Farsot

How was it when you first came in contact with the punk scene? - I fell for punk immediately when I came in contact with it. Hard rock bands had become so fucking lame and boring, and only bands like the New York Dolls, Stooges and MC5were really OK. You could say punk came as a savior in those bad times.

Before Anti-Cimex, you played in bands like Kloak, Bombhot, Bohman Brinner,  and above all  in Shitlickers. Do you have any good stories from those times? - Kloak, Bombhot, Hisspanik, Avfall and Bohman Brinner were all active in the late 70′s and early 80′s. Shitlickers shouldn’t really be associated with those bands though, since they showed up much, much later. At first they sounded nothing like the EP, and they actually had a chick on vocals. Shitlickers later changed their style and I joined the band, but it did not last long because they wanted me to choose between Cimex and Lickers. Obviously, I chose Cimex and therefor Lickers was no more. We recorded Desperate Screams From the Heat as a final nail in the coffin, and as you probably know it was also released much later. According to me, that release is underrated.

You started out as a bass player in Anti-Cimex, so how did you end up on vocals? - Nillen didn’t show up when it was time to record, so we decided I should try to scream my head off for a while. We liked the result, and we also knew I’d probably be a better front man than Nillen who just stood there on the stage like a fucking stick, which of course is pretty boring. We kicked him out of the band, and he later on started a new band called D.N.A.

Anti-Cimex is seen as a band from Gothenburg, but I believe each of you were really from other cities, right? - That’s correct. None of us were actually from Gothenburg from the beginning. However, one by one we moved there and suddenly we were a Gothenburg band.

Apparently you had some problems with your band name, since it was owned by a big company or something like that? You also had some trouble because of the title of your album, Absolut Country of Sweden. What’s the story behind all of that? - Anticimex is a company that fights vermin, and for that reason they were sent a lot of interviews that were really meant for us. Luckily, they took everything quite well, and forwarded the interviews to us. Damn, they must have wondered what the hell was up when they first started getting questions like “Do you like Crass or Exploited?”, “Are you anarchists?” and so on, haha.

It was a whole other thing with the Absolut Vodka ordeal, which almost fucked us up completely. Luckely for us we managed to slip out of it without getting sued, since we changed our album cover and some other shit. After that we’ve never heard anything more about it.

Swedish hardcore has influenced the entire worlds independent scenes, and amongst all the bands Anti-Cimex probably was on of the most influential. How come? - There were so many bands that were around at that time, so I really don’t know why we were so appreciated. Sure, we were brutal, but so were Kaaos, Riistetyt, Wretched andAgent Orange. I guess we’ll leave it at that and just be thankful for everything.

Why did you play so little abroad? Was it a lack of tour invitations or were you just lazy? - We were not offered as many tours or shows as maybe we should’ve been, but on the other hand, had we been more interested in organizing gigs and tours ourselves it all would have been different. We did  a few tours in Finland and also one in England, and plenty of shows in Sweden of course.

Tell us about the Anti-Cimex tour that you did in Britain in 1986. How many shows did you play over there? - Eight, I think. The London show was cancelled due to illness. I think it was Varukers who could not play. Anyhow, it all ended with a hefty bar fight between some bastards from Ireland, and that was quite the fun, hehe.

Why did the band split up in 1986? - You can’t really say that we split up at that time. Adversity, drugs and other shit simply put us in a situation where we lost all form of inspiration to get anything done at all.

Who decided to revive the band again, and why? - As I said, no decision to break up the band was ever made, so we just picked up where we left off when we had a little more control over the situation.

How come that Anti-Cimex first played noisy d-beat inspired by Discharge and then ended up almost playing metal? - Some of the band members had begun to listen to some other kinds of music, and I guess it slipped through into our sound. Personally, in retrospect, I find that unfortunate, but our fans are of different opinions, as some like the older material and others the newer. If you have followed us from the beginning of our career, it is probably a pretty obvious musical development. Another thing is that the studio technology also evolved a lot through time, which made everything more polished, and that, if you ask me, does not suit us. However, the structure of the songs always stayed very true to the Cimex style.

We’ve established that you didn’t really break up in 1986, but what was the story behind the break up in the 90’s? - This time around it was definite, because by then I had really grown tired of all the crap that always surrounded us. Not everyone wanted to call it quits, but that’s what finally happened anyway. Two other bands were started from the Cimex ashes, namelyWolfpack and Driller Killer, and both those bands made it in their own way.

After the collapse of Anti-Cimex, you ended up in Wolfpack, but why did they kick you out of the band? - I started Wolfpack with our bassist Marcus, and we made an EP and two full-length albums which I’m pretty damn satisfied with. We also participated on a few compilation albums, including a tribute album to the Misfits.

OK, and later on you also played with a band called Moment Maniacs, but are you still doing that? - Moment Maniacs was a fun side project together with two dudes from Marduk. I have no contact with them these days, and I have no clue of how much the album sold or what other response it got in any way or form. Sorry.

Have you heard the latest Wolfbrigade album Damned? - I have not heard anything with Wolfbrigade since I left the band, and thus I have not heard their latest album either.

Are you keeping up with todays’ hardcore/punk scene? Do you have any favorite bands, and do you know of any good bands from Poland? - I listen to hardcore from all over the world, and there has never been so much good music as it does now. It is impossible for me to mention any specific names because there are too many good bands out there. And yeah, I have also heard some Polish bands, especially Infection who totally slay.

Apparently you’ve had a lot of problems associated with alcohol abuse. Are you doing OK now? - It’s a struggle both night and day, and I don’t really manage it all that good, but I’m trying.

What are the chances for an Anti-Cimex reunion, and would that even be a good idea? - Nothing is impossible, and we’re actually talking about recording an album again. The problem is that we all need to be able to do it at the same time. It’s me and Cliff that are acting as speed bumps, but we’re getting closer to the real goal for every passing day. In other words we’ll all of a sudden be there in the studio and deliver the best thing we have ever done. We really want it to be noticeable that we’re on the ball and that the right kind of inspiration is present. Everything is therefore only on the planning stage so far, but the desire and will power is definitely there.

- Tell us a little about Vicious Irene’s biography. Lotta Trouble: – In the grey and boring autumn of 2001 me and Emzy decided to get as far away from Gothenburg as possible – to New Zealand. We got our inspiration from our friend Kaja who was leaving for New Zealand already in October. At the time Emzy played in a band called McDisneyColaWorld together with My who also decided to tag along on our plans. We managed to save some money but realized that we would not afford to stay in New Zealand for the three months we wanted. We needed to get to know people and thought of the idea to start a band, ’cause everyone wants to be friends with a band right! Me and Emzy began writing songs and rehearsing with My on drums and by the time we left for New Zealand we have five songs ready. We played a few gigs and traveled around as a band. It was a great journey and with the forming of Vicious Irene it came to change our lives. As soon as we got home Maria started playing drums instead of My and a month later we released our first demo.

Maria Chaos: – We played in that formation for many years; me, Lotta and Emzy. Recorded several albums and EP’s and played gigs and went on tour as much as possible. In 2008 we wanted to have one more guitarist and Molly started the band. And in 2010 Freddy joined on bass after Emzy decided to leave the band.

- Politics seem to have been a driving force for you as a band. Is it still as strong now as when you all began, and has it evolved since then? Freddy Venom: – I would absolutely say so, even though I haven’t been in the band since the beginning. I hear the political struggle in the old songs as much as today, even though the specific topic may vary. Unfortunately the patriarchy and capitalism are complex of problems that keep on feeding us with fury and lyrics.

Maria Chaos: – It’s absolutely as strong now as in the beginning and also about the same kind of topics. But since we’ve evolved as persons so has our view on things. Feminism is our strongest issue to write about and get inspiration from. We still get pissed off when we come in contact with sexism and will never stop making songs about bad situations and structures. But today we also write more about the punkscene, our sick society and environmental issues than we’ve done before.

- Regarding how the political climate is today, with a different political hegemony than at the band’s start in 2001, do you notice any changes in your music’s development? Have anything become better or worse during the years regarding politics and does it show in the lyrics? Mad Molly: – Like Freddy, I haven’t been in the band since 2001, but you’re 
damn right that the political climate has changed. We have got a more and more individualistic and right-wing twisted and conservative society where racism is nurtured and the gaps between the classes grow and it feels like we’re about to reverse in issues regarding equality and critics of norms. We probably thought we were on the right path in 2001 but we’ve realized the past couple of years that things only get worse and worse. Or it might be that this dystopic view of the future comes from the fact that we’re getting older, haha. Several lyrics on “Distorted State of Mind” are about frustration, anger and insecurity which relates to these times we’re living in and it’s norms. We have a society where all questions and problems should be individualized, no responsibility is taken for the fact that perhaps people feel like shit because of a society that’s out of tune. Instead, everything is posed
 as a personal problem. Like you’re the problem because you’re the one feeling bad. We are encouraged to think “Me me me!” and I think that the times we’re living in affect us and make our lyrics more personal and introverted.

