Apr
Thanks so much to Olof for the interview! I had written about the great Gothenburg band Dreams End on the blog not that long ago. Im a fan of the handful of songs I knew by them, especially the ones that were released on vinyl. To my surprise I learned there were more, and they were really nice too. Olof shared some with me and it seems at some point many of them will end up being online which is great news. I had the honor to ask him questions, and I have really enjoyed the answers and learning more about the band! Hope you all enjoy!
++ Hi Olof! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?
No problem, my pleasure! đ
I am good thanks! Just back home from a trip to the west-Swedish archipelago with lots of sea, sun, wine and 2nd hand shopping.
At the moment I have not done anything with music for circa 6 months. One studio I shared got destroyed in a flood, so that set things back a bit. I have access to a new one but have not really gotten started, for various life reasons. But songs pop into my hand and gets scribbled down or recorded quickly on my phone, so there might be a new project there somewhere.
++ Letâs go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what your first instrument was? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?
I think my first memories of listening to music alone, as like an activity, was me huddled up in the attic of my family’s old house, reading Spiderman-comics and listerning to Boney M and Warren G, an odd couple which were my first music favorites. I think I was around 11 years old or something.
But when my two older sisters found out that I had started to listen to music, they intervened. I remember getting like casette tapes from them on which they had recorded some of their CD or LP albums. From this an early favorite became Pulp, and the tape with the album Different Class on one side and His n Hers on the other.
Via Pulp the thread spreads into various 90s UK artists, so we have the britpop wave with Oasis and Blur etc., which later morphed into more of an interest in more experimental acts like Spiritualized, Primal Scream or My Bloody Valentine.
I also consumed every piece of interview or written material on these, or any bands really. Me and the 3 friends who later joined Dreams End thereby went back to the 80’s and the indie and new wave streams. So everything from Field Mice, the Sundays, Spacemen 3, Joy Division and outwards.
Then in 1999-ish a Swedish music-magazine called Pop released an issue with ~30 pages dedicated to the “100 best indie singles of all time”, so that became somewhat of a bible, roadmap and catalogue to dig through.
I actually do not remember when I started playing guitar. I think I got it around 14, 15, something. Then it took like one year for me to get more interested in recording the instrument than actually playing it. My friend Per, who later played bass in Dreams End, had gotten a very basic music recording and mixing software as a bonus for buying jeans in a local clothing shop, so that plus my dads PC plus the cheapest pc – microphone you can imagine started my recording, and at the same time writing, music journey.
++ Had you been in other bands before Dreams End?Â
No.
++ What about the other band members? Were they in other bands too?
So there were 4-5 member in Dreams End. Me, Olof, and then Per (bass), Tomas (guitar, synth), Jonatan (guitar) and initially Viktor (drums). Jonatan and Viktor had their own project called Papillon. Tomas recorded and experimented with some stuff at home, but not sure if there were others involved. I think Per was the groups kinda chief producer – the first one who got to hear all the outtakes, and who had the most comments and ideas about arrangement, sounds and so on.
++ Where were you from originally?
Gothenburg.
++ How was Göteborg at the time of Dreams End? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?
Gothenburg was, and definitely grew into, something very special in the 00’s. We had record labels like Service and Dolores and later Smashing Time and Luxury. Blenda’s record store was a good spot to go to not only to get records, but also to ask MĂ„rten were the best parties and shows of the weekend were. There were bands playing constantly at legendary venues like Jazzhuset and UppĂ„t FramĂ„t. But at that time it was also very common to strike a deal with some random pub and host a “club”, which had an entry-fee of the equivalent of 5-10 euros, one to three bands, a dj, and then well it was a party in-between. The city was also more layered with new and old buildings, so there were a lot of odd locales where one could host a party. So at a given Friday the problem was deciding were to go, because there were so many options. Every other weekend felt like an impromptu music festival.
But towards 2010 this all started to vane. The audience got more picky with paying entry fees, and we had this big cultural shift were people, I don’t know, went out less? And was less interested in music. Like got more interested in food and froyo’s than culture. Hedonism instead of romanticism. Around 2012-13 I had some new colleagues at a job who came from the US and wanted to experience the Gothenburg legend, but I remember thinking “it’s kinda over”.
