Hello! How are you?
Pretty good!
What do you expect from this tour with The Lost Patrol Band? You still expecting something anyways?
When you start up playing music you are happy to play music and than comes a phase in your life when you was thinking that you can actually make it, and I just passed that phase and Im just happy to play music! Especially with a band like Lost Patrol cause it is so much its just fun We can do whatever we want; we dont really have any expectations in what we do so we can just have fun! Before this tour we played in a practise-basement for about thirty people and Im like totally fine with it. I dont care anymore about expectations. I just wanna have a good time.
Even if you have success with The International Noise Conspiracy?
Yeah , but I mean Noise Conspiracy does really well in Europe but at the same time its not like I I dont take it for granted. You know I dont like to expect so much like doing the new Noise Conspiracy record will sell thousands of copies and I mean even if we are doing really well its not like we are the biggest band on earth. Its not like we sell a million records I mean we do well and I like that, but Im just happy that anyone shows up to our shows. You know what I mean? Its a privilege that people care about what I do, or what we do.
How have been the shows on this tour so far?
Pretty good. I think at least 150 people show up very night. Its pretty fine, because its like we tour the first time out of Sweden. The record just came out and I think people are really curious to see what Im doing. So, 150 people is pretty good.
Do you think that there are still some people how still associate you with Refused? What do you think about that?
I dont know because its weird for me because its like weve done the Noise Conspiracy now for eight years and it is still weird now when people advertise it like Oh its Dennis from Refused! and Im like Yeah, but thats like eight years ago! I Mean
I think it has something to do with the big impact of Refused
Yeas I know but its like I think when people come to Lost Patrol shows and they are thinking that they are going to see Dennis from Refused perform some Refused songs theyll be really disappointed. At the same time I think that people I mean there are people who like Noise Conspiracy and Refused.. You know what I mean? Theyre just open for music and they might really appreciate what we are doing here but most of the time I think Yeah I do think that people are somehow curious to see what Im up to. Im sure that there is a HC-Kid still hoping that I will play with Refused as a band again
Thats really weird that people still hope to see Refused, isnt it?
Yeah, but at the same time, Im still hoping that Ian MacKaye will play some Minor Threat songs! You know what I mean? I dont think that this is going to happen
Even a Fugazi-Song would be right now enough
Yeah, right now it would be really awesome! But, you know what I mean? I dont expect it to happen Refused is a big part of my past and had a huge impact on people. I can really understand people who are still hoping that something is going to happen but I also think that it has been eight years and I proven myself that Im not really interested in career-decisions that would have been smart (laughs)
Why did it take so long to come to the rest of Europe? I mean it is the fourth record by now and the second one with the band?
Just because I didnt have any ambition for touring with my first two records.. I just wanted to record these two records and I never really had the time I mean Ive been on the road for the last three with Noise Conspiracy. It was like non stop-touring. I always wanted to play, because its really nice right now. Im the Tour-Manager and I drive the van and I load up the equipment. I mean its nice because its very like back to roots and D.I.Y.-Style and I like that and I always wanted to do it with The Lost Patrol but Ive never really had the time. So its nice to be able to do this.
How is it for you to drive with a van instead of a Nightliner? Are you getting sick of it or is it really that much fun?
No, its great and I love it. Yeah, I think its beautiful and sometimes when we are on road with Noise Conspiracy you dont meet the kids who come to our shows, you dont meet the Promoter. The stuff is really organized and you dont know what is really going on. Its nice to be close to every one. I have to take care of everything and i can hang with everyone and thats really nice. Its a nice change of phase.
When you look at your so called career I might associate you with a typical workaholic.
(laughs) Yeah, thats true
You are playing in two bands and you have even an own label called Ny Vag! What bands do you sign?
I have a couple of bands. Ive done the Lost Patrol records on my own and I did the band Randy from Sweden. I did their last record on vinyl and I have mainly three bands on the label that I work with. One of them are The Regulations, they sound like Cirkle Jerks, like really Old-School like L.A. hardcore from 1981. The whole label is basically a Retro-punk label. Everything sounds like something old, but its done today! You know Sara from Noise Conspiracy? She has a new band called The Vicious, they are really phenomenal. Andre, who plays drums in Lost Patrol, plays in that band as well. It's kind of like the Damned meets early Joy Division. Weve done a 12 Inch with them and therell be a Full-Length that comes out in a couple of weeks. And there is Inge who plays bass in Noise Conspiracy, he has a new band who is called Knuggen Fallen, which is Swedish for The King Is Falling. They write really funny political lyrics and they really play funky Pop-Punk music in swedish language. They are like swedish 77 Punk-Rock. And that are basically all the bands that are at the label.
