Awarding-winning indie-pop duo spread ‘Hope’ across the world
Sweden, Green Bay-based band 7000apart release new single and plans for 2022 album
By Rachel Sankey
Amelie Eiding and Jon Kresin know a thing or two about long distances.
When Eiding came to Green Bay at 17 years old, she had no idea that by the time she would head back home to Sweden, Kresin would have stolen her heart and later become her husband and band partner.
The two make up the indie-pop duo 7000apart, which recently released a new single “Hope.”
“So many artists have inspired us,” Eiding said, “especially when we went through hard times. And we want to be that for someone else, and that’s really been our mission statement, as a band. We feel like this is the first song, really, that we just completely went that direction.”
The duo also recently won the 2021 Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) “Best New Artist” award.
Their newly released single “Hope” is a precursor to what the 2022 album is about. The song focuses heavily on mental health and the need to hold onto hope during rough waters, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It became kind of an anthem for us during the pandemic,” Eiding said. “It was hard for us, we couldn’t perform the same way anymore. We were unemployed. I fell into a depression and was struggling really hard. ‘Hope’ really helped us a lot.”
Kresin and Eiding had just come out of 2019—a year of accomplishments and endless questioning if they were doing the right thing.
“It was very much just kind of a time where all of us were questioning what we’re doing with our lives, and feeling pretty hopeless,” Kresin said.
The duo’s genesis
Both Kresin and Eiding date their musical backgrounds back to early childhood.
Eiding said her mother was a voice teacher and grew up around many singers, and has been singing herself all her life.
Kresin said he learned how to play the piano and listened to a lot of jazz, classical and contemporary worship music. It wasn’t until he discovered Switchfoot at age 11 that he grew to love music. Soon he picked up playing guitar, and by college had started his own band.
It wasn’t the only band that Kresin would be a part of.
To combat long-distance struggles, the couple started creating music together when they were dating and living in separate countries. They both said it was a way to remain close and connected.
“We spent three years playing music in different countries,” Kresin said. “We would record things in separate countries and send it to each other and then add them together for YouTube.”
The duo’s name comes from the 7000-kilometer difference between Eiding and Kresin when they were living in two completely separate parts of the world.
“It still holds so much meaning for us,” Eiding said, “because that’s where we started. It’s a good reminder and it’s defining for our relationships that we come from two different countries, you know, that we have the American influences, and we have the Swedish influences. We’re an international band, you know, we’re not just Green Bay.”
The duo tied the knot in 2016 and Eiding moved to Green Bay. In 2017, they officially became 7000apart. The duo flew to Sweden in 2019 to record and produce their debut album “We Are More.”
“Our first debut album was more about our story,” Eiding said. “I think this album is more what goes on in our heads; it’s a continuation of our story. It’s looking a little bit deeper.”
Kresin, an audio producer, said the process for their second album has been very different this time around.
“We went into a studio for a month for the first album,” Kresin said. “In this one, I’ve been able to do a lot more production with it, it’s kind of been a collaboration with FEMKE, our producer.”
The duo said they are working on their second album in both Green Bay and Sweden—keeping true to their roots of being an international band.
Rachel Sankey is an Arts and Entertainment Reporter for Green Bay City Pages. She can be reached via email at [email protected]