- I can’t ignore the band’s active lifestyle with shows and tours. Do you have any particular concert memories? Maria Chaos: – For me personally there’s the trip to London which we made shortly after the band started to play live in 2002. We went there to record the “Pink Pollution” album with Matt West who at the time worked as a live technician for Motörhead. While in London we did a couple of gigs in Soho. All the possibilities we had there and the people we met felt completely surreal. It was chaos and fun at the same time. In 2004 we went to Poland three times in the same year. That was special as well. Both because it was our first drive-around-in-a-car-and-bus tours and also because we got a lot of attention as we played several gigs at small venues where the audience hadn’t seen women play guitars or drums ever before. In 2011 and 2012, when we finally got the chance to return to Poland, we met a lot of people that remembered us from back then.

Freddy Venom: – Yes, ever since my first show with Vicious Irene at Sticky Fingers, where Lotta held an interview with me on stage, haha.

- I got many other memories from our tours. On my first Vicious tour the car broke down in Italy and we got confronted by Italian cops, that looked like cartoon figures, who asked why we were hanging out on the shoulder of the highway. They spoke no English, but our awesome driver Sigge Siggelita spoke Spanish and they Italian and it finally ended up better then we thought. They made way for us to pass the whole traffic jam and then they left and we arrived to the fabulous Villa Vegan. On this tour we also went to a Pippi Longstocking house up in the mountains in Switzerland, where we thought no one would show up, but the night ended up crowded with people, great bands and never ending tea schnapps.

- Another, more sad memory I come to think of is from a show where a dude thought he had the right to touch my body as much as he liked and attacked me while I was playing. I got really pissed off and wanted to stop playing. People tried to throw him out with no result, but what made me decide to keep going was all the women at this place. I had been told that last time Vicious Irene played at this venue there where hardly any women there at all, and this time half of the audience was female, which gave me the spark and made my mind up to continue the gig and the struggle! Bastards like him should not be given the space and opportunity to win,Our songs and our punk scene belong to feminists! I get both sad and upset that there is such a long way to go before we don’t have to fight for the rights to our own bodies, that values around men and women are so patriarchal.

- In between all this we remember all good people we’ve met, talked to, laughed with, that have arranged breakfasts on sunroofs and kept the spark.

Mad Molly: – Ultra Chaos Punk Piknik in Zelebsko, Poland, last summer was a lot fun. Fortunately enough we had a GPS and drove after coordinates we’d got from the organizers. The place couldn’t be found on the map so we probably wouldn’t have found the place if not for that. When we arrived after an 11 hour drive from Poznan, where the last couple of hours had just been fields, woods and tiny roads we suddenly realize why. Zelebsko consists of about five houses, but out on the field there’s a large as hell scene and punks from all over Poland are there messing around in the dust. We played shortly after it had gotten dark and the crowd was fucking great, despite that we usually don’t feel comfortable with large and high stages.

- The band seems to have quite a fan base outside Sweden as well as a history in countries around Germany and Eastern Europe. Why is that and how is different there than playing here in Sweden? Maria Chaos: – It’s guite easy to go to Germany as a touring band since you usually pass through the country on the way to the rest of Europe. So that is one reason why we’ve done a lot of shows there. But it’s also because of our contacts, we know people in Germany that like to organize gigs for us. The same in Poland. When we’re out in Europe as a touring band we usually play at punk and DIY places that organizes shows for touring bands all the time. Things like food, sleeping places and the organization around the shows usually just move along smoothly. In Sweden we play at all kinds of different shows and places. We’ve played at clubs, festivals, support gigs and so on, as well as non-punk or DIY places.

Freddy Venom: – There’s a different kind of political climate in Sweden regarding squatted houses that can be used as venues for example, even though it’s getting harder all over Europe in general. A lot of places have been shut down during the 2000’s, partly because of an ongoing gentrification. You can feel that the political climate has become tougher and that’s why it feels important to brace for alternative ways of thinking and networks. Many of the places we usually play at in Europe have been around for a long time and have good network and routines of organising. I always get a lot of inspiration and nice thoughts from people I meet on these tours and also get a strong feeling of togetherness, that feels important for the political scene. A positive feeling that I can bring back to the local scene. A tour is therefore one of the best vacations you can get!

- It feels as if Vicious Irene is getting more and more vicious since “Distorted State of Mind”. How does the work with this album differ from previous ones?
 Maria Chaos: – Maybe we have been pickier while working on the songs. Several of the songs were made with the recording in mind and in close connection to entering the studio, which made us think a lot about how to structure them. We didn’t have much time to play them live before we recorded them and that felt like a drawback. It also feels like we have taken more advantage of
 the fact that we have two guitarists. It’s also the first record where Freddy is with us on bass and her ideas and way to play bass inspires us a lot. The mix took forever as well, we tweaked in absurdum to get the sound we wanted. I think we’ve taken a more and more active part in the mixing process, mastering and so on because we know better how we want it to sound.

Freddy Venom: – The last recording was Molly’s first and this one was my first and a different line-up affects the sound. Instead of one guitar there are now two guitars and the bass’ sound is a little different from before. A new line up also means a new interaction that automatically lead us to different ideas. Another factor is that we like to try different ways of recording, in different studios and with different sound engineers, depending on how we think it correlates to the songs in question. This time we recorded live and that also gives it a certain type of sound.

- Does the new record have any new influences? And if you had the liberty of namedropping some good bands and influences, what would they be? Mad Molly: – I don’t really know if our influences have changed that much but our faster songs have made people compare us with different bands than before, so maybe we can assume that other influences have come to surface. We’ve become better on a technical point of view, which of course shows and as Maria answered in the previous question we’ve been affected a lot by Freddys’ way of playing and singing. And last but not least there is our song writing. We are and will forever be very influenced by all the 90’s riot grrrl bands and melodic crust/punk, but when it comes to d-beat and heavier stuff we certainly have our favorites that really affect our sound.

Freddy Venom: – It’s hard pointing out some particular influences even though we have several bands in common that we listen to. I think it’s more the dynamics within the band that affect our sound. Riff that someone starts to work on suddenly develops when the whole band takes part and ends up being something that none of us would accomplish alone. Every single one of us has their own ideas and influences that makes a solid whole. Bands I’ve listened to the last couple of days and that sum up pretty well what I like are: Tant Strul, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, Harum Scarum, Black Cobra, Cross Stiched Eyes, Post Regiment, Khatarina, Cortex, Amebix, 16 Horsepower and Kalashnikov. A lot of d-beat bands and post punk from the 80’s and 90’s would also make this list.

- What’s next for Vicious Irene? Maria Chaos: – We want to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse and hang out in the rehearsal place to make new songs. The thought of a new record is slowly evolving and there will be new gigs and/or tours during the year, but we’ve not decided how and when yet.

Lotta Trouble: – It would be fun playing more shows in Sweden, like a Swedish tour you know? We’re really psyched about that!

- Anything you’d like to add? - Thank you for the interview and listen to our new record on BandCamp! And if anyone would like to dive into our biography and discography our website can be found at www.viciousirene.com.

Let’s take it from the top, where does the name Pusrad from? - The name comes from a song by Packes and my first hardcore band Raped Teenagers. It’s on the first 7”, but the word is entirely fictitious and has nothing to do with the artist Pushead which someone in a review seemed to think. I think, even though I’m not quite sure about it, that we intended it to be  a synonym for “revolution.” The lyrics went something like this:

“Tankar i människor. Tankar i djur. Människor fria. Djur i bur. Slå dig lös. Klös, klös. Fångad i sin egen natur. PUSRAD!”

We chose the name to have some form of continuity between Raped Teenagers and what we are doing now. It’s easy to remember, rolls of the tongue and doesn’t mean anything. Perfect!

Personally I find that your sound differs a lot from Raped Teenagers, but at the same time you can still hear some kind of relation to it. Can you tell me something about the creative process in your songwriting and where your influences are coming from? - Are you talking from a production point of view, because we haven’t made a conscious effort to separate us from Raped Teenagers when it comes to that part. We simply go with what we feel sounds good. A deliberate strategy is that it shouldn’t sound like anyone or anything else, because that is completely uninteresting for us as a band.

When it comes to what we listen to, I’d say we grew up with that whole ’77 punk wave. I guess that’s what we have in common with all the hardcore bands that were active during the 80’s, because there really were no other sources for inspiration. Of course we, like everyone else, we’re swept away by the hardcore bands from the 80’s, like Discharge, Minor Threat, Gang Green, the Freeze and so on.

