I’m From Barcelona by Travel Deals

And they look out for us. And they've been fully supportive. The City of Victoria has time and again been called to be true patriots. So it's a real mentorship process to get the locals to figure out ways to identify projects that are needed and then go to their own government and get approval.

What the military does then is come in with funding for smaller level projects. He's been there since March of 2006 and is hoping to return home in late July or early August. On the album’s opening track, “Oversleeping ,” Lundgren and his cohorts skip along with drums, glockenspiels, bells, and a child-like tick-tock-tick-tock urgency. and have to come over to an environment like this.

Incorporating an eclectic mix of instrumentation, another one of I’m From Barcelona’s catchiest songs is “Treehouse.” Making use of everything from guitars to banjos, flutes and harps, to handclaps and stomping feet, the band doesn’t stray far from its repeated chorus. Since he's on active duty in Iraq, he really can't talk much about running for office, but we did get to talk about how he's helping local governments get started in Iraq and how the City of Victoria, Minnesota (his employer) has been very supportive of him and his family while he's been in Iraq.

On his website, Steve describes his political leanings. To say good bye to my family, my friends, to work...This is four plus years since the invasion. There's conflicts between individuals. Why do you take this type of dangerous work to do?
Steve Sarvi: I've been in the military since I was 17, other than a break in service when I got off of active duty. They get infrastructure needs identified and some taken care of. So there's a lot of emotion. I guess someone needs to do it. So my wife, my kids have been just wonderful about it. And on our side we gain security by becoming friends to them, in some sense. The bidding process, as you can imagine it's a far different environment than what you have to deal with in the United States. With tapings taking place at various apartments and other rehearsal spaces, a homemade EP was quickly completed and, at the suggestion of some of those in the group, Lundgren scheduled a single performance. My battalion reached out to me because of my background in the city government. Led by songwriter Emanuel Lundgren, this musical company of close friends has been steadily gaining recognition thanks to the jovial pop of their 2006 debut album Let Me Introduce My Friends. In what could be considered to be the band’s song-form manifesto, “We’re from Barcelona,” dozens of voices present an invitation for anyone and everyone to join in: “Love is a feeling that we don’t understand / But we’re gonna give it to ya . You have to stay focus obviously when you're here.

We wish you the safest travel from Iraq back to the United States.
Steve Sarvi: Thank you. My main focus is in rural villages ...And I did that at Camp Shelby when we were going through training and for the first three months that we were here. So we're not really doing much as far as that goes with setting up a government and talking through process and procedures.

It’s this disregard for professionalism that makes Let Me Introduce My Friends such a intimate and fun experience. But I understand the basics of it from the work that I do in the US and I've learned an awful lot being over here about the way that they work.

You gravitate towards these positions no matter where you are in life. He simply went to those that were closest to him. You're worried about what's going on at home. With news and acclaim of the show traveling faster than they could disband, this unusual group found themselves signing a deal with EMI Sweden and touring on the road.

One of the most important things to recognize when it comes to listening to I’m From Barcelona is that—unlike Tim DeLaughter and his Polyphonic Spree—Lundgren did not send out some nationwide audition call for willing performers and musicians. But the City of Victoria in my case, and many employers in Minnesota are doing the same thing, and it's very encouraging for us. It certainly is not an easy thing to do, obviously, to volunteer for something like this. Maybe it's my strong suit. interpersonnel issues. Work (City of Victoria) has been just marvelous. Infrastructure wise they're in need of just about everything. We like to hire locals to actually build the facilities that go into their own villages.

As you can imagine it's a very complex environment. It's different than the work I was doing in Kosovo, where I was actually working and helping to mentor a small village government. Find out what their needs are. As many times as may you hear the words “I have built a treehouse / Nobody can see us / It’s a you and me house,” its ever-growing energy only makes it feel like you’re actually climbing up to some special sanctuary. And plus six years as the Mayor of the City of Watertown. You've got construction workers. It's difficult of course, but they understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. So what we do is we go into these areas and we do an assessment. You've got contractors who are all basically tottering on the edge and they need jobs and it's a life or death matter to them. why do you do it? There's inter-tribal conflicts. . I appreciate the willingness of Democrats to embrace the things that bind us together, rather than focus on that which sets us apart".

Here are some text excerpts from the interview.

"Simply put, I am a Democrat. I'm an infantry soldier. So a lot of the issues, as far as infrastructure goes, a lot of those things apply. And as a platoon Sergeant, my job is to train my soldiers for combat. That's just not the kind of person I am.

What are you doing in Iraq?

