The cover of Filip Clements’ upcoming album Soft Apocalypse
Filip Clements Furuholmen performed at the Parken festival in Bodø last weekend, August 22nd, for an audience that included his proud father.
At soundcheck the day before, Magne and Filip were interviewed together for the first time by the Bodø-based newspaper Avisa Nordland (paywall).
“This will be the first time I’ll see Filip live in front of a really large crowd. And I’ll be out among the audience, instead of just backstage. I’ve kept away from several of his gigs in England, because I figured I’d just get in the way and offer my opinions. I’m not a guy who’ll refuse to say someting if I’m asked”, Magne told the newspaper.
He joked that he would blend right in with the rest of the festival crowd:
“With a cap and a dodgy mustache, I’ll surely go under the radar.”
In the interview father and son talk about the bond between them and having music as a shared interest.
“I didn’t have a completely normal upbringing and in the beginning I didn’t quite understand how popular my father was. But gradually you start to realize. When I was small I didn’t get to see many concerts either, so it was a bit abstract for me what he was really doing. I was around seven-eight years old before I got to attend [a-ha] concerts and started to get an understanding of how special it was”, Filip says.
“He was very musical as a child, but I didn’t try to steer him in any particular direction. He was given free rein to become whatever he wanted. Both Filip and his brother were into music – but a different genre of music than me. It was almost like a reaction from Filip, that he didn’t want to play guitar in school. He quit. That made me feel that he wanted to go in a different direction”, Magne says.
But in the end, he kept returning to the music:
“It’s a hobby that I’ve always returned to, and eventually it became what I was going to do. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve gone all in for the music”, Filip explains.
Asked if he has advice for his son’s music career, Magne says:
“Be yourself. Some people are going to love you, some people are going to hate you, and some people are going to ignore you. You do you.”
Filip sees his father’s background as an advantage:
“I feel it’s mostly positive. It’s shown me that it’s possible to achieve things no matter where you come from. I have also grown up around instruments in the studio and seen what it takes to create a song. I’ve seen that it’s possible to make it as an artist”.
When asked to name a favorite among each other’s songs, Filip picks “No one gets me but you” from the Past Perfect Future Tense album, while Magne highlights a song from Filip’s upcoming album Soft Apocalypse:
“If I had to choose one song from Filip’s album, I’d pick “Tomorrow’s Parade”. There’s a lot of great stuff on the album”, Magne says.
In a follow-up article (paywall) about Saturday’s concert, Magne could be seen standing in the middle of the crowd, as promised.
“It’s fantastic to see him perform live. Great fun”, Magne told Avisa Nordland.
Filip Clements’ debut album Soft Apocalypse will be released on September 4th, and can be pre-ordered directly from the record label Eastcote Recordings. The album will be available in five different versions; Black Vinyl, NextGen Exclusive Splatter Vinyl, CD, Cassette and Mini CD.