What really influences us is a difficult question to answer, but when it comes to hardcore we both love that early American stuff like Deep Wound, KORO, Gang Green, FU’s, Hüsker Dü, Scream and Void. After that, in the mid-80′s, we slipped into that whole symphonic rock thing, with the likes of King Crimson, YES, Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant. I guess all of the above inspires us in one way or another.

You mentioned KORO as an influence, and I think that is one of the best references you can draw from the sound of Pusrad. Still, one can not help to notice that you have quite a distinctive sound. So once again, how does the creative process look? - Packe is the idea guy when it comes to the songs, and then we arrange them together at our rehearsals. We try to record every rehearsal to find out what works and what doesn’t work. The process is pretty smooth and quick.

Lyrically, you’re on a boundary between being playful and political, which works very well because it never quite falls over completely to either side. How important are the lyrics for a song, and which ones are your favorites? - Haha, are they really? I never looked at them as being playful? The idea is that even if we are preaching to the already converted we’re hoping we’re doing it with some kind of original twist. When it comes to which lyrics that are my favorites, it’s just too damn hard to chose.

Will we ever hear a song that is longer than one minute?  - Haha, who knows? It’s not a goal in itself that the songs have to be short, but we just happen to like them that way. At least when it comes to punk and hardcore. Also, we’re probably consciously or unconsciously influenced by the hardcore punk we grew up with.

We have stripped away everything that we don’t  think enhances the songs’ value. We like it when it just hits you and you can’t really understand what happened. The short song concept also means that we never get tired of it all. Someone suggested that our music was hardcore for people with extreme ADHD and that may pretty much be the truth.

Creativity doesn’t really seem to be something you guys lack, since you’ve put out quite a few records already. How often do you get together to rehearse and make new music? - Our goal was to rehearse at least one once a month but it turned out to be somewhat like every two months instead. Nowadays we’re so well rehearsed compared to when we started Pusrad and hadn’t played together since 1992 when Raped Teenagers called it quits. In other words every two months is quite enough for us.

Although you are just two people you create a shitload of noise. Could it be that you don’t need more than two people to play great punk music? - Yeah, it seems to work just fine with only two people. At least when you keep it on our level which is just to rehearse and record stuff. We would’ve probably been three people in the band if we had found a bass player that matched our style, but the fewer in a band the less compromises need to be made. Also, me and Packe are extremely like minded in terms of what works and what doesn’t, which means that a third person would probably just make the whole process more difficult.

What about playing live? Will there ever be any Pusrad shows? - No, we will not be playing live. None of us have ever been that fond of playing live. Perhaps it all is because of the fact that 90% of the shows we did with Raped Teenagers in the 80’s and early 90’s sucked pretty hard. I only remember a few of them, and I guess those were the fun ones. It’s simply not worth it to travel far away to put on a pissy show when you can sit in the comfort of your own home listening to punk records, haha. However, I did like to set up shows at the venue Skylten in Linköping, which is kind of weird if you think about it.

What did you do during the time that elapsed between Raped Teenagers and Pusrad? - I was pretty disillusioned when this whole NYHC thing took over in the late 80’s and early 90′s, which to me was just a total takeover by macho dudes and bullies. The music sucked so much horse dick that Pippi Lonstocking’s horse Little Old Man would stand up flat. It had nothing to do with what I associated with punk and hardcore, neither idea or music wise.

Everything about that music was regimented, rigid and boring, which made me dig myself deeper into the ‘77 punk. I played in a shitty ska band and in an excellent DEVO/NoMeansNo/power pop inspired band called Flakes. We even made a small attempt to start up Raped Teenagers again around 1995 which was when we first recorded the song “Stupet”, which is now to be found on the “Smart Trams” EP. In 1998 Packe began to play in the ’77 punk inspired  band TV Eye, which is such a great band who just recently released their first EP.

But why start a new band and not just reunite Raped Teenagers? - First off, Raped Teenagers is a terrible band name, and we really had no desire to try to ride on the back of our old merits. Also, Pusrad turned out to sound quite different from how Raped Teenagers sounded, plus we thought it seemed fun to start from scratch and completely unbiased.

Did you have any kind of plan when you decided to start playing together again?  - We did a reunion show with Raped Teenagers back in 2010, and it turned out way beyond our expectations. Packe and I felt eager to play hardcore together again, but since Packe lives in Mjölby and I live in Stockholm we decided to try to rehearse at least once a month. The goal back then was to make a 7” and then just see what happens. And well, the rest is history.

The reaction to your music seems to have been pretty positive, right? - I think Pusrad is one of those bands that you either love or hate. You either think that it’s all just short songs that don’t do anything for you because you don’t see the point, or you are just like us who just press the repeat button when you listen to the stuff you like.

I’m actually surprised that most of my favorite hardcore songs by other bands are as short as they are. It’s probably only in recent years that I have begun to reflect on that fact.

Will you be able to live up to all of this on your upcoming releases? - We feel no pressure to live up to anything, haha. We just do what we like, and will keep doing so as long as it’s still fun.

You have a another record on its way, and this time on the Signaler Från Ovan label. Can you tell me something more about that, and why you chose to release it through them? - The kind and pleasant Anders Nilsson from Signaler Från Ovan got in touch with us early on in our career and wanted to release a 7” EP, and the idea was to release it before the “Dömd” 12” came out, but that never happened. I actually don’t know much about Signaler Från Ovan except that they have some great releases and that Anders is very dedicated to his work.

The album will probably contain about 10 songs, and the last one will be a cover of my first d-beat band Fight Back from back in 1982. If you like the early Pusrad releases, then you will probably love this one too.

What’s the plan for Pusrad when the new album is out? - Well, another release I guess. It could be anything from a 7” to a 12”, haha. We really have no shortage of interested parties who want to release records. For example American Deadbeat Records want to release a 12” in the U.S, so I’ll guess we’ll see what happens.

Sounds great, and I’m looking forward to hearing it all. Do you have something to add before we call it a day? - I think I’d like to quote Sture Dahlström.

“Varje kväll står jag utanför Miss F:s sovrumsdörr. Hon ligger där inne, styv som en staty. Allt liv är koncentrerat till hennes väldiga svarta buske som sväller och jäser i rummet. Det borstiga könshåret växer fram över golvet, tränger ut under dörren och fyller det ihåliga huset, det ringlar in i min mun, fastnar mellan tänderna och pressar sig långsamt ner i min strupe och fyller magsäck och tarm tills jag ligger på det hårda stengolvet som en packad tagelmadrass.”

- Before we even start talking about your current band, Bring the Drones, we must sort out this thing about Gamla Pengar. You recently quit the band, so what was the reason for doing that? -       Well, I played bass in Gamla Pengar, but I’m really a guitarist, so basically it was just about not getting enough musical highs when not playing my own instrument.

However, I am very happy with the last single we put out with Gamla Pengar,  ”Vackra land som ingenting gav”. Instead of rehearsing home-made demos, we just did the songs together from concept to recording in two weeks. Everyone in the band contributed to the songs in their own way, and that made it all feel interesting.

There’s always a need to express yourself creatively, and if you feel you can’t do that it’s not fun anymore. Then you have to go ahead and do something else instead of wasting your own and other peoples’ time. These days I do what I want – I sing and play guitar in Bring the Drones.

- Gamla Pengar were in the midst of recording new material when you decided to leave. What will happen to the material  and what will happen to the band? -       Yeah, we started recording an album in my studio but that’s not for me to worry about anymore. Gamla Pengar will still be around without me. They’ll probably find another studio and record their album. If not, Mikey has got a portable studio.

- Bring the Drones was already a project during  your time in Gamla Pengar, but I guess that it will be your main band now? Or do you have more projects that people aren’t aware of? -       Bring the Drones started for the sole reason that I mentioned before, and since we have the situation we have right now I will focus all my time on Bring the Drones. Incidentally, I also have some new soundtrack music that I’m going to start working on during the year. It’s for a Swedish feature film for which I have some pretty interesting ideas when it comes to how to make music for it. Other than that, there are also some bands coming over to record in my studio, so I pretty much have my hands full.

- How do you know Charlie, and how come you decided to start a band together? -       We met at a gig in Alingsås for little more than a year ago. We talked about music and recording studios and at the end of the evening we just happened to exchange numbers, even though he dissed me because my studio is located in Herrljunga, hehe.

A couple of weeks later, I called him up and suggested we should record some songs together and the rest is history. His only requirement for Bring the Drones was that it should not sound anything like melodic punk, or “trallpunk” as we say in Sweden. We met up on a Saturday and wrote, rehearsed and recorded six songs in 3-4 hours.

- What has Anti Cimex music meant for you in your life? -       Anti Cimex is one of the best punk bands. Period. I believe they paved the way for a whole new generation of punk bands. The first time I heard Anti Cimex, was when I was 12 years and in Gothenburg to buy a guitar amp. It’s difficult to describe the feeling from the time when you heard “Victims of a bomb raid” for the first time, but I remember I was fascinated by how the guitar solo sounded like a plane or bomb alarm.

