The Hymans are back or rather they're back with
a new record. I've always liked the group but
didn't get my thumbs out and interview the
group. But here I took the chance when their new
album Hymanization arrived in September 2022.
ALL PHOTOS: HASSE ESSELÖV
You´ve started playing again or have you been
playing the time?
-We've been doing it all the time, had gigs all
the years between 1984 to date.
Have there been many member changes and tell us
a little bit about each member right now, age,
family, work and band in the past and on the
side?
-Many and many, if you've been doing it for many
years, things happen ha ha.
First bassist Hazzle who co-founded the band
with me and Matte. Then I played guitar and
sang, Hazzle bass and vocals and Matte on drums
Then in 1987 HAzzle dropped out and Kempa got
into bass and vocals.
In 1992, Bempa came on guitar and I had to
devote myself to just the singing.
In 1995, Pelkle jumped in as drummer instead of
Matte at a gig in Holland. But it was just a
gig.
In 1998 in early spring Matte dropped out after
a gig in Lidköping, in came Danne on drums but
he was only with him for a few months then Pelle
came along and already the same autumn we then
recorded Chairmen of the bored with Pelle on
drums.
In 1999, Bempa dropped out after a gig at Nalen
in Stockholm and I got to start play guitar
again. In 2000, Pelle jumped and moved to Oslo
and Matte joined again.
In 2002 ish, Bempa came along again on guitar
then he was with him some year before he dropped
out again and in came then an old friend who
played solo and made some song appearances at
various local gigs with, Guran became the man
with the guran(guitar).
Since then, we've been the same combo, for quite
some time in other words.
Mike, Math, Kempa and Guran.
What strikes me when I listen to the new album
Hymanization is that you guys run a little
different styles and it's nice pop punk like in
Falling, almost a little bit of horrorpunk in
Zombie Love etc etc but all with an emphasis on
punk, is it because new ones are different
songwriters or how does it become like this?
-I've written like 7 of the songs basically,
Kempa a couple (Zombie love and Don't you forget
about me), Guran one (Falling) and Matte one (I
won't change) so it's been a little different
setup. Matte has historically come up with basic
ideas that we then put together in the
rehersalroom. Of course, it has been the same
now but as I said now it is I who have come up
with the most basic ideas. One period when Matte
was gone, Kempa and I did a lot of songs, that's
when Hybrids came into being in 2000. We have
just released it on Spotify under our own
auspices after it was previously only released
on a site called mp3.com in the early 2000s.
Think there were 10 sold there so that channel
was nothing to have. But the songs are so good
that they just have to get out and now they're
out finally. So much Hymans it has become
lately. The fact that Hymanization has become
what it has become is largely due to the long
time it has taken to get the songs out. Still
think they're clearly Hymansy and naturally fall
into the song family.
You release the new album in only 150 copies.
why so modest? Will you print more if needed or
is it just this limited edition?
-It will be released in 150 copies on CD then
300 copies on fat 180 g Agent orange colored
vinyl with inlay and everything, it will be the
real release on Hymanization later this fall. Of
course, also on the DDR, the world's easily best
record label.
There are some compilations that you guys made,
are there single songs etc on them?
-If you mean our own collections Erare Hymanum
est and A Hyman World then there are no single
songs on them just kind of greatest hits.
What do you think is the difference with playing
today compared to when you first started playing
as Hymans?
-Ha ha we are older and dumber.
Reviews is that something you read? What's the
weirdest you guys ever got?
-Oh yes of course you read all the reviews you
access but quite honestly I don't remember any
real weird. There are probably some who wrote us
down and things like and that are weird.
Tell us a little about the following songs
-Fade out sell out Oh to describe a
feeling in words, I wrote the lyrics and did the
melody a few years ago and then we finished it
in the rehearsalroom. What it is about is
superfluous to describe. Worldly problems.
Zombie Love Kempa's song, the lyrics say
it all ha ha.
9 hrs I wrote the lyrics and kind of the
whole song the night between February 26-27,
2016 to a very special woman.
You do Solitary Man in a fantastic version, who
do you think has done the best version of this
song besides you then of course?
-Johnny Cash of course. But the original with
Neil Diamond isn't too bad either.
Do you do a lot of covers otherwise on stage?
-No, there's usually a maximum of a couple per
set these days. We have so much good songs that
everything else is superfluous.
The Ramones have meant a lot, I understand,
other punk groups that mean and have meant a lot
to you?
-In the beginning, the Ramones, Heartbreakers
(Johnny Thunders), The Leather Nun, Stooges,
Pistols, Hoodoo Gurus, Hanoi Rocks, Smack, Kiss
and other 70-80's music were what influenced.
Nowadays, to be completely honest, not many
people give me anything, It would be Foo
Fighters and Queens of the stoneage but they
don't do anything good anymore, so nothing is
probably the right answer for me. What the
others have for influences nowadays I don't
know, we make songs we think are good. Making my
own new music is what drives me,
Are there any new good groups in Sweden that you
want to share with us, even old groups that
continue to play as you like?
-There are a lot of good bands of course, but I
don't know anything that stands out. Old ones
who go ahead and do well are well too but no one
mentioned no one forgotten.
What's the biggest band you've ever played with?
