The Swede Beat Mixtape Vol 3: Uffe & Leoparden
May 8, 2011
The interesting sound of Uffe & Leoparden (meaning Uffe and the Leopard in Swedish) put this emerging hiphop duo on our 2011 watch list for new acts of Swedish heritage. The band mix hip-hop breaks with electronic sounds. And elevates their funky beats with slick rhymes sung in Skånska, the smooth sounding accent of Sweden’s dirty south.
The Swede Beat’s first meeting with the band was in the backroom of Whiteslab Palace, a small bar located at Manhattan’s Lower East Side in April 2010. The occasion was the opening party for last year’s version of MusicDoc Film Festival. It was also Uffe & Leoparden’s first show – ever (!)
The crowd’s bobbing heads, dancing feet, clapping hands and smiling faces was the proof we needed to validate our liking for this new band. After almost a year of silence we are very happy to have them back on our radar. A new demo was just released and a mixtape – made exclusively for The Swede Beat Magazine. (Download below)
We had a little chat with singer Ulf Alsterlund to see what’s up in the world of Uffe and Leoparden.
Who is Uffe & Leoparden?
It’s me and my friend Daniel Leopold. Outside of our band I work and teaches at one of Sweden’s largest performing arts school Kulturama. Daniel is a music producer and musician involved in a lot of different projects, making music ranging from electronic to indie.
How did you guys come up with the name?
I don’t really remember exactly how and when the name came up. When the project started we had another name for it but with time Uffe & Leoparden grew on us. That’s what a lot of our friends actually call us and it’s kind of simple and unpretentious in a nice way.
How would you describe your music?
We have sometimes talked about this… and in some ways maybe it’s easy to define but in other ways really hard (like all musicians when they try to talk about their music). But I guess one could say it’s like a mix of hip hop, electronic and pop – actually a kind of natural mix of the stuff we’ve listened to and been exposed to growing up in Sweden in the 80ies and 90ies.
Who does what in the band?
Leoparden makes all the music and I write all the lyrics, sings and raps.
When did you start creating music together?
We’ve been making music together on and off in different kinds of projects since the late 90´s. This project started when we both moved from the south to Stockholm. The project started to form itself when Leoparden came back from living abroad and stayed in my apartment for a while. The idea slowly progressed and when we realized that we had material for a few really good songs it became a bit more serious.
Best and worst thing of creating music and being friends at the same time?
The best thing is that we know each other really well; it makes it really easy to be honest and constructive with each other. For example it’s easier for us to give and receive criticism about what we are working on. Also we share and understand each others musical references in a very intuitive way.
Maybe the worst thing is that it’s hard to separate the music from the friendship. Most times when we meet it ends up being linked to the music in some way or another. We don’t just hang out and play video games as often as we should.
Who are your favorites from Sweden’s music scene?
We tend to listen more to foreign music than Swedish but some favorites worth mentioning are: Bob Hund, Kaah, the mighty Peps Persson and lately both Little Dragon and Marcus Price has been putting out some really nice electronic music.
What are you listening to right now?
One of Leoparden’s recent favorites is the album Jewelry by British act Micachu and almost everything that German duo Modeselector’s been putting out is appreciated by me.
Check out the mixtape (see below) for a nice smorgasbord of old and new favorite tracks.
What do you guys have planned for the band?
Right now we’re in the making of videos that will be spread together with some songs during the spring and early summer.
We are about to finish up our new live set so we want to start playing as much shows as we can.
The complete album will be finished during this year so we have more to come and look forward to.
Uffe & Leoparden – Lange Leve Karleken by Uffe & Leoparden
www.soundcloud.com/uffeandleoparden
The Swede Beat Mixtape Vol 3: Uffe & Leoparden. Download and Stream Here (Right click to save)
1. Gold Panda – You
2. Modeselektor, TTC – Dancing Box
3. Active Child – When Your Love Is Safe
4. J Dilla – Mash
5. Micachu – Turn Me Well
6. Saul Williams – Twice The First Time
7. Toro Y Moi – Talamak
8. Dead Prez – Hip Hop (Diplo Remix)
9. Armando, Sharvette – Don´t Take it (Thomos Edit)
10. Marcus Price & Carli – Mat Bira Kvinnor Weed
11. Ophex – Analog Porn
12. Gold Panda – Marriage
13. Uffe & Leoparden – Musiken
14. Donald Byrd – Black Byrd
By Lydia Kellam
Published by: The Swede Beat
