Impo and The Tents

     Impo and The Tents play some of the catchiest, most endearing rock n’ roll music floating around today. When I first dropped their 2^nd LP, my pick for 2014’s album of the year; the fantastic Peek After a Poke available from Alien Snatch Records, I thanked the maker that someone still found interest in power pop influenced punk bands from the late ‘70’s and took them seriously for that matter! These Swedes crank out short, dizzyingly catchy bursts of candy coated audio razor blades. Two minute songs that are fast and fun to listen to that don’t seem like they’d be all that difficult to write and perform, right? Wrong, wrong you are so very wrong!  It is a fine line to walk the way bands of old walked without seeming like you’re following too close step by step, and to add your own influences and cut them into a timeless sound that still rings with the bells of yesterday and yet still sounds fresh and contemporary.  It’s not an easy job but Impo and The Tents pull it off and make it sound like it is.     

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start by telling me who is currently in the band and what everyone does in Impo and The Tents:

Rune: Vocals & Bass
Dan: Guitar (also answering the questions)
Lars: Organ
Victor: Drums

How did you all meet and decide to play in a band together?

DAN: Me and Rune are childhood buddies and played in other bands before starting Impo & the Tents in 2010. We were supposed to do a 7” as a one off thing, since we were engaged in another band at the time, but things kinda snowballed and I&TT became our main focus. Victor replaced Sanna on drums and Lars replaced Martin on organ. Anders has filled in on drums on two tours.

What band or musician influenced you to want to play/write music?

DAN: There´s a long and a short answer to that question, and since the long answer is really long, I´ll just go ahead and say Appetite for Destruction. That record changed everything. Made me interested in playing an instrument, thieving booze from my parent’s liquor cabinet, secretly smoking in the forest, growing my hair long and cutting holes in my jeans.

How would you describe what your band sounds like to someone that’s never heard you guys before?

DAN: Imagine a Beatles song played at double speed, with the gain cranked up on the amps and some delightfully squeaky vocals on top. We are obviously very influenced by ‘70´s power pop/melodic punk. Reviewers often compare us to Dickies and Undertones.

The band is currently based in the town of Södertälje, Sweden. What is it like playing shows there? Are there people there and other bands that support and understand what you guys are doing musically?

DAN: Both Rune and I are from Södertälje, but we have moved a long time ago. We are based in Stockholm now and part of a ”scene” loosely based around Push My Buttons, who arrange gigs and run a record store/label. Everybody does their own thing and has their own sound, which I think is great. It´s more like a gathering of (sort of) likeminded freaks. I have put out two compilations with contemporary Swedish garage and punk bands on my label Ooga Tjacka Tapes, that you can check out here:

https://oogatjackatapes.bandcamp.com/album/pickled-herring-punk

You guys list the Beatles, Raspberries, Big Star, The Nerves, The Shivvers, Ramones, Dickies, Undertones, The Gizmos, and the Real Kids as your main influences; bands that existed and were in their prime long ago.  Are there any current bands that inspire you?

DAN: I mainly look to old stuff for inspiration and especially love discovering old obscure power pop 7”s. As for contemporary bands in the same vein as us, we like Nobunny, Reigning Sounds and King Khan & Bbq Show, whom we have had the pleasure of opening for when they played in Sweden. Home Blitz is fantastic. Sheer Mag is a cool new band. Baby Shakes. Local heroes Bäddat För Trubbel of course. Perfect Fits released two criminally underrated power pop 7”s in 2008 (one was a split with Twinkle van Winkle, also great).

You guys put a lot of humor in your songs and records; it’s even in the band’s name. Is this important for you guys to do? Could you ever see Impo and the Tents doing a social or political song like the Ramones did with “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”? 

DAN: Sometimes too much it seems, since some people aren´t able to see past it. The band name especially has shown to be a turn-off for some people ha, ha! We´re pretty serious about our tunes but pretty unserious about the rest. It´s not important to be funny, but it´s important to keep the music playful and not take yourself too seriously. I think politics have no place in music.

You guys have toured Europe quite a bit.  Can you tell me about the most memorable show you can remember playing, good or bad and what made it so unforgettable?

DAN: I don´t know where to start, but let me say it´s more like the movie about Anvil, and less like the book The Dirt. It´s fun, chaotic and blurry. You get a great knowledge of Autobahn!

If you were stuck on a desert island with (A) one record, (B) one meal and (C) one person, what would they be?

DAN: (A) Velvet Underground - S/T (B) Vegetarian meze buffé (C) Maggie Gyllenhaal

Where can people go or log on to buy and listen to your music?

DAN: You can buy our latest LP, upcoming EP and listen to some tracks over at Alien Snatch:
http://www.aliensnatch.de/start.htm
https://soundcloud.com/aliensnatch/impo-the-tents-dead-giveaway
https://soundcloud.com/aliensnatch/impo-the-tents-peek-after-a-poke

Push My Buttons usually carries our old stuff on vinyl. Worldwide shipping:
http://pushmybuttons.se/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/35IU6hOXQcob43ma1XPRzm
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/impo-the-tents/id417964446

What lies ahead in 2015 for Impo and the Tents?

