Dream Police is a Danish band which have been in
the punkscene since 1978 and then with the
frontman Johnny Concrete all the time. Here he
answers a lot of questions from me in June 2023
It was a really long time since I last
interviewed you, what have happened to the band
from the 80´s until now? Have you been playing
all the time?
-The 1990´s were a low point for Dream
Police...we didn´t play at all. That changed
when I arranged the the Pære Punk 25 festival in
2003...DP have played on and off since, mostly
on.....
Are you the only original member?
-Yep, I´m the only original member. Svend
Mortensen, the first DP bassist, died in 2018;
in 2020 just before the gig that spawned the
"Face Reality" live album our bassplayer Mikkel
also died, only 49. DP are a dangerous place for
bassists, apparently.
You are a drummer too but in Dream police you
only sing or? Do you have been in any other
bands?
-I´m the singer of DP but used to play drums for
Deformed! (1981-82). Recordings from that
period, "...what never was..." was released on
vinyl last year.
How is the punkscene living on in Denmark right
now?
-There is a scene in Aarhus and Köpenhamn, too.
Occasionally I check out the locals but not that
often.
I understand that it have been up and downs in
your musiclife, when was the punk as lowest down
for your band?
-1990´s and within the last 5 years the deaths
of 2 (former) members, too.
I hear on the Live-Lp that you have a lot of old
influences as Mc5 and Stooges for example and
many of your own songs have that style too…which
are your favorites from the past?
- Apart from The Stooges and MC5 I´ve always
held The Dictators in high regard. British
bands like Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Lurkers,
Wire and Slaughter & The Dogs also had huge
influences on DP in our formative
years....Johnny Moped and Suburban Studs,
too....
No Aarhus is it your own label? The Paere Punk
40 , is it both old and new recordings or how
is?
- Yep, No Aarhus Records is my label, of course
with help from good friends regarding the art &
cover department, mixing and mastering. The Pære
Punk 40. Festival should have been live recorded
but due to stupidity wasn´t. Instead all
the bands (minus Ruts DC) contributed studio
recordings that aren´t available elsewhere.
What does punk mean to you , is it only music or
is it a life style? How have your thought about
punk changed through all the years you have been
in the movement?
- These days I´m mostly in it for the fun, free
beer and the rock & roll. There was a time, a
long time, when the teenage angst aspect was a
dominant factor of my life. For me the punk
thing has always been a 2-part thing.....being
part of a scene, a movement, trying, perhaps
naively to change the ways of the world.....the
other and most IMPORTANT part, being ME sharing
thru my lyrics my thoughts to anyone who
cared/listened/agreed/objected..
Is there any good punkbands around in Denmark
right now?
- There probably are... most in my humble (sic)
are pretty uninteresting...You don´t have to
reinvent the wheel but I´d like todays bands to
be more inventive, exploring, in yer
face.....many, too many, Danish bands aren´t....heh...
Do you have any Swedish favorites?
- Oh, yes, from Made In Sweden, Solar Plexus,
Kebnekaise and Contact in the 1970´s to punk
bands like Huvudtvätt, KSMB, Asta Kask and more
recent bands like Sollefteå´s Dogbreath,
Militante Jazzmusiker and Witchcraft, not
forgetting Union Carbide Productions, Leather
Nun and In The Colonnades. Many MANY great
Swedish bands.
Have you been here and played anytime?
- Nope, never been hinsidan to play. We did a
short tour of NW Germany and Holland in 1987.
Is it many interviews nowadays and have it been
a lot of interviews through the times?
- Hehe, I think most fanzine found me and my
band boring (or perhaps not political enough) so
no, can´t say I was an interviewer´s favourite.
Cheap Trick, did they named their LP after your
bands name?
😉
How did the name came up? Which is your
favoritbandname alltime?
- We found out that Cheap Trick were about to
release an album called "Dream Police" so we
rush recorded a song called "Cheap Trick" in
1979. Two of my favourite band names are Stolen
Bikes Ride Faster and Zombies Ate My
Neighbors....The Dream Police name came up after
I saw it in a rock encyclopedia....a Glaswegian
band that morphed into The Sensational Alex
Harvey Band.....also the title of a Harry
Harrison SF novel.
Could you feel that you have released a record
if you only put it out digitally?
- I´m old school so I´d like to put out
vinyl...CD´s are OK...but preferably vinyl.
Still you have to go wit the times so the No
Aarhus catalogue is also available on Spotify
etc.
Do you buy much records yourself? Do you have
any recordstore left in your hometown?
- I´m not collecting much these days but buy the
odd record now again....in Aarhus there are 5-6
record shops. Pretty decent.
You have done some covers through the times on
your LP, favoritecovers to do?
- I´ve always loved to do Wire´s "Lowdown" off
their "Pink Flag" album. After 40+ years I think
we´ve made the song our own.
Which is your personal Dream Police favoritesong
and which is the audiences choice?
- My DP favourites are "Brainchild" (1986) ,
"Black Cat" and "Rudolf Hess" (1987). Audiences
expect us to play "Johnny, Johnny" and "Jeg ved,
hvor du er" from our early days.
Which is the album which was the first you ever
bought? And the last one?
- The first 7" i bought was a Doors single, the
first album "Sea Wolf" by Norwegian band Titanic
in 1972. The last I bought is the Swedish
version of Solar Plexus´ first. I´ve had the
English version for many many years.
How is it to live in Denmark right now,
political, bad economy, racist etc?
- I´m not that thrilled with the government and
gangs who think they rule but, as you probably
know from Sweden, they rule absolutely nowt .
If you have the chance to rule Denmark for a
week, which have been the first thing you have
been changed?
- Remove Lasse Rimmer from all the TV programmes
he´s pestering me/us with on a daily
basis....maybe get him deported.... .to Sweden,
perhaps, if you will take him!
Do you think that politics should be in music?
Which is your most political song?
- Yes, indeed....some times I wish I had written
more political lyrics back in the day but would
they have stood the test of time ? I wrote about
what concerned ME (at the time)...teenage angst,
again. "Skating on thin ice" and "Demise"
comes to mind and Deformed!´s "Our Time".
Best political band/artist?
- Too many comes to mind but definitely Billy
Bragg....and The ( Newtown )
Neurotics....political and very very funny at
the same time....does anybody know where the
march is ? Heh
You sing mostly in English, why don´t more in
Danish? Is it easier to write songs in English?
- Singing in English have always felt natural to
me...After the first of many DP split ups (in
1979) my next band The Clochards mostly did
songs in Danish.
Do you have any new songs on it´s way?
- Yes, a song called "Amanda Is (Redhaired And
Fat)" is on the drawing board.
Future plans for Dream Police?
- Maybe a renewed vinyl project with TømrerClaus
and some live jobs.
For your self?
- Four years left before I join the OAP ranks..
I do beer myself and I really like beer. You
haven´t any thoughts of doing a Dream Police
beer, if you do it what have it been called and
which type of beer would it have been?
- Beer is good, a lot of beer is very good"
(Steen Thomsen)
Wisdomword?
- Squirrels don´t like rocks
Something to add?
-Keep up the good work, Peter