Nathan Larson and his wife, Nina Persson, seem an odd musical match. Larson was weaned on hardcore and played in the post-punk outfit Shudder to Think. Persson is the petite, blond Swede who fronts The Cardigans, the band unfortunately best known for the pop-sugar song “Lovefool.” Larson and Persson met around the time the song took over late-’90s radio in the United States, a credit to the soundtrack release of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. “It was super annoying ’cause [that song] was everywhere,” Larson recalls.
Larson, 38, grew up in Washington, D.C., listening to the hardcore music of local bands. He moved to New York City in 1987, working a slew of odd jobs including stints at I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt, Midnight Records and The Pink Pussycat, selling dildos. He joined Shudder to Think in 1992, and he and lead singer Craig Wedren, both stationed in New York and surrounded by fellow creative types, eventually stumbled into film scoring.The venture led Larson to take on the task of scoring films, including Boys Don’t Cry and First Love, Last Rites, the film that prompted the introduction of him and Persson. “I hired her to sing on the soundtrack,” Larson says. Larson credits his and Persson’s initial meeting in a work context as one of the reasons why they can now write songs together as the Americana-blended band A Camp. “We have a working match up that really works for us,” he says, although he “wouldn’t recommend it to any other married couples.”
Persson began recording as A Camp with Niclas Frisk of Atomic Swing in Sweden during a break from The Cardigans.The initial material was never released, but after Persson moved to New York, she revisited the songs and called in some contributions from Larson, Frisk, Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, Joan Wasser of Joan As Policewoman, Kevin March of The Dambuilders and others.The re vamped material came out as a Europe-only release in 2001, the same year Larson and Persson were married.The newlywed couple was living in New York when 9/11 happened, which created “a fucked-up year for everyone,” Larson recalls. Larson and Persson relocated to Sweden for four years.The couple has since returned to New York and been residing in Harlem for the last three years.
The resurgence of working as A Camp happened in late 2007, and this time around, the group was less of Persson’s side project and more of a fully functional band, consisting of Persson, Larson and Frisk. Persson’s vocal will always sound youthful, but on the group’s second album, Colonia, her voice is less playful and more weathered than in her previous work. On the album, a varying mix of acoustic and electric guitars, piano, brass, drums, bass and strings sways through everything from girlgroup beats and straightforward pop to bluesy sags and roots rock. For the most part, Frisk “did the bulk of the really core songwriting,” Larson says, while he and Persson focused on the lyrics, which maintain a steady focus on love, heartbreak and relationships. But despite the potentially heavy content, Larson insists that the creation process “was really fun.”
Bowery Ballroom is the group’s first stop on its debut U.S. tour, following performances in Europe. And Larson is happy to be on the road. “I missed being in a band,” he says. “The film thing is amazing, [but] you have to be at the beck and call of somebody.” A Camp grants Larson the freedom to exercise the creative side of his brain and play live music again in front of crowds. “It’s nice to be involved in stuff people actually hear.”
> A Camp
May 26, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie St.), 212-533-2111; 8, $17.
