Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
C: I would describe Comprehending as a musical endeavour to try to get a better understanding of all the different aspects of music. I think it’s really interesting to take something, like a riff, and then see how much I can bend it without loosing it’s integrity. Like what happens if you change the time signature or what happens if I change this guitar lick for a synth instead. It’s a project where I simply do stuff for the sake of trying.
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
C: I’m originally from Västerås, Sweden where I grew up. But since 2010 I’ve been moving around a lot and in 2019 I finally was able to settle down in Uppsala, Sweden where I created Comprehending. Growing up I was always surrounded by music and from an early age I knew I wanted to play and create my own. I got my first guitar when I was like 8 years old and haven’t stopped playing it since. Starting off I played a lot of post-hardcore and metalcore but a few years before creating Comprehending I started to get more and more into math- and post-rock.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
C: When writing music for Comprehending I get a lot of inspiration from nature. That’s why all the song names are either names of flowers or other things associated to nature. Nature aside, I also get alot of my inspiration from other bands, such as TTNG, Delta sleep and Via Luna.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
C: My goal is to be able to create something that people can enjoy and go to whenever they feel like they need a break from reality. We could all use that sometimes and I think my music kind of promotes that. My recommendation would be to go outside, lay down and just get lost in the music.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
C: It’s not really a single moment, more like the fact that I’ve created this project and that people seem to enjoy it. It’s really hard to get people to notice your music and to have people actually taking time from their day to listen to it. So when a person comes up to me at a gig or on social media and tells me that my music made them feel something or that they really enjoyed it, that makes me proud.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms
in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
C: It certainly is a challenge. But with it being a challenge it makes it that much more satisfying when you notice that things are working out better and better over time. You just have to go at it and never give up. I’m mostly doing this for myself so I’ve never felt discouraged when it’s been hard to get people to listen to the music. I enjoy it and I’m going to keep making it.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
C: Well first off it’s a little different for me being just one person writing music that requires a full band, so first I need to find musicians that are available for the dates I’m trying to set up. But after that it’s kind of straight forward. I contact different venues and play at the places that are willing to have me I also try to find one or two other bands to also play at the gig. Promo is done almost exclusively on social media, but also simply by talking about it with other people. You can never go wrong with a classic “hey, you want to come to my gig?”. As of now I don’t have any gigs booked but I’m working on putting some shows together later this year.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
C: With most people streaming music nowadays I think you kind of have to embrace it. That being said I really wish more people could at least buy the music they regularly listen to once. I always try to guide people to my Bandcamp because if they buy a single over there I get the same amount of money as from about 250 streams on Spotify. It would be great if the streaming platforms could up the revenue at least some.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
C: It would have been really cool to have written the song “Zzzonked” by Enter Shikari. It’s one of my favourite bands and the song has such intense energy! I really envy people who can write stuff using synths and that song has some of the best synth parts I’ve ever heard.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
C: One thing that you see in a lot of communities in the music industry is gate keepers and elitists. I think those people just create negative forces and prevent people from exploring different genres, which is a problem. Music is for everyone, 
and no one should stand in the way of other people discovering new things.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
C: I have a new single called “Try” coming out on March 18th which I’m really excited about! It’s instrumental math-rock and for this song I’ve really tried to push myself when it comes to the usage of odd time signatures. The song will be available on all major platforms and is available to pre-save at https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/comprehending/try where you can also hear a preview of the song.
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
C: If you’re interested in the day to day stuff you can follow me on Instagram and facebook where I go by @comprehendingband. My music and merch is available at Bandcamp (https://comprehending.bandcamp.com). That is by far the best place to go if you feel like supporting my band.
Comprehending links:
Band/Artist location – Uppsala, Sweden
Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp – Merch –
Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – LinkTree –
Check our page for Comprehending