Do you work with Burning Heart Records together?
No, its totally like D.I.Y. I trade with people and I send the records to small distros. Green Hell Records, here in Muenster, carry like most of the stuff we have. It is very much a return to the D.I.Y. This is really fun for me.
How important is the D.I.Y.-Lifestyle for you?
I dont think that its like Im not like; you know I signed to American Recordings with Noise Conspiracy and we worked with Rick Rubin, we played huge festival we travel around in a Nightliner. But its important for me to remember where I come from and where everything started in the D.I.Y.-Punk-Scene. I started doing record-labels with tape-trading and set up my own shows, booked our own tours; its always important to have that aspect carry with me, even if we do Noise Conspiracy and stuff as well and to be able to doing kind of sets. I mean, Im not one of the kids who are like D.I.Y. or die! because that would probably for me mean die
It depends on the band
(laughs) Exactly, exactly Noise Conspiracy would definitely mean "die". Lost patrol would be okay. I think that it is important to have one foot in this scene and to have one foot in a world where you are a normal Rock band. I think its like good for me and its good to be able to remember why you started doing this. Why you fell in love with Punk-Rock and you know, why Im still doing this.
What about your Songs? Where do you see the difference in writing a song for The Lost Patrol Band or Noise Conspiracy?
Noise Conspiracy is really thats a real thing.. I sit down and I really think Now Im going to show you, well Lost Patrol is my okay lets say it like this: Some people have their work and when they dont work they play football or play Videogames or something like that and when Im not working I do The Lost Patrol Band. So it is my Hobby-Project its something I do in my free time. Its very different because Noise Conspiracy is hard work and to write a song for Noise Conspiracy. I always have to express something and the problem is that I really expect a lot of myself and Im very serious about it and with Lost Patrol its just fun. I mean, its like sometimes I write a Lost Patrol song in twenty minutes and Im like Oh thats sounds cool Its very different, its like a different way of expressing myself.
You really have a catchy sound with the Lost Patrol Band
Yeah, that was the plan! You repeat one word a lot of times and people will remember it.
But I mean, I always wanted to write songs that people can easily remember. Even if you go back to Refused, there are a lot of catchy elements in it. And with Noise Conspiracy we have a lot of catchy songs. With Lost Patrol I took the pop-thing into the music and its just like I try to write this two minutes perfect Pop songs but in a Punk-Rock way.
Its like The Ramones meets The Beatles!
Thats right, but by the way this is a compliment. Its kind of the idea to take that Pop sensibility and just to play them a little bit faster and a little bit rougher than you know, a Pop band and the problem is when you write really simple songs sometimes people get really quickly tired of them. Compared to real complex songs with large arrangements and people need a long time to get through them.
Yeah, but too long and complex song are even more boring
Yeah, thats true, thats why I write this kind of 2 minutes songs. Why should a song have more than 2:30 minutes? It depends which music you like for yourself. A Hardcore song with 2:30 minutes would be even too long
What was the funniest thing that happens to you on this tour?
Oh, yesterday weve played a show in Magdeburg and this kiddy, I guess he was like he was wearing a Korn T-Shirt which is first of all somehow strange for me, but lets not getting into that I mean, he was like super-excited dancing but after three songs he was like. But why do you play such short songs! I want longer songs! and I tried to explain to him that a Punk rock song is played really fast, like four-beat and you cant play them longer than two minutes because then it gets really boring. When you play the same riff for 4:30 minutes no one wants to hear that. So, maybe its all about which scene you are from, I guess
Maybe he didn't hear the record before?
I dont think he had any idea but he was really excited Thats fun, I mean when we play with Lost Patrol its fun people will see after two songs that it isnt too serious. Its not like I dont put on my serious face and talk about politics it isnt the same thing I do with Noise Conspiracy.
But at least you talk about politics? I couldnt imagine that you dont talk about it
I do talk about politics, but not the whole time basically I talk about everything that comes to my mind. With Noise Conspiracy Ive got this show and you have the lyrics and with Lost Patrol its more like I say whatever I want.
Ive even heard you said you want to stand out against the swedish government and no one of your friends wants to help you
Some of them would help me, my friends even wanted to help me, but a lot of swedish bands didnt wanted to help me A lot of bands are just to scared to make signs when it comes to politics because if you take signs that would mean that you have to defend your opinion and that you have to discuss about politics and some people might not buy your record They just might be I think it depends what you prefer; I think a lot people are afraid of They worry about their careers. I stopped worrying about my career 18 years ago?! I just started to speak the whole time.
