Tove Lo
Tove Lo
Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson, better known by stage name Tove Lo, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Djursholm, a suburb north of Stockholm, where she graduated from musical magnet school Rytmus Musikergymnasiet. Lo formed the Swedish rock band Tremblebee in 2006. Following the disbanding of Tremblebee, Lo pursued a career in songwriting and earned a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music in 2011. Working with producers Alexander Kronlund, Max Martin and Xenomania, Lo became a...
NationalitySwedish
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth29 October 1987
CityDjursholm, Sweden
CountrySweden
I am an open book, and I'm fine being me: I'm not a perfect person.
I was always drawn to the self-destructive kind of way. I thought there was something beautiful about it; I don't know why.
Both my best and my worst habit is that I'm very impulsive.
I'm from a fancy, well-raised background. We were very well-behaved and not allowed to swear. It's the kind of place where people hide their problems under the rug and pretend it's all perfect. Eventually, you get sick of that.
If you say, 'I listen to pop,' you picture this kind of perfect, colorful, polished song. I want to have that, but when you open it, you see this gritty dark - kind of like dancing your tears away. Disguise the sadness in a pop beat.
A rock star is expected to act like a mess, sound like a mess and look like a mess. People don't expect you to show up on time and be a professional. But when you're a pop star, you have to do all that, look perfect and be a role model.
I thought 'Twinkies' was just a word for 'cookies,' not a specific thing. They kind of scare me a little bit because they last forever.
I think there's always a bit of pain in everything that's ecstatic - relationships and love, they always come with pain.
It's OK to joke about yourself and have self-perspective, but, like, when you constantly put yourself down to get other people to tell you you're good, that annoys me. Have confidence!
There was this lynx at a zoo that was called Tove, and that I totally fell in love with. It was my dear godmother who decided to call me Tove Lo, after that lynx. It stuck.
There are some nights where I don't get enough sleep, or we're traveling a lot. And then I'll go do a radio show, and the DJs are usually so energetic. And they're like, 'Why aren't you excited?' I say, 'I am excited. I'm just Swedish. This is my excited. I can't get to an American excitement level.'
In the same way that I'm open when I speak, I'm that open on stage. I feed off the energy of the audience, too, so they're feeling what I'm feeling.
It means a lot to everyone around me that I look good, and I don't think it should have to. I just think I should look the way I do.
I've always wanted my music to have that desperation, where you just want to strip your clothes off and run down the highway. I want the feeling where you don't really know what to do with yourself - in the vocals, in the production. Everything.