Ragnar from the group Crash Nomada writes that this interview fell between the chairs as he expresses it but now it is here in any case. Mars 2019

A little story about the group? Why did it take so long between the records?

Sara: It is a huge project to make such an ambitious and elaborate record.

Ragnar : This time we wanted to make a record in the traditional way with producer, much preparation and recording live in the studio. And it has taken time, we have had over 40 songs for five years, of which 10 were selected for the album.

John: The recording itself took only three days, we put everything live in the studio.

Tell me a little about each member, band before and band on the side?

My name is Sara Edin, playing the violin, and I am a freelance musician since the 1990s. Played with ... many! Right now I'm a member of another band, black cabaret, Lindy & Bon Bon Band.

My name is Ragnar and I started playing in punk bands in the early nineties. After playing with different bands and as a street musician. Has primarily played with the gang of Crash Nomada since 2003.

My name is John, I was from the start in 2003, then it sounded different, it was fun but we are better now.

I can hear a lot of folk music and gypsypunk etc, I hear right? But I think you have a lot of straight punk songs now too?

Ragnar: Yeah, right. We have always liked to mix styles and intensity, some songs become more purely folk, and some songs may be a bit louder and punky but still with acoustic instruments.

Sara: It's always best to play right now. "Formerly" is just a memory and the future is a fantasy.

Crash Nomada, are you satisfied with the name? If not the best band name had been taken, what name did you choose then? I mean which is the best band name?

Ragnar: Yes we are. What we think is good about our band name is that it works in many languages ​​and even though it doesn't really mean anything hopefully, it still gives a hint of the music in some way. Crash as something intense and explosive and Nomada as a mixture of nomad and armada, something nomadic and moving but also a bit nautical pirate.

What is the best thing about playing live?

Sara: That it happens right there and then, we are all together, the band and the audience, and connect our brain waves in the music.

Where is best to play, where is the worst?

Sara: Anywhere where the sound is good and the audience is involved, it´ss good to play.

How would you describe your music with three words ?

Ragnar: Intensive, dancing and hopefully interesting.

What does punk mean to you, is it just a word or is it a lifestyle?

Sara: An attitude of independence, freedom and energy.

Ragnar: For me it is basically about quick and messy music that touches and is engaged. I cannot cope with the concept of lifestyle.

How do you think it is to live in Sweden today, politically? SD KD M?

Ragnar: From a global perspective, it is great to live in Sweden politically. We have democracy and freedom of expression. Then, of course, right-wing populism is worrying.

Do you play anything outside Sweden?

Yes we usually play a lot abroad, mainly in England but also other countries in Europe.

Your lyrics, what are you influenced by? Never in a language other than Swedish?

Ragnar: We wrote some in English before and even sang a bit in Spanish and German sometimes. But on the new record is the Swedish one that applies. On the new record, I wanted to tell stories a lot more than before. Stories that are rooted in the present, but can still be historical. Many of the texts are about Europe and the world, but also about historical people, mythology and religion. For example, in the song Mälaren, I sing about the lake and the place and what it means to me, but the song is also about travel, migration and Vikings.

Politics and music, does it always belong together? Which is your most political song?

Ragnar: I usually avoid the word politics in music context even though I understand that it is often used in a positive sense. It's just words really, but I prefer to say that we are socially engaged. Art can never be politics, the political should become more artistic, but not make us artists to politicians. Then you often get a slogan of ideological and poster politics. I have wanted to tell stories that are really, almost journalistic, on this album, and for me they tell the stories themselves much more about society and the world than political slogans or empty positions on social networks. Our most political song is probably the song Det här är ditt liv on our most recent album. Just because it is against the contemporary identity policy craze for politicizing and applying an ideological raster to life. If life and music are to be reduced in locked ideological explanatory models, we lose magic and creativity.

Best political band/artist?

Sara: Maybe Victor Jara, who was murdered by the junta in Chile in 1973.

Ragnar: Yes, precisely to the extent that the concept of politics in connection with music is positive for me, it is with such heroes who have fought against eg oppressor regimes.

Do you think music can change someone's life, then I mean lyrics etc?

