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-Paul and Tomas first met through mutual acquaintances in the music circle
in Gothenburg and played for a short period together in the band White
Negroes. We've always known each other more or less but not really ended up
in the same bond. The drummer in Gunstig Junker, Peter is a childhood friend
of Paul and they played together in different constellations during their
teenage years, Guitarist Mathias and Paul met when the band that Mathias
then played in "Violent Love" recorded in Paul's studio at the time. Paul
then started playing drums in Vegas V.I.P. where Mathias played guitar and
later Mathias and Paul played together in the band "Mother Dirt". Gunstig
Junker started as a project by Paul and he was the one who got us together.
Now you release your album Vi Mot Dom, an LP right away, are you satisfied
with it? Have you released anything physical before?
-We are damn happy with it and really look forward to as many people as
possible getting the chance to hear it. It's not easy to "get through the
noise", there are many good bands out there but we have to hope that people
find our record. It's a real "do it yourself record". Paul has taken care of
recording, mixing and producing so we are proud to have fixed so much
ourselves. No, we haven't released anything physical before, but we have
previously released a single (400 mil) and two Ep's (Gunstig Junker &
Hunger) digitally.
Who are the ones you are against?
-(Paul) The idea for the album title comes from the song "Vi mot alla" on
the album. When I first wrote the text, I thought about what it's like to
come from a working-class background, to work against the wind, to not have
it as biased as others when you grow up. A feeling of not fitting into
certain contexts. There is a power in sometimes feeling that it is "Us
against them, we against all"... It can also be about not caring what others
think about being with a certain person or how you look, to continue
fighting for what you want and believe in.
It was released on Dala Destroi Records, was it your contacts since you
released P-Nissarna there that helped?
-(Paul) Yes, it was largely due to the fact that there was a previous
contact and that Tomas was satisfied with the company.
Was it important to get the album out as a physical release and that it
would be on vinyl?
-(Paul) Maybe it's that when you get up to our age, it doesn't feel like
it's "real" if you don't let go physically. CD or vinyl feels more like it's
real, although digital releases are also quite ok, but yes, there is
something special about being able to hold something physical, read and look
at a cover.
A funny name for the group, how did this different name come about?
-(Paul) This is actually Magnus "Paddan" Rydman in Attentat's fault. When I
played drums in Attentat and Punk City Rockers (a band consisting of Jönsson,
Kruse & Rydman from Attentat & Tomas Andersson from Slobobans Undergång)
Magnus sometimes used to say something like "hey my Gunstig Junker" and the
expression stuck with me. (When you say "favorable junker" today, you say
something like "my benevolent/dear sir" in a way that is either solemn (but
outdated) or jokingly condescending, as a reaction to a young, perhaps
overconfident, man.)
You are and have been in a lot of groups and played a lot of different
instruments, here you play bass, which instrument do you enjoy the most? Do
you know how many groups you have been in or at least how many groups have
you released records with?
-(Tomas) I started as a drummer and am still childishly fond of drumming.
Became a guitarist in P-nissarna because we got a fantastic drummer (Jan
Carlsson, Calzone) so it was just to fold and learn to play the guitar.
After moving to Gbg we started a funk rock band called Overland Stage
Raiders where I first was a guitarist but went over to learning to play
bass. In Lotus I was the bass player but in the meantime I played guitar
with Skyron Orchestra, Kanon and The Nunnery. Then I became a singer in
Speedfreaks and later in On Parole. Today I play guitar and sing with Magic
Hat. I don't know how many bands I've played with but there are probably
12-13 records with different groups on Spotify.
I got the chance to write the
first review, you seemed happy with it. Is it important to have good reviews
or do you not care?
-(Tomas) It's always fun with appreciation but in the long run it's the main
thing that you yourself are satisfied and proud of the result but of course
a good review gives more listeners and that's always nice!
If you think back to all the reviews your bands have received, which is the
weirdest one you have received? -(Thomas) I played in a band called Fruitcake where
all the titles had a fruit in them, some songs were included when we changed
our name to Lotus, so a review here in Gothenburg wrote "Here dances Mr.
Cucumber"! Haha, which wasn't an uplifting review, they hadn't got it, at
the same time we got a four in Aftonbladet on the same album. I can
imagine that your audience is a bit old or how is it when you play live? -Hard
to answer because we play our first gig this Friday... :) Who
writes the songs, the lyrics in Gunstig Junker? -So
far it has been Paul who has written both lyrics and music. But everyone in
the band contributes ideas. I hope
there has never been talk of English lyrics because this should always be in
Swedish, right? -At
the moment we have no thoughts about singing in English. It's Swedish that
counts. Tell
us a little about the following songs Du är
en orm
Svartvitt fotografi Tick
tack
-(Paul) Du är en orm I wrote as a
reaction to a type of people that you can see in world politics or maybe
unfortunately meet sometimes in your own life. People who you can't really
trust, people who have a face and a moral compass outwardly but who when it
comes down to it are cowards and only think about themselves. When I
wrote Svartvitt fotografi, I thought about the loneliness that exists in our
society. How do we treat our elderly and mentally ill, how many sit alone at
home and are just forgotten? One day we kind of lock our door and never come
home again, it's thank you and goodbye. The
text Tick Tack is a general
frustration over when it's a little difficult to understand life in general,
most things seem to be up and down and time runs away from you.
Politics and music, is it "mandatory" when you play punk?