- Had Charlie heard any of your music before you started playing together? -       I guess Charlie had heard something since we met at one of my shows.

- Who does what in Bring the Drones?  -       I play guitar, bass, and sing on our upcoming EP:s, and Charlie plays the drums. On our very last recording, from March this year, has an old childhood friend called Danne on the bass.

- What happened to Oskar Ekman, who was supposed to play bass in the band? -       I don’t really know what happened to Oskar. He was in the studio last summer and played bass for bit, but all the songs were re-recorded so his stuff didn’t make it onto any of them. I think he’s too busy booking shows and doing Dj work in Stockholm, but if he ever feels like coming to record with us again, he’s more than welcome.

- Will you recruit any more members, or just continue as a duo?  -       We’re keeping that door open, it’s better that way. In other words, you never know what will happen.

- What’s positive compared to negative when it comes to being only two persons in a band? -       The advantage of being so few is that the creative freedom is larger, since there are fewer wills involved in the creative process. That also means that the risk for one person acting like a dictator decreases. The downside may be that you have to hire some people when the time comes to play live.

- Bring the Drones are a relatively new band, but yet you already have both a split and another EP coming out soon. Both mastered by fairly reputable people in Texas. How can this be? -       Well, as you said, we have two pending releases coming out at the same time via the American label Cricket Cemetery. A split 5” with LTW, containing two songs in Swedish, and our own 7” EP named “Ayahuasca Agent” where all the songs are in English.

I learned, when I sent a recording to Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, that the mastering is very important. Especially since everything I record is basically only released on vinyl. When I and Charlie were getting ready with the “Ayahuasca Agent” EP, we looked around for some good places that could handle the mastering. I can’t remember, but I think someone told us about Enormous Door, so I contacted Jack Control who works there and he was totally psyched to do the mastering because he really dug Anti Cimex. Needles to say, the mastering turned out awesome.

- Since you, apart from those upcoming releases, already have a lot of new material in the works, what exactly is the plan with Bring the Drones? Will there be any gigs, or will you just throw a lot of recordings our way? -       We actually recorded a couple of new songs this week, which will end up on a new 7” EP. This time we actually made the first Bring the Drones song that was longer than 2 minutes.

The plan for Bring the Drones is the same one as any other band would have – world domination. Regarding gigs we have some inquiries in Denmark and Norway, but nothing is certain at this point. We’re taking it all one step at the time.

- What’s the idea behind the band name? -       If I’m not mistaken, the drone attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq have not been that successful statistically speaking. I think it’s a dead race between bombing weddings, village festivals and other civilians versus hitting the actual targets.

The idea that wars in the future will be fought in front of a screen with a joystick is pretty frightening.  Say what you will but Bring the Drones is a far better band name than Bring Me the Horizon…

- Before we call this interview a day I need to ask you what your relationship to the Swedish punk scene is like? -       I’m actually not too familiar with the Swedish punk scene, but I love playing punk and recording punk albums. What I have seen when I have been out playing concerts in is that people are really committed and are digging it. The main problem, I guess, is that you have to travel 250 miles to earn $70…

- To call it quits in the way that Refused actually did cannot have been an easy decision, even if it may have been both poetic and fitting. How long did it take until you were really comfortable with Refused no longer being a band? -       I think that the myth is more dramatic than the reality in this case. Everyone in the band had felt that things really weren’t working as they should for a long time. The situation was too harsh in terms of living conditions and economy, we disagreed about our musical development and we were all tired of being in each other’s immediate vicinity around the clock, all year round and so on. We had already agreed to call it quits in late 1998, but I panicked and finished it all off premature. I had a thoroughly bad conscious about this for a while, but later on I realized that it all probably was for the common good. I didn’t regret that we split up, but the transition was really difficult, especially as I had nothing else to return to than all these different kinds of demons.

- Did you talk to each other at all after that abrupt end? -       During the fall I did not talk to any of the other members, and I never heard from any of them either. As much time as we had spent together until that point actually made the distance feel kind of nice.

-How were the relations between you and the rest of the band after the fall? -       After that I resumed the work with the Text album together with Kristofer and David, while me and Dennis didn’t talk to each other for another couple of years. Kristofer actually lived in the U.S. for a while, so I met him very sparingly, while I and David moved in together at the Demonbox-commune in Stockholm. This all was some time back in 1999.

In addition to finishing the Text album, which we had started recording during the last year with Refused, I was pretty oblivious to my own existence. I understood that it would be tough to work as a musician, but I had not even finished high school, and didn’t really want to do anything else. At the same time I was quite stunned by my new-onset tinnitus and a few personal mental problems. As you probably understand, I didn’t get alot of things done during the following couple of years. I DJ’d and arranged Jungle clubs for a while, and once I was fairly out of the dark, I began writing and producing some film music, among other things.

- The press release about Refused splitting up can be seen as one of the strongest statements ever, and as such, also something that made the eve of a reunion slightly larger than usual. It was also quoted rather frequently in different sorts of hardcore forums and various social media channels when the rumors of a reunion began to flourish. How do you feel about all that today? -       Well, it was pretty dramatic, not to say overly dramatic. Three of the four members were not involved in the writing and publication of this, and I didn’t think it felt that relevant then nor now. It had, for example, very little to do with reality.

- When I personally think back to the last times I saw Refused live during the 90′s, the main talk amongst people often was that you had become too pretentious after your tour with Make-Up. Was this gossip something that reached you as a band, and do you feel that Refused, and especially “The Shape of Punk to Come”, may have been ahead of its time? -       We both heard and noticed that gossip while we read the reviews of the album and toured with it in 1998. In general, people were not as stoked to see us play as they were before. I didn’t think anything was different when we wrote “The Shape of Punk to Come”, just that it mostly felt better and more representative. We made the music we wanted to do and at the same time tried to make it as bold as we could. Both for us and for our audience. And that was pretty much what we tried to do with “Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent” too. Besides that, we were a little older, a little more musically confident and a little less exaggeratedly respectful in relation to our hardcore heroes. Those things were probably the setting, while the conditions and objectives were the same as always.

- Socialism, straight edge and vegetarianism were all an important part of Refused during the 90’s. How do you look at all those things today? -       Straight edge is a statement that I’ve always viewed as strictly personal, and thus never a question that I’ve fought for. I’m in retrospect very grateful that I was straight edge over the years when we toured in the nineties. I saw then, and have seen thereafter, how easy it is for usage to turn into addiction in the prevailing conditions of a tour. Nowadays I’m certainly not an absolutist, but I never get drunk, since I mostly find alcohol intoxication stupefying for myself.

I’m still a vegetarian. Back in the days it was basically just for the sake of the animals, but now I see it as much as a question of human solidarity and as an environmental issue, as well as animal ethics.

When it comes to politics I have been a socialist for all my life. In the nineties, I wandered a lot in the tracks of anarchism and syndicalism, and I still see a lot of positive things in both those ideologies, but these days I have a difficult  time seeing the the implementation of them in reality. In my teens I was, like many others, more of an idealist rather than a realist. If I were to describe myself today, I’d say I am a communist, since I believe the state’s function is inevitable and necessary. But with the increasing market influence in both the rich and poor parts of the world even that is starting to feel utopian occasionally, you know when companies have a greater power than individual states. No matter how hopeless it may be, for all who are affected on a personal level, I still think that hope lies in the recurring economic crises. At some point we must stop to save companies and save ourselves, and each other.

- How do you feel about the hardcore scene in Umeå today, and what is your relationship to the hardcore scene in general these days? -       One could perhaps say that I watch it from a distance. Most of my political work is done through universities nowadays and my musical research is built up from buying records and going online. I’m suffering from social phobia and I cannot honestly say I really have a clue of what’s going on in the hardcore scene in Umeå.

I’ve always been more interested in the term punk than the term hardcore, which doesn’t feel as bound to a genre but rather describes an approach and an attitude towards the music. Still, there have been alot of great punk bands  in Umeå after the hardcore scene declined, as I guess you could say it did after the 90’s. Masshysteri, for example, were light years better than most bands from the nineties. I also think Råd Kjetil Senza Testa is a great punk band, but their music is hardly what anyone would associate with hardcore.