DAN: New 4 track EP to be released on Alien Snatch at the end of the summer! It´s called Anxious Times and we are very happy with it! It´s a natural development from our recent LP ”Peek After A Poke” in style, but with a bit more punch in the production.

Follow us for updates:  https://www.facebook.com/impoandthetents?fref=ts

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The Most

Photo Credit: Andreas Säker

     There’s a town in Sweden called Umeå that lies along the Ume River. It’s the 12^th largest town in Sweden and is mostly known for medical research and technical education thanks to the University that was established there in 1965. And speaking of 1965, there’s also a wonderful band from Umeå that goes by the name The Most. Their brand of rhythm and blues music is heavily influenced by the pop music of the mid ‘60’s. Much like the musical groups that were birthed along the Mersey River some forty years prior, the Ume River has given life to this new group that similarly fuses the guitar sounds of Chuck Berry and Lubbock’s favorite son Buddy Holly along with elements of Motown soul, doo wop and blues. The time has come for a new global Mod rock resurrection and The Most are just the band to usher it in!            

Interview by J Castro 

Let’s start off with introductions.  Who is currently in the band and what instruments do you all play? 

Frans Perris – Guitars and vocals

Magnus Kollberg – Guitars and vocals

Martin Claesson – Bass and vocals

Mats ’Slimstick’ Westin – Drums and vocals

Where are you all from originally and how did you meet and decide to play music together? 

FRANS: Two Swedes, one half-Italian and one the son of a Finnish war child. We share a common taste in music and we sometimes get along fine!

Photo Credit: Lina Lindqvist 

How would you describe your band’s sound to someone that’s never heard you guys before? 

FRANS: People say it sounds like music from the ‘60’s.

The Most is based in the town of Umeå, Sweden. What is it like playing shows out there for a band like yours, is there a supportive scene?   

FRANS: Eh, no scene whatsoever. The two Justins* are big here too. (*Bieber and Timberlake)

By playing music heavily influenced by the 1960’s, do you ever feel your songwriting is restricted in some ways? Do you ever write songs that you feel don’t fit into The Most’s “sound?”  

FRANS: Not at all, there is so much music to draw inspiration from. We sound the way we do because we are the people we are.

Photo Credit: Roger Degerman

What qualities do you think rock n’ roll music from the 1960’s has that makes that era so unique and vital still almost half a century later?   

FRANS: Quality! Of course there are many bands now forgotten that were pretty boring but the large number of good acts that has survived into our times had it down. Experimenting with lyrics, arrangements and sounds changed music very fast in the early ‘60’s and some very interesting things appeared. Later on people started copying each other too much, focused more on image than on the music. Later recording technique suffered as it went to ridiculous multi-tracking.

Do you think image is still important to a rock n’ roll band these days? I’ll admit that if I see a band in suits come up on stage I get a little more excited and curious than if I see four guys in t-shirts and shorts shuffle up to the stage.   

FRANS: There are many aspects to artistry and to entertain is one of them. We suit up of respect to our audience basically.

You guys have made a few videos throughout the years.  You made one last year for the old Tages song “Fuzzy Patterns.” Can you tell me a bit about it, like where it was filmed and who made it? 

FRANS: A real quick job. It was shot here in Umeå, up along the river. It was a very hot day and our good friend and photographer Roger Degerman filmed it. Andreas Säker, also a friend, is one of the main editors from national television and helped us out putting it together. We didn’t have any firm ideas but were inspired by old Tages footage and the scene from Zeppelin’s ‘70’s movie with Jimmy Page sitting near the pond with his Hurdy Gurdy. Ha, ha.

Photo Credit: Lina Lindqvist

If The Most could tour with any band from any era in rock ‘n roll history, who would it be and why? 

FRANS: Howlin’ Wolf!

What lies ahead for The Most in 2015? 

 FRANS: Try to get cool gigs, record as much music as possible and have fun!!

Links to promote
www.facebook.com/FaceTheMost

YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuqAEcY1RIKqWbvkrg0s6Zg

The Most

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Tyred Eyes

     Hailing from the beautiful city of Göteborg, Sweden (I haven’t actually been but I’ve seen pictures and it makes me want to drop everything and move there right now!), these three lads and a lovely lady create tremendously melodic and charismatic Rock N’ Roll music that falls somewhere between a less reverb drenched Raveonettes and The Ramones. The band can excel at introspective slower numbers to urgent garage punk. It’s not often a band can pull something like that off without sounding contrived, but Tyred Eyes run it radiantly with ease and style!   

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourself and how you contribute to Tyred Eyes.

Hello. My name is Erik Toresson and I play electric bass in the rock band Tyred Eyes. I also write some of the songs. The other members are: Martin Toresson, Johanna Hellqvist and Joel Bjurbo.

Where are you all from originally and how did you all meet and decide to play music together?

