Mamma Pappa Barn is a group that has a a really
own sound and the only group I come up with
since my upbringing is Kommo but it is a group
Viktor (who has answered the questions) never
have heard of… .april-2019
A little story about the group?
-Me and Mathias old band Quagmire was put on ice
around 2008, but we were sure we two wanted to
continue playing. We had tested another drummer
I think but didn't get it right. At a party in
2009 we asked if Jonas from Culkin wanted to
drum and then it was decided that we would make
a trio that would be called Mamma Pappa Barn and
that would be with Swedish texts. I was pretty
slow started then because of small children and
more, but in 2014 we actually started to
rehearse. Songs were written and we recorded in
2015 what became our first album DÅLIGA NYHETER
and it came out in 2016. In the summer of 2017
we began to record UTAN FÖRVARNING and it´s
coming out now May 3, 2019. We have seen this
more as a project than band from the beginning
and the pace have been very calm because of
family, jobs, studies, other bands we are in and
so. But now we are starting to get a bleeding
tooth and are going to play a bit in May with
Soviac, Huvet and Aabe and are thinking of
playing more out and giving out more music.
-I, Viktor is 45 with three children in low and
middle school age, girlfriend, cat and dog. Is
an architect and works with hospitals. Playing
bass in Legbiter for a couple of years. Former
bands are Quagmire 97-08 and before that I
fronted Spacebone (grunge) and played guitar in
Pure Pain (industry). Living in Stockholm (from
Uppsala originally) sings and plays guitar in
MPB.
Mathias is 39 and has a one-year-old child and
girlfriend. Living in Uppsala. Basist in MPB and
in Quagmire before, played guitar and sang in
Culkin (indie) with Jonas for over ten years.
Has played bass in Kevlar, Shellfire and The
Ghoulies. Are pharmacists and work with research
at universities.
Jonas is 39, married and have two children at
primary school. Lives in Stockholm and is from
Haninge. Drums in MPB. Works with the design of
strong energy. Also guitar and vocals in Culkin.
Have played drums in Brisco. Was a member of
Ellis the Vacuum Child. Has a weezercover band
called Geezer and was stand-in on drums in
Legbiter once.
All four from Culkin have made a record with
Nandor from Brick on vocals a couple of years
ago. It's really good, called Brick and is on
Bandcamp with the artist The Depth Consists.
I can hear a lot of punk, indie, odd music and I
will think of an old group called Kommo, I hear
right? Was it better before?
-We all have broad music taste and the basis for
us is Indie, punk and Hc.
Kommo is nothing I recognize ...
What was fun before, I think is that the search
for music was exciting. To find new good music
you needed to travel, find record stores, read
newspapers and zines and go to a lot of concerts
and festivals. Now everything is online which is
not as fun, but very practical of course. And
good music is there all the time! Both before
and now.
-We are called Mamma Pappa Barn but it is often
that we say MPB, the name is a little clumsy. We
probably say both and use both.
The best band name in Swedish must still be
Sportlov and in English it is Born Against.
What is the best thing about playing live?
- Personally, I think it is great when it goes
well live, then I am completely in the moment
and the experience total flow.
Where is best to play, where is the worst?
- Have not played so much in the recent but at
Copperfields and Kafe 44 you feel welcome and
the focus on music feels strong. The worst thing
you can do is outdoors in the day and with only
some people in combination.
-Does not feel like there is a clear scene to
relate to. Then it would have been easier
perhaps to play within a clearer genre, then it
feels like there are more blogs, mini festivals
and the like. Could have been easier to reach
out at the same time as we are drawn to what is
less clear and mixed.
Huvet records give out our new album digitally,
they also give out Soviac and Aabe, hoping for
more of that. A gathering force for noiserock.
How would you describe your music in three
words?
-Indie. noiserock. postpunk. God what good it is
with compound words in swedish.
What does punk mean to you, is it just a word or
is it a lifestyle? You don't exactly play punk
off but there are influences I think ...
-Punk for us is primarily a relationship with
music, playing what we like ourselves without
taking into account different rules or some
commercial speculation. For me, punk also means
some kind of pretty direct appeal and that it is
skewed, unpolished or raw done. Punk is the
starting point for us so it will always remain
in some way.
-We love Bandcamp very much. There the music
goes to stream or download as mp3 or lossless
plus the artists decide the price and get almost
all the money themselves. Absolutely superb. And
nothing annoying about either, but lots of good
chronicles and music tips.
How do you think it is to live in Sweden today,
politically? With SD and KD as lightly
conservative parties ... or do you don´t give a
damn about politics?
-We are a bit left
so this is a very frustrating development
we see politically in Sweden last two or three
decades with a hefty right turn of the whole
society. Would wish there was some effective and
easy way to stop SD.
Are there any good bands in Sweden today?
In your hometown?
-Sweden:Rome is not a town, Tennis bafra,
Soviac, Bitch hawk, Dimma, Bäddat för trubbel,
Scraps of tape, Blessings, Det eviga leendet,
Pyramido, Stockholm: God mother, Horndal, Stiu
nu stiu, Tungsol, Aabe, Domkraft, The Sekt.