Now of course I am old and do not have much of a clue about the possibly new underground. But my instinct tells me things are better than in 2013. When I walk the streets I spot kids who look like they are on their way to something more interesting than the third quiz of the week. I hope so. Once they are 40 they can spend the rest of their lives pondering food wine and comfortable chairs. I hope they don’t waste their youth on mimicking middle aged-people.
++ What were your favourite bands in Göteborg at the time? Was there any that you think deserved more attention, that should have been bigger?
The band which united almost everyone in that scene of my generation was Broder Daniel, especially after their 1998 album “Forever” which I still regard as one of the best ever.
Other more in-the-scene bands who were favourites at the time was Jens Lekman, Tough Alliance, and a lot of other Gothenburg acts.
Writing this it strikes me that I actually have very little idea about how big anyone was outside of Gothenburg, it was a kind of world of its own I guess.
++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process?
So how it all got started is a bit hazy. We played in some shed Viktor’s family had, me, Per Tomas Jonatan and Viktor. We were still in school at the time, so I think it was more the 5 people who were interested at all who got together.
++ Was there any lineup changes in the band?
Viktor left after a year or two I believe, then Jonatan left a couple of years after that, so in the end it was just me Per and Tomas. Sometimes a friend joined for a show here or there.
++ What instruments did each of you play in the band?
Olof – vocals + a bit of everything.
Per – Bass
Tomas & Jonatan – guitar, sometimes synth or percussion.
++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?
So after Viktor left we used a drum machine or backtrack instead of drums, so the process became very iterative and emergent, like the songs got written almost as they got recorded. We only play all 4 at the same time after the track was almost done.
We never had a routine practice, but practiced basically when we got a show and a deadline to get done. So the locales varied greatly. For a while we bought some kind of digital guitar and bass amps (“pods”?), and used a backtrack, and wired electric bass and guitar into headphones and kinda rehearsed without making much noise – then we could almost practice everywhere. But the vibe was a bit weird, hehe. We practiced in my co-ops living room for a few weeks, and my friend said it looked like some kind of art installation, “silent pop”.
++ What about influences?
So here it was very much a mix of the indie/new wave of the 80s and the slightly harder stuff of the 90’s, like from Field Mice to My Bloody Valentine.
We were very into distinct, crisp pop-songs with 3-4 chords maximum, and nothing too fancy going on in terms of music and notes. The experimental stuff came in terms of sounds, effects and so on.
Before the Gothenburg music scene really took off (circa 2002-3), it was kind of depressing. All bands sounded like worse version of late Oasis, very much musicians-music, multiple chords with complex sub-suffixes. We were very confused by this. When you talked to the same bands they would say something like “yes I am very into early Björk and Joy Division”, but then make the most boring music imaginable. It was almost like people did not dare to sound experimental or jangly or bombastic or anything, that they were scared to sound pretentious. As if magic was for other people, not them.
So we formed very much in direct opposition to all that.
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
So while I have many crisp memories of the things discussed above, here it becomes hazy. I think it had something to do with the New Order song “dreams never end”.
I do not think anyone in the band felt the name was perfect, but it kinda stuck. There was also this horrid Norwegian snuff metal band that had the same name, which complicated life, hehe.
++ From Discogs I learned about a self-released CDR from either 2002 or 2003 with 7 tracks. Was this the first ever release of the band? What year was it released? And the versions of “She Touched My Hand”, “Linda” and “Death Disco” are different to the ones that were released later, right?
Here is another realm of memory that is a bit vague. I think 2002 sounds about right, and that Linda and Death Disco were different versions. The very early stuff had extremely lofi recording environments, it’s kinda amazing that one can hear anything basically, so some songs got partially re-recorded. But we were also very skeptical against re-recordings. All the demos of famous bands we found were better than the release version, so we concluded that there must be some kind of magic that gets lost.
++ Then there is the “Baby/Laken” CDR.When was this released? And how many copies were usually made of these CDRs? They seem to be rare! And how were they used? Given to friends? Bloggers? To get gigs? Sell at gigs?
Yeah this is a year later or two, I believe. We gave them away and send them around to bloggers and such, but also basically anyone we found interesting. I have no idea how many there were, but not that many.
