like? Is there anywhere you'd prefer to live? We live in Kristianstad, a town with 30,000 citizens. The music scene in Kristianstad is held by the Leslies, and our friends Acid House Kings, Starlet, and Club 8. Once a year there is live music at Tivolirock during the summer. There is practically nothing to do in winter. We would prefer to live in a bigger city like Malmo, Gothenborg or Stockholm.

What is the music scene like in Sweden? The music scene is good in places close to universities like Lund, Malmo, Gothenborg and Stockholm. And the whole music industry in Sweden has grown very big and is actually the world’s third biggest music export after USA and England.

Where are the Leslies most popular? Do you play large shows in Sweden? Leslies is popular in the south of Sweden. Lund, Malmo, Gothenborg. And of course in Kristianstad. Leslies is also proud to say that we have got a good response from countries like Japan, Australia, France, Spain, Norway, England and of course USA.

How did the five of you meet up and decide to start a band? We were brought together by destiny. In 1993 when Martin Engvall and Jens met they started talking about forming a band and among friends they found the people who formed the Leslies.

Who writes the songs? Why did you decide to sing in English instead of Swedish? Martin Berndtsson writes the songs and Tony writes the lyrics. Because English is the classic language when it comes to pop music.

What are your future plans? Hopefully we will get a new record deal. Right now we are making some great new stuff. And of course we would like to give Jigsaw some of that.

If you had unlimited money to plan a vacation, where would you go and what would you do? Maybe we are going to Spain and play. We would love to come to USA. The ultimate travel would have to be one where we could combine playing and vacation and there are so many places to go. If we got to be together with the band, the place to go would not be the most important.

What have you been listening to/ reading/ watching lately? Jonas is in a deep Smiths & Morrisey period right now. Smiths is outstanding. Tony and Martin Engvall are still quite chocked by the Cardigans’ brilliant single "My Favourite Game". Of course there is always the Eggstone to listen to because they are truly a fabulous band and we all agreed on that.

Any last messages? Hope we see you soon and that the Americans will appreciate the record coming soon on Jigsaw. Take care.

See the Leslies webpage!