- It can hardly have escaped your attention that, despite the successful year you’ve had, there are different opinions about the reunion. Even Dennis’ stage talk feels somewhat directed to people who might stand with at least one foot in the more negative camp. Why do you think the scene you actually were a part of creating is the one that’s judging you the hardest? -       I’ve of course noticed that people have been critical. However, far much less than what I had expected. I understand that people have doubts regarding our motives, about reunions in general, about whether we still stand for our lyrics and our music today and so on. I also don’t mind being challenged, as long as it’s on reasonable grounds. There may be various reasons why some were more critical than others. For example, the fact that we were well paid is sure to be a thorn in the side of some people. An incorrect belief that we left the scene behind us after Refused disbanded, is probably another. Some are probably jealous too, and so on…

I’ve had some discussions with people in the past year and it’s very interesting to deal with the criticism and to discuss the matter from other peoples different perspectives, but at the same time it’s more difficult to comment on the whole thing in general. What can be said in general is that the people who are critical and have been a part of the scene for a long time are critical because they care and have cared for a long time. This of course is cool.

- Do you realize the importance that Refused had for the Swedish hardcore scene? And if so, how do you look back on what you actually did and helped create? I remember the first time you played in Gislaved in 1994 or 1995, it was bigger than anything else for us. -       I also remember the first time I played in Gislaved, and it was probably just as big for me as for you. What a bloody engagement they had over there and what sick gigs. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

For me it’s really difficult to relate to the importance Refused had for the scene. Of course I noticed that people showed up and were stoked, but I think I saw us as just another band amongst many others. I don’t think I ever thought that there were people starting their own bands after hearing us, and other different causations like that. Although that was exactly what I did in Skellefteå when we started Reach, and later Purusam, which happened after we had been in Piteå to see Refused back in 1993.

I think I understood it a little more during the past year, since I met alot of people for whom Refused had played a major role and who had been inspired by us. As crazy as that may seem.

- When did you get the first offer for a reunion, and approximately how many have you received over the years? -       We’ve received a few concrete offers from Coachella in recent years. How many other deals that may have reached Mogge over at Luger, and that he never passed on to us, is beyond me. In general, the greatest interest has always come from the United States and it has probably been around for most of the 2000’s.

- Why did you reunite now, how was it discussed and who in the band was the hardest to persuade? -       As I recall it, we have met and discussed a possible reunion twice before. Dennis has been the driving force and I and Kristofer the brake pads, roughly described. The big difference this time has to do with musical closeness. A few years ago, David and Kristofer started a band together, and I think this was the first time that Kristofer played in a band since Refused split up, even though he has been involved with music in other ways. Me and David had just worked on his solo album, A Heavy Feather, where I helped to write and produce some of the songs and he had helped me in the same way with my band Luks. David and Dennis also played together in AC4 at the time. The fact that we suddenly collaborated musically in different configurations made the distance of playing together again much smaller. I think that was really the deciding factor.

- A worthy completion for “The Shape of Punk to Come” album is something that often is considered as a reason for the reunion, while some of those on the outside looking in think it’s basically just because of economic reasons. What do you have to say about that? -       For me, the economic aspect was not a major reason why I chose to do it. A reasonable and sensible economic deal was a precondition for us to put our lives and other chores on hold, but not something that served as a driving force. A crucial and compelling factor was the chance to play with these extremely talented and driven people again. Another was some kind of second chance. We’re a bunch of ambitious and perfectionist people, but back in ‘98 we were so insanely tired and sad that we lost the run and never performed the songs from “The Shape of Punk to Come” in the way we wanted and could otherwise have done. I thought that the songs deserved it.

- Given who you were, how it all ended, the press release and the sometimes very unforgiving hardcore scene: Was it nervous to announce a reunion, and was there any reaction that surprised you in any way? -       Before the announcement of the reunion in January last year, I followed a thread on Flashback where the issue was discussed just based on the reunion rumors that had been going around. The discussion had a very negative tone, to say the least. For me that was really hard and I took offense, even though I of course should’ve ignored it. I mean, it was Flashback!

When the news were finally released, it all just seemed strange and abstract with all the headlines and such. It all seemed very unreal up until the show at Scharinska in Umeå, which just turned into pure love. Lots of faces from the 90’s, some new and a crazy good atmosphere, despite a rather shaky effort from our side.

After that the whole thing became real to me. We received a lot of criticism about only playing festivals and no small clubs, which I thought was totally fair. Actually, we had decided that we were only going to play until the end of the summer and then disband again, but a major contributing reason to why we chose to play the autumn too, was to be able to play clubs. Some festivals were of course good and rewarding, but at the same time it felt like we didn’t belong in those contexts. The club gigs on the other hand were something completely different and I could really recognize and feel a bound with the audience, which was nice.

- A few weeks ago, Refused got a prize for being one of Swedens most influential bands on an international level. The prize was handed to the band by our current government, and Dennis and David took the opportunity to give the ruling governments politics a well deserved kick in the ass. When reading about this online I could gather three main reactions to what Dennis and David had said and done. Some people applauded the band, some applauded the statement and others thought Refused should’ve turned down the price to really make a proper example of how you as a band feel about our current government. What are your thoughts on this, and why was not the entire band present at the award ceremony? -      Sweden has a government that puts economic value long before human values, which prioritizes improved conditions for resourceful groups prior to solidarity and care efforts for the less fortunate. They sell out and erode the welfare in the most naive manner and contrary to research that should deter. I don’t want to receive a prize from such a government.

The bourgeois government also has a cultural policy that directly opposes the development potential that was the basis for Refused and many other independent bands and artists’ careers. The prize reflects that particular policy, that financial success is what is to be rewarded when it comes to cultural workers, and not artistic value. Such a view of culture leads to uniformity and a qualitative degradation, and I don’t want to receive such a prize. To receive such a prize, while criticizing the government presenting you with the award did not feel right for me. It kind of takes the edge of the criticism that David and Dennis expressed in connection with the ceremony. The members of the band don’t disagree much when it comes to how we view our government and their policies, however, the question of how this was going to be handled is obviously something we have different opinions about. I respect their actions, without agreeing to that it was the best thing to do, so to speak. I also believe that we could’ve gotten more attention if we had said no to the prize and instead held a press conference about why we had turned it down.

- The cultural policies of the government today is felt throughout the country. For example the venue Scharinska was in trouble last year, but other than that how noticeable is the cultural policies in Umeå today? Is it better or worse than before? -       It’s definitely worse than in the 90’s, no doubt. For example, they sold the recreation center Galaxen to private operators. Most of the great hardcore shows with both local and foreign bands took place there, and when we were kids we were able to get help to do almost whatever we wanted in that place. What started at the same premises then was some kind of studio and rehearsal space complex where everyone was to be shaped to make radio friendly music and had to sign away their rights to the music to the company that ran it, and so on. Scharinska is good in many ways, but at the end of the day it’s still a business for profit. In sum, music scenes nowadays are more dependent on the private sector than in the past. Also, the municipality clearly takes much less responsibility compared to before.

- Speaking of culture, Umeå is nominated to be the cultural capital of Europe in 2014. How do you feel about that? -       Difficult question. Umeå is hardly more deserving than many other Swedish cities would have been as organizers for this. I am not involved in this in any way, and I have a very limited insight. However, I know that many people active in the culture in Umeå feel a certain aversion to the city inflating this. The city built a new culture house, which no one has asked for. Bombastic arrangements will be held, which are unlikely to lead to any long-term improvement opportunities for cultural practice within the city limits, and so on. At the same time I think that many people in the cultural sphere that are skeptical to this might be able to influence the whole thing more than their doing now. I know good people who have been invited by the city to design how the Capital of Culture year will look, but who have rejected the offer.

- Are Refused forever dead, or should you never say never? -       One should never say never, and as noticed that didn’t really fly last time around. Still I find it highly unlikely that we would reunite Refused again. The main reason for this is that we managed to achieve what we wanted to do, that being to play that shit the way it was supposed to be played. That’s done and over with now.

- If we forget about Refused for a moment, and focus on your other projects. What are you working on at the moment? Will there be another Text album perhaps? -       The first Text album was basically a reaction to Refused and the hardcore scene as it appeared to us at that time. More people came to be involved and after a while we were mainly a loose forum for stage expression of various kinds. When I and Fredrik Bäckström made ​​a record together five or six years ago, we decided to release it as Text. Everybody is free to do a Text album, so it’s as much up to you as it is to me to do so.

However, I have a lot of unreleased music lying around in the studio, some of which could possibly be released as Text. It’s all unclear at the moment. Sometimes I feel like sharing, and sometimes not. At the moment what I’m most interested to work with music wise is my band Luks. It consists of me and Jennie Billman, a wonderfully gifted person I’ve created music with ​​for about three years now. We are a studio duo that successively are creating an album. Anyone who might be interested in this can listen to our work on SoundCloud.

- Previously you’ve also made soundtrack music for movies. Is that anything that you can imagine will happen again? -       I hope so. To write music for movies is probably among the most challenging and fun things I’ve ever done as a musician. It’s exciting when your expression intermingles with another and alternately contrasts and then flow into each other. I have been fortunate enough to work with Milad Alami early on in his career when he made films for Film in Västerbotten.