Another question concerning politics: Where do you see the combination of love and politics? The Lost Patrol Band combines both elements in a way.
I think if you are a person who thinks about politics, not only as a youth culture or something you do until you grown up than politics affect everything in your life. Politics will even affect you relation to your loved-ones and the people who are around you and I think that is very important One of the important things was for me to say whats on my mind, right now. And sometimes you have to write about the girl and sometimes you have to write about politics that is just because, you know, thats the way it is. There are pretty much two Lost Patrol records which are totally dedicated to love. But thats why I was broken-hearted at this time and I was like This is what I had to write about. If I would have been writing a song about the war in Iraq it just would be fake. I think it is important that you write whats on your mind. I think with Lost Patrol it is easier to sing about that thing, because Noise Conspiracy more serious towards politics.
By the way, you mentioned several times the Noise Conspiracy record! Are you working on a new record?
Yeah, we work on it. This time it will be really angry. Its the angriest material weve ever made.
You mean Angry in a Rock-way or lyrically?
Basically, the lyrics will be angry.
Isnt it frustrating for you, when you look out in the world and see wars and all these kind of things? Do you feel frustration that you arent able to change things?
No, no I dont think that I or we as a band can change anything! Its not our job. We are just a band; I think that these circumstances made us try a little bit harder and make us try to be there for the people and so the people maybe can get inspired by us. Of course, its hard because sometimes you think you dont do enough When you play at Hurricane Festival for example and you are thinking I just should be in Palestine right now. In the End, this is my way of expressing myself. With Noise Conspiracy we also played a lot of demos and have done some political work and weve done a lot of benefit-shows and thats a good way to work political as a band.
You should come next year to Heiligendamm!
Whats there?
G8.
Oh, we should. Maybe I think that you should be able as a band to play there. The people who go to these protests need to dance as well and need to be inspired. I mean I wouldnt be into politics if there havent been The Clash or Dead Kennedys and thats why Im into politics. Not because I read a book or I read a pamphlet because Ive heard a record!
You are using really often this slogan If I cant dance I dont want your revolution!. What is your relation to this, by the way really old, slogan?
I carry the slogan with me for a long, long time. Ive seen V like Vendetta and he used that Slogan and I was like Im so glad that someone else uses that slogan. Not because it was never used, its an old anarchist slogan The problem is when people think about politics they think of something really boring and its more like self-sacrifice! Politics should be more like something that is a part of your live. Politics should never be something boring and we definitely try with Noise Conspiracy to bring that element of fun into the revolution. We should make it happy, danceable, sexy and sweaty. Something like that (laughs).
Do you see a conflict in being a leftwing radical and in addition to that a part of a major label. Isnt a conflict? I mean they are a part o the system you fight against?
Hm, its always the same thing. You have a big boss or a small boss but he is still gonna to be your boss. Its the same economical system, its the same set up and it has the same meaning. The only difference between my label, or Epitaph and so on and a major label is only the fact that we arent good enough in business. The ambition of them is to sell millions of records; their ambition is not to be the nice punks. For me its not that much different. I mean my ambition is to spread the music. So we worked with the small boss for a long time and now we are trying the big boss. Well see how it works. But its all part of the same system just because you are on a smaller label that doesnt exclude you from capitalism; its going to be the same thing. Thats how we feel as a band.
Do you think that your big boss thinks that you are a complete idiot? Im sure he isnt into world-revolution!
(laughs) Im sure he does not think that Im an idiot. I know that American Recordings signed Noise Conspiracy because we are a good band, good looking guys, the revolutionary message might sell; you know what I mean? I know this and I know that theyre thinking: Maybe these guys can become the new Rage Against The Machine and I know this! Im sure the people at American Records are not interested in revolution. They have their nice houses in Hollywood Hills and they are not interested in workers rising up and taking over power! But we use each other. The most people there care about the product and the product is the sexy and revolutionary band from Sweden and I know this and you have to balance that out. I remember sitting with people from island/Def Jam which we didnt sign to, but thats a long story, but just sitting there and talking to this press-lady. So we were sitting there and she was like the USA is so great you can say whatever you want and I was sitting there like No, you cant and she said Youre right and I was like Do you think that swedish people are just such jerks?. In the end it's like I already said, we use each other and well see how it works
Okay, I really have to thank you for this interesting interview! Do you have a last statement?
Maybe I can say that I and David from Refused are doing something together in the next year and you should just watch out
