Love in Stockholm a JazzFest surprise

By: Elise Hugus, September 29, 2011

Marcus Smith Photography - Allston band Love in Stockholm plays lead singer Charlie Rockwell's hometown of Falmouth this weekend.

Raised in the house parties and dive bars of Allston, Love in Stockholm has gained a reputation for their wild “rock n’ soul” performances, a mashup of wailing classic rock guitars, funky horn bridges and soul-searching vocals.

So it came as a surprise to lead singer Charlie Rockwell (Geyer) that the band is listed on JazzFest Falmouth’s lineup this Friday, when Love in Stockholm hits the stage at Grumpy’s Pub.

But it’s all the same to the Love in Stockholm frontman, who says the band is working on mellower material, following last year’s tour of the Midwest and Northeast to promote their first full-length record, A King’s Ransom.

A native of Falmouth, Rockwell played with the band 86 (which since morphed into The Commonwealth) until he left to attend Boston University in 2004. Two years later, he dropped in at practice session at a neighbor’s house, and became one of the LiS crew.

InsideOUT caught up with Rockwell by phone in Boston, where he was taking a break between rehearsals and dodging the Allston arsonist.

InsideOUT: So, did you realize you’re on the JazzFest bill this Friday?

Charlie Rockwell: There’s a jazz festival in Falmouth? No, I didn’t know. That’s cool with us. People who like jazz tend to like our music because we have the horns and keep it pretty loose. We’ve got some throwbacks and definitely pay homage to the classic rock gods, but we try to update our sound, not just play the soul revival stuff that’s getting a lot of radio play now.

I/O: If your band were a cocktail, what would it be?

CR: Probably something with whiskey in it. Maybe a highball. We definitely drink a lot of it.

I/O: Can you give away the secret behind your band’s name?

CR: It’s a secret? So if you know about Stockholm syndrome, when you start to identify with your kidnapper. So when you come to a Love in Stockholm show, you will fall in love.

I/O: So does that mean people follow you home?

CR: (laughs) Yeah, I guess you can say that.

I/O: What have you been working on since releasing A King’s Ransom last year?

CR: We are working on new material and planning a fall recording session. We’ll probably, as the winter sets in, focus more on recording and try to get an album out in the spring. It’s not traditionally the busiest time, even in Boston.

I/O: What do you expect the new album to sound like?

CR: We’re definitely going to keep the energy there, but we’re not necessarily focusing on giving you all that energy, all the time. So this next record will be more like a living room record, with tracks you could drop in the middle of a dance party or listen to before doing to bed.

I/O: I know you haven’t recorded it yet, but what led to the decision to tone it down?

CR: It really came from the sheer number of shows we played in the last year. We played every kind of room, from sweaty and packed to somewhere that big sound is out of place. Also, we wanted to have a songwriting focus that’s not all about a big live show.

I/O: What do you like about living and playing in Allston?

CR: Allston is a great community for musicians. We practice in the basement so we never have to pay for rehearsal space. The neighbors never complain about the noise because they’re essentially doing the same thing.