Generally, it’s tricky to get good jobs in that industry. Either it’s a bad movie, or the job is already taken, sort of. Also, I think my connections in that industry are a bit limited and my CV is probably also too short. Last fall I made music for a Playstation game demo. That was very similar to working with music for a movie. If they ever turn it into a real game I hope they’ll let me do the music for that too. That would be a lot of fun.

- As I understand it you only have one semester left before you graduate as a doctor? What kind of doctor will you become and how come you decided to study medicine? -       Yeah, that’s right, I will be all done this coming summer. I intend to eventually be a specialist in geriatric medicine. When I, about ten years ago, grew tired of trying to make a living as a musician, I started working part time as a nursing assistant in a nursing home. It was probably one of the the best things I have ever done. Besides, it was much more rewarding to make music when I did not have to mix my art with making money.

I thought it was fantastic and stimulating to work in health care, but the working conditions of nurses, nursing assistants and several other professions within health care are unfortunately often substandard, so I decided to start studying. I also wanted to learn more about the ailments my residents suffered from, and how they were supposed to be treated. I guess that’s how it all started.

- In what way has the reunion contributed to you as a band? -       The satisfaction of having played the songs the way we wanted them to sound live, that’s the main reward. Besides that we have the obvious reward of having met some great people, seen a lot of awesome shows and so on. It’s also a great benefit for me to have seen a lot of beautiful places, for me it’s mostly the scenic places that has become etched in my mind. Unfortunately the time one gets to explore such places is very limited when you’re on tour, since the tour entourage always has to move on. That said, there are some places I will definitely try to go back to. Vancouver and the mountains northeast of the city is such a place where I could definitely spend some time with a bicycle or two.

- What do you take with you from the past year and the reunion in general? -       What I particularly responded to, and that really stuck with me is how much our music seems to have meant to a lot of people. We have over the years been told that Lars Ulrich and a bunch of other made-up people have been fans, so that’s nothing new. But to meet real people whose lives we’ve affected a little bit in a positive direction has been really insightful and of course very flattering and something I feel very humble about when facing.

- Something to add? -       Thanks for the interview!

– Please tell us more about “cheerleader punk rock”. – We sometimes describe our music as cheerleader punk to people who previously haven’t heard our us so that they can get a clearer picture of what we do. Music that’s energetic, pacey, colorfull, filled with nasal choirs and chewing bubbelgum with an open mouth, you know what I mean? And then there’s also a lot of people who get provoced when we call our music for cheerleader punk, which is fun. I think it gets people thinking about their preconceptions.

– The video for ‘Slaughter’s Daughter’ is well-produced and revolves around roller derby. How was the production and what’s the background idea for it? – The idea for the music video is pretty obvious. We’ve been inspired by Luleå’s local roller derby team who’ve got an awesome attitude and do a lot of cool stuff. It felt like we had common principles and that we do and stand for the same things but in different forms. They could’ve played in punk rock bands, and we could’ve competed in roller derby. So having the roller derby team rolling in the video was nearly a premise, which they happily fulfilled…. ….for six hours! Then you have to add that we as a band also have this fling for gymnasiums. The video was produced by Blåfilm and Emma Wennström was the project leader. They’ve done a fantatic job and we couldn’t have made it without them.

– How have you changed since the start both as a band and sound-wise? – Oh, tough question. Maybe that we’re developing an even more punk pop sound, rather than pop punk sound. Still, rock music is always the thing that’s in the back of our heads despite that, so that’s probably nothing that we’ll ever let go of.

– You’ve previously toured in Finland and also done a couple of shows within the Swedish borders and now you’re heading to France. Why France? Will it be documented? – We were booked for a touring french festival called Les Femmes s’en Melent so that’s mainly the reason for that. But France is a country with an interest in punk rock so it feels right doing our first longer tour there. The Paris show will be documented on video, as we understand it and we also been thinking about doing a mini documentary in pure Tiger Bell DIY fasion.

– Please tell us about some memorable gig occurences that you’ve experienced. – Last year we were invited to play at the 20 year anniversary of the song “Långa bollar på Bengt” in Vansbro. Beside of us playing Ralf Edström and Glenn Hysén did guest apperances with Svenne Rubins. Clas Yngström, who produced the original song, played blues with a couple of older men and then we performed some of our songs as well as a punk cover of the “Långa bollar” song. Vansbro that’s mostly known for a swimming competition showed their best side that evening. It was both memorable, unexpected and fun.

– How in the world did you end up playing at that gig? Well, we had been in contact with this guy called Lars the year before to play at the festival in conjunction with the annual Vansbro swimming event. When that didn’t happen, we decided to contact him again the following year, but unfortunately got the answer that they would not have any live music at that years swimming event. Later it turned out that this Lars fellow, who had really started to dig our music, was in fact Svenne of the band Svenne Rubins. He ended the e-mail telling us that their hit song “Långa bollar på Bengt” was having its 20 year anniversary and then invited us to play at that event instead. It was really fun because nobody knew we had rehearsed the song and made a cover of it in true Tiger Bell style, so they were pleasantly surprised when we started to play it in the middle of our set.

– The obvious question now is of course, will this cover ever be released, or performed live again? -At this moment in time there are no plans to record it or to even play it live again, even though you are not the first person to ask us about this, so who knows? We might change our minds…

– How does the spring and coming year look for you guys? – Closest is the release of the ‘Slaughter’s Daughter’ EP that’ll be released March 18 and then we’re going to France and Switzerland. We’re so stoked about that! We’ll see about the summer, we have a couple of fun stuff in the pipe but nothing that’s really planned out or anything. To play at shows and write new songs is always on the list, and then we have the album release and so on.

– What have you guys been up to since the ‘Modern Hex’ era? – That really depends on how we should define when the ‘Modern Hex’ era begins and ends. We started working on new material almost as soon as the old LP was released in January of 2010, and that continued until May or June of 2012. We’ve also played live a lot, most recently in Germany, Belgium and Holland. Last time we played in Sweden was sometime in November 2011, so we’ve been quite busy nonetheless.

– When comparing your debut EP and album they feel almost like their from two entirely different bands. Can we expect some changes like that on the new album as well? – Well, it’s still some sort of hard rock music that we’re doing, but sure, it’s different from the previous two releases. The new album is somewhat darker both musically and lyrically.

– Is “hard rock music” the label you use to describe what kind of genre you’re in? – That really doesn’t matter to me that much. If somebody asks I usually just say it’s some kind of punk music, but our aim is playing march music in the future. Perhaps it’s ultimately up to you writers out there to really figure out what we do.

– Speaking of writers, the reviews for the previous album were pretty positive but at the same time it felt like a lot of people totally missed out on you? – First of all, P.Trash was not the right record label for us, and I haven’t actually seen that much reviews of the previous album so I don’t know how they worked with that part of the promotion. The label is still quite cool but not for what we do. Also, perhaps the cover design didn’t attract nihilists to buy the album, but in the end I think we should’ve played more live so that people could hear the real We Live In Trenches. Oh, and then we have the entire networking thing. We really suck at that, but I don’t think I have any deeper analysis than this.

– How come you’re releasing your album through La Familia Releases and Farsot? – As I mentioned before, we should come out and play live more. Especially in other countries than Sweden for people to hear us. I think it’s the only possibility for record labels to find the bands they’re interested in today. Of course it’s also about having some luck as well. The people behind Farsot and La Familia are people we know since before. You mentioned starting a record label when I spoke to you about our new songs at some show we both attended. You also said you’d release anything with us without a doubt, and I thought you were merely kidding, but I didn’t forget about it and here we are now.

– Robert has known Stachel from La Familia for a long time and we also met him at Truckstop Alaska when Victims played there a couple of years ago. He mentioned he’d been trying to get his hands on a copy of ‘Modern Hex’ in Germany but hadn’t found it, which seemed odd since P.Trash is a German record label. We asked him if he’d be interested in releasing our upcoming material, and he said yes. He only releases bands of which he has some kind of friendly relation with, hence the name La Familia.

– A lot has happened since ‘Modern Hex’, a member replacement for example. Where did Anna go and is Johan managing to fill her shoes? – Anna moved to Skåne some years ago. She quit the band because she had too much to do with her hair salon, and that was a very sad loss for us. She also became allergic to some kind of hair coloring cosmetic which damaged her voice, and as if that wasn’t enough she also had problems with one of her wrists. In other words, she decided to quit the band because the stress was too much to handle when having a hair salon and at the same time having to deal with three grumpy geezers nagging about rehearsals and gigs. I probably missed a couple of important details now,  but she has a new band called Night Minutes now, though I don’t think they are that active at the moment.

– Johan’s probably the most musically talented of us all if you ask me, and quickly filled the position as our bass player. He’s also a very social person and that’s a goo thing when hanging out in minibuses or in small rehearsal spaces.

