I was previously known as TOP 40, which was kind of a play on the fact that the music was radio-friendly, but no one knew who the hell I was (ironic, don'tcha think?). But then earlier this year I decided to change it to Household Names, which is also sort of a play on obscurity, but it also ties in the fact that most of this album was recorded in houses, not studios. We (Lars Goransson, Cardigans engineer, produced these sessions) went into the studio for some of the tracking, but we much prefer recording at home. It's so easy to just make yourself lunch.

I'll make more records.

Mp3 allows a greater range of people to get their music heard, and that's a bonus now since the labels are all consolidating and many worthy artists are getting dropped in favor of big sellers like N'Sync, Britney Spears, etc. However, it's a blessing and a curse. As someone said, the best and worst thing about mp3s is that anyone can do it.

Signing a contract with a label gives you more capital to work with and (possibly) a better chance at getting heard through advertising, etc., but when you do everything yourself, you are the only investor, so you have all the creative control. As soon as you get a bunch of people pouring money your way, suddenly they have a lot of say in what songs you record, how it sounds, how you market yourself. People think having a label is more freeing, but in actuality you're very controlled.

The Beatles, Guided By Voices, R.E.M., Elvis Costello, XTC, Liz Phair, Aimee Mann