Someone Like Me - The Time Frames of Jonas Lindberg

Swedish progressive rock outfit Jonas Lindberg and The Other Side announced their return with the new album Time Frames, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2022 release Miles From Nowhere.

The new album dives head-first into that unmistakable “Other Side” sound. The mini-epic “End Of The Road” paves the way for six other tracks, which together make for quite the progressive voyage, including the first single, “Faces Of Stone.” and now the instrumental “Gruvan.”

The record sees Lindberg once again handling many of the instruments and vocals himself, albeit with notable contributions from returning members Jonas Sundqvist (vocals), Jenny Storm (vocals), Calle Schönning (guitars), Nicklas Thelin (guitars), Jonathan Lundberg (drums), Maria Olsson (percussion) and Joel Lindberg (guitars).

I sat down with Jonas and we discussed everything from this new album, how his young daughter got in on it, what some of the songs mean to him personally, and, oh yeah, penguins!

Being that Time Frames is your new album with the Other Side, and knowing that it is being described as an exhilarating progressive voyage, how does your creative sound differ here on this album as opposed to what your work has produced before? - “I don’t know, to me the sound is mostly the same I think. What is most different is that I’m evolving all the time, both as a songwriter and as a producer and mixer. So the sound gets better and better each time and the songs get more interesting also.”

“Personally I think this one is the best so far! This time I was more aware on how everything was recorded and I was more careful through that process. And I also recorded everything with the mix process already in mind, which I didn’t do before. Everything already had its place in the context of the song before mixing even began.”

What were some of the biggest obstacles along the way to bringing this album to fruition and how did you overcome them? - “The lack of time for sure was an issue. Working three jobs and then you throw a baby in on top of all that. So I didn’t have as much time in the studio as before. But that also made me even more organized and I really tried to get as much as I could out of the time I had. When I went to the studio I always knew beforehand what I was going to do. I prepped it at home and wrote all my thoughts down. That way I was good to go when I came to the studio. I even found ways to work in other places as well, such as being away on gigs and recording in the hotel room. On the last album I actually wasted a lot more time because I had unlimited time at my disposal.”

As for the album, Time Frames, I understand that you yourself play most all the instruments on the backing tracks, so how easy or hard was it to set aside musical parts for the others that joined you (instead of just doing it all yourself)? - “It wasn’t that hard actually. I don’t play drums so that one and percussion are always easy to figure out. Then I recorded everything that I could get away with myself. As soon as I got to something that I couldn’t do I gave it to the others. Like some fingerpicking patterns on acoustic guitar, all the lead guitar parts that will sound better with someone else on it, riffs that had to be overdubbed but I didn’t have the type of guitar that I needed, etc.”

“So I had all those parts I knew I wanted the others to play, and I also asked them if they had some ideas that I hadn’t thought of or if they wanted to play something that I had already done. Then I was always open to change that. It’s easy when you have worked with and know the musicians well, then you know their sound and where they will fit in the best.”

“For vocals I just chose the songs and vocal parts that I sounded best on from the demos. Some parts were specifically written for Jenny and Jonas (Sundqvist) sang the rest of the songs. I also had written some three part harmony sections, so there Jenny has the high harmony, Jonas in the middle and I take the low one.”

And with that in mind, do you think that within the context of how it finally came together, both thematically and musically, that it would not have sounded the same had you gone solo on all the instruments throughout? - “I always find the sound becomes a lot more interesting and appealing when you have more musicians playing together. You get different timing and different sounds and vibe out of everyone. If I would play everything myself I think the sound would start to feel a bit flat. Sometimes I listen back to the demos where I play and sing everything, and most of the time it sounds way different. Both Jonas and Jenny sometimes sing the melodies a little differently both melodies and rhythm, and they have a much better flow to them. If I had sung it myself I wouldn’t have thought of these things.”

A lot of words have already been used to describe your music, but how would you yourself sum up your sound on this album ... and in just five (5) words? - “Bigger, better, more interesting, colorful.”

Please tell us (in a couple of sentences or less) a little more about what these tracks noted below mean to you and how they came to be:

Someone Like Me - “This one comes from a guitar strumming pattern I wrote when I was on parental leave. I also wrote the lyrics about my daughter’s reflection in the mirror. It’s a happy song that was very easy to write. Sometimes it’s nice with a simpler song among all the other epic tracks.”

Galactic Velvet - “This one has by far been with me the longest as I originally wrote it back in 2001 (I think). I always thought it had potential and when demoing for this album I wrote lyrics to it. I had a writers block at the time though and started to just write words and phrases that I thought sounded cool and good in context of the music. And that way I came up with some cosmic lyrics about black holes. I think it came together very nicely.”

