Ever playful with genre boundaries, emo and alt-R&B Swedish newcomer Boy Destroy is unafraid to tackle deep and dark subjects like toxic relationships and difficult mistakes. His new EP, ‘Warpaint’, is undoubtedly the start of something big.
Hi Boy Destroy, how are you finding 2021 so far? Are you doing well?
Hey! Well, I’m lucky in the sense that my life kind of revolves around my own creativity. So the year has kind of started the way 2020 ended, in a bubble of writing and a flow of releasing music.
When did you first realise you wanted to become a musician, did you have a musical upbringing?
I started playing nylon string, classical, guitar when I was like 7 years old or something. Then I got into jazz, these old cats like Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery, and played jazz guitar a lot. But I got serious about writing music myself in my teens when I discovered punk rock and indie. My first real obsessions. My dad was a guitarist for a punk band when he was growing up, and my brother makes music too, so it’s always been a prevalent force in the house where I grew up.
What were your first steps towards getting your music heard?
I played in bands during my teen years but nothing really serious. It took some years to find out what I was doing – both in life and in writing. Boy Destroy became this second voice for me when I finally took the lid of that wretched pandora’s box I’d been carrying for so many years.
What have you been up to so far with Boy Destroy, have you any particular highlights?
Having people relate to what I’m talking about is the highlight of every day. Fame and monetary claims are just in passing; love is eternal.
What do you most enjoy writing songs about? It sounds like you’re drawn to quite dark subjects?
I’ve put myself in some messed up situations during my sojourn here on Earth, and somehow that’s changed me. I’m no longer afraid of talking about a lot of subjects that society deems unfavourable. But yeah, anything really, anything that for the moment seems interesting is a good enough subject for a piece.
What’s the best song you’ve written so far?
‘Lights Out’ on my EP, perhaps. ‘You Don’t Want Me When I’m Sober’ is really special to me too. I remember walking home from the studio, meeting up with my girlfriend and playing the demo for her on my phone. The way she reacted to it, both pride and fear, as if this was somehow a turning point.
How did your debut EP ‘Warpaint’ come together?
I’m constantly in motion, writing and experiencing. But these songs somehow feel like they fit together quite well. They paint a collage of a life half lived, a new life being discovered and a few other things. My struggles with sobriety and a sane mind, my struggles with luggage that I sometimes still carry. Twisted love stories, deception, faith, truth and lies.
What would you most like to achieve during your music career?
Connection. I think that’s the main word for any creative. You make things out of your own inability to connect to people around certain subjects and you try to grow, hopefully taking someone else along for the ride.
Taken from the May issue of Upset. Boy Destroy’s debut EP ‘Warpaint’ is out 15th April.
