Kränkt & Sänkt is a relatively new band from
Gothenburg and their punk appeals to me a lot.
Got two records from the group and you should
clearly have to check them out.
February 2019
A little story about the group?
Putte: When I moved to Gothenburg in 2012, I
posted a contact person on Bandfinder, and
shortly thereafter I got in touch with three
people, one of whom is our current and also
original drummer Grinis. Together we formed Hate
Your Self. At first, I thought to combine
singing and bass, but nothing went wrong when my
vocal were as fragile as autumn leaves. We
changed the repository from the mold bunker at
Redbergsplatsen to a sweaty /Axe smelling room
at Lindholmen, and that was where we met our
vocalist Christian, aka Direktörn. He fit in
right away. From there we combined the majority
to our only EP, "Please buy this record, we
could really use the money" (available on
Spotify) under the name Bitter. After that
repository, we moved to Sensus, more centrally
located at Götaälv Bridge, and there left two of
the first members for various reasons. There and
then, Kränkt & Sänkt was formed, in which we had
the ambition to run Beat Butchers punk in
Swedisha.
And after that Gobben joined on "Dansar du för
nachos" and Kim on "Trött på trall" och allt
föll på plats.
The chemistry here is odd, but damn beautiful.
Tell us a little about each member, age, job,
family, band before and band on the side of
Kränkt & Sänkt?
Ch: Christian, also unknown as Director, 33
years. Works at Volvo here in Gothenburg, firmly
in offices and with his own company. Pure random
and pure luck that it was possible to do so, but
therefor the nickname. Wife and bonus children
with one more on the way, live here in the
Gothenburg archipelago (Hisingen). Has
previously participated in starting Baruk
Khazad, melodic death metal from Luleå, and has
a semi-live project that has been going on and
off for 20 years called A-Lagers (our "good"
discs are on Spotify, our inferiors have Grinis
reviewed as " , I have still been able to get
through the whole Onkel Kånkel records, but
these are not going at all").
Putte: In addition to playing in Hate Your Self,
Bitter and the Rammstein cover band Ramma Sten,
and that I am slightly retired and boring, I
intend to be so boring and not share any other
private information. For the simple reason that
it does not concern anyone other than my family
and friends.
Gobben, 32 years, great at pretending to play
bass. Played in a band when I was 12 called
Hardboiled, then it became a break until 2 years
ago when I was asked to play with these boys.
Grinis, born 86, married, worker and ninja in
the spare time, has lined up with Yellow Melon,
Fade Out and Bitter. The last band together with
Direktör´n and Redaktör´n.
Kim: 32 years. Started playing guitar about 4
years ago and a year ago I started to play with
K&S through Gobben who asked if I wanted to
test.
And I do not regret it!
I think I hear both KSMB, trallpunk and tougher
punk, I hear right? Was it better back in time?
Ch: Much was better before, but much was also
much worse. I personally come from having grown
up with the second wave of trallpunk in the
early nineties, but also Red Hot Chili Peppers
from very early and much death metal and
grindcore from the age of 20. But since I never
learned to play the guitar properly, it became
punk that won when I started using instruments
in a band.
Putte: The only thing I search with songwriting
is sadness with a lot of energy. References
where Bad Religion - Better Off Dead, SNFU -
Painful Reminder, AFI - God Called In Sick
Today, Hot Water Music - I Was On A Mountain,
From Ashes Rise - On The Fray, Victims - Your
Division and Twin Pigs - Heart Emoji.
Ch: A good example of that it was quite similar
before and neither better nor worse is that if
you replace a few names only, then you can get
lots of KSMB songs to seem like they are written
today. De Lyckliga Kompisarna - Le som en
fotomodell is also terrible as a reminder that
we have not moved from the spot as a society in
almost 30 years.
Kränkt & Sänkt, What is the best thing about
playing live?
Putte: The energy that explodes within one.
Already after the first chord, you live, I
think, out a hidden side of yourself that is
bursting with passion. Live music brings out the
best of a man. Lastkaj 14 describes it well in
Overkligheten.
Ch: Even if the audience is involved. We have
had a gig where we might not really fit in the
context so then I sat down on the stage to show
those who were there how much more sad it is if
it is without energy. Playing live and going to
a concert is like being in a relationship, you
must both give and take. We have to set the bar
and then if it is not matched from the outside,
whether it is just a couple of fools or full
hall, then we become more boring too.
Kim: The adrenaline rush you get is sick. Then
it is with the band hanging on to all the nice
people you get to meet.
Ch: Yes, yes. To hang out with each other too.
It is actually one of the best things you can
do, of course, so you might have to mention
that.
Where is best to play, where is the worst?
