Jorge Vasconcelo Interview

What is your favourite Caramell song?

Hmm.. good question, i like more than one but "Caramelldansen" is my favourite song, also "Vad heter du?" just because of the hit feeling we put in them.

Do you have a least favourite Caramell song?

Yes unfortunately.. i don't like "Vild Och Galen" and "Simsalabim"

Which album are you most proud of, "Gott Och Blandat", or "Supergott"?

Both off course ;) but in diferent ways. The first album was technically not so well made as the second album, but the first album we created more in a playful way, and we just played around with the different sounds and styles. But in the second album we were more skilled already and knew what we wanted to bring out as well as go further and create a new kind off bubblegum sound, and i can proudly say that we succeed with our vision i think.

Would you be able to reveal to Bubblegum Dancer some of your future plans for Caramell? What do you hope to achieve?

Well is a little difficult to say at the moment because the whole new Caramell thing is not like it was before, we or not figure anymore as band members and we and the record company decided to replace us with anime characters as you can see in the new releases. But Juha and i are working on some new material and songs to follow up the success of Caramelldansen.

Is there a new album/single on the way? If yes, could you please reveal some information on this release? =)

Yes a new single from the "Supergott" album will be release soon hopefully. A new album is too early to reveal at the moment.

Will there be any English releases?

At the moment only "Caramelldansen" will be released in english as "Caramelldancing", and maybe the second single will be released in english as well.

Are you a fan of any other bubblegum dance groups?

Absolutely! Aqua, Toy Box and Daze are my personal favorites. But i'm a dance music freak so i like nearly all the styles that include in the dance-scene.

What Bubblegum dance artists and producers have you worked with in the past?

As well as "Yumm Yumm" and "Blue Monster" have get tracks produced by us, which means Nivek Tek and Adam Edelmann are good friends of mine also.

You recently remixed Yumm Yumm's debut single "Happy Day". What are your views on this act? Do you know if they are planning any more releases?

We are unfortunalety not so involved in Yumm Yumm, so i can't really tell what their plans are. But i can tell we were really exited making the new mix of "Happy Day" because it was a challenge for us to make such a good old bubblegum song into something new and fresh and updated, but to keep the bubblegum feeling.

Did the "Caramelldansen" Internet Phenonomen inspire you and the other members of Caramell to return to the Bubblegum dance scene and write more music?

Not really, we ended the band many years ago and it would be a little difficult for the girls and for us to perform and sing the songs in the new high-pitched style hehe. But for me and Juha the whole thing make us definitely wanna write and make some new bubblegum songs. =)

Are there any changes to the new Caramell that your old fans should know about? (as in sound, image, style etc)

Hmm.. yet another good question from you..=) Let me think..?? well the sound will always be bubblegum "i hope" but in a new fresh sound, image (anime) and style Caramell! ;)

Was there a reason why you chose to do a bubblegum styled eurodance project?

Absolutely!! After making our project "Drömhus" wich became very successful in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia, we decided to bring out a new dance-project. At that time Aqua were the new thing and we were totally sold on that style and sound, as well Juha and i who are not exactly the serious type of people, and love to make fools of our self and make music that brings joy and happiness (which is the no. 1 purpose of bubblegum). But to not put down Aqua from the charts, we decided to make it in Swedish. =P

Is there a story behind the name "Caramell"? Who thought of it? Why the extra "L"? =)

Yeessss!! After we get our styles done, which means the hair, make-up and clothes. theres was a person from our recodlabel who said, they look like a (Karamel påse) which means (a bag of candy) and Candy in swedish is Karamel and we decided to make it more international and change the (K) to (C) and put an extra (L). thats the story. =)

The majority of bubblegum dance styled music comes from Scandinavian countries. Do you know why it has/had such a huge focus in this area, and why is it mostly popular in Japan?

I really don't know why.. my theory will be that maybe is the coldness here, that lead us to create a kind of music who bring a little bit more warm and happyness and joy for us here.. and it shows to be so childish catchy and good music, that make people forget theirs problems for a while and even works for the rest of the world wich has become more stresful and pressured.

Do Caramell have future plans to tour?

Not for the moment.

Do you have a favourite candy?

Belive it or not, i really love the caramel flavor as candy and iscream together with a lot of vanilla which is a huge favorit flavor to ; )

Thank you very much Jorge!

Thank too you my friend!