Lars Nagel - Tomorrow Never Knows (2023)

I was born in Sweden, and the first time I came to the States, I was just a kid tagging along on a business trip with my Dad. It was in March of 1976—I’ve still got the airline tickets. “Old Photographs” recounts that first journey. People always ask me, ‘How did you end up in America?’ And the experience of that trip is constantly in the back of my mind. We took a print of the airline ticket, and it’s on the Tomorrow Never Knows CD art—it says “Stockholm, Copenhagen, LAX 1976” on it. I thought it was a cool little added touch to the record. When we came to L.A. that first time, Elvis was playing at The Forum—we didn’t go to the show, but we did go to Disneyland, which I loved.

My Dad passed away a few years back, and “Old Photographs” is a tribute to him. It was a beautiful thing, what he did for me on that trip. So I wanted to document the experience, which was a big part of what ultimately led me to move to America. From that first time I set foot on American soil in 1976, I knew that someday I’d move here. Though it didn’t happen until 1987, when I moved to California, so it was a long time in between.

“Old photographs is written from a very pure, childlike perspective, from a kid’s point of view, coming from a very snowy, dark and cold land in March where we have snow up to the windows… to renting a Pinto at LAX and cruising down Hollywood Boulevard under the palm trees. It was like wow—and there’s this place called Disneyland? And I get pancakes with syrup? Are you kidding me? Are you out of your mind? In Sweden it’s a Bjorn Borg breakfast—you chop up wasa bread in sour milk and you eat like a damn viking. But in America, I get a stack of pancakes, Saturday morning cartoons and Elvis at the Forum. With “Old Photographs,” I wanted to document the reason why I’m still here today—what’s left of those visions. – Lars