Putte: The best place so far for us I would say
be the Southside Pub in Stockholm. Intimate
local and easy people to deal with. Had a topgig
there with Käftsmäll and ApanJapan. We haven't
experienced the worst place yet, but I've heard
that Medusa Bar in Stockholm is a nightmare.
Ch: It was a bit odd to play in front of a pair
of shuffleboard tables on a very small scene in
Gävle, but on the other hand we had to borrow
stuff from Krymplings to play on, so as Putte
says so we probably haven't experienced our
worst yet. We are happy wherever we may bring
our noise.
Kim: The best place was Southside, was full race
together with ApanJapan and Jaw. Really nice
guys and awesome bands! Didn't really have the
worst place yet.
How is it to play this kind of punk in Sweden
today?
Ch: It's probably pretty good, it lives and
thrives. You usually say that the only thing
Reagan did well was that he created an
environment where a lot of punk bands were
formed, and with SD, Trump and a very strong
right wing on the way in, it is a bit the same
now. New bands are formed and old bands are
reunited or restarted in new constellations.
How would you describe your music with three
words ?
Ch: Angry but happy.
What does punk mean to you, is it just a word or
is it a lifestyle?
Putte: Punk for me is about including people,
being able to see beyond themselves. There is no
one who wins in the long run to be a racist,
sexist pig who goes over corpses.
Ch: It's a bit like the Phantom(Fantomen), kind
to the kind and hard against those who think
they are the hard ones. It is an attitude of
wanting to hit up but never down. It can be punk
to stand in jeans vest and drink folk beer as a
party in a staircase, but it is not punk to
drink until you puke and plays really high music
so that you frighten seniors. Make revolt where
it matters. The person who gets to dry up after
you piss on the floor of the school, throws
beercans everywhere in the city or goes in and
pays fine with only crowns is probably not the
one you were angry with from the beginning but
someone who just wants to make a living for a
decent life and that may take much more shit
than it deserves. Then it is of course damn fun
sometimes to just be all in if the place allows
it, but under forms where no innocent is
affected.
How do you see on download, mp3 and the like?
Putte: The song library I sit on had not been
possible if it had not been for all obscure
torrent sites, where so very good punk music
from different countries exist. It was at Kazaa,
for example, that I found Japan's counterpart to
Misfits: Balzac. The album Deep - Teenagers from
Outer Space is absolutely brilliant. Downloading
is a great tool for spreading. For my part you
can download our music how much you want.
Kim: I just play digital music myself. So I like
it. But understand if you collect vinyl / cd.
The music is the best!
Ch: Same here, the video store in town at home
sold records as well, but it was not a
particularly wide range. A little Sator, AC / DC
and maybe some tralpunkrecords if you were
lucky. The Internet changed everything, and one
must try to remember to buy records and merch
now that one can actually afford. Especially of
smaller bands then. But it had been so terribly
many bands I had never heard of without Napster.
How do you think it is to live in Sweden today,
politically? Now like this after the election,
SD etc?
Putte: For a white man with a permanent job? It
may not be more privileged than that.
Ch: Personally, I can't lose no matter who wins
in the elections, but because I also care about
my fellow human beings, I hope of course that
the right wing ends blow so hard. Can we help to
annoy the shit from any right wing guy
in the meantime it is just a bonus.
Are there any bands in Sweden today? From your
hometown?
Putte: Best band from my hometown: Fan Ta Er.
From Sweden in general, I am constantly
impressed by Fredag den 13, Victims and Twin
Pigs. Ch: Mart Hällgren lived in Avesta for a
while I think, otherwise we have Greven & James
who are not particularly big but terribly good.
One of the members of Järncell went with me at
the gymnasium during the year and although the
band is from Linköping and has not released
anything, it was one of the most amazing bands
I've seen live for a long time. So good bands,
there is absolutely within most genres.
Gobben: From Gbg, Trubbel is really fucking
good.
Kim: It´s a lot of bands from here.
To name a few: Trubbel, Fredag den 13e,
Highrider, Kaliber...
Do you play anything outside Sweden?
Putte: So far we haven't come yet. We have a
little over a dozen gig in Sweden since January
2016 and hope to get to other parts of the
Nordic countries anyway.
Norway would work great.
Ch: I happened to fall into a big Oi concert in
Germany a few years ago and felt that "here ...
Here I also want to play". We will see if it is
possible to solve purely language-wise.
Other good bands from abroad?
Putte: Tragedy, Pears, Frank Carter & The
Rattlesnakes, Cocaine Piss, Night Birds, OFF!,
The Shell Corporation. Descendents, War On
Women, Skeletonwitch, Anaal Nathraak,
Eyehategod, Pigdestroyer, Nails. ...And You Will
Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, Exodus, The
Bronx. Envy, Mastodon. Sick Of It All, Leftöver
Crack, J Mascis, Converge, Beatsteaks, Dag
Nasty, Vista Chino, Chris Wollard & The Ship
Thieves, Heartsounds. Such Gold, Elliott Smith
(RIP), The Album Leaf, Mogwai. The Get Up Kids,
with others.