I think there was a CDR or maybe a cassette tape before that as well. I remember walking up to Jason Spaceman of Spiritualized/Spacemen 3 on the walkway of the Roskilde Festival and giving him a recording in 2001. He was brief but friendly, hehe.
++ You released the “Death Disco” 7″ with Smashing Time. How did you end up working with them and how was your relationship with this label?
So Rasmus of Smashing Time, later Luxxury, contacted us as he was getting his label going. We had a lot of good times and also played at some of the events he organized, and DJed and stuff. We had plans for an album I think, but the first label and those plans fell through.
++ Dolores Recordings would release the split 7″ with Hospitalle in 2005. Again curious how did Dolores picked you for their split series. And what about Hospitalle? Were you familiar with their music beforehand? Did you ever meet the band?
We knew Hospitalle very well, and it now strikes me that in the first year of Dreams End’s existence Patrick “Pats” from Hospitalle played bass! At least occasionally.
I had a few odd jobs for Dolores at the time, so I think that is how I got to pass one of the CDRs to them. Pats knew people there as well, but I think it was Dolores who came up with their idea for their “singles club”, some kind of monthly singles release people got in the mail before public release.
++ Speaking of labels, was there any interest from any other labels to release your music?
Yes, maybe one or to. We were in quite advanced contact with an indie label from the US but I don’t know what happened there. Dolores also tested the waters. I remember a very distinct meeting that felt like some kind of audience. There were a lot of questions about the willingness to maybe tone down some of the more crazy stuff on the recordings. My answer was “no”, hehe. So, that’s how it went.
++ The band also contributed to a few compilations. I know of the Popkonst and the Series Two ones. But I wonder about the one called “Live PĂ„ Join Our Club!”. Is it a live version of “Death Disco” in that compilation? Did you play many times at that club?
I think it is one of the regular versions of Death Disco. We played there twice at least, it was always a good time. I actually met Johan who ran that club at a concert in a harbor-shed here in Gothenburg a few months back.
Now that I think about it, maybe there was a recording of a whole concert or something. But my clearest memories of Join or Club is compilations they released.
++ There are also more songs on Soundcloud. Some of them are dated as far back as 2002 but some other from 2017. Tell me where these songs come from? Are they demos? Are they new recordings? Is it mainly just you solo?Â
++ There are also more songs on Soundcloud and you also shared with me a couple of songs not online. I’m curious about them. Are they solo recordings? Where do they come from?
So I began doing music on my own maybe 2011 or something I think, not sure. My own stuff was only in Swedish at the time, but I think we also did some Dreams end songs in Swedish. At the very least I have a folder from 2008 (will send it to you đ ) and there there is one song in Swedish. And then we also did a few remixes for other bands at the same time. Hehe, another area where my memory is haze – a bit surprising since it is much more recent.
++ And there are some in Swedish songs too, tell me about them. What about “Arnas Balkong” is the only one? And who is this Arna? Is there a true story there?
Anyways, I did two songs solo as “Olof”, “Arnars Balkong” and “Min Legendariska FlickvĂ€n” which are both on Spotify under “Olof” I believe. Arnar (whose name is actually misspelled I believe, I think its “Anar”) was a kind of in-official cornerstone of the Gothenburg indie-scene from 2000-2010, ran clubs, made fanzines, and so on. He lived in this big collective on one of the main streets of town, just across from “Kino”.* There, there was this great balcony (“balkong”), so there song is basically about pondering life and love, planning the night, on that balcony.
* This is the same Kino where Alexander SkarsgĂ„rd and Kirsten Dunst allegedly got denied entry to because it was full, which spurred Jens Lekman to write the song claiming that “in Gothenburg we don’t have VIP lines”. That is actually not true, but I think Jens is trying to describe a better world. Kino is a nice place though if anyone is in Gothenburg, a small bar with a small DJ-booth. (So it probably just was physically full).
++ Aside from the songs on Soundcloud and the two songs you shared with me, “Arnas Balkong” and “Half a Heart”, are there more tracks by Dreams End? Will they be online at some point you think?
That is a good question, since your first blogpost I have been pondering how to best do this. For some reason I am leaning towards youtube – not sure why, i don’t really like YT anymore, maybe it’s just that I haven’t used soundcloud in a while. Perhaps the YT algorithm for my music account is the one that still surprises me in interesting ways.
