Swedish company Zound Industries makes headphones which looks way better than most headphones out there. Or in their own words: "we make resonance couture".

The headphones from Urbanears/ Zound Industies are awesome, and they make everything from crazy colours to more strict designs. We hooked up with Niklas Bergh, Creative Director at Urbanears / Zound Industries for an interview.

-What is Urbanears / Zound Industries, short background?

Zound Industries is a mother corperation housing a number of headphone brands, some that you might already be familiar with and some that we hope will blow your mind and ears in a near future.

-What do you do at the company?

My title is Creative Director which means I oversee everything that communicates in some way. From text, brands, imagery, graphics and products. Basically I am the slightly angry guy who is never satisfied and makes everyone redo what they just did.

-Headphones with cool custom made designs. It all seems like the typical after work brain storming idea that never materialises. What makes you different to all the others out there who wants to be entrepreneurs but never takes that step?

I think you answered that question in the actual question. I guess there are a lot of people who carry around great ideas that never materialize them. I never meant to be an entrepreneur it just kind of came upon me and know I'm involved in three different companies having been a part of founding them all. The thing you discover is that if you actually put an idea into action you are very likely to succeed as so few people do it. The downside is that I've recieved a grand total of exactly five paychecks since the year 2000.

-Describe your costumers. Who loves you?

Being such a new brand as Urbanears we have very few means of knowing this. What we know is what we see on the web and on the subway. I'm guessing we have a pretty wide following as on one side Kanye West posted our stuff on his blog, while on the other side I saw a lady that probably hasn't been described as young since before the war sporing a pair the other day.

-Where are your headphones manufactured?

As almost all companies in this business we manufacture in China.

-Is it possible to get your own unique custom design?

Naturally, but there is a price to it.

-Where is your biggest market today?

From a percentage point of view Sweden is still our biggest market per capita. We caught 10% of the market share the first month we released. Other than that the US is going great, the french are buying a lot and so are the Spanish. Not forget the UK has been a big hit and the Germans seems to love it to. We've even shipped to some of the African countries as well as places like the Phillipines.

-Aren't "crazy headphones" something that only sells in Japan?

I'm guessing not. Crazy or not.

-Which headphones are the best ever made? And which headphones has the coolest design?

Let's just say we're still warming up. We have some things in construction now that have some real potential.

-Do you hate "in ear" headphones? (since you cant design them as much)

On the contrary. Though I prefer them personally. However we are coming out with a great product for Urbanears that goes by the name Medis that is one great little product. It connects to the ear through two preassure points rather than one making it stay in place much better than normal earbuds. As a plus it sits much more comfortable. I'm a minimalist so the smaller product the more relevant is the lack of detailing.

-Are you going to release any interesting new stuff in the near future?

Yes. Take my word for it.

-Have you synth?

I had a cheap Casio back in the day that I really regret throwing away. Nowadays I am more of a bass man. However we got together and bought a MicroKorg for one of my best friends and I really enjoy that one. Another funny story is that Oscar who is also one of the founders of this company really likes minimalist house music whie i prefer alt rock - the only band we can agree on is Depeche Mode so we've probably done 300 laps on their entire discography around here. Is that synth enough for you?

- Great :-) 

Thank you very much. Always nice to chat wit someone interested in sounds. Good luck to you all!

And thank you.

Check out

Zound Industries

Urbanears