-No, but I think a little Denmark or Norway
could be fun.
Other good bands from abroad?
-There is so much active good bands now ...
Sumac, Baptists, Metz, Daughters, Whores, Low
Dose, Hot snakes, Cult leader, Yob, Sleep,
Mutoid Man, Radioactivity, Retox, Kowloon walled
city. I can continue all day.
Your lyrics, what are you influenced by? Never
in a language other than Swedish?
-The first album's lyrics ran out of a picture I
got ... the feeling just after a big break of
some sort. Think the first text was for
Nanomalist. Then I continued on it to almost all
the songs. A couple of songs are inspired by
racism and fascists, work well to sing when you
are angry!
The lyrics of the second album originate from an
internal joke that led to me thinking about
industrialism in Sweden. The thoughts that were
around it have been rewritten and re-interpreted
until it suited the music, and is more poetic
than concrete.
But I think it was a good mood.
Will probably not be anything but Swedish in
MPB, the starting point was that it was enough
with half-good lyrics in English.
Now exclusively half-good lyrics in Swedish.
-Yes, that's for sure. Topics need to be within
reach of my own experience, I believe. Would
never write anything to just shock or provoke in
general.
Politics and music, does it always belong
together? Which is your most political song?
-No it doesn't have to belong together, I listen
to a lot of metal and there is often anything in
texts like gnomes, trolls and demons. Is there
any part of the critically critical death metal
type Genocide Pact, Memoriam and Pyrrhon in
itself. Röntgen from the previous record I wrote
the text to when age investigations of asylum
seekers were relevant, it is probably the song
with the clearest political connection.
Best political band/artist?
-Absolutely at a personal level, I think there
are many stories about it. The social power of
music can have a strong influence on groups as
well, then both individuals and society are
affected.
Your cover is really cool on your CD, who has
done it. Who is it on the new album? Is it
important to have a cover that you understand
what type of music you play? Which is your
favorite cover ever?
-Thanks! I have made the layout and Jonas has
taken the picture (several years ago), the same
layout on the previous album. It has been a
thing that we are only three (plus Mattias
Lindberg who is recording) who does everything.
Can be nice in a way to leave cover for someone
outside the band, but to control all creative
moments feels good to us right now. We do not
know the man on the cover, but he often goes
past where I live.
Before, I think it is important that the music
appeared in the cover, when record stores were
significant. Today I think it does not play such
a big role, but artistically it is always
stronger with a wholeness.
The best cover ever is probably Action Park with
Shellac anyway. Totally minimalist front and a
detailed drawing of an amusement park inside,
nice contrast.
-No, I don't really think so. That's fine with
Spotify, Bandcamp and so on. But we have all
collected records from the beginning so for us
it is important to give out physical music.
Vinyl is really nice but expensive and takes a
long time to get from the press room. CD have
good sound, takes a week to order, cheap to do,
low postage when sending so it has become the
thing
for us.
In Uppsala wh have Open Mind, a nice store.
Please tell me something really fun that
happened during your career on stage or behind
stage etc?
-Jonas was bitten in the leg backstage by Pelle
in Fireside when Ellis the vacuum child toured
with them!
How does your audience look? Which type of
people comes? Are you missing some types of
people?
-This far it is most friends and old
acquaintances, I believe. Saw this week that we
had quite a few plays of the album on bandcamp
so I can be wrong. Would like to see that we
reached out to more people, think that we should
work for others with mixed taste in indie and
punk.
Please rank five favorite records, five favorite
concerts?
-No, it's fun to talk about music!
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?
-Drive Like Jehu, Television, Steel Pole Bath
Tub, Unwound, US Maple.
Is music a great way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person? Are you angrier today
than you were younger?
- Absolutely, I had no active music project
between 09 and 14, it was frustrating and I was
probably a little grumpy during that time. Is
angry in a similar way today as when I was young
but when I was younger I thought more that anger
would be productive and lead to something good.
Today I try to avoid that feeling.
What is the weirdest question you got in an
interview?
- Don't come up for anything, maybe this one?
-It would be fun with questions about
amplifiers, instruments and recording. We are
interested in it.
Tell us about how you record? Yes please ask. We
have recorded the records in the Voilum studio
which is located on the same floor in the
Handenterminalen as the rehearsalroom. We have
recorded the instruments live and put on the
song afterwards as well as a few toppings with
guitar, trumpet and choirs.
Future plans for the band?
-Play our gigs in May (10/5 Eskilstuna, 16/5
Stockholm, 17/5 Uppsala), and feel free to book
more for the fall. Start recording something new
in spring as we write this fall.
- Continue with Legbiter and MPB alternately in
some smart way.
Words of wisdom?
- Brush your teeth at least 2 minutes morning
and evening with a soft toothbrush and flour
toothpaste.
Anything to add?
- Thanks for the questions! Sick fun that you
had the zine for so long, hoping for a long
continuation.
|