After the success of debut album, Goldrushed, in 2013, The Royal Concept feel they've been slacking off with releasing new material. But now that's all changed after they dropped their new EP, Smile, this summer and are currently working on their sophomore LP. MySpace sat down with singer David Larson and guitarist Filip Bekic at the Village Pourhouse in New York City before their show last month to chat about the new record, touring around the US and why female Swedish singers are the shit right now.

How’s the tour going?

David Larson: It’s amazing, but I don’t know what’s going on with the weather. Even in Texas, it was raining when we were there. In New Orleans, it was raining.

Filip Bekic: Big storm.

David: We brought the weather from season. We’re expecting California weather, and we got rain for a week. But apart from that, it was really good. People have been amazing.

Rain aside, what have been the more memorable stops on this tour?

Filip: They were all memorable.

David: But Texas is just so American. It’s very exotic to be there. New York is amazing, of course. We love the see the city so much. Washington, [D.C.] was also amazing. It was a full sold out, really, really packed room. You know, a lot of great cities.

You mention Texas is really American. So what is “really American” to you guys?

Filip: Huge cups!

David: [Laughs] Yeah.

Filip: Like extra, extra, extra large coffee at gas stations. We have order super extra small coffees.

David: The accent is really hard to understand for us.

Filip: And everyone there calls us “Honey.”

Now let’s talk about Smile. What’s the most memorable song you guys recorded?

David: I think the most fun was “Hurricane” because we did it the last day, just really, really, really fast. It was a live take basically. It was a lot of fun to record. We also love the song “Smile” just because it’s very different from what we’ve done before. I think it’s the first time you’re [looks at Filip] singing. Filip’s doing all the “Oh yeah, oh oh oh yeah” and all that stuff. It’s cool to have another singer in the band.

I read that “Just Wanna Be Loved By U” almost didn’t make the EP. So how did it actually make the final cut?

David: Well, most of the songs on the EP are tongue-in-cheek. And “Just Wanna Be Loved By U,” the lyrics are more emotional. We were a little bit concerned by that, just a little bit, because we weren’t sure if we were really like that. We wanted to record it first, and then the final version sounds very different from the [initial] demo we made. So it took a little time to get used to it. So we were doubting that song a lot. But the producer Tony Hoffer, who produced the record with us, called me personally, and said this song has got to be on the EP. And I showed it to a couple of friends and they think it’s great. So I was like, “all right,” even though I didn’t want to. I did it, and I’m glad I did.

I think that people worry about ending an EP on a ballad, but it’s like cool down.

David: But it also means that it’ll lead to more things to come.

Can you talk a little bit about “Fashion” as well as the video that went along with it?

David: We wanted to do a Prince-y song, and “Fashion” was that for us. And “Fashion” is an ironic title for us because we’re not fashionable at all. It was fun to write a song about love but call it “Fashion,” you know?

Filip: And we wanted to it together with our other song, “Smile.” There are similarities between the two, but there’s also this Prince element to “Fashion.”

David: The EP just needed a fun song. And the video…

Filip: That was recorded in your old childhood toy room in your parents.

David: Yeah. People wanted us to make a lyric video, and I just don’t like those videos. “Fashion” lyrics are cool, and they’re funny. But I don’t think they are enough. We need something else to get the vibe of the song. So we were in my parents’ house one day and started filming each other with our smartphones dancing to the song. So it’s just one take of every single one of us dancing. And then we edited it together and learned how to do that Final Cut thing. We did it on our own, and that’s the video.

Filip: We actually hired a guy to do it, but he completely failed.

David: He was expensive and completely failed at it.

Where are you guys with the new album?

David: We’re definitely still working on it. This tour kind of came as a surprise for us, too, because we were in the middle of trying to write more songs. So now we’re writing on the bus. And it’s going well.

Do you feel that being on the road helps with the writing?

David: Both. A lot of inspiration but no time at all to finish the songs. But we’ll just gain a lot of inspiration right now. We have a lot of ideas. We’ve got a lot of songs to, and then we’ll go home and record it in about a month or so.

Do you feel like it’s crunch time right now about getting the new album out?

Filip: Definitely.

David: We waited way too long to release this EP. But we’re starting over now, at least here in America, and that’s great. But at the same time, the wave of the first record… we’re just starting over. I just think we should release things all the time. People don’t seem to care about records anymore. I do, but I think it’s a sad day for music honestly. But at the same time, it’s a good thing for us to just release music all the time.

Sweden is like a mecca for music. There’s just so much talent out of that country. So who do you think we should be listening to?

David: Seinabo Sey.

Filip: Seinabo Sey, she’s awesome!

David: There are so many. It’s cool, with the feminist movement, that has been going on in Stockholm, and across the world, but definitely in Stockholm and in Sweden. We’ve just got a lot of fucking great girls. They’re writing their own shit. They’re singing and doing everything on their own. And they’re on awesome. Bands are on their way out like classical, indie, like us -- boys are on their way down at the moment. But we don’t mind because it’s just great music. So check that out. We have Icona Pop obviously and Tove Lo obviously. But we also have Seinabo Sey.

Filip: There’s  [also] a new girl in town—Stockholm town, called Sabina Ddumba. She’s very cool.