Gruvan - “This one also came from guitar patterns that were lying around. I work as a guitar teacher and when the students don’t turn up for whatever reason I tend to sit and play around with the guitar. Every once in a while something useful pops out and I have my voice memo ready! This one I originally thought would be a bluegrass tune. But once I tried it in the studio it derailed, as always. It’s also named after my studio which is called “Gruvan”. It’s Swedish for “The Mine”.”

Running Out Of Time - “One of the first songs I wrote for this album and one of the hardest to get right, I think. I started writing it before Miles From Nowhere was out from a lot of left over ideas at the time. And I struggled with it a bit all the way from the demo up until the final mix. But in the end I think it turned out great and it’s even some people’s favorite song!”

And was Time Frames always going to be the albums name or was there another that nearly won the race come the time to take your hands off the project? - “No I actually didn’t have a single idea for an album title. It was titled “New album 2023” all the way up until mastering! I realized the night before mastering the album that I was going to need a title and started to write down a lot of stuff that I don’t remember. When the mastering engineer asked what it was called I just said “Time Frames” out of the blue for whatever reason. So that’s how that happened. I’ve been having a lot of faith in those kinds of moments lately as that has happened a few times throughout this process, even with the lyrics. If you don’t have a clear idea, just pick one and go with it!”

Being that we’re not called Exclusive Magazine for nothing, is there a hidden message, a secret notation or an easter egg to be found amongst all the tracks assembled for the album, perhaps? - “My daughter is yelling “Mom” on the percussion track of Gruvan. And then she also plays some shakers in the end. It sounds like a cool fill, but it’s my two-year-old daughter stealing the show there. For secret messages I think we still have to play the entire thing backwards. Haven’t tried it yet!”

The video for Faces of Stone is interestingly filmed, dizzyingly put together, so who came up with the idea, who filmed it, and where are all those stones located - “I came up with the idea, filmed all of it and also edited the whole video myself. I knew I didn’t want just another regular “band playing in studio” kind of video. So I thought what if I just film a lot of statues with faces of stone? So I went around Stockholm and other places I was on vacation looking for statues. The Easter Island statues are located in a suburb outside Stockholm near the sea. I saw them from my boat cabin window when I was at a gig and thought “Yeah I need those”. The dancers are located in a garden in Järvsö in Sweden. The various statues are from the cathedral in Uppsala, the monkeys in particular are from a Buddhist temple close to where I live. Among other places.”

What are some of the last albums (CD, vinyl, cassette, et al) you physically purchased (vintage and/or new releases) and which one have you already gone back to listen to more and why? - “I actually bought the latest Spock’s Beard album when I went to see them in Stockholm a few weeks ago. Apart from that it’s been a while since I bought physical albums. I think the latest was Nickel Creek’s “Celebrants”. Great album produced by Eric Valentine. But that was a few years ago. I listen mostly to Spotify at the moment. But there are some music I would absolutely need to pick up in physical format such as the Steven Wilson solo albums.”

And as we come to the end here, with regard the group’s name, Jonas Lindberg and The Other, was it always going to be The Other, or at some point where those that played with you going to come under a different name? - “When I released my EP “The Other Side” in 2013 I wanted to start a proper band. But as time went by I figured I never specifically asked anybody to be in a band. So I released it as my solo album instead. But I thought “Jonas Lindberg & The Other Side” sounded much cooler. So I ran with it. That way “The Other Side” are whoever is currently playing with me. Then I also have a specific name for all my prog music. I have lots of other music in the pipeline as well that is not prog. So then I can release that under my own name without disappointing the prog fans.”

What would you like all the readers of this interview to know about the new album and what to expect? - “I think it’s a great album and I’m very happy with it. I hope everyone else will think that too. I worked very hard on it. If you haven’t already heard it you should expect long epic songs with big arrangements. Lots of soundscapes and bombastic passages. But also some quieter moments as well. If you’re into Neal Morse, Spock’s Beard, The Flower Kings, Genesis, Pink Floyd, I think you would enjoy this as well.”

And yes, we ask everyone we interview this very same question (as we are putting together a kid’s book). We here at Exclusive Magazine love Penguins and so we were wondering if you had any love for them and/or had a story of one (soft toy, zoo, chocolate bar, relative, etc.) that you could share with us? - “I have never seen a live penguin since they’re on the wrong side of the planet. But when I was a kid there was a weird kids TV show with a small clay figure penguin called Pingu. He did a lot of weird stuff and sounded a bit like La Linea. I tried watching it with my daughter but she got scared!”

And finally, we asked Jonas to kindly provide a never-before-seen photograph of himself. One that perfectly personified his readiness for the world to hear his new musical endeavor. And kindly, this is what he sent.