José González, courtesy Hannele Fernström.

The conversation is with José González, but the first face on camera is an adorable baby.

“Sorry, this one is supposed be sleeping right now,” says González, adjusting the baby carrier as the camera pans up. “But you know, they always have other plans.”

As he walks with baby strapped to his chest, González talks about touring in support of his fourth album, Local Valley, and how fatherhood has changed him as a person and an artist. The Swedish folk singer-songwriter has typically written moody songs. But both his taste in music and experience as a father have compelled him to create more danceable music. He’s alone on stage, and his touring has slowed to one show a month so he can be with his family.

“I don’t find the time to rehearse at all, but since I’m playing once a month, the fingers are still doing their thing,” he says. “My memory is not failing me.”

RIFF: Did you decide to limit your touring so that you could be home with your family more?

González: Yeah, to be more present. I have these dips in my career. I’m slow at writing, and there were these three-year cycles, where when it was time to write the next album, I would get writer’s block. I wasn’t doing shows, and all of a sudden, I felt very uninspired, and I felt like I wasn’t that good at playing. There’s something about needing the audience, playing the songs and going through the motions that gives me confidence. I’m happy; it’s been working pretty well. I love hanging out with my family, but it’s also amazing to be away from them. I get to be my former self for a little while, and to meet with my friends, talk with the crew and have a couple of beers. Go to bed later than usual.

How are audiences reacting to the material from the new album? Are you able to play all the songs with the drum loops?

González: Yeah, that’s actually been going really good. It started out a bit shaky, but now we have it nailed down, and it’s basically just me on stage, without pedals. One of my aims was to do the loops but without having lots of pedals in front of me and looking like an octopus. So, they’re pre-programmed on a computer offstage. As long as I play my parts right, they get looped into the song without me having to tap anything. It does feel like it gives it a boost. Acoustic guitars are very difficult to get loud, but with loops and beats, you can take the show to the next level.

And people were actually dancing. It happens every once in a blue moon.

That was one of the things that you wanted to do with this album, right? To have some songs that were danceable?

González: Yeah, that’s true. I was inspired by a few times when people were dancing to not so danceable songs; I just wanted to give them a bit more to dance to. … I still feel like it’s maybe every 20th show or something that people do. I was feeling like I wanted to be more playful. The song “Swing” stands out from my career as a bit more easier than the other songs, or not as noodly, but then also having the loops on “Tjomme.” It’s still muted, but the beat goes to a different level.

Did you record “Tjomme” in Swedish on purpose, to obscure the meaning?

González: For the Swedish audience, it’s very clear. And, yeah, there was this thought that if it sounds too harsh, then I will get some enemies that want to burn my house down. I think, depending on who’s listening and what they read into those lyrics, it might upset people. But there’s also this ambition that I’ve had for many years, since I listen to music from Mali, where they’re singing in Tamasheq, but also other styles where you have more of a folksy vibe where people sing in their native language instead of the universal English. I had that as part of my ambition for many years to have those sort of Western African guitars, but with Swedish words, which is my main language.

How close are you to starting a new album?

González: I always gather sketches and keep them in a folder. In my mind, I always have stuff going on. It’s just that I’m not sitting with them every day. For the next album, I have ideas, I have sketches, chords, arpeggios, which is similar to how I’ve been doing the other albums. I have maybe half the album ready in terms of half-finished demos. I’m just waiting for lots of free time. Maybe that’s going to happen when both kids go to preschool. I have my list of things to do that I’ve been pushing forward into the future. The three-year cycles might be changed a bit by having kids, though.

Do you feel that fatherhood has changed you?

González: Yeah, definitely. I think I started to change. Once we were trying to have kids, my mind was shifting more towards health, less about running around aimlessly. And then, soon as they were here, it makes you shift your perspective and do more with less time. It forces you to mature. There’s less time for procrastination.

Have your children changed your music? You have the “Lilla G” song where you’re singing to your daughter. Do you think about your kids hearing your songs now?

González: Yeah, I was thinking about it while I was writing the album; I have friends that play death metal, and it’s not like they started to write kids’ songs when their kids came around! But I felt like my style could do with a bit more playfulness in the songs. Especially when I’m playing live, if I feel it’s too moody and or too dark, it kind of brings me down. I wanted to lighten up as a person and to have more fun on tour. For those reasons, it felt really fun to show more of myself and to have the playfulness on the album, like “Lilla G,” “Swing,” Honey, Honey,” “Lasso In”—they’re all more in line with the types of music that I like to listen to at home on a Sunday.

In general, I like to listen to major chord music, and usually from Latin America and Africa. Highlife music from Congo and Ghana, and from Brazil, there’s lots of happy music. Samba, lots of Jamaican music, ska music. I like music from all around the world, so when I’m when I’m DJing, it’s only major key and danceable music.

If that’s the music you like to listen to, how did you end up making such mellow music?

González: I still enjoy different styles of music. I do listen to folky, moody styles once in a while, but I noticed that I listen to music less and less time in my life now. I have started to use music more as a mood changer, and not as a mood accentuator. So, I tend to go to music that gives me energy, or that lifts me up. If I feel down, it’s not like I go to the moody songs to hear something that understands me, which is the way that I listened to music when I was younger. It was like, “OK, this music resonates with my dark feelings.” But nowadays, I’m more pragmatic and excited to be happy and joyful, and I use music to lift me up and to make me stand up from the couch.

Do you feel that you have grown as an artist since you started?

González: Yeah, but I’m also aware that whether people like it or not is a matter of taste. I feel like I’ve grown as a person and as an artist. Some people might feel like they’ve lost their favorite version of José, which is fine. I feel like I’ve changed with time, and I would say I’ve been maturing. … I look at older artists and see how they would take their time and continue their career with grace, and I’m working on that path. I think one trick is to show your changes once in a while, so I think three years is pretty good. My next album I will probably be without hair, so…

In just three years?

González: Yeah, there’s lots of stressful moments with the kids that make me lose my hair. Not enough sleep and so on. One way to age, as an artist, is to stay true to yourself, so that you’re not trying to be someone else. And that self might not be the same as the one from the first album. I think that’s for the best; to have movement and not always be the same. Otherwise it becomes more of theater than anything else. I think other artists do that and that’s fine. But I’ve been trying to do things with the least amount of resistance, and that’s been working pretty good so far.

Follow Rachel Alm at Twitter.com/thouzenfold.