Peter Hirseland is maybe
best known for his participation in Svart Snö
but Skamfläck is a new group which really
delivers good punk. Here we talk a little about
it and about his other project
Nerverna....October 2024
Tell us a little about
Skamfläck...who is involved or are you the one
who does everything or at least most of it? How
did you come up with the idea of this group?
- Skamfläck consists of:
Opålitlig(Unreliable) vocals, Självgod( Smug)
-guitar and bass, Drum machine -drums. Live, the
line-up is complemented by The Mercenaries of
Shame. I do lyrics and music with few
exceptions. The others contribute by outclassing
me as a musician. It's a good collaboration.
Skamfläck is 50% a test to see if we can still
do it and 50% hubris.
Tell us a little about
yourself, you have been in many groups and the
ones that have been doing the longest are
probably Svart Snö but you have been in Ur
Funktion, Agoni and you have a new project
called Nerverna? Something I've missed?
-Yes you missed Sunday
Morning Einsteins which me, Opålitlig and
Drummachine all were in. That band lasted as
long as Svart Snö and means just as much to me
personally. Kängnäve, our second LP, is one of
the best records I have participated on so we
must not forget them. Nerverna are older than
Skamfläck and a real band in the sense that we
play live and rehearse. I don't know what's
interesting about me for your readers. I've been
in the punk scene for a long time and made a lot
of friends and some enemies along the way. It's
been a fun journey and it's not over yet.
How would you describe
the two different projects for something that
has not heard Skamfläck or Nerverna?
-Skamfläck sounds 80's
with focus on the songwriting. It doesn't get
stuck in the form and above all it must never be
raw just for the sake of rawness, but it's
always hardcore punk. There is angry music and
there are obvious thefts from Anti-Cimex, but
none from Asta Kask. Something like that.
Nerverna are more danceable. It swings and you
can shake your ass at the same time as it is
depressing music that thrives best in the
darkness that only exists in a spruce forest one
night when the moon has gone into clouds.
Nerverna don't lean on the same Hardcore
tradition as Skamfläck. It's a band that does a
little bit as they want and runs more on
feeling. Sure, it's punk and so on, but it's
completely different influences. When we
started, we used to say that it would be like a
mix between Public Image, Black Flag and Killing
Joke.
You have been playing in
groups for a long time, what is your other role
in the music scene?
-I would
probably say that my biggest role in the music
life is as a fan. I buy a lot of records and go
to concerts from time to time. If I find a band
I like, I support them and gladly tell them that
I like them.
You have usually stuck
to punk-like acts, how do you think punk has
developed through the years you have been
involved?
-It's hard to say. Some
things have changed a lot, while others are so
ridiculously the same that you think time stands
still. The thing which is a little bit difficult
with all genres is that the number of bands and
records just increases all the time and in the
end you are left with a completely unreasonable
number of records that sound the same. This is
of course a luxury problem for us old people.
Punk is always new for those who have just
discovered it and it is a great feeling that I
do not envy anyone.
Svart Snö, is there any
chance of reunion there?
-No Comments
Is Skamfläck just a
studio project or will you go out and play with
this group as well?
-We made our live debut
at Ostämman 2024 and it was fun. It's not
impossible that we play more, but since
Drummaskin lives in California, it creates some
logistical problems. Possibly he can be replaced
by a Mercenary of Shame if we are going to play
live, but it doesn't feel very important.
What do you think is the
best thing about playing live?
-Audience. If people
like the energy and pick up the record, it's of
course damn fun, but also that you do something
together. Playing live welds a band together.
When you are in the energy together and come out
on the other side and everyone is happy.
Writing texts, is it a
compulsion or is it fun to express yourself in
text?
-It's great fun. Getting
a good lyric is just as fun as getting a good
riff. When it fits together and everything
clicks, it's perfect. The text is an integral
part of the whole thing
When you make songs,
what comes first, is it the lyrics or is it the
music?
-It varies. Often I have
a song title and a topic long before I have a
full lyric.
Is it important to take
a stand with your texts?
-I think so, but there
are different opinions in the band.
Tell us a little about
the song Övre Trotåldern(hål I huvudet)?
-It is a kind of
manifesto. A search for a place and meaning in
today's punk scene to ultimately come to the
conclusion that it doesn't matter. You get the
place you make for yourself. It's also something
as unusual as trying to be funny and self-ironic
in my songwriting. Actually completely
incomprehensible because I live under the motto
that music should not be built without joy.
There are so many other, much more interesting,
feelings.
And about the song Barn
mördar barn!
-It is a cry for help
over the development of society and the fact
that the adult world has left so many children
in such misery and misery that the value of a
fellow human being's life has become almost
non-existent.
I understand that you
don't like SD, how the hell are we going to get
rid of them and how are we going to get people
to think again....do you think it's possible to
get people a little more wiser?
