The Complex 7: Singer Peter Morén of Peter Bjorn and John

Peter Morén (backed by his boys Björn Yttling and John Eriksson) will make Swede love to your ears.

If you think Peter Bjorn and John are models of IKEA couches, you should seriously come out from under that gigantic rock you’re smoking. The indie rock trio from Stockholm, Sweden absolutely owned ‘06 and ‘07 with their third album, Writer’s Block, and the whistling mega-hit “Young Folks.” Catchy hooks, simple inviting arrangements and frontman Peter Morén’s imperfect English grammar had Kanye and damn near everyone else on their Swedish meatballs.

After achieving star status and quitting their side gigs, the group slowed things down in 2008 and churned out an instrumental album, Seaside Rock, and Morén’s solo debut, The Last Tycoon. In March 2009, PB&J returned to pop rock form with Living Thing, taking inspiration from old Brazilian and African music, as well as ’80s synth pop. Complex caught up with Morén, who’s currently in NYC on tour, to see how the Swede would handle The Complex 7. Did our aggressive American questions cause an international incident? To find out, and listen to songs from Living Thing, keep reading…


“Nothing to Worry About”

“Lay It Down”

“Living Thing”

#1: WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE DEAL-BREAKER FOR A POTENTIAL GIRLFRIEND?

Peter says: If she has a crush on my dad or something. That might be a problem. [It's never happened to me] but I feel like that would be weird.

#2: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SNEAKER OF ALL TIME?

Peter says: I don’t like to wear brands that you can see. You don’t want to walk around like a advertisement and I like to get a lot of vintage stuff and stuff that is nice rather than going for a brand. I usually wear non-famous [sneakers]. It’s just whatever I find, simple white ones, but I don’t know what they’re called. You know, the white old classic tennis shoe.

#3: WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

Peter says: I can’t remember actually, but I cry quite a lot. I cry too much probably. [It was] probably from some bad movie. I like old romantic tear-jerker movies but I also tend to cry when I listen to music. Certain songs always get to me. It could be some old Smokey Robinson or Sammy Davis Jr. or something like that, a real heart-wrenching soul ballad.

#4: IF YOU HAD A WEEK VACATION, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Peter says: I would love to go to Italy. I did some inter-railing there when I was younger, you know, traveling around by train, and I really haven’t been there since. There’s a lot of old history left from all ages. I like that. When you go through Rome, you have architecture from the Roman Empire to all the way to now, all in the mix. It’s very interesting, rather than going to a modern city. That’s what I like in general in all different countries, when you can see the history in a city. But I also want to see the [Italian] countryside, and go to the south of France, in some castle in the woods eating good food and drinking wine.

#5: WHAT HAS TO BE IN YOUR FRIDGE AT ALL TIMES?

Peter says: Yogurt, or sour milk. It’s not even called yogurt, it’s like a sour milk. It’s kind of like yogurt but it’s not that sweet. You eat it with cereal; I have [it with] Muesli, so it’s a healthy breakfast. I always have that for breakfast, so that and coffee I guess [are always in my fridge].

#6: WHAT IS THE WORST WAY YOU’VE BROKEN UP WITH SOMEONE?

Peter says: I really haven’t broken up with anyone. I always get dumped. I don’t know the worst way. I kind of just stop contacting people when I’m dating someone I guess. But I don’t think I’ve done anything particularly terrible. I just kind of fade away.

#7: WHAT IS THE MOST EMBARASSING PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU’VE EVER WORN?

Peter says: I think tracksuits are kind of terrible. I try not to wear [them] anywhere in public, but at some point I might have done that, so I hope I can avoid tracksuits in the future. But apart from that I had some really weird shirts in the late ’80s and early ’90s, when I was a teenager. That’s a period that hasn’t come back into fashion yet. You got the early and mid ’80s now but the late ’80s and the early ’90s had some really horrid fashion.