-(Tomas) I don't think that all punk has to be political, it can also be
artistically creative, experimental, exploratory. There I think maybe that
the first punkgeneration was more daring but it might be because I don ́t
really know what is going on in the different factions within today's punk,
please inform me. Tell us a little about each member, what else do you
do when you don't play music, what do you work with, other bands on the
side, previous bands and something really fun about each member? -: Paul Schöning: It's mostly music that revolves in
my head. Otherwise, it's good food and drink and being with people I like. I
work as a music teacher at the Children's Hospital in Gothenburg. Previously
sang in the metal band Pathos who were nominated for a Grammy in 2003,
played drums in Punk City Rockers and Attentat for a couple of years, GLO,
Mother Dirt and a whole bunch of other bands and constellations over the
years. Other bands I play with are Outsiders (Ramones in Swedish). Sometimes
I'm out playing as a troubadour in pubs and such. Something funny or maybe
rather tragic is that I am a slightly hypochondriac person with a certain
need for control. Ha ha! Tomas Modig: Works as a producer at Frölunda
Kulturhus, mainly arranging concerts with very different genres. In addition
to Gunstig Junker I play with Magic Hat (70's heavy metal on a trio, I sing
and play guitar, we had our premiere gig this January). The P-Nissarna are
also still there and are happy to play. Something funny might be that during
the Fruitcake time we also had clothes with fruits on, the tone controls on
my bass were replaced with fruits, we had fruit signs on stage, but on the
other hand we had vegetable-artist-names, I was then called Clarence T
Cucumber! Mathias "Senan" Sernerud: Senan is a plumber. Plays
in Sherikan and The Devil is in You- an acoustic Ghost cover band.
Previously played with Paul in the band Mother Dirt. Has also played in the
band Satisfactory (members from Sator and Stonecake). A merit is that Senan
has played tuning guitar with Janne Schaffer on the song "Halkans Affär"
live. Other merits are that one year he showered 24 times and also has a dog
named Gunther Junker. Peter "Ke" Lundberg: Works as a preschool teacher.
Also plays drums in From the Outpost. Has played drums in The Ungrateful and
in a lot of other constellations over the years. A fun memory behind the
drums is from the legendary stage at The Troubadour in Los Angeles in the
early 90s. With bloody hands, because in the middle of the set my fluid
blisters burst, built up of too thick drumsticks, I tried to get through the
gig. A voice in coarse Scanian makes itself heard between two songs: "Jääävla
sveenskarrr!!" Then you still felt a little at home. Being a little older and playing music, what is the
advantage and disadvantage? Is it as fun to play music as it was in the
beginning, what's the big difference? -(Tomas)In the past you could be in a band even if
it was a bad atmosphere, there were often several egos and so on, but today
I would never play with a band if it's not fun so I would say that it might
even be more fun today. Ten favorite records of all time? -(Tomas) Hopeless question! I listen to so many
different styles, so here I choose my ten punk favorites. 1. Dead Kennedys, Fresh fruit…. 2. Sex Pistols – Never mind the Bollocks 3. The Damned – Damned Damned Damned 4. Ramones – First 5. Vibrators – Pure Mania 6. X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolscents 7. Ruts – The Crack 8. GBH – Leather, studs, bristle and Acne 9. Discharge – Hear nothing, see nothing say
nothing, 10. The Clash – First The first record you bought or got? The album that
changed your life? Last album you bought? The album you're ashamed of? The album that makes Gunstig Junker sound like you
do? The album that always has to be on the tour bus or
before you go on stage? The album that you would have liked to have played
on? -(Tomas) when I was little it was Elvis who spun the
travel gramophone, but it was my mother's! When my mom was with me at a
record store and I got to choose for myself, it was New York Dolls In too
much too soon and Ten Years After's compilation album Im Going home. The last
purchase today was the Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet (The one with the
toilet picture on it). I'm not ashamed of any records that I have. The tour
bus?? We haven't been on tour......... yet! When it comes to how Gunstig Junker sounds, it is
probably best that Paul answers that but I would guess that it easily
becomes a mix of punk, pop and heavy metal, it feels and sounds like that
Do you buy a lot of records these days? -(Tomas) A lot of vinyl, way too much but it's
wonderful at the same time How do you listen to music yourself, is it CD,
vinyl, cassette, digital or how do you listen? - (Tomas) All variants but by far mostly on vinyl
and least on CD and cassette. I don't play music myself unfortunately but I
am just a listener, but do you usually listen to your own work or do
you only listen right after you have released it and are in the recording
phase or how is it for you? -(Tomas) I rarely listen to my own stuff, but
sometimes, it goes a little in periods. But I have to say that I like to
listen to Gunstig Junker, much more than I usually do on records I play on I
guess that's a good rating.
Is there any really good bands in Sweden that you want more people to listen
to?
-(Tomas) The Hives, Baboon Show, City Saints and Trubbel.
How else do you think it's like to live in Sweden today? What's the best and
what's the worst?
-(Tomas) Fairly free so far, but
it's hard with the brown shades that creep up on us but unfortunately it
looks the same all over Europe.
If you were given the chance to be prime minister for a month, what would
you try to change?
-(Tomas)I don't want to be prime minister!
(Paul) I would like to try to stop the dismantling of the study
associations, they are needed for music to flourish in Sweden!
What is the strangest thing that ever happened during a concert with a band
that you have been in?
-(Tomas) A guy who crawled around looking for his false teeth in front of
the stage, he finally found them!
Future plans with music?
-(Tomas) Play more....
For yourself?
-(Tomas) I'm pretty happy!
Words of wisdom?
-Live fast, die old! Something to add? -No.. |