Martin (who sings and play guitar) and I are from a small city in northern Sweden called Falun. It’s very cozy up there. I met Martin for the first time when I was 2 years old, cause he’s my brother. 24 years later we both ended up in Göteborg (although Martin now lives in Stockholm). We had been in bands before, but never in the same band, so we talked about starting one and we did. Johanna joined 2 years later. Last year our drummer Joel joined the band. Those two people joining are by far the most vital and important things that has happened to this band.

What’s life like for a Rock N’ Roll band in Göteborg, Sweden?  Are there a lot of other bands there to play shows with and what is the crowd like?

It’s ok! When we started the band it was easier to get shows. Or maybe it’s because the shows were a bit smaller then, and we’ve just gotten pickier about what shows we want to do nowadays. There is a great sense of community between us and some of the other bands in Göteborg; especially the bands that we share our rehearsal space with: Hunt and Killers Walk Among Us. Our musical styles differ quite a bit, so we don’t often play shows together, unfortunately. They are superb bands, I am very proud to count them as my friends.

What’s your favorite album to listen to from start to finish?

Radiohead - Ok Computer or Neil Young - On the Beach.

Do you remember your first Rock N’ Roll show?  Who did you see and what impression did it make on you?

I don’t remember any specific show from the age when I started going to concerts at the local youth center in my home city. But the first rock show that really had an impact on me is probably when I skipped school and took the train to Stockholm to see the Australian band The Datsuns. But it was more the sense of being in a real rock club in a real city, and smoking cigarettes and drinking beer next to the members of The Hellacopters, than the concert itself. Also I met Andy Bell from Ride/Oasis in the urinal. It was a big night for me because I realized that there was a very exciting world waiting for me out there. One thing that I have thought about a lot recently is that nowadays when I go to a concert I spend more time complaining that my feet hurt, rather than being excited about the band, even if it’s a concert I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. When I was younger I went totally crazy before a concert, just by the sheer fact that the band that I was there to see was about to be a couple of meters away from me in 5 minutes. That doesn’t happen anymore, and it scares me. Sometimes I do get excited though, it’s just less frequent. I saw my absolute heroes Neil Young & Crazy Horse this summer, something that I had been waiting for as long as I can remember. My most vivid memory from that show is when Neil played a song just by himself, and Ralph Molina, who plays bass, stood by the side of the stage drinking tea and chatting with the guitar tech. That’s my biggest memory from that show. What’s wrong with me??

In your opinion, what bands do people need to know and understand in order to appreciate your music more?

Broder Daniel.

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” just because I don’t think people should be ashamed by anything they really like.  With that being said, do you guys listen to anything that some of your fans would be surprised by?

My fellow band colleagues will probably hate me for revealing this... I do however agree with your statement that good music is good music, and you should never be ashamed of what you listen to. Having said that I can’t seem to outgrow a lot of the emo bands that I listened to a couple of years ago: My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Taking Back Sunday to name a few. Just for the record, I started with all the cool bands, from the second generation of emo bands, like Sunny Day Real Estate (although they might actually fit more as a first generation emo band?) and At the Drive-In.

What’s been the most unforgettable show you’ve played, good or bad and what made it so memorable?

The latest show we did. We played in Stockholm at the now closed venue Debaser Slussen. It’s probably Sweden’s most famous venue, and we played the second to last night it was open. That was a huge deal for me personally because it was the same venue as I went to when I was young (as I mentioned in a previous question). If someone had told me at age 18 that I was gonna play a show there myself in 10 years I wouldn’t have believed it.

Also it was memorable because we were fucking great that night! We played a lot of new songs from the new album for the first time and it was so much fun. We also had my very good friend Stefan with us on stage on third guitar, which really added to the sound. In my opinion we have never sounded that good before, which brings me to the sad part, and the biggest reason why it’s the most unforgettable show I’ve played. And that is that my dear friend who played with us died 2 months later, before we had time to ask him to play with us again. We did this really cool outro for the last song, where we took turns to get off stage, and it all ended with this huge wall of noise from everyone’s amplifiers. I have spent many hours daydreaming about doing that outro again with the same people, but now that will never happen. Luckily, someone filmed it, and it’s on Youtube. It breaks my heart every time I watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze4JW2TVk54

The cassette is making a raging comeback.  Do you think it’s a viable and collectable form of music or just another hipster trend that will soon go hobbling back to its dark cave of obscurity where in belongs?
Actually the first ever release that we did was a split cassette with a band from Santa Cruz called The Groggs. I never collected cassettes or made mix tapes when I was young, so I don’t really have a personal connection to that storage device. But I really like the size of it, and it seems to be a good substitute for making an expensive vinyl release. I would love to do a new cassette release for Tyred Eyes, so if there are any cassette labels out there reading this, let me know!

What does the band have in store for us in the near or not so near future?

We have just finished our second album. It will be released after the summer, and it’s called Elevator. I am very proud of this record, and can’t wait to let people hear it! I think we really gave it all this time, and now all four of us writes songs, and play different instruments, which was a lot of fun. Musically it’s quite a big step up from our previous releases, and that has always been my goal: to do different and better things for each record. The first single from the album is called Lunar Escapade, and will be released on the 16th of March. 

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