I don't want to be too harsh, but there's very little evidence for 'intelligent design' or any sort of creator.
— Jose Gonzalez
People often expect me to be very serious, but it's not like my record company told me not to smile in photographs, because I was like that anyway.
It was a big surprise when I started to get attention in Sweden, going from biochemistry studies to touring and living from music only. There were a couple of years while I went to university when I was OK with thinking of music as just a nice recreation.
I can live for my music, but I don't need to be recognized everywhere.
I speak Swedish, it's my first language. Of course, growing up with Latin American parents from Argentina, I also have some other influences from other cultures. But Sweden is where I feel the most at home.
I started playing the guitar when I was 14. I'm not superstitious about guitars, but I do need strings to be old because that's part of my sound, and I don't like steel strings.
It can be a bit frustrating to always get the soft-rock stamp.
If you're not critical about your history, that can be a problem because there are religious leaders, politicians and all kinds of powerful people who can take advantage of a population that isn't really thinking.
Ever since I released my first album, I've tried not to use minor chords as the main element in songs. The way I sing is too melancholic.
I always start with the music and then try to figure out what I want to write about lyrically.
The music that I'm known for is quiet and gentle, although when I was growing up and as a teenager, I was playing the opposite - I was screaming and playing bass and those loud electric guitars.
I think I've become more aware of aging in the last couple of years because of friends dying of cancer or friends' parents dying and myself - I'm still healthy, but I'm aging, and that's something that I think about more, even though I shouldn't be too concerned.
I listened to all the Misfits albums growing up and Red Hot Chili Peppers, too.
I guess I am actually quite shy, and I've always felt very self-conscious during interviews.
When your hair is rising, that's when you know it's a good song - that's happened to me with some artists and some songs, John Lennon songs or when Nina Simone sings. It's great to make those moments yourself.
We always had a guitar at home, but it wasn't until I was 14 when I picked it up myself when my father handed me these sheets of music of the Beatles and some other classics. That's where I learned all the chords and learned how to play and sing at the same time.
I think Sweden is known for people being a bit more quiet than other cultures, and I guess it's a mixture: shyness and leaving room for other people to talk. Of course, when people get drunk, all of that disappears.
I'm a very slow reader - I read maybe three or four books a year - so I listen to podcasts and the occasional audiobook, and I watch TED talks.
I grew up with a strong Spanish influence. I tried to learn flamenco when I was younger. But it's like my teacher said: 'It takes a lifetime to learn flamenco.'
