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Arne Wickander has just released his second book
about punk and his upbringing, a third is
underway so the trilogy will be complete. Fun
reading for those of us who were there at the
time but also for new punks.....October 2021.
Hey, Arne, tell me a little bit about yourself,
age, work, family?
-I was born in 1960. I am wage slave at a
workplace in Stockholm City. Lives just outside
the city. However, no longer in Bollmora, where
my books are set.
How did you get into punk in the first place?
-I saw the Ramones in a tv news story in 1977.
In 10 seconds, my life changed. I burned my
v-jeans and cut my long hair.
How come you started writing books, have you
always written?
-Ihave wrote
from a young age. Or tried to write rather.
There was some poem and some short story from
time to time. Stamina wasn't at its best. In my
second novel, the tenth punk, you can read about
my attempts to write. In the third book comes
even more about this. You could say that the
third book is about writing or dying.
Was it obvious that you were going to write
about punk?
- It was obvious to write about punks. What they
do, what they say and what bands they listen to.
Do you have any thoughts on a third book so we
know what's going on?
-I've come quite a long way with the third book.
It's going to be a trilogy. The third book picks
up where the second ended and slips away past
the late 80s and through the 90s. It's even more
about writing. And about even more punks doing
things without thinking before. It's a little
more fateful than the first two. Somewhere, it's
all going to end.
Is everything true in the books?
-Of course it is. Or no, maybe not quite. I fill
in the hatches and turn up the controls a
little.
Do you have any thoughts of writing other books
that are not about you, punk, etc?
-Maybe. We'll see.
This thing about you writing only small letters,
where did that thought come from, I teased
myself at it at first but you get used to it
pretty quickly?
-Punk is breaking established norms. The capital
letters are also the order of the text. You can
be without them. I like lowercase better.
The books have received good reviews most of the
time? Have you got someone really bad? Then what
was it like?
-I got a review in some book blog from a woman
who couldn't quite find her way home in the
book. She reacted with dismay to all the punks
who didn't go to school and didn't work, but did
a lot of other things instead. The book
described a long line of mischoices, she
thought. I usually spread it around in my Fb
feed sometimes. It's festive in all its
limitations.
What's the most fun thing about going around
Sweden and talking about the books?
- To meet a lot of nice people. Old punks still
playing in bands. And hear good music live,
because I usually talk and read at gigs, not in
bookstores. So if you're going to have a gig and
you want a punk writer who's a little bit
between the bands, just let me know. I'm coming
right away.
Punk is still close to your heart,, I know, do
you have any suggestions for really good new
bands that you want to say here?
-I can take the opportunity to strike a blow for
two damn good stockholm bands: DödsBabs and
Sugar Rats. Both bands played at Club Probation/Snövit
the other night when I was there reading the
book to the audience. It was a tricky read. It
can be a challenge to read to punk audiences.
Everybody's drunk. Everybody's talking, nobody's
listening. One last resort is to roar if
anyone's read Bukowski. Then people usually
react.
Five favorite albums all time, five best
concerts you've been to?
-Five fave records: Never Mind The Bollocks, Raw
Power, Ramones Leave Home, Damned's first and
Saints second.
Gigs are worse. Memory fails. But I'll give it a
try: SLF at Göta Lejon in Sthlm 1980, 999 at
Gröna Lund 1978, UK Subs at Underground in Sthlm
type 1981, Ramones all the times I've seen them
and just to squeeze in something from recent
years too: Sune Studs and Shit Kids reunion gig
at Club Probation/Snövit 2019.
That both me and you got up to age, is that any
obstacle to calling yourself a punk or listening
to punk do you think (I probably thought it was
worse maybe when I was
40 and people questioned it)?
-I don't think punk is about age. It's about
attitude, will and mood.
I myself remember when my dad said in 1976/77
when Pistols were played on the radio, damn----
idiots, you are going to grow out of this soon?
What did your parents say about you becoming a
punk?