Ch: There is so much that is good in so many
different genres so it is not even possible to
list ... Some that are terribly good and which I
recently discovered are, for example, two bands
from Norway, Major Parkinson and Katzenjammer.
Also That Handsome Devil. However, I do not know
which genre to put them in.
Your lyrics, what are you influenced by? Never
in a language other than Swedish? A lot of texts
about racism and Nazism etc? Important
questions….
Ch: It really started with Putte starting to
make terribly many demos at his home, which he
put up and shared with the rest of the band.
These files were named various different strange
things, I think August was the first because it
was recorded in August, and I began to see it as
a challenge to keep the titles as much as
possible and it felt like Putte started to see
it as a challenge to write as difficult titles
as possible. So besides the songs we have
written together where it may be something I
come in and are angruy onfor the moment, eg.
Jesus var från Ludvika, so it is so the process
goes on. But the longer we played the angrier I
have become and after the last record it feels a
bit like the light humor we tried to have in the
beginning has disappeared almost completely, so
to the next we have to start getting a little
more unserious again. You should not take
yourself too seriously, even if you are angry.
In previous bands I have mostly written in
English so it is still fun to write in Swedish,
it becomes a completely different tune in the
language itself, but it might swing back again.
Sometimes it's nice to just be able to shout out
nonsense that doesn't matter.
Is there anything you will never write about?
Ch: I don't know. Boring things. Things that
don't touch at all. But on the other hand it can
be so incredibly beige that it becomes
outrageous in how little it upsets so one should
never say never. I have a song in the luggage
about the Assistant Force, so it is not much
that is off the table so to speak.
Politics and music, does it always belong
together? Why or why not?
Ch: Absolutely. Everything is politics. Music,
humor, art ... Everything is politics in some
form sooner or later. Then perhaps not
everything is so far political but everywhere
where something provokes a thought of someone
and where two people can have different
opinions, sooner or later it will arise
politics.
Best political band / artist? Is there any band
that is not political but that you like anyway
...?
Putte: Damn, what difficult question. Either
Dead Kennedy, Propagandhi, or Against Me. I love
DK's Police Truck, so may say Dead Kennys as the
best political band. When it's more about
laziness I choose Dwarves every day of the week.
Ch: Dead Kennedy's political and then I am
childishly fond of The Kristet Utseende which
can be unexpectedly a lot of politics even if
one reads a little. Maybe not songs like
Duschring, but much else. Completely unpolitic,
it's all from Sack Trick, a music collective
from London, to AC / DC via Jojje Wadenius
about.
Do you think music can change someone's life,
then I mean texts etc?
Ch: Absolutely. I think most people can
recognize themselves in listening to something
and getting the experience that "this is for me!
This is me, "and only the feeling of not being
entirely alone can do a lot for people.
Your cover is really cool on your CD, who has
done it. Is it important to have a cover so you
understand what type of music you play? Which is
your favorite cover all the time? ... Trött på
trallis a brilliant title, who came on with the
name?
Ch: We sat and choked in a chat group when we
were a little bored for a couple of days. After
our first three records that were based on angry
pieces, we wanted something new, and we sent a
couple of hundred different name suggestions
back and forth. Mine is often short and written
in alliteration. After a while, the name
suggestions and suggestions for cover started
coming up at the same time, and Trött på
trall(Tired of Trall) with someone covered on a
trolley was the one we came back to most times
when we got tired of the other proposals. Maybe
because we just got angry and gone more from the
ludicrous elements at the beginning, even though
we probably didn't get tired of trallpunk
really.
Putte: Thank you! I am the one who did it, and I
am lying there and is tired of a trolley deck.
The nicest album cover in my opinion is the
Special Edition version of Mastodon - Leviathan.
Clock illustration of the Moby Dick-inspired
excitement in the lyrics.
Ch: My favorite cover is probably an old dance
band cover from the 70's. It should not be so
damn nice even though, the most important thing
is that you have fun.
Is
it important to get physical records? Vinyl or
CD or both? Is there any good record store in
your hometown left?
Putte: Being constantly digital would be
immensely sad in the long run. Keeping a
physical copy of what you have done is awesome.
The fact that someone also buys what you have
done is a sickly cool feeling, which we are very
humble about. Thus, we want to deliver good
quality despite our small DIY funds. Cassette
production is therefore absolutely fantastic.
Best record store: Linné Skivbörs at Andra Lång
in Gbg.
Please tell me something really fun that
happened in your career on stage or behind stage
etc?
