Salt throws fame over its shoulder
Band garners praise for intriguing sound
By Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Contributor
Salt bassist Daniel Ewerman has just ended a very busy week. On
Sunday, he returned home to Sweden from Glasgow after a 10-week
tour in England. On Monday, he stayed up all night to shoot a
video, and on Tuesday, he caught a 24-hour flight to the United
States.
This hectic schedule is all new to Ewerman and his fellow Salt
members, who are playing The Whisky this Thursday. The once
struggling art students of Stockholm, Sweden aren’t used to so much
pressure. In fact, Ewerman claims the self-taught musicians formed
their band somewhat spontaneously. "We’d all been playing our
instruments, but not so seriously. It just turned out to be a good
thing to socialize around playing music."
But now they have to take themselves seriously. MTV has picked
their hit single, "Bluster," to play in regular rotation. Close to
70 stations have begun to infiltrate the tune over their radio
waves, and the song even made it into the CMJ top 200 the week it
was released. With their first album, "Auscultate," already on its
way to stores, the members of Salt have their hands full.
Critics acclaim Salt for their unusual dynamics and talent for
mixing various intriguing sounds, but Ewerman is modest about his
newfound success. "I don’t know if it’s so unique," he says.
This modesty probably stems from the fact that Ewerman, while
playing in a band, is a student first and a rock star second.
In fact, he is still enrolled in college in Stockholm in the
field of industrial design. Right now, he’s merely taking a year
off … or more, if the Salt trio can uphold the standard of
musicianship they honed recently while living and practicing on a
houseboat
"When we were jamming and doing new songs, we used to say that
we weren’t going to do one song, just rehearse for three or four
hours."
And it’s this spontaneous energy that brings audiences back to
Salt’s live shows. High-powered and moving, Salt refuses to perform
encores "… because we really like to give everything when we are
playing and not save anything for later."
Still, Salt is not just power chords and driving beats. Ewerman
considers the lyrics "a really important part." Written mostly by
lead singer, Nina Ramsby, the songs center around the ups and downs
of relationships. In general, Ewerman and Jim Tegman, the other,
nonsinging member of Salt, appreciate her endeavors, "and if not,
we discuss them." As for constructing lyrics of his own, Ewerman
says, "the most important thing for Nina is that she can sing it
like it’s hers."
This combination seems to have worked well for the members of
Salt. Even some of their harshest critics have becomes fans of the
group.
"I showed (my grandparents) the record. They were … excited
and really liked it! … Then, after a while, my grandfather said
‘This is really good! Is she singing in Swedish or English?’… so
I thought that was a really good compliment."
CONCERT: Salt at the Whisky. Thursday, Feb. 15 at 10:30 p.m..
Tix: $10. For more info call (310) 652-4202.
Salt members Jim Tegman, Nina Ramsby and Daniel Ewerman
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