-My parents didn't like punk. They had a hard
time understanding what it was like growing up
in a suburb in the '70s. How could they get
that? They were teenagers in the '30s. In the
unlikely have been that they liked punk, I would
probably have quit, but luckily they reacted
with dismay and strong moral indignation.
Back then, it was almost enough to cut your hair
short or put a safety pin on your jacket for
people to be shocked. How should a young
guy/girl today going to shock his parents
(because that's what we wanted a little bit)?
-I see teenagers at the bus stop sometimes. They
stand there with their new nice clothes and
their chalky white sneakers and take photos of
themselves. They seem to be part of a
competition to be the cleanest and best looking.
The word rebellion is not in their vocabulary.
They don't want to shock anyone. They just want
a few more likes at Insta. Our rebellion was the
last. Now it's stone dead.
What does punk mean to you, is it just a word or
is it a lifestyle? How has your view of punk
changed over the years?
-For me, it's a way of life. Now more than ever,
maybe. I feel much the same as I felt when I saw
the Ramones on tv in 1977 and my dad recoiled on
the tv couch. Either you get it or you don't get
it. And if you don't get it, you're going to
grow up.
There is some thing that punk was more political
in Gothenburg than in Stockholm at the beginning
of punk in Sweden, is that right?
-You only have to compare Göteborg Sounds and
Rude Kids songs about Björn Borg to realize that
it's actually true. Gothenburg is a working
class. Sthlm is a mixed compote. There were
pronounced political bands in Sthlm too. Ebba
Grön, for example, but in Gothenburg all bands
were political. How m
How much to you have to sell for your projects
to add up?
- The first book has almost come together. I've
sold 900 ex out of 1,000. But now I gave out
another one, so now I'm at minus again.
What else do you think about living in Sweden
today, politically, SD-M+KD? Shootings etc etc?
-Politics is for people who think they have all
the answers. I don't have any answers. I stay
out of politics. I don't give a damn about the
shootings.
Politics and music are they connected? Do you
think it's important to get opinions out in
music?
-It's important to write good texts, but for me
it has nothing to do with politics. A punk lyric
should start with your own reality. It should be
self-perceived. No political pointers, please. I
like Dee Dee's lyrics.
Which is the best political artist/band?
-I don't know, I don't know. I don't judge
artists and bands from a political point of
view. But of course there have been political
bands that I like: Crass, Conflict and Cop
Slaughter, for example.
Before punk came 76/77, I listened to a lot of
Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, New York Dolls,
Nationalteatern, Motvind, etc. What did you
listen to before punk and is there anything you
can come back to today?
-Alice Cooper and Dolls here, too. Sweet, Slade,
Blue Öyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, T.Rex. There was a
lot of good rock made in the '70s. Livet är en
fest with Nationalteatern is being the best
Swedish rock album. The lyrics are punk. They
contain events, not political theory. I listen
more and more to '70s rock these days.
What's the weirdest thing that no one thinks
you'd listen to that you listen to and like?
- Hell, I know that, but I listen to industrial
rock a lot. Throbbing Gristle, Metabolist and
such dodgy stuff. Chrome and Residents. But it's
not uncommon for punks to listen to that kind of
things.
Future plans with writing?
- Finish writing and publish the third part of
the trilogy.
Future plans with your life otherwise?
- To stop wage slavery and have more time for
other things.
Words of wisdom?
-Don't sit and think, just get started. There's
nothing to wait for.
Anything to add?
- I could take the opportunity to mention a
little about my other projects. Me and the
publisher Renegade Publishing published a
collection of poems with the main character in
my new novel, a guy called Nilz Pilzner. It's
called Om man ändå kunde få ut skiten ur huvet.
Then me and two other people started the record
label Bollmora Rekords. We're going to release
records with bands that appear in my books. Old
recordings that have been left lying around.
We're releasing a single with the Bollmora band
Brain Scan later this fall.
Favourite author?
-Charles Bukowski.
Five books you have to read?
- Postverket and En snuskgubbes
anteckningar by Charles Bukowski. Resa
till nattens ände and Död på krita by
Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Den nakna lunchen
by William Burroughs.
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