– Has Johan contributed to anything concretely when it comes to your sound? – Both yes and no. He fits great with his bass playing and back-up vocals. Together with our drummer David he forms a very sturdy rhythm section. He’s, as everyone else, part of the arrangement of songs but not directly regarding any change song-wise. Maybe in the future.

– ‘Modern Hex’ was a relatively dark album and you can sort of guess that the direction of the upcoming album since it’s titled ‘Life Crisis’. What are the thoughts behind the title and music all in all? – The soundscape has definitely become darker and darker. There’s a lot of shit happening around the world and that affects us both as a band and as musicians. Still, we have to point out that we do not sound like we do as a result of what happens in the world.

– I’m of the opinion that it’s hard to write about sunshine and ice cream, lyrically, when I’m putting down words to the songs. I’m interested in politics and shake my head at the things happening, to later give my point of view in the lyrics. I read a lot and have stolen some things that have ended up in my lyrics. The title ‘Life Crisis’ is about when all the shit hits the fan, when there’s no safety net to keep you safe and when you hit rock bottom only to realize it’s also full of holes. I’m not in that position myself, but I have friends that are there, and I’ve realize I can’t help them and that I’m not enough. It’s unreal.

– You played together with the canadian band Metz at Pustervik yesterday, and you’re doing it again this Friday in Malmö. How did you get booked for these shows? – It was Joel Borg who contacted us regarding the shows, asking if we’d like to play with Metz. I think he thought that we’d fit well together with them. I was just about to buy myself a ticket to the show but I let it linger for a while, and a couple of hours later we got asked to play. So because of that I guess What We Do Is Secret is missing out on some ticket sales. I’m really stoked about playing together with Metz, and our new EP “Out of the Dark” will be sold at the shows even though we don’t have any official release date for it.

– It’s great that the EP was ready in time for the shows, but what will happen when the album comes out? Any plans on touring and will you tour outside of the Swedish borders? – The plan is to get out and play as much as it’s possible. Hopefully the album will be out so that people who are in the right mindset to appreciate it will be able to get their hands on it.

– Let’s start off with the boring facts of where the band is right now. Who’s in the band at the moment, because as I understand it you have a new guitarist, right? – We’re still in the midst of making songs for a new LP, but everybody from the “New Blood”-era is still in the band. We do have a new guitarist, Hasse, who also plays guitar in the band Leathervein and was the old drummer of Arrigt Antræk and Hjertestop. He also plays guitar in Moonless and Bottom Feeder, but he’s not really a new guitarist because he played with us while Mathias was doing hard time in prison and bending over for the soap in the showers. Nikolaj, our old guitarist, couldn’t handle it anymore. After a month in the states with us and just generally being in the vicinity of us was too much for his fragile mind to handle, haha. It’s a shame really, because he is a brilliant guitarist.

– I know you used to be in the band Arrigt Antræk before you started Night Fever with Andres, but what do you feel Night Fever can achieve that Arrigt Antræk couldn’t? – I don’t know what Night Fever can achieve that Arrigt Antræk couldn’t. We just want to play music, get drunk, do drugs and have a good time. We can do that and we did that with both bands. The real reason why we called it quits with Arrigt Antræk is because in the end it was all just about how much blood would start gushing from my face at our live shows. People were always like, “Are you gonna smash bottles over your face again tonight, or slice up your torso with broken bottles?” and bla bla bla… It all just turned into a stupid gimmick.

– When your debut album “New Blood” came out it really was an album with the perfect title and anthem. It underlined that hardcore of today is just as relevant, or maybe even more relevant, than the bands that started it. What were your thoughts when writing the song, and what do you think of people always saying that hardcore was better back in the days? – I don’t know. I didn’t really have any thoughts behind the song, because I was just sick about hearing about how much better it would have been to be to this or that show, or stuff like “Nobody can ever be as good as this or that band.”, you know?

– The heavy metal type singing at the end of “New Blood” is really made to rip shit up, and at the same time it really stands out from the rest of the material. What were you thinking when you came up with it, and did you think it was gonna turn out as good as it actually did? – Well, we just did it, and it turned out OK. That’s really it.

– Another song on “New Blood” that also sticks out is “Wasted”, which is like a reversed straight edge anthem. What’s the story there? – When I wrote the song I wanted to make a song just like “Straight Edge Revenge” by Project X, but pro drugs instead. But since that would have been too insincere, since I do a lot of drugs but really don’t condone it and therefor wouldn’t want to sing about how awesome it is when it actually fucking sucks.

– You toured America and released an EP on No Way Records and did an american press of “New Blood” on Tankcrimes. Both labels are well known in the scene and have a good reputation of only putting out high quality releases. How was the response across the Altantic, and will you return there with the new album? – The response in the states? I really don’t know. We only released 1000 copies, and I haven’t really heard anything about it. I think it just went to oblivion, but I guess we will release our next record over there as well, if there’s someone who would want to release it for us that is.

– Any fun tour memories or stories from that period? – There are a lot… where to start… …Well, when we landed in New York and when we finally got past the horrible fucking customs we were waiting at some station in the city, and mind you this is our first hour in the States! Cops were chasing down some people at the station 
because there had been a fight with some trannies and some black people, so there were some insane looking trannies running around screaming, haha. 

A couple of days later, in New Jersey, we were in some shitty neighborhood waiting to play our first show. We didn’t want to be like some dumb Danish tourists and ask for directions to the liquor store so we just went down some random street. At the time we hadn’t really figured out 
that the neighborhoods would be completely different from street to street. I mean you could literally be in some chicano neighborhood on one side of the street and then it would suddenly change into a black neighborhood, and that’s exactly what happened. We just went down the road and suddenly we were in a black neighborhood and people where looking at us like we came from outer space. Mathias walked up to the biggest black guy I have ever seen in my life, he wasn’t wearing a shirt and he had abs that were bigger than my head. Before I go on, you have to remember that Mathias is a ginger who looks like a viking and has death metal patches all over his jacket, OK? Well, he asked the big guy for directions to a liquor store in the most broken English you have ever heard: “Hello friend, do you know which way the liquor store is?”, and the dude was just looking at Mathias with disgust in his eyes and we’re all thinking this is it,
we’re going to get shot right here on the spot. Luckily the dude just sent us down the street and started to walk away.

– Later on Mathias walked into a really crummy looking bar but came out just as fast and right after that the only white person we’ve seen for a while came up to us 
and says “Yo! What the fuck are you doing here? You don’t look like you’re from here, man. You’s gonna get robbed around these parts, better get the fuck out while you still can!”. He then continued by showing us the way to the nearest store. We went in to the store and the mexican who owns the store just sighed when he saw us as we started walking around in his store. At the same time all the black people in the store are still looking at us like shit’s about to go down. We decided to buy some stuff, and then I went outside to wait by a corner of the street with Andreas. Needles to say is that when I woke up that morning I didn’t think we would end up in such a bad neighborhood so I was wearing three different colored bandanas on my body and around my head, and suddenly some serious crack heads came up to us and asked us “Yo! What the fuck you doin’ in our neighboorhood? What are those colors you’re wearing? Trying to start some shit or what?” After that they start shouting down the street “Yo! We gots trouble down here!!” and people just started pouring out from their porches and running down the streets. Suddenly they all started singing “The Trouble Song”, and I can’t really describe how it sounded but it was menacing. We just got the fuck out of there as fast as we possibly could.

– I almost also got in a fight with some crack heads in New York while I had four grams of cocaine on me, but that’s a different story for another time.

– I’ll hold you that, but let’s move this thing along. You’re working on some new material, so how’s that going and what can we expect from it? – It’s going good, and everyone can expect a mix between Cocteau Twins, David Allan Coe and Korn.

– OK, sounds like you want to keep the lid on this for a while longer, but how come it’s taken so long for the new album to start taking form?  What have you guys really been up to? – Well we had to find a new guitarist twice now, and that really set us back for a while, but in general we are just very slow when it comes to making songs because we want them to be as good as possible. It’s also really hard to find a day to rehearse every week because some of us have full time jobs, some go to school, some have kids,
 and then me and Jesper are often so drunk that it makes us cancel alot of the rehearsals, haha.

– Any thoughts on when the album will actually see the light of day, and who will be releasing it? – Well we are going to Brazil for a couple of weeks to tour with a thrash metal band called Violater, so the album has to be out before the tour starts, and that’s probably going to be some time in October. So yeah, before October and if that doesn’t happen, then expect it to come out before 2020. Label wise, the danish label is going to be Adult Crash, or maybe there will be a revival of the Kick’n'Punch label. Who knows?

– You were in Malmö recording some guest vocals for the upcoming Hårda Tider album. What can you tell me about that without ruining the surprise for everyone? – That’s right, I’m doing vocals on one song with Erik on their next album. He sent me a message and asked me if I wanted to come over and record some vocals. I said yes and then it just happened. Simple as that! It turned out really great, but I think that if I would’ve had more than three hours of sleep and also had been less drunk when we recorded I would’ve been able to do alot better on the vocals. It still sounds really good I think, so yeah, you should definitely look forward to it.

