Linus Lutti
Linus Lutti makes dark and solemn music under the alter ego of Little Children. But he’s personally not as bleak as his music – nor should he be, as his music is gaining an appreciative audience both here and in the US.
Linus Lutti grew up on the countryside in the north of Sweden, twenty minutes outside the town of Gävle, in the small village of Skutskär. But despite his mum being a piano teacher, his interest in music was entirely his own idea:
“I started playing acoustic guitar when my parents finally gave up on trying to make me play an instrument. And then I pretty much taught myself and started writing songs right away. I tried to sound like anybody but myself – Elliot Smith, Neil Young and Jane’s Addiction, you name it. It’s great when you start out because you don’t have any kind of filter. You can be as pretentious as you like.”
After moving to Stockholm, Linus teamed up with fellow Gävle-ite Ann-Sofie Lundin to form the band Idiot Kid, where Linus sang and Ann-Sofie played the piano. They released a critically-acclaimed record in 2007, before starting their respective solo careers.
Ann-Sofie Lundin’s new name is Min Stora Sorg (My Great Sorrow), while Linus Lutti chose to be Little Children. You’d be forgiven to think that an artist name is superfluous when your given name is Linus Lutti, but Lutti finds it useful to have a musical alter ego.
“It’s the ultimate way to hide, and it’s an efficient way to separate my personality from my music. Little Children is the title of an Ornette Coleman song. I listened a lot to him around the time when I chose the name. I’ve always been quite precocious and never had the normal sense of childishness that kids have. So I’m kind of compensating for it as an adult. Like we all do. Aren’t we all just kids who want attention?”
Dreamlike, transitory and hypnotic are commonly-used words when describing Little Children’s music. The songs take their starting-point in an atmosphere rather than a riff, and the lyrics are the last addition to the mix. A critic described Little Children’s music as ”pure death anxiety”, which Linus takes as a compliment.
“People are so afraid of death and the darker, mournful aspects of life. But it’s part of who we are. You have to relate to it in order for the good things in life to be good. Personally, I get death anxiety when everything is too cheerful and everyone tries to pretend that the difficult things don’t exist. I’m not sitting at home cutting myself, but I’m just inspired by the darker things in life – when it comes to music. I’m definitely happier in private.”
Little Children’s debut album was released in 2010, a five-track EP came late last year and a four-track EP was released earlier this spring, and this autumn it’s time for a new full-length album. Not having enough songs has never been a problem for Linus, who “could have released three full-length albums last year”.
His songs have been played in US TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Bones and Arrows, but he is still waiting for a sync in TV show he’s watching himself.
“A track in Girls or Shameless would be nice. I’m not putting my hopes up for Game of Thrones though. Not until I start making Viking music.”
Little Children’s EP Falling is out now.
