Interview: EDM Newcomers, 'UNDRESSD'

I got the chance to ask Erik and Elina, the EDM duo who form UNDRESSD, about the success of their recent single, 'Forever Young', as well as how they met, and what is next in store for the pair. 'Forever Young' is a buoyant, summer anthem, with Elina's hypnotic vocals flowing magically over the twinkling synth bed created by Erik.

Be sure to check it out after reading the interview below...!

You both must be buzzing right now, coming off the back of ‘Forever Young’ surpassing 5 million streams. Did you always feel it was a special song, or did this come as a bit of a shock?

When we finished the track we felt that it was something extra, but we never expected this amount of support. Just a couple of weeks after the release the phone started ringing from record labels all over the world… that was surreal.

Alphaville first recorded ‘Forever Young’ in 1984. What made you decide to cover it?

We both really love the original. It holds such beautiful melodies and lyrics. We were on a road trip when the radio played the original, and the idea popped up and we spent the night in the studio jamming and trying some ideas.

How did you guys meet, and when did you decide to start making music together?

Well… we met on Tinder, haha. Erik is more of a pop-producer and Elina more of an indie-singer-songwriter. But we were actually dating for about half a year before we realized we both should do something together. After going to the cinema and watching a movie about a famous Swedish artist, we decided to do a cover from that soundtrack. That was the start of our project. 

What’s the meaning behind the name ‘UNDRESSD’?

Wish we had a good answer to this one, but we don’t! We just really needed a name for our first release, and this name just popped up.

Does the success of ‘Forever Young’ add pressure to your next release, as people will be waiting on it more expectantly than ever, or does ‘Forever Young’s success just add fuel to your fire? 

It’s always hard to do a follow up to a successful song. We really want the next song to be as good as this one, if not better. But overall we just feel super excited to create more songs after this response. At the moment we’re just trying to enjoy the success of this release.

What can we expect next from UNDRESSD? Is there an album in the works?

We really like this cover game, and you can expect more songs soon. At this moment we don’t plan an album, but who knows what the future holds...!

I really love your other two singles, which are entirely in Swedish. Will there be more songs in Swedish in future, or will most from now on be in English?

Oh, thank you! We will definitely release more Swedish covers. It feels so inspiring to hear comments like ”don’t know what your singing but I’m loving it”.

Which software do you use to produce your tracks, and how long did it take to create ‘Forever Young’? 

We work in Logic X. We really like how fast the workflow is there. This was a song that we turned from an idea to a solid demo in just a day, but we polished the track for a couple of weeks. We co-produced the final touch with a friend of ours, Adel Dahdal.

EDM is for many people the sound of the future, with the way it combines an electric sound with soothing melodies. What draws you to EDM as a genre in particular?

We love how EDM nowadays lets you blend organic and electronic elements. I don’t know if you can hear it in the final production, but it’s basically made of electric guitars, an acoustic guitar, a piano and even a live bass. Adding some electronic elements to that gives you that pumpy feeling.

I have a section on my blog called ‘Self-Help Songs’, where I analyse a particular song’s lyrics and see what lessons we can gain from it. What lyric would you pick out from ‘Forever Young’, or one of your other singles, that you really feel can help the listener the most?

We really love the opening of Forever Young:
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Let’s dance in style
Let’s dance for a while
Heaven can wait
We’re only watching the sky

Interview by Maxim Mower

Stream UNDRESSD's hit single, 'Forever Young', on all platforms