-Yes, who could have
dreamed that the Naxis would take over in this
way. I am especially disappointed in Sweden's
journalists who I think have given up their
assignment. The relativization of truth has
paved the way for fascism. All people are equal,
but not all opinions are equal. There is no such
thing as a democratic racist. The anti-human
ideologies are the enemies of democracy and if
Säpo had any kind of sense, they would have
picked Åkesson, Jomshof etc already in the BSS
time
If we go over to the US
and the latest with Trump that he would have
been shot at, do you think it's rigged to fish
for votes (I'm on that line)?
-No, I don't think so.
I'm not particularly conspiratorial. And then of
course that he uses it is not so strange. Any
politician would have done that.
Do you prefer to listen
to bands with a message? Which is the best band
that has completely harmless lyrics?
-No, I mix healthy. A
good message can elevate an already good song,
but I don't sort out good music. Or maybe I do,
but then it's usually about the band behaving
like a mess rather than that they have a crappy
lyric. The best band with completely meaningless
lyrics is probably The Dickies.
Five most important
records of all time?
-I choose to believe
that they haven't come out yet.
You release the records
on NEJFÖRFAN Records, is it your own label or
how is it?
-Yep it is. In the Svart
Snö era, I knew quite a few labels and people
were interested in hearing what we were doing,
but I somehow felt that I couldn't expect it in
2024 and that if there is to be any point in
putting new punk on the table, I have to do it
myself all the way. If it goes to hell and no
one likes it, I have to take the hit myself and
sit there with all the full record boxes. Save
me from this fate and order Skamfläck and
Nerverna. 200 SEK each or both for 300 +
postage. Get in touch via Skamfläck's Instagram
or
nejforfanrecords@hotmail.com
Will you only release
things that you are involved in or will you
release some other band?
-I don't know yet, but
the original plan was to just release stuff
where I'm involved, but I'll probably take a
position on it if someone asks and it hasn't
happened yet.
Is it important to
release physical records or where do you stand
there?
-Yes. It's not released
otherwise, I think.
Do you buy a lot of
records yourself yet?
-Far too many. I guess
you have to have some hobby.
Last purchase?
-It was when I was in
Stockholm last time and looked into Bengans on
Drottninggatan. The records I bought were Jesus
Lizard- Rack LP, Poison Idea- We Must Burn
(deluxe reissue) double LP, Disrupt- Unrest LP
and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Wild God LP.
All of them were good, but it was a bit boring
with only old artists. Safe cards haha
What do you think about
the music scene in Sweden, is there any new
really good groups that you can recommend?
-I think it's pretty
good. The problem with this question is that the
groups are rarely new once I start listening to
them. If we instead say "are there any currently
active groups that I can recommend", it will be
a little easier. Swedish bands I like to listen
to are Kronofogden, Eterkropp, Gefyr, Axe Rash,
Sweet Teeth, Slöa knivar, Sekunderna, Böset,
Twin Pigs, Hurula, Smierc, Spögelse and Mimikry.
Living in Sweden today,
how is it feeling if you compare, for example,
how it was like say, twenty years ago?
-I would describe the
feeling as more paranoid. 20 years ago, I
couldn't have imagined the misery we live with
now. Not only the Nazis, although of course it
is something that makes you lose faith in the
future, but the wars. We were supposed to focus
on fixing the environment, instead the great
powers showed their worst sides. The pig Putin
and Russia's imperial ambitions bury all hope
for the future and not damn is the United States
better to keep Israel behind their back when
they murder children and bomb hospitals.
On the Skamfläck record
I think you mix almost Amebix-like songs with
pure punk, was it a conscious choice that it
should be so varied or do the songs just come
out by themselves and then it becomes as it
becomes?
-Both. It was deliberate
in the way that I did a lot of different songs
and then chose a number that I thought became a
varied and good record, but the songs also turn
out as they are. I don't throw away a good riff
just because it has the "wrong" tempo.
Synka alla klockor för
midnatt(Sync all clocks for midnight).....is
there any underlying thought behind that record
title?
-It was originally the
title of a song that didn't make it onto the
record. I think it symbolizes my pessimism about
world developments. I think it will get a lot
worse before it gets better.
Thealbum cover is
brilliant with Kristersson and the Jewish woman
and a really nice one, who has done it?
-An artist named Charlie
Granberg. He does quite a lot of murals/street
art. He's done a lot of album covers as well. He
lives nearby. I've tried to use local people in
everything except band members haha
The futureplans for the
band? Or rather the bands?
-Skamfläck will maybe
play in California next year and if it happens
we will surely record some new songs when we are
still together. Nerverna had a band meeting
recently and set two goals for the future.
Partly to get a new bass player or Synths and
partly to fix a gig in Gothenburg because we
think that the people of Gothenburg will like us
and we already like them
Plans for the future
with your own life?
-I work quite a lot and
would like the job to give results that benefit
other people. To succeed in that without burning
myself out in the same time is my future plan
Words of wisdom?
-All days without a dog
are wasted days
Something to add?
-Thanks for the
interview, it was long. Thank you to you who
read and had the energy all the way