Ch: I still think the most fun was how we more
or less shanghaid Gobben to the band in true
Gothenburg spirit. We got tired of trying
different bassists who didn't fit so we thought
it should be easier to learn a good guy to play
bass than a good bassist to become a good guy.
Said and done we took the nicest guy in Grinis
buddyhut and on the drunk, we forced him to come
and play for us 6 weeks before our first gig.
Then he had never played bass before but only
drums and a little bit of guitar 20 years
earlier. We others are still laughing at how
nervous he was in the beginning, but are
nevertheless mighty impressed that he managed it
and over how much he developed in this short
time. There was little the same recruitment
process with Kim, but at least he had a guitar
that he could play on before. Then we, like all
other bands, have had our Spiñal Tap moments
where we all thought we heard Putte though he
wasn't docked and Grinis got to borrow Mart
Hällgrens drum kit when we played before
Krymplings and managed to spill beer at most of
it and that someone tried
to buy my green jacket from my wife
during a gig when he assumed she hated it as
much as he wanted it.
How does your audience look? Which type of
people comes? Are you missing some types of
people?
Ch: We still have a right ok spread, from young
to old, which is still more than I was hoping
for. Even some who are not men of our own age
will come and look, and that is a sign that punk
is still alive. It is not only our friends but
people who actually want to be on punkgigs as
well.
Please rank five favorite records, five favorite
concerts?
Putte: Skivor: From Ashes Rise - Nightmares,
Victims - Divide And Conquer, No Fun At All -
Vision, Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex
Magik and Bad Religion - Against The Grain.
Concerts: Bad Religion, West Coast Riot 2008,
Venerea, Göteborg 2017, Against Me, Pustervik
2015, Hot Water Music, West Coast Riot 2010, The
Get Up Kids, West Coast Riot 2010.
Ch: Records; Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar
Sex Magic, DLK - Le som en fotomodell, Dead
Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
och Frankenchrist. And then I want AC/DC and
Cannibal Corpse on this list, but they have one
/ two really good songs on every records that is
filthy good and the rest are most fillers, so it
is difficult to find a disc that is "best", so
therefore I throw in the least punky disc that
has been made purely music-wise , Marcy
Playground - Marcy Playground.
Straight through good.
Gigs: Gogol Bordello, Pustervik 2018, Electric
Eel Shock, Wacken 2006, Johan Johansson, Peace &
Love 200 (sometime), Roskilde 2001 had both
Rammstein and RHCP so get single a coin, and
then I cheat and throw in Beat Butcher's 30
years on The Munich brewery to bring in almost
all Swedish favorite bands from the past during
an evening.
Is it boring with interviews ??
Ch: This is our first in fact, so we still
haven't got tired.
If you could choose five bands from the story,
dead and alive to have a concert together with
your band, which are the dream bands then?
Putte: The Germs, Dead Kennedy (Jello Biafra
era), Black Flag (Keith Morris era), Shock
Nagasaki and Big Black.
Is music a great way to get frustrated and
become a nicer person? Are you angrier today
than you were young punks?
Putte: I'm convinced of that. A great example of
this is 924 Gilman Street, California. Among all
those who joined the community, many avoided a
life as frustrated, bullying youth. (Tip: see
the documentary Turn It Around!) And yes, I'm
more angry today than before.
Ch: As a child in a small village in the country
in Dalarna, you didn't have much to worry about.
Only that you were fooled into thinking that
Just D was good because there was nothing else
that was not Kent or Björn Rosenström being
played. Then I didn't feel any other punks, so I
"bloomed out" quite late purely in style and in
my anger I would probably say.
Kim: I get out of my frustration through the
music. Is a bit like yoga, though much faster
and harder. So definitely it helps to become a
nicer person.
What is the weirdest question you got in an
interview?
Putte: This is our first band interview, so
there is nothing to tell, but in a job context,
a manager received a job interview question,
"How would you rate my tie?"
What is the question you never get, ask it and
answer it?
Ch: As said, besides the questions we got here,
it's pretty open.
Future plans for the band?
Putte: There are enough demos to keep our annual
release routine, so it might be something new.
The funniest thing would be to come out and play
more. Festivals would be sick fun. We are good
and work hard and hope it generates more in the
future.
For yourself?
Putte: Get my shit together.
Ch: Get Puttes shit together.
Words of wisdom?
C: "Det är bättre att göra bort sig än att göra
på sig." - A. Lundstedt
Putte: "It's just a ride" - Bill Hicks
Anything to add?
Ch: It was nice to be asked, thank you very
much. Remember that it costs nothing to be nice
to others, if someone is unpleasant to you so
just laugh because it usually tease the shit
from them, and always come, always remember that
the Sweden Democrats can go to hell.
Have
a nice evening!