Biography
What makes a band immediately exciting? What’s the magic ingredient that makes one group of newcomers jump out from the rest? That causes all the right ears to prick up and take note? More often than not it’s not virtuoso playing or meticulous technical proficiency, it’s the alchemy of a group of individuals coming together to make something bigger than the sum of their parts; it’s a vibe, a feeling, or - as Clutter guitarist Ove Jerndal puts it - “I think we write good songs, but it’s more about the four of us standing on stage together.”
Completed by co-vocalists Hilda Ander and Emma French, who also both alternate on guitar and bass, plus drummer Ville Scott, Stockholm’s Clutter have this intangible spark in spades. All still only 20, they met aged 16 and have been forming their identities - musical and personal - in tandem ever since. Heavily inspired by the immersive worlds of Britpop’s finest, they’ve been building Clutter’s own landscape together from the ground up; their chosen band name, they explain, is both a descriptor and a mission statement. “It’s kind of a chicken and egg situation because the name has come to inspire us musically with how we do things and how we want to sound,” says Ville. “We wanted to be a bit messy and rough round the edges; not too polished.” “I did a huge list of terrible band names but my second suggestion was Clutter,” recalls Hilda: “All of the other names sucked.”
Having played separately and, in the case of Ove and Ville, together in various childhood bands, by the time Clutter’s members united at their music high school, they’d already had more experience than most teens of their age. Hilda and Emma were the only girls in their guitar class; Ove, they laugh, “was the guy who looked the kindest”. All four had grown up surrounded by music, learning about Pulp and Blur (their biggest united touchstones) as well as Depeche Mode and Thee Headcoatees, ‘90s hardcore and Swedish punk. Already schooled in the power of a special band, when they formed their own they knew they wanted it to represent something bigger.
“It’s the Britpop thing where the band is more than just the music. I love music and playing guitar but I think it’s fun that you can do so much more with everything around it and the friendships it creates,” enthuses Emma. “If we want to do a new song we’ll go look at some inspo pictures or a movie, and style and fashion has always been a big inspiration,” nods Ove. “A lot of the music during the Britpop era was as much about the visual aesthetic and the clothes and everything around it.”
From the beginning, Clutter have been hands-on in starting to realise these ideas. Without a huge amount of options to play underage shows in Stockholm, they’d put on DIY gigs in their local youth centre; wholesome events with “strictly no alcohol and not that loud speakers” but that allowed them to practice their craft and create a burgeoning community of likeminded young people. “It was really important for us to create somewhere to play and for us to be,” Ove nods. The guitarist, too, has been leading on production duties so far, with help from his band mates. Keeping things punk-spirited and in house, they currently record in a little basement studio having graduated from his even pokier bedroom set up.
Both locations, however, have contributed to the band’s forthcoming debut EP, ‘Loves You’. Following on from first single ‘Holy Brother’ - a scrappy, explosive introduction influenced by Motley Crue and Pavement that picked them up immediate early attention from tastemakers So Young Magazine - the EP is set for release via cult Swedish alternative label PNKSLM and starts to flesh out the quartet’s sonic world. Where second single ‘Jesus’ finds Emma taking lead vocals, fusing existential lyrical ideas with grungy, post hardcore-nodding guitars, ‘Geeks’ is a feistier, Hilda-led call to arms: a track, as the lyrics go, “for the geeks and nerds, lonely little loser girls”.
“I think we have quite different personalities but we know each other so well so we can be what the other person doesn’t have,” suggests Hilda of their partnership before laughing: “Emma is softer and more laid back in a way that I really need because maybe I’m a bit too much!” Far from too much, however, the two friends are the perfect foils for each other. On ‘Brideshead’ they come together, singing from the perspective of the characters in Brideshead Revisited, a shared favourite book, while ‘Brainiac’ too is named after a niche reference in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City.
‘Loves You’ rounds out with ‘Kraut’ - their oldest song and the first track they ever recorded. “At our first gig we only played two songs and that was one of them, so it’s quite sentimental,” recalls Hilda. “Playing stuff live becomes the benchmark of what we feel about a song and how a crowd reacts, and that was one of the first songs where it all felt right,” Ville nods. Clutter may still be in their infancy but they’re already doing everything right. They understand what makes a great band and, with their debut EP and a string of live dates set to take them out of Sweden and around Europe throughout 2025, they’re gathering all the ingredients to be one in their own right.
