Singing sisters are happy playing the music they like - and refuse to sell their souls to the highest bidder, writes Tony Clayton-Lea

IT ISN'T OFTEN THAT your correspondent is surrounded by three attractive Swedish sisters but here we are - Greta, Stella, Sunniva and me - sitting down to talk in Kilkenny during the city's annual Rhythm Roots festival, which took place last weekend. They may dress like fans of the New York Dolls and they may look like they've strolled directly from the catwalk, but these women are not to be confused with the kind of people whose idea of a good time is to fall in love with drug chic or to be impressed by clothes that look great, if somewhat impractical.

Collectively, Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondisson are Baskery; you might not have heard of them, as they've only been around under that name for the past six months or so. Before that - in and around 2002-2005 - they were in a band called The Slaptones, a minor Swedish success in that they had signed to Capital/EMI Sweden, had released a couple of albums, had toured Europe and parts of the US and had returned home, slightly wary of the US music industry, and keen to sit back and reflect on what they wanted to do with their lives and music .

The record deal they were offered in the US was viewed as being too constrictive - publishing, label and management under one roof for the best part of five years. By this time, their father - whose love of music had influenced his daughters to the point where playing music was all they ever wanted to do - decided to take a back seat.

"The most important thing around this time," says 25-year-old Sunniva, "was that we didn't continue with The Slaptones. We weren't sure what we were going to do next, so we took almost two years out playing gigs, making up our minds, and using a studio that had been made available to us."

Such time out taught the sisters several invaluable things; these included not talking to strange men who might try to sell them stories of fame and success, and not talking to those sections of the Swedish media that tried to put an eerie spin on their father taking such an interest in their music career.

"In Sweden, in relation to The Slaptones," says 28-year-old Stella, "we never really got accepted for playing music with our dad. Some journalists thought it was creepy or corny, that our parents had forced us into learning our instruments. Journalists were assuming that, making up things and writing about it in their newspapers, yet that was never the case."

"We were quite shocked about that," admits Sunniva, slightly crestfallen. "How could people think it? For starters, we play music with love and passion, and also as the music we play is quite alternative it's not the kind of music you can make a lot of money from."

"When we went to America," adds 30-year-old Greta brightly, "everyone thought that a family playing music together was great."

That said, dad was wise to remove himself back home to their Stockholm suburb. There is no place for someone approaching pensionable age to be around the shark-infested waters of the music industry, particularly when said industry thrives on daughters as photogenic as Stella, Greta and Sunniva. Baskery's music, meanwhile, is also far removed from parental approval: it's a dirty mix of distorted slide banjo, vocal yelps, stand-up bass, acoustic guitar and gorgeous harmonies. Baskery are off to tour Canada and America over the next month or so, and while it would be a classic industry move to rename them Pixie Chicks, it would also be a mistake. These ladies ain't for turning.

"If they would like us for what we are and not for what they want us to be, then that would be fine," says Sunniva. "Our thing is to present everything the way we want to present it; we just don't want to take a slot in a record company's roster, or to replace an act in a system. That said, if we were 10 years younger, who knows what would have happened?"

"We work with people we like," states Stella, "and who are of the same mindset as us. We're not letting anyone into our circle who is not of that type."

Sunniva again: "Some people in the business are great and nice, but so many are in it just for the money. We think what we do is not really meant to become overly commercial. If it happens that people like it and relate to it, then fine. There are so many artists out there who can survive quite well without having to sign to a major label."

"We have no strategy," says Greta, "we're just here, leaning back enjoying the situation. Some sections of the media might say that we're not for real, but we are, and we are going to keep on. And we are always going to keep on playing."

Baskery's debut album, Fall Among Thieves, is released through Veranda Independent Records/ www.baskery.com