Steve Sarvi: I'm what's called a Civil Military Affairs Officer. I've been a city administrator for the City of Lanesburo, City Administrator in Watertown and currently in Victoria. Going through a lyrical quick-draw of recovery options Lundgren makes waking up late into an adventure: “I can make it in time / If I jump out of bed / If I skip to wear clothes / And get running instead / I get on my feet / If I skip to hit snooze / If I don’t care to eat / And get running instead / I can make it in time.” As he races through the possibilities, an overlapping barrage of voices bring everything to finish that makes you wish every morning could start as upbeat as his. I'm good at it. We meet the people. My family has been completely supportive. How do we get the approvals through them.

And then as we provide the funding we like to use the local workers because unemployment is so very high. On the verge of a four-week vacation away from his job as a web-designer, this red-headed local of Jönköping thought it would be fun if he took a few lighthearted pop songs he had written and record them with 28 of his friends. And I hope everyone pauses for a moment on Memorial Day and thinks of the soldiers that we've lost not only in this war, but in other wars.

Photos courtesy of SteveSarvi.com

Five Hundy by Midnight 119: A Steakhouse in Every Casino

Las Vegas podcast #119 includes:

• Real Time opening clip
• Kirk Kerkorian wants to buy Bellagio and CityCenter
• The Osmonds reunite in Las Vegas
• Bette Midler sucked on American Idol
• Strip stripes
• Summer monorail discount
• Lazy-ass tourists
• We love this Web site
• Voodoo Cafe and Lounge becomes Voodoo Steak and Lounge
• George Clooney likes drinking in Vegas
• Listener reports on Red Rock restaurants, Mirage blackjack, Flamingo’s Go Pool (it’s not on the roof), food deals, the Fab Four and much more

Direct download of the podcast: Five Hundy By Midnight 5/26/07 (56:56 min, 52.3 MB) or subscribe.

But we quickly learned that we needed to do civil-military projects even in the remote areas. And that's a huge financial burden for many soldiers that come on active duty from the guard. And for some reason whether it was in Kosovo or here, I just end up doing these types of projects. How do we insure that we're going to have teachers come here. they're in some very bad shape as you can imagine. Steve Sarvi has done both and has been mentioned as a possible DFL candidate to face Congressman John Kline (R- MN02) in 2008.

Even with their numbers well into the double digits, the ensemble that makes up I’m From Barcelona still have a strange way of making their listeners feel included in something rather simple and small. The entire interview is in the podcast audio.

Why are you in the military? we’ll bring you love / You’ll be one of us when the night comes.”

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Soldier-Possible DFL Congressional Candidate Steve Sarvi Interview
Listen to the podcast here. I guess I've really never had that question asked of me...They thought their lives were going to improve immediately. He's also the former Mayor of Watertown, MN.

Inside Minnesota Politics has an exclusive audio interview with Steve you can listen to here. And then we work through with the local leaders either the Sheik or the village Mayor. The end up taking quite a large pay cut. Without that support system, you take your eye off of what you're doing over here. And what we're doing is helping the local Iraqis with reconstruction projects. I felt like I needed to give something to my country at a young age and found I was good at it. So I'm not losing any money by being over here. To him, having any artistic background was irrelevant.

When it’s all said and done, I’m From Barcelona’s ultimate goal is to make you feel like you’re a part of something out of the ordinary. It's working out well in the areas we operate in.

How has your work in local government helped you out with the work you do now in the Army?
Steve Sarvi: It seems like I gravitate towards these positions. . And I get to see a different side of the war than most people get to see.


What kind of support have you received from home to get through these months, these years that add up when you're overseas?
Steve Sarvi: I'll tell you, without a family, without friends, I can't imagine getting through this. But what we really want them to do is learn how to do it themselves. So there's a lot of expectations we have to knock down as well.

It's a growing process. It's much more "we need a school in this village" so how do we engage the minister of education. There's a lot of pent up demand. Like most of My Friends’ tracks, the highlights come during the anthem-sized choruses. That my ideas and values spread from center to left of center, speaks to the strength of the Party. With steam to spare carrying over from their native Sweden to the college radios of the U.S., the band’s success is a case study in accidental circumstances. But I don't think I could have looked my soldiers in the eye and watched them go off and stayed behind. Same with in Kosovo. I'm good at working with my soldiers and I get a lot of satisfaction for the work that I do. So we're able to provide the funding while they end up doing all the heavy lifting and getting approvals through their government.

It sounds like you're helping people learn how to run a local government.
Steve Sarvi: Yes, to a certain extent. A lot of those skills I think directly reflect on how we do it.

Plus of course we got to bid projects. Steve has been in the Army for nearly 20 years and is on track to be part of the longest deployed Minnesota National Guard unit in Iraq.

Lundgren himself has often stated in interviews that he never intended on forming a band. Here the local governments are almost non-existent. And we work through with them the process of doing projects for them. What they've been doing is maintaining my current salary and I just give them my guard pay. Learning how to engage people, talk to them, figure out what their needs are, work around issues...Runs 10:27
Just as it takes courage to jump out of a plane or serve in Iraq, it takes courage to leap into politics. .