About Me
To begin with: Stefan Juhlin (vocals/guitar), Erik Axelsson (keyboards), Gustaf Wistrand (guitar) and Johan
Carlsson (beats/drums) are the first ones to admit that The Domus is a pretty poor band name. Originally, it
was a pun where they simply put a ‘the’ in front of the name of an old Swedish department store chain
called Domus (think The Wall-Marts). However, they later found out that domus means house in Latin,
which seems somewhat more sophisticated. And since their homemade stickers were all over the lamp-
posts in their hometown by this time, they figured that they might just as well hold on to the name.
Luckily, the guys’ lack of judgment when it comes to the naming of the band does not express itself in their
music. What in the beginning, back in 2003, was intended to be an acoustic environment for Juhlin’s sing-
er/songwriter aspirations, turned out to be nothing of the sort. On the contrary, Fractures is a pure pop
album: far more electronic than acoustic and far more ambitious than pretentious. It blends straightforward
pop songs with electronic elements in a way that makes you think of The Postal Service and Phoenix. However, when asked to name influences, the only name all four of them could agree upon was Genesis.
Songwriter Stefan also mentions Jeff Buckley and Broken Social Scene. The band emphasizes their lack of
pretentiousness and point out that they are neither toy-casio-electronica nor journalists-gone-pop-artists
(not that there is anything wrong with journalists, not at all). The Domus is a hard working, determined, but
nonetheless excellent pop act.
Growing up in Eskilstuna, a Swedish mid-size city about an hour away from Stockholm, left you with two
choices: you could either engage in some kind of sport or you could turn to music. Fortunately, these lads
chose the latter. In their adolescence, all four of them were involved in various rock bands, none of which
made their way into any rock encyclopedias. Today, all in their mid-twenties and in the throes of their pro-
fessional careers -- Erik wants to be a truck driver -- they are about to release their debut album as The
Domus. With that in mind, consider the fact that they managed to play some 50 shows in Sweden during
2005 (with bands like Jettie, We Are Scientists and Karl Larsson). A small country as it is, that is no less
than many more recognized bands do.
Fractures was recorded in a small windowless room where far more time than is considered healthy was
spent. Amidst late night re-takes and sore throats, track after track changed beyond recognition to the po-
int where nothing, literary nothing, turned out as anyone expected. For instance, the first single of the al-
bum, While On Your Way, went from the mellow slow song it was in the demo version to the flamboyant
up-tempo track presented on the album. Make no mistake; this is one of those albums where every single
detail is there for a reason.
While On Your Way - Directed by Oscar Olsson
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