Jose Gonzalez

“I think I've become more aware of aging in the last couple of years because of friends dying of cancer or friends' parents dying and myself - I'm still healthy, but I'm aging, and that's something that I think about more, even though I shouldn't be too concerned.”

“If you're not critical about your history, that can be a problem because there are religious leaders, politicians and all kinds of powerful people who can take advantage of a population that isn't really thinking.”

“I grew up with a strong Spanish influence. I tried to learn flamenco when I was younger. But it's like my teacher said: 'It takes a lifetime to learn flamenco.'”

“I can live for my music, but I don't need to be recognized everywhere.”

“We always had a guitar at home, but it wasn't until I was 14 when I picked it up myself when my father handed me these sheets of music of the Beatles and some other classics. That's where I learned all the chords and learned how to play and sing at the same time.”

“I guess I am actually quite shy, and I've always felt very self-conscious during interviews.”

“When your hair is rising, that's when you know it's a good song - that's happened to me with some artists and some songs, John Lennon songs or when Nina Simone sings. It's great to make those moments yourself.”

“I'm a very slow reader - I read maybe three or four books a year - so I listen to podcasts and the occasional audiobook, and I watch TED talks.”

“It was a big surprise when I started to get attention in Sweden, going from biochemistry studies to touring and living from music only. There were a couple of years while I went to university when I was OK with thinking of music as just a nice recreation.”

“I listened to all the Misfits albums growing up and Red Hot Chili Peppers, too.”

“I think Sweden is known for people being a bit more quiet than other cultures, and I guess it's a mixture: shyness and leaving room for other people to talk. Of course, when people get drunk, all of that disappears.”

“I speak Swedish, it's my first language. Of course, growing up with Latin American parents from Argentina, I also have some other influences from other cultures. But Sweden is where I feel the most at home.”

“People often expect me to be very serious, but it's not like my record company told me not to smile in photographs, because I was like that anyway.”

“It can be a bit frustrating to always get the soft-rock stamp.”

“I always start with the music and then try to figure out what I want to write about lyrically.”

“The music that I'm known for is quiet and gentle, although when I was growing up and as a teenager, I was playing the opposite - I was screaming and playing bass and those loud electric guitars.”

“I don't want to be too harsh, but there's very little evidence for 'intelligent design' or any sort of creator.”

“I started playing the guitar when I was 14. I'm not superstitious about guitars, but I do need strings to be old because that's part of my sound, and I don't like steel strings.”

“Ever since I released my first album, I've tried not to use minor chords as the main element in songs. The way I sing is too melancholic.”