Ragnar: Absolutely. Otherwise, we would not devote ourselves to it as a species, from a strictly evolutionary and scientific perspective. Historically, during most of homo sapien's time on earth, music / singing / dance in ritual form has been totally integrated into our existence and throughout the cosmology of our survival. And thus been a powerful factor for change, development and meaning creation.

Your cover is really cool on your CD, who did it? Is it important to have a cover that you understand what type of music you play? What are your favorite cover at all times?

Ragnar: Cool that you like the cover, thank you. It is based on a photograph of the photographer Attila Urban, whose is drummer in the band, Toro, has departed from and designed the entire cover around. If you look closely you will find elements and themes from all the songs on the disc in the symbols and graphics throughout the cover.

Is it important to get physical records? Vinyl or CD or both?

Ragnar: Yes absolutely, both  Partly because we are, of course, vinyl and CD-crackers. But even if you are not and only listen over the internet, I still think that a physical entity is needed for a release to feel real.

You have no lyrics on your CD .... why not? What are the songs Bomullskrona and Stenålderssjäl about?

Ragnar: It's actually something we regret a little. When we designed the cover, we thought about it but put that idea down. Now that the album is released, we have noticed that there has been a great demand for reading the lyrics and many have appreciated them, which is great fun. We have posted them on the website anyway. Stenålderssjäl is a civilization critical song. It is doubtful that our history over the past ten thousand years, what is called civilization, has actually been so good for us or the planet. The transition from living for hundreds of thousands of years as nomadic collectors and hunters to becoming permanent residents has in most respects led to disaster. But not only materially, but I also believe that we have lost the connection to something fundamental within us. The song Stenålderssjäl is about this within the framework of a three-minute rocksong. Where is the progress of all so-called civilization and information if it usually leads to oppression and fake news? But beyond the extremes of religious fundamentalism on the one hand, and on the other hand, secular consumption stupidity, I believe we can all relate to an ancient spiritual awareness we carry with us. The word spiritual is perhaps not optimal and not the word soul either, but they work in a lack of other words. We can create something of nothing, in friendship, in meeting with others and in the music for example. Not much more is needed. Bomullskrona is a cover of the song Cotton Crown by the band Sonic Youth, with Swedish translation of the text. That text is quite mysterious and suggestive. It can be about different things and that is what I like about it, its multifaceted skew of mysticism, religion, intoxication, love and underground culture.

How does your audience look? Which type of people? Are you missing some types of people? I can imagine that it's pretty mixed?

Ragnar: Our audience is very broad, which we are incredibly happy about. One gets lucky to see that mix of people coming on our gig. There are people from the punk / hc / rock scene, but also the hippie / reggae scene and of course everyone from the folk and world music scene. And not to forget, the genre ordinary people like type like to go out and take a beer and listen to good music live. From an age perspective, it is everything from young people to senior citizens. We may miss urban hipsters in the audience, but they can we be without.

Please rank five favorite records, five favorite concerts?

I will try to mix genres a bit among everything I listen to right now ... favorite records forever is so difficult .... my favorite records / artists right now in early 2019: Marianne Faithfull's new, Sleaford Mods latest, then I have just come across some classic on vinyl, Why with Discharge, Juju with Siouxie Sioux, and a nice collection record with Greek rembetik music.

Is it boring with interviews?

Ragnar: It's fun, email interviews take time but then you can formulate yourself fairly. Live broadcasting can be a little more stressful and become stiff.

Is music a great way to get out frustration and become a nicer person? Are you angrier today than you were younger?

Sara: Yes. I am incredibly much nicer and happier today than when I was younger because I have played several thousand concerts since then.

Ragnar: Yes, music is a good way to create a meaningful existence. If you have it then you become a better person. Being angry can also be good and meaningful, especially if it is channeled musically. For me, John Lydon sang "anger is an energy ..." on some PIL record. But it is dangerous if anger becomes a condition rather than an energy.

What is the weirdest question you got in an interview?

Ragnar: I was interviewed after a gig in Holland a long time ago when they asked if I shaved the armpits. I replied that I just shave the left.

Sara: It was with another band, a duo I had with a friend, in a radio interview: "How come you are girls?" I replied: "We were born like that"

Future plans for the band?

Ragnar: Play a little live, make new songs ... Maybe a little dancier and not so much lyrics  this time we'll see.