We had the chance to chat with Molly Sandén ahead of her appearance in SVT’s new premium music entertainment series En kväll i New York. The series premieres on Saturday the 27th August and brings 13 Swedish stars on stage at the legendary Apollo Theater in New York where the likes of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Michael Jackson have stood before them.
We asked Molly what she though was the best thing about making the TV show, and it was pretty obviously the performance itself…
“It was pure magic and the atmosphere was amazing. Partly thinking of all my idols who have stood on that stage before, and partly because of all the preparations leading up to it. And all the details like the ceremony of rubbing the lucky stump before going on stage.”
“When it was finally my time to stand on stage, I felt 100 % ready for the live performance. It was a once in a lifetime moment, just trying to enjoy the experience.”
The artists got to pick one of their own songs they feel is the closest to their heart, and work out the arrangement and performance together with the gospel choir known from the Late Show. Molly tells picking her song was not a difficult choice.
“I felt pretty much right away that I knew which song I wanted to do. It was the obvious choice for me, and I felt good about getting the chance to bring out the meaning of the song a bit more.”
The artists getting on stage on that night in New York, which will be shown in four episodes, are (left to right in the picture above): Oscar Zia, Charlotte Perelli, Roger Pontare, Martin Stenmarck, Sarah Dawn Finer, Niklas Strömstedt, Linda Pira, Andreas Johnson, Titiyo, Molly Sandén, Darin, Sabina Ddumba and Zara Larsson.
We asked Molly if any of the other artists made a special impression on her.
“Zara Larsson was fantastic. Sarah Dawn Finer was fantastic. All of them were really fabulous in their own way. I thought it was a great mix of artists from different genres and styles. Linda Pira was great…”
Linda Pira is actually an artist Molly has recently joined in a collaboration for the vibrant track Ey Gäri. So we wanted to hear more about how the cooperation between the two started – seeing as the pairing would not be the most obvious for many.
“We first met when we were recording a podcast and basically fell in love with each other. I thought she was such a cool girl and super-talented, very beautiful and the nicest person you can think of. So we clicked, and then she called me telling she had a song we should do together and I really loved it on first listen.”
We caught Molly recently at the Nynäskalaset festival in Nynäshamn and were impressed with her attention to detail in the show. She had all-white everything, from the stage clothes of herself, the dancers and the band, to every little thing like the microphone and her Doc Martens. We asked what her thoughts were when she was putting the show together.
“This year’s concert was a bit more calm compared with last year when it was more fast-paced. I wanted to build my little universe, our own bubble. The audience is very important in the whole setting, they are just as important as we who stand on stage. The interaction is what makes the show. I really wanted to build around a clean theme, which wouldn’t take away too much focus from the songs and the lyrics, but would still give everything a unified look.”
Another important detail that caught our eye in Nynäshamn was that Molly had an all-girl band (and dancers too). She says there was also a very concious idea behind that:
“I really want to bring forward these cool girls. There are so many girls who just don’t get the chance because everybody’s just hiring the same old musicians. And they are for the most part guys, unfortunately. So I’m trying to do something about it.”
En kväll i New York will be shown on Saturdays at 8pm on SVT1, starting from the 27th August 2016
Check out Molly’s video greeting here:
