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Meet Josephine Forsman

In this interview, Sahara Hotnights drummer reflects on the early drive that shaped her style, the recent reunion of the band and how Toontrack makes it into her creative process.

Artists & Features

Starting a band at 11 and touring by 15, Sahara Hotnights drummer Josephine Forsman virtually grew up behind the kit. In this interview, she reflects on the early drive that shaped her drumming, the recent reunion of the band and how Toontrack makes it into her creative process – and, of course, the Stockholm SDX she was involved in recording.

You started drumming at age 10. Can you remember what it was about the drums specifically that pulled you in? Was it the sound, the physicality, the feeling of driving the band – or something else entirely?

I was a pretty shy girl who was craving attention, ironically enough. There was something about the drums that offered both a hiding place behind the kit and a chance to be the loudest person in the room – impossible to ignore. I still love that sensation of having an instrument in front of me, larger than myself, that gives me complete physical freedom of movement while also acting as a shield. There’s a duality in drumming that I think some drummers might relate to. Being behind the rest of the band, yet at the same time slightly raised above them, deciding the tempo and the beat. All of this gives a sense of control without having to stand at the forefront.

Who were some of your earliest drum heroes? And do you remember the first groove or beat you became completely obsessed with learning?

I always get a bit embarrassed when talking about my early drum heroes. I wish I could say I was inspired by any of the incredible female drummers who came before me – Karen Carpenter and Sheila E. But to be completely honest, it’s been Nirvana and Dave Grohl since day one. Getting the beat for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” down, getting those double hits on the bass drum on the chorus just right. To me, drumming has always been about the whole package – the drums with the music. The musicality and the physicality, rather than the technicality. Do the drums align with the song? Does the drummer understand what makes the music better? Is the drummer fully absorbed in the music and inspiring to watch?

You’re one of the founding members of Sahara Hotnights, starting the band in 1992 when you were only around 11 years old. What do you remember most clearly about those early days – rehearsing, writing songs, and discovering your sound together?

I remember the discipline that only determined teens can have. The unspoken bigger-picture goals – that the music would take us out of the small community and out into the world. I remember calling the local TV station to get our first gig. I remember the endless rehearsal spaces we found in different corners of Robertsfors. I remember the first stage clothes we sewed in sewing class. I remember how cool we felt all through grade school, how weird and different our peers thought we were, but how none of that mattered. How we didn’t have any friends apart from each other – and how that was more than enough. Four people who could create big feelings, self-worth and a sense of security.

By the time you were 15, you were already touring. How did that experience shape you, both as a musician and as a person? Did it change the way you approached playing?

Those first years of endless touring completely shaped our band. We went from not knowing what a monitor was to feeling completely untouchable onstage. I could speed up or slow down the tempo however I wanted, and the rest of the band would follow naturally. We could walk into any situation, any stage – big or small – and feel completely at home. It was also hard sometimes, growing up together on tour while things were happening at home within our families that we were too young to handle. The band always came first, even before funerals, family weddings and birthdays. We all prioritized the band at all times – for better or for worse.

Who were some of your earliest drum heroes? And do you remember the first groove or beat you became completely obsessed with learning?

“There was something about the drums that offered both a hiding place and a chance to be the loudest person in the room.”

You recorded the Stockholm SDX alongside engineer/producer Linn Fijal a few years back. What was that experience like for you? How did you approach capturing your sound for that project?

I look back on that with so much joy. Working with Linn to capture the sounds of each of these drum kits was a really cool journey. I’m glad the Vistalites were part of the package, since I’m apparently stuck loving that kit to pieces. Sitting behind the Vistalites is like floating on ice – sometimes it feels like you melt right into them. And I love how you can make them sound bigger and larger than life. I’m so glad we could capture that, along with the tone and dynamics of all the other cool kits. I think the approach was the same as it’s always been for me when it comes to drums: capturing the real sound of the drums – the feeling when you hit them. I got such a kick out of imagining being a small part of other people’s creative processes with these sounds.

How have you been using the Stockholm SDX sounds since then?

I’ve been using them quite a lot. Especially early on in the process of creating the new Sahara Hotnights album. Because the demo process happened with Maria and the producers in Sweden while I was here in the U.S., I tracked my demo drums on an e-kit using the Stockholm SDX sounds. It was cool hearing the exact sound of my own drums on those early demo versions, and it helped a ton in shaping the arrangements – both the overall songs and the drum parts.

You’re also active in LOUD, an initiative dedicated to inspiring young people to pick up instruments and start bands. To you, how important is it to help rejuvenate the music scene and encourage the next generation to start creating? Why and how does music matter – in a bigger context?

I think it becomes so personal for me, knowing that my whole world and sense of security came from a band unity. If I can get anyone to feel even a fraction of that, I’ll be happy. If I can be of any help during those pressured and often completely confusing teenage years, I couldn’t ask for more. On the last tour we chose bands in their twenties as support acts, and it never stops amazing me how similar it all is – how ageless the band constellation is. You can be dealing with the worst personal chaos, but you have your tribe. People you see regularly. People who lean on you the way you lean on them. And people you create something bigger with – something that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for these exact people. I’ve felt the importance of music firsthand, and I keep witnessing it up close.