Interview: The Cardigans' Front Woman Nips Away at Her Wholesome Pop Image

“I have some in my mouth right now,” front woman Nina Persson sheepishly admits of the addictively gooey vice that’s all too common in her homeland of Sweden. Countless star-crossed lovers, who swooned and slow danced to “Lovefool” at their proms, may be shocked to learn the songstress hocked chewing tobacco into a spittoon between studio takes. But as a headliner of this year’s Modern Sky Festival, Persson is far more dynamic and complex than the pop princess title she’s been saddled with all these years.

She tells us more about subverting those expectations – from compulsively chomping nicotine, to becoming a burlesque singer and perfecting her Dolly Parton impression.

A newspaper mentioned your chewing tobacco habit in a 2009 profile. Do you still chew?
I’m really a junkie for it. I quit last summer, then I got stressed in the fall and started again.

Stress brought on by your new reunion tour with The  Cardigans after a five-year hiatus?
No, we’re actually enjoying playing shows without a record to promote. The cycle of putting out albums these days is a bit predictable.

There’s also your other band A Camp, your Dolly Parton cover group, and your 30-person cabaret troupe.
I love to have these other little teams. The Dolly Parton project was just me and a bunch of Swedish girlfriends having fun, but it eventually turned into a tour and a documentary film. For the cabaret thing we all dress up in vintage underwear, showgirls’ headdresses, fishnets and garters, until we look like a bunch of drunk people from the 1920s.

Will The Cardigans record new music soon?
We all have young kids right now, so it works better to only go on the road a bit here and there.

Does your son prefer The Cardigans or A Camp?
He’s just three, and he’s actually into his mom going solo because I’ve been working so much on my own record. He’s just realizing I sing for a living. Recently he said his job someday is going to be making music. I don’t know how I feel about that.

Why not?
We had weird huge success early on. When someone told us “Lovefool” would be in a movie, we were like, whatever. Then it took off like crazy, and people were talking about Leonardo DiCaprio with us. We didn’t necessarily feel connected to that, but we got a crazy boost. Despite our success, I got tired of being called a pop diva. I’m not really a princess kind of person. But in retrospect, it gave us chances that were quite unique. So, I definitely came out on the right side of that.

The Cardigans perform at ThinkPad Space on Dec 1. For more information, visit Buy.modernsky.com.