NEWSOK! Exclusive: Icona Pop Tells the Story Behind Summer's Biggest Song, 'I Love It'
Can you remember a time before you had heard the song "I Love It?" Just a few months ago, only cool kids in the US had heard of Swedish indie duo Icona Pop, and then their song appeared in an episode of Girls and changed everything for the gals. Now even your grandmother can sing along with what's quickly becoming the song of the summer.
OK! News: Listen to a new Icona Pop song on our Memorial Day Weekend playlist!
But who are the ladies behind the music? OKMagazine.com chatted with Aino Jawo (she of the short bob haircut) about their huge hit, their other music, and how she met her bandmate Caroline. Oh, and just what is a 90s b*tch, anyway?!
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OK!: Did you know when your song was picked for Girls? How much did you know going into the episode?
Aino Jawo: We knew that they picked “I Love It,” but we didn’t know what the scene was. We watched it, and we cried and we laughed and were so emotional. We love Girls. I remember when we lived in London, we tweeted at them, “Hey we love your show. You should check out our music.” That’s definitely not the reason they picked one of our songs but that was such an amazing thing for us.
OK!: Did you know it would have such an impact for the band?
AJ: No. Definitely not. You always hope, but then again, if you look at Girls, they are just these empowering women doing what they do in this man-dominated industry. It’s girls getting together and making magic.
OK!: Were you surprised that it exploded in such a big way? It was on Girls, then Glee, it went everywhere!
AJ: You never know with TV things, because sometimes it might go very well for a week and then people forget. It’s still climbing, which it amazing. We’re a small Swedish act and we’re over here in the States living our dream. Definitely, we were surprised.
OK!: Can you tell me who "I Love It" is about?
AJ: I can’t really tell you who it’s about, but I can definitely tell you it’s based on a true story. It’s about these two people making love more complicated than it needs to be. If you fall in love, you fall in love. It doesn’t matter what age you are—you know when you are in love. Sometimes when someone is a little bit older than you, they make it so damn complicated. We were going through that, so I think you can hear that there is a lot of anger in that song. It’s definitely about a really sh*tty heartache.
OK!: It’s a breakup song, right?
AJ: Yeah. Totally. I think it doesn’t even have to be love. I think it’s about people who have had enough.
OK!: The line that everybody loves is the “You’re from the 70s, but I'm a '90s b*itch.” What does that mean?
AJ: It’s definitely a metaphor. A 90s b*tch—it’s not about the age. It’s about the kind of person that you are. I mean, when me and Caroline think of a 90s b*tch, it’s not a person born in 1992. It’s more like they love the grunge music, all the one-hit-wonders, the backpacks.
OK!: What's the sound for the rest of the album?
AJ: It’s not going to be 16 tracks that sound like "I Love It." You’re going to hear the journey we’ve been through, but it’s definitely going to be a lot of electronic synthesizers and sweet melodies. I’m very proud.
OK!: How did you and Caroline meet?
AJ: I was heartbroken, and we had a mutual friend who was calling me all the time, like, “You have to get out of bed.” Finally she just forced me, “Hey, you’re following me to this party.” Caroline was having the party. We started talking instantly. We got so much energy from each other. The day after, I went to her place with my computer and a bottle of wine and we wrote a song in a couple of hours. We decided we were a band and then two days passed and we booked our first gig.
OK!: That’s amazing!
AJ: Yeah. We were both at the bottom. Caroline was very frustrated with her love situation, her job situation. Then we just found each other and were like, where have you been all my life? I remember our mutual friends were just laughing like, “You can’t start a band.” Well, guess what? We just did!
Do you like Icona Pop's music? Did you love that episode of Girls? Do you think "I Love It" will be the song of the summer? Tell us in the comments or tweet us @OKMagazine.
