Danish Movement is a really good group which mixes punk and soul in an ecstatic mix and if you haven´t heard them , do it immediately. This interview was done in the middle of October 04.

History?

-I started The Movement in the year 2000. I wanted to make a band with a cool style, inspired by the British mod-movement, combined with a radical message.

Please tell me a little about the members, age, family, interests, age and

Something bad about every one?

-We are a three piece band from Copenhagen, we are almost hitting 30 and we don’t do anything else but playing music.

You’re on your way to record a new album in Berlin? Why Berlin and how will it sound?

-Berlin because our record label, Destiny Records, is based there, and Archi Alert, the singer of Terrorgruppe, is producing our album. They have booked and old recording studio in the old east Germany, it should be a great studio. I think the sound of the record will be much more Motown like. We are very inspired of the old Motown stuff. At the moment, I think Motown music is the highest level of music, it has the best melodies and played with punk energy and cool lyrics, it’s a racket in the head of bourgeois people.

To play this sort of music in Denmark, how is that?

-Denmark is a cultural third world country. Off course we have a lot of fans here, but our land is so corrupted by American and normal capitalists consuming-culture that it almost have killed everything. But we do what we can to change things. It’s a very hard struggle.

Are there any good bands in Denmark right now?

-No, not really. There are some few in the underground.

You take a big opinion against fascism? How is it with racism in Denmark?

-Racism has in the last 10 years gone from being a street thing to being a legal thing in the government. Today the national front party in Denmark are dictating the politics and it is horrible.

What shall we do against the growing racism?

-The thing we can do as musicians is to create an anti racist environment and never be afraid to use our music to say no and defend the true working class, which in its selves always are anti racist and fascist.

Is it important to take politics into music? Do you think that people change their mind when they listen to music?

-Yes, because music is a way to tell what is going on and music should be able to talk about everything. From love to politics. There is no conflict in that.

We have the right to express what needs to be expressed and off course we talk about fascism and racism when it is becoming so big part of our society. And yes I do, hopefully people change their mind.

Which/who is the best political writer?

-I like Woddy Guthrie, Billy Bragg and The Clash. People who write books I like Nordahl Grieg from Norway a lot and I like to read Stalin’s speeches during the 2nd World War.

What is most important when you do songs, is it the music, the lyrics or to

have a refrain that people remembers?

-The melody comes first, because it is the basic for a song that it has a good melody, without a good melody it is crap.

You mix a lot of music ska, punk, mod, pop and 60´s music, are you listen to much different music?

-Yes, but we consider our selves as a mod band, not a punk band.

I compare you to Jam, Clash, SLF and indie rock, what other bands are you

being compared with?

-That’s right, we are inspired by The Jam, The Clash, The Who and bands with lots of energy.

If you must be compared with some band which band do you want to be compared with?

-The Jam, The Who, The Clash.

If you could choose five bands from now and from the history to have a big

concert with, which five are you choosing?

-Otis Redding. Paul Weller. The Clash. The Faces. Dianna Ross and The Supremes.

Is there any good bands in Sweden that you like?

-The Hives, International Noise Conspiracy, Nomads, Sator, Randy etc. etc.

Please rank your five favourite records, five favourite concerts and five

most important things in life?

-Five records: The Who, Live at Leeds. Otis Redding, Live at the Monterey International Pop Festival. The Jam, In the City. Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street. Billy Bragg, Workers Playtime.   

Five concerts: Madness, Roskilde Festival 1985. Paul Weller, Roskilde Festival. The Ramones, Copenhagen/Pumpehuset, 1989 I think. Backstreet Girls, from Norway, same night as The Ramones in Copenhagen/Music Caféen. Billy Bragg, London/The Forum, 1996.

Five most important things in life: 1.My girl 2.Socialism 3.Style 4.The Modern World 5.The Movement

First, last and most expensive record ever bought?

-First: Madness, One Step Beyond. Last: Anti-Fascists comp Sun, Sea and Socialism. Most expensive: Iggy Pop bootleg record from ´78 from Germany.

Most embarrassing record in your collection?

-I have some Pink Floyd albums. I really hate them now, but I have had an embarrassing year when I was younger and started smoking weed. At that time I was really into all that shit.

The record you bought just for the cover but you were so disappointed on?

-I once bought a LP which was doubled size at a market in London. I couldn’t find a record player that was able to play it. But in the end a friend of mine found one and we were very excited to listen to it. It turned out to be some kind of bizarre polka music and we were very disappointed.

How would you describe your music in three words?

-Rickenbacker guitars. Che Guevara. Motown. 

Is it many interviews? Is it boring?

-The days after the release of the “Move” album I think I had 6 or 7 interviews every day in 14 days, mostly in the German speaking countries but they were all telephone interviews so I didn’t had to write so much. There is a lot all the time and everything in life can be boring if you do it too much. 

Do you have any favourite zine on paper or on the net?

-Plastic Bomb and Ox-fanzine from Germany. We don’t have any good music zines in Denmark, but we do have an everyday newspaper called “The Worker”, which always writes good things about us.

Some other website you want to recommend?

- http://www.modculture.com/ http://www.ezln.org/ http://www.copenhagen-sc.dk/ http://www.motown.com/

Future plans for the band?

-We are going on tour with Terrorgruppe in December and releasing new album in March and then more touring.

For yourself?

-I need a holiday in the sun with my girlfriend pretty soon…

How does your audience look like, which style of people comes top your

concerts?

-Actually all kind of people, we have a very mixed audience.

We have people in suits and parka coats, dressing nice and looking sharp.

We have the young kids dressing up like punks and we have the political people wearing shirts with red stars etc.

We have the older people loving The Jam and The Clash.

And then we have the Redskin/Sharp skins who like some of the ska stuff that we are playing and also are very much into the political thing.

Wisdom word?

-“Clean living under difficult circumstances”