“Today, I was watching an episode of The Simpsons called Bart vs. Australia. Have you seen it? It’s just really funny to me to see it. I was just like, ‘Wow’. I hope no Americans think that about Australia because it’s so wrong, but pretty entertaining to me,” says Klara Söderberg in a perfect American accent.

“I didn’t see that episode growing up, which I think is good because I’d have a very strange idea of how Australia is. I really just thought of it as the place really far away where they have koala bears and kangaroos.”

The younger half of sisterly Swedish duo First Aid Kit, whose sound is a dreamy mix of folk, country, and Americana and who will soon be touring Australia for stints at WOMADelaide, Golden Plains, and a national headline tour, certainly has a better idea of Australia now.

Having embarked on several tours since 2012, First Aid Kit are frequent visitors to the land Down Under. We recently caught up with Klara to discuss Nick Cave, lamingtons, koala bears, and the other things that make Australia so special.

Our Adorable Fauna

“I got to hold a koala [in 2012], I was surprised by how soft they were, but we haven’t really [familiarized ourselves with your wildlife] since then. But I think the thing with the kangaroos is that I thought they were so chilled.

“We went to a place where you could just go in and hang out with them, which was really cool, and I didn’t know that they were that friendly and I never thought that I’d be cuddling with a kangaroo, but there I was.

“I think everything in your country’s amazing, it’s so exotic to me. And the fact that it’s warm all the time, because for me, life is dealing with six months of cold and darkness each year, that’s always been life, so I’m pretty jealous.”

The People

“I think Australia’s always been really special to us since we came the first time. I remember coming to Melbourne for the first time and playing two sold out shows. I mean, we’d never been before and here were just loads of wonderful, lovely people who’d bought enough tickets for us to sell out two shows.

“I mean, that was crazy and people are just awesome. You know this, you’re from Australia. People are incredible. I’m not just sucking up to you, the people that we’ve met and worked with in Australia have just been some of the most lovely people that we’ve ever met in our lives and worked with and we just feel lucky to get to have met them.

“It’s just the warmth and love that we’ve felt from crowds in Australia has been incredible, too, it’s just been really, really wonderful.”

Nick Cave

“He’s like one of my biggest heroes and actually I saw the movie he’s made [20,000 Days on Earth]. It was just so good and so inspiring. I mean, I just love the way he talked about music and I really love the way he was talking about creating your own world with your songs.

“I thought that was inspiring to hear. And just kind of his devotion to what he does. I don’t think of myself as I think Nick Cave thinks of himself, but I don’t know if that’s all a jest or not. I thought it was really cool, so I think he’s my number one Aussie.

“I think that’s what we’re doing when we’re writing arrangements and stuff. You’re definitely trying to create these moods, you want to put the listener into this different space. I mean, for me, that’s really a lot of what music is about. You can just listen to it and escape to that world for a little while.”

Our Vintage Stores

“The first time we went to Australia we went to these vintage stores in Melbourne that we loved and still love and got a velvet paisley pattern top that I still have and love. I know it sounds very extravagant but it’s actually very nice, it’s in sort of neutral colours so it doesn’t stick out too much.

Lamingtons (If They Were Gluten-Free)

“We’ve also eaten a lot of Asian food in Australia. We always appreciate that, because it’s tough to find good Asian food in Sweden, so I don’t eat it anymore. But we always eat a lot of it when we’re in Australia.

“Unfortunately, I have a gluten intolerance, so I can’t eat lamingtons. I really want to know what they taste like because I’ve heard a lot about them and I just really want to know, but I just can’t.

“Unless someone made some gluten free lamingtons, so you know, maybe someone can come to a show and bring some.”

‘I Want Your Love’ by Chic

“This song, ‘I Want Your Love’ by Chic. We listened to that song a lot. Our Australian tour manager, Dale, played that song for us and that was the first time I ever heard it was when we were driving, I don’t know if it was Melbourne or Sydney, we were driving in a big city and we heard that song for the first time.

“We just listened to it on repeat and it’s already seven or eight minutes long. We were just listening to it, and at first, I was like, ‘What is this?’ and then I just learned to love it and now I can always listen to that song and it always puts me in a good mood because I think of that tour.

“So now when we’re on tour in Australia we always have to listen to that song.”

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First Aid Kit Australian Tour

Friday 6th March Palais Theatre, Melbourne
www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

Tuesday 10th March The Tivoli, Brisbane
www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

Wednesday 11th March Enmore Theatre, Sydney
www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

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