Jose Gonzalez a man of contradictions

Jose Gonzalez

Jose Gonzalez is an interesting series of contradictions. His family is Argentinian but he was born and grew up in Sweden. He played in hardcore bands but has enjoyed huge success with a quiet folk-like album. He makes lo-fi music yet has sprung to fame on the back of a memorable ad - the one with the bouncing coloured balls - for hi-tech plasma televisions. And he goes about untroubled on the streets of his hometown Gothenburg, despite being named Sweden's Artist of the Year.

Do we need mention that in concert this self-effacing guy, who has drawn favourable comparisons with folk-rock legends Nick Drake and Tim Buckley, is as likely to play a version of Kylie Minogue's Hand on Your Heart or Joy Division's gloomy Love Will Tear Us Apart as tracks from his own album?

Gonzalez, 28, speaking halting but clear English and just back from a small-scale American tour, has captured attention with his measured folk-framed pop on his debut album Veneer - specifically the track Heartbeats, which was used in the advertising campaign for Sony.

Yes, he's a little concerned he might only ever be known as the guy who sang while coloured balls bounced down the steep streets of San Francisco. Heartbeats, a trickle of folk guitar and post-rock vocal drone which is a cover of a track by Swedish band the Knife, is a long way removed from that, which may account for its success.

"I think so. People started turning up at shows who hadn't previously. I was aware of what could happen after the advertisement, but not to this extent of making my album go gold or platinum because I've never seen my music as commercial."

Perhaps not, but with the new-folk movement steered by the likes of Devendra Banhart and Sufjan Stevens, and bands like Arcade Fire emphasising nuance over noise, Gonzalez has arrived at a very receptive time.

Growing up playing acoustic guitar - his father apparently gave him flamenco and Beatles albums at the same time - Gonzalez shifted easily between pop and acoustic. He had classical guitar lessons and played his first solo concert at school when he 14.

"I played Cavatina," he says with an embarrassed laugh as he refers to the theme from The Deer Hunter, which is to acoustic players what Smoke on the Water is to rock guitarists.

He was seduced by Black Flag in his teens and joined a hardcore band, then moved into indie rock, but by the time he was 20 he was back playing solo acoustic guitar.

"Around '98 I stopped playing hardcore. Everybody was growing up and starting working, and I was studying. I had always played acoustic parallel, but then it just became acoustic guitar for me then, although I did start playing with Junip which is like the never-ending story now. We are guitar, drums and organ but we don't get to play that much. The drummer has been living in Finland and I am busy with all the touring."

Much of that touring has been around Europe where he admits he was, until the success of Veneer and that advertisement, playing to predominantly expat Swedes.

"It happens a lot in London which is the fourth biggest Swedish city in the world, and also Barcelona last summer - the crowd was cheering and saying, 'One more song' in Swedish.

"But in the States only the Living Room show in New York last year was like that, all the rest weren't, and that's a good sign."

This reluctant lyricist - "they are a necessary evil, I wish a song can be as interesting without lyrics so I wouldn't need to write them" - still manages his own MySpace site.

However, as touring and promotional commitments have kicked in he's now leaving all the rest to management and a cobbled together collection of labels in various territories.

From hardcore to hush is quite some distance, but Jose Gonzalez knows why he has found an unexpectedly large audience.

"There is always room for softer music. There is always the contrast."

LOWDOWN

WHO: Swedish singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez
WHAT: Debut album Veneer. Playing Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber, July 20