– What is the next step for Night Fever? – I really don’t know. I guess just finnishing recording that fucking record. Get it over with and then tour as much as we possibly can. I mean, we haven’t played live for 1,5 years, so we are really itching to come out and play. All work and no play makes jack a dull boy.

– Isn’t that the truth. Well, I’ll let you get back to work then. Any last words? – Yeah! Remember to come to the next K-Town Festival in Copenhagen, it’s going to rip and it’s also our next show this year. It’s at the end of June as far as I can recall.

 And please to everybody who reads this, go out and start a band so we can keep the scene alive and show the rest of the world how it’s all done. Show them how the Scandinavian hardcore scene rules above all else. It doesn’t matter if you can’t play or don’t have the time, let’s just try and make it better for everyone. You have an obligation like everybody else towards this scene, so you can’t just take all the time, you have to give something back.

Gärdet, just six minutes with the subway from central Stockholm, is where I’m headed. Johan’s invited me for dinner with him and Hannah. Though, it so happens to be that it’s more or less full house when I arrive. Johan explains that several from the Stockholm Straight Edge crew lives nearby and that it’s quite common that they meet up, make dinner and perhaps watch a movie together. Just like a family.

And it shows. The laughs and occasional teasing in the kitchen seems like something they’re accustomed to. Friends doing what friends do. After some time and a lot of “Should the stew really look like this?” everybody sits down to eat. A finished vegan meal and a couple of laughs later the coffee is served and Johan asks the others to quiet down. I start off by asking about the background of Stockholm Straight Edge’s work for a more gender equal hardcore scene. And why it now feels like a relevant question.

Johan: – I’d say it’s always felt as a relevant question. One reason is that we’ve grown a lot as an organization. And the more you grow the more responsibility you should take. We have, if I may say so, become a quite important part of the hardcore scene in Stockholm, so I think it’s mainly because of that.

– How’s the feedback been? Hannah: – Positive, but there have been a couple of people wondering how we on more practical terms will be able to pull it off.

Johan: – Some people have been skeptical to it but the overall feedback has been positive. The first update on Facebook we did about this was the single most popular update we’ve ever done, which for us is rather positive. People outside the hardcore scene have even picked it up. So the feedback has definitely been positive.

I follow up with a question of what they think the reasons are for so many men are drawn to the hardcore scene, but Johan quickly points out that the question itself is wrongly phrased.

Johan: – The hardcore scene doesn’t attract a lot of men. It attracts fewer women in comparison.

Hannah: – I myself would say that society itself is a cause of that. It’s not only the hardcore scene where it’s a majority of men involved. Metal and hip-hop are other genres as well. It’s a lot because men are brought up in a way where they are allowed more space than women.

Johan: – I know there have been discussions regarding violence at shows and that it may be a reason why women are drawn away from hardcore, because of the moshing and so on. It’s very rare at our gigs but there have been occasions when people have started fighting. I’m more skeptical to that kind of reasoning because I wouldn’t say there’s more violence at our shows than other concerts or nightclubs.

– Or at an Undergång show… Johan [laughs]: – Or at an Undergång show.

– Why do you think that sexism is so widely spread in a scene where activism is so deeply rooted? Hannah: – I think you have to differentiate between people who say they’re politically involved and those who actually are. Personally I think many like to talk about how politically involved they are but when you go to participate in a demonstration you rarely see someone you know. That’s why I think this is a good way of starting a discussion regarding sexism. And to get more women involved in the scene.

Johan: – I think one reason may be that many group people as either sexists or non-sexists. I don’t believe it works that way, but sexism is rather a framework that permeates the entire society. And it permeates me as an individual, the hardcore scene as a platform and everything else in your daily life. A lot of people have the mindset of others being sexist or non-sexist but you miss out on the fact that sexist frameworks influence you as an individual as well as the hardcore scene. It’s a shame because I genuinely think that a lot of people in the hardcore scene identify themselves with, for example, feminism. But you have to accept the fact that you as an individual do not remain unaffected by things that happen in overall society.

Hannah: – You also have to differentiate between hardcore scenes in different countries. I think it’s important. Like when you meet people from other countries, who are involved in the hardcore scene, but you recognize have a different view on things. That you recognize as cultural differences.

Johan: – Sweden has come quite far with feminism in our society. So it feels natural that the hardcore scene discusses it as well. While in other countries our point of view is seen as something foreign. Which was something we noticed with the cancellation of Fallbrawl last year.

– The cancellation of Fallbrawl stirred up some strong emotions and the band also got support from Shattered Realm. Were you surprised by all the turmoil? Johan: – No, not really. I think they made their music video to get attention and that they must’ve been aware of that it was startling. They obviously didn’t see it as an issue. So when we cancelled Fallbrawl they e-mailed us thinking it was a bad joke. It became clear to us and everybody else that it was a collision of two very different opinions. With that in mind it’s not that surprising that it became such turmoil. It also became clear that our visitors supported our decision, even though some commented it as strange, while Fallbrawl’s fans thought we were idiots and so did the fans of Shattered Realm.

Hannah: – The thing is it’s quite amusing to see how much of their fan base actually are comprised of men.

– How was the discussion atmosphere? Johan: – Shattered Realm started off and wrote, “We want to say fuck you to Stockholm Straight Edge.”, and it’s very hard to try to discuss with that as a starting point. However, I think we tried to reason with them and reached some kind of agreement.

Hannah: Like, agree to disagree.

Johan: – We were a little concerned that Fallbrawl’s booking agency would get upset with the cancellation. But they were very understanding, didn’t ask any questions and understood why we felt as we did. Some other promoters also contacted us to ask what we had said to the booking agency, and if I understood it correctly there were more cancellations. I think Fallbrawl had to recognize that, even if they didn’t think the video was bad, it was controversial and a lot of people were against it.

A couple of weeks ago SVT (Swedish Television) aired a documentary about men’s online expressions of hate towards women. Several well-known journalists and news anchors presented selected e-mails and comments that they’ve received containing hateful comments of death threats and rape threats. “You’re a real bitch and whore, you have two weeks left to live and I’ll show you I’m serious”, “What you need is being fucked broken by a baseball bat”, “One day I’ll slit your throat and shove the knife up your cunt” and similar comments were just some of the disturbing texts that were read out loud. Needless to say, the documentary got a lot of attention from both regular and social media, showing that Sweden as any other country has fundamental issues with allowing women to be free to have opinions. Being a relevant subject, I ask my interviewees if they’ve noticed any similar patterns within the hardcore scene.

Johan: – I’ve seen some examples within the scene but not to the same extent as portrayed in that TV show. But I’m probably the wrong person to ask because I’m a male and such hatred would not be directed towards me.

– Will the process of change focus on gender equality or will you work on intersectionality regarding gender, ethnicity and class as well? Johan: – We’re aware of other problems within the scene, one thing being that a white male straight middle class dominates the scene. I want to work with those issues in the future, but we’d jeopardize the entire project if we’d try to fix everything at once. So we’ll focus on the gender equality issue to begin with. We’ve made a list of paragraphs to work by but the main goal is to recognize female artists and bands with female members that we can book. As I said before, we have to be aware that sexist frameworks permeate our organization as well. Especially since we’re a majority of men in the organization. We hope that when more women are represented on-scene that…

Hannah: – …women who visit our shows will say, “Awesome, I can do that too!” I know there’s people who want to but don’t really know where to begin, so that’s something we’ll have to work on to get people excited on starting a band. If it’s what you want. You can’t just assume that everyone wants to start a band; some just like the music but don’t necessarily want to perform.

– Do you feel you have a responsibility, since Stockholm Straight Edge is a well-known organization in Sweden’s hardcore scene, to work with gender equality? Johan: – The reason behind this is partly due to responsibility but it’s also something that we felt we wanted to do since several in the organization feel equality issues are important. That together with the fact that our organization is an important part of hardcore music in Stockholm. To my knowledge we’re the only one in Stockholm booking hardcore acts since Sunpower Booking called it quits. We probably have the best possibility to influence this situation. I think we should take the responsibility.

– Last, any bands you’d like to push for? Johan: – Beyond Pink! They made one of the best albums of last year and I think I saw them for the first time about 9-10 years ago and I have been hooked ever since. We also got a tip of a band I previously hadn’t listened to who’s called Tiger Bell, which I really like.

Hannah: – We also got tips about Heart On My Sleeve, which we’ve booked before and will play on one of our gigs in March. Landverraad! Comes from Holland, I think, and is a band we’ve been in contact with since another tip. So maybe that’s a band that we’ll book after this summer.