#33 TOBIAS FROBERG

Tobias Froberg writes sweet folk ballads, the Simon & Garfunkel way. But when he plays them, is funny and surprising, and we had a lot of fun filming him...

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We had just stepped away from the terrace. It was only ten meters until the cross-road where he had to hang a left. He took a right.

Afterwards, there wasn’t that much that had to be done. He had to walk and we had to follow. Tobias, you have to understand, isn’t a difficult person. But he did turn out to be impossible to follow. I found it rather disconcerting, which is surprising considering that I’m so used to seeing Vincent Moon unhinge so many bands with his crazy flair and camera acrobatics. Tobias however, just couldn’t walk straight. He would take two steps, stop, and then start back up again. He was turning all about, slipping into doors, singing ballads to girls, infiltrating bar-tabacs that were trying to close, ect. In spite of all this chaos however, he continued to play calmly as if nothing of the sort was really happening. He was also looking at everything with such curiosity.

Sometimes it takes a while before you discover someone’s vibe and the way they work. In Tobias Fröberg’s case, the discovery was almost immediate: he works with his eyes. Wide-eyed and interested, searching ceaselessly with the desire to soak it all up and not skip a single beat. It was as if his eyes were in charge, entities unto themselves, eager to snatch up the world. We met up at the entrance of G20 after being cordially yet surreally dismissed from a chic restaurant, Tobias endeavoring to catch a glimpse of everyone passing. When we got into the record store he didn’t miss staring at a single poster nor fixing his gaze at the camera. It was all pretty impromtu and casual, like an impulsive humming that just kind of floats in the air. Whatever.

Oh yeah. Whatever. Casually at ease. Tobias is certainly not starting a revolution, but he could care less. His first album is full of beautiful folk songs. And the ones on his second album, Somewhere in the City, are even more enchanting and consistent, paying tribute to something grander than just a wink of the eye: God’s Highway from the first video, listen to the album version of it, it’s Simon and Garfunkel, perfect replica. He confesses it, he doesn’t care.

The filming is similar. Three scooters nearly crashed, and he didn’t give a shit. The garbage collectors stopped him, and giving them a couple verbal jabs it was obvious he could care less. The song remained calm and light, and we didn’t think at all about stopping him. We just continued on. He didn’t even stop singing when this guy with a tuba walked by. He ignored him and continued to captivate the camera. Tobias could go through his daily life like this, as if it were natural to get to some place with a guitar in your hand and ask “hey can I play at your place?”

That night the man in charge was certainly Tobias Fröberg. He took us along by the hand to do his number and we couldn’t do anything more than just go with the flow, accompanied by soft melodies and casual song.

P.S. Thanks a million to the owner of Music Avenue who welcomed us in with a smile, and who also has a kick ass MySpace page.

Thanks to Matt Evans for the translation