-Oh don't know, no big band has dared to play
with us as a unit. But we've played a lot of
great bands over the years. fuck 38 years, a
long time not many people have been playing so
long. One of the biggest we've played with has
to be The Past,
If you could choose five bands, any, both living
and dead to have a concert with Hymans where you
were the main act, which ones would you like to
have as the opening act then?
-Wow, of course Ramones, Stooges, Sex Pistols,
Nirvana, Hoodoo Gurus and Hanoi Rocks
Now there have just been elections in Sweden...
what to say about it? Or is politics something
you don't want to mix into your music?
-We've even done a political song on the last
album, These Lines, it depicts the world today a
dystopian song about all the fucking madness we
surround ourselves with today. The election is a
frightening reflection of what is happening
today. Tinfoil hats and people who think they
know how society should be governed. Contempt
for politicians and no source criticism give
room for unpleasant hesitant views, to say the
least. That it looks the way it does is
something we couldn't even have imagined 10
years ago. What is strange is that the brown
shirts have a fifth of all voters but you rarely
see anyone openly standing by their opinion. But
of course you have shit yourself, you don't
chant it out openly. Brown is brown and poop is
brown after all. It happened quickly as the girl
said. I'm hot-headed and quickly roar up if
there's something I get teased about but there's
no point in chanting it too much in Music. These
Lines if we go back to it may sort of be enough
to portray the world's problems, the rest of our
songs are contemporary prose for worldly
problems.
I love beer and maybe so do you also maybe.
Favorite style and you don't have like many
other bands any thoughts of your own beer? What
would it be called then?
-We've already had our own beer, so it's old
already. It was called 1-2-BEER-4 and was
released in a limited edition in Mariehamn on
Åland before a gig we had there at Dinos.
Favorite beer is difficult and depends on
occasion, a swine bitter IPA in small volumes or
a New England IPA even that in small quantities.
If you are going to drink more, it is ordinary
Czech beer that applies to me. Kempa works at
Spendrups so he drinks mostly soft drinks. Matte
loves women's perfume and Guran drinks mash.
What does punk mean to you, what is the
difference in your view of punk compared to say
30 years back?
-Punk means good people the most these days. It
used to be the awakening that there was
something hitting you directly in the solar
plexus so you lost your breath, An associated
fact that you could connect with like-minded
people everywhere and that you were someone. The
DIY or do it yourself thing has always been me
whether it's about music or fly fishing which is
my big passion. I can only speak for myself here
of course but we've found each other in punk so
it's punk's fault that Hymans exists.
What kind of audience do you have? Are there any
varieties that you are missing?
-At home in Ludvika, it draws ordinary people,
very ordinary people. People who want to party
and have fun, that's the best crowd. Lacking an
audience filled with Hymanoids in ecstasy.
Is it important to get physical records out, do
you think?
-Absolutely, it's the diploma for having
finished something.
Do you buy a lot of records yourself, are you a
collector? What is the most expensive record you
have?
-I sold all my 1200-plus records last fall.
Singles and LPs etc that I have collected since
the 70's, mostly punk and of course a lot of
rarities. I have all my life collected music and
wanted good music on record but then Spotify
came etc and a friend started selling his
collection of similar music. Then I started
thinking and then I asked a friend who has a
music store if he wanted to buy my records. Of
course he said we can see you this weekend and a
few days later every single album, except
Hyman's and all the releases on Frank Records,
that I started sold.
The others also have collections but not as big
as the one I had, I am or at least was a
collector. After the sale of the record
collection, I have stopped collecting. It's nice
actually and almost all music is on Spotify or
Youtube..
Just releasing music digitally, is that
something for you guys? Do you feel like you
would have even released an album/record if
you're only released on say Spotify?
-It's ok to release on digital platforms, but
since you're born in the golden era of the vinyl
age, the ultimate thing is to release
physically. It's just like that. Releasing
digitally is not the same thing at all. More
like a demo that many can listen to. But if you
have made a good recording, it is ok of course.
That's just how I feel, physically being real
somehow. Just digital is like pretending to eat
and think you shouldn't starve to death.
What's the best thing about playing live?
To be able to play your own songs and see the
audience's reactions.
Please rank your five favorite records, your
five favorite concerts? The most embarrassing
record in your collection?
-Records: 1. Ramones – Rocket to Russia, 2.
Ramones – Road to ruin, 3. Stooges – Raw Power,
4. Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, 5.
Kiss - Hotter than hell Concerts: 1. Thunders
live in Nås 1984, 2. Supersuckers live 1992 at
Gino, 3. Nirvana Roskilde 1992, 4. Ramones – Ny
Våg Gothenburg 1990, 5. Hymans live Dalarocken
1994
Most embarrassing record in my collection, there
is none anymore.
Is there be a lot of interviews, is it boring?
-It's a blast with interviews but there won't be
that many.
What is the most common and boring question?
-Don't know
Words of wisdom?
-Play fast'n loud be Hyman proud!
Future plans for the band?
-We're going to go on and we're going to play
more gigs and do more new songs.
For yourself?
-It is written in the stars....
Anything to add?
-Buy our new album and buy it later in LP
version and you will soon hear more Hymans. We
will release more on streaming services such as
Spotify, Youtube etc in the near future. Hymans
is forever for real!