But I have at least started the digging though old hard-drives, and consolidated everything in one place. So the next step is to weed through all the files and different versions of songs. We were not too diligent with the archiving, hehe.
++ You seem to have had enough songs for an album, why didn’t that happen? Was there the intention of doing one?
Yes, but basically all three album-projects fell through for various reasons – mainly that the labels in questions went under or kind of disappeared.
++ My favourite song of yours is “She Touched My Handâ, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? Whatâs the story behind it?
Oh hehe the story here is goes back a loong time, because the song and the first version was recorded in like high school or something. It is a very classic story, me falling for Viktor (the drummer)’s ex-girlfriend! Then the touch-my-hand moment is the moment, I still remember vaguely the party and the flat, when she touches my hand and my moral barriers kind of fell down. I had very strong albeit a bit chaotic ideas of right and wrong back then. In the end Viktor was perfectly fine with it and just thought it was a good thing. But in-between there was a tumultuous week of late-teenage life that led to that song.
I think the final verse comes almost directly from the Triffids’ “Wide Open Road”, which I listened to a lot during that little crisis. I think that song was also on Pop’s above-mentioned top 100 indie singles!
++ If you were to choose your favorite Dreams End song, which one would that be and why?
I think She Touched my Hand and Death Disco. But Death Disco also never really got the recording it deserved, so i am a bit torn there. I also like “Roses” a lot, even though the vocals are not perfect. But Jonatan makes these surreal vocal noises in the background that almost sounds like guitars.
++ What about gigs? Did you play many?
We played quite a few, mostly in Gothenburg and then maybe Stockholm and somewhere in SkÄne (south of Sweden).
++ And what were the best gigs that you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?
We played at a local gay-club and Jonatan for some spur-of-the-moment reason suddenly entered the stage naked, only wearing his guitar. But most of the crowd loved it, some found it a bit weird and maybe problematic, but could not quite figure out why. We played a cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun rebranded to Boys Just Wanna etc., which later was on some compilation I believe.
++ And were there any bad ones?
My only bad memories are from kinda dictatorial sound engineers who refused to give us the sound we wanted. It was part of like this whole everything-sounds-like-Oasis thing, like some committee had decided how indie music should sound like and that was that.
(N.b. I do not mind early Oasis, there are some great songs!)
++ When and why did Dreams End stop making music? Were any of you involved in any other projects afterwards?
I am not sure how we stopped exactly. I think I was at least writing songs intended for Dreams End in 2010. But Jonatan left, Tomas moved, and so on. I started my “main” studies, and then the whole scene kinds faded away.
But it was also never a commitment-project for us, you know like new years-resolutions or something like that. It was all very wired around 100% flow and inspiration, and no work-like restrictions.
Which is like the background explanation to the lack of an album, that it kinda ended without a clear end, and so on.
So perhaps a bit of order might have helped. But in retrospect, I think I more regret that we did not do it even more our own way. In like 2017, after having worked in education for a bit, I found this book on like “learn to mix music”. Horrid book, extremely bad at teaching anyone anything. And that was most of the music world back then. Had we like dared or pushed the punk-attitude further into mixing, sound engineering and so on early we could have achieved even greater things.
I think anyone can learn anything with the right teacher, and with a bit more of commitment to push through some of the knowledge obstacles, perhaps dreams end would still be around to day.
++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV?
Radio sometimes. We also had some music in a TV spot. But hmm not super much.
++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?
Yes every now and again, but mostly in connection to gigs.
++ What about fanzines?
Yes – the one by A(r)nar for example! That’s how we originally met, I think.
++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?
So my immediate thought does not go to any specific show or song, but rather just meeting the people like really liked it, like really really liked the music. And then finding our what they did themselves, be it music art or making their own video games. I think those events kinda peaked around 2004-5ish, which was also when we were going most clearly upwards.
++ And aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?Â
So I kinda stopped making music perhaps 2013 or something, and though it was like over. Then I began again around 2017-18, but as I said it has been a bit dormant atm.
I think I kinda made too much of a commitment-project, a new years promise, a “i should go to the studio at least once a week” kinda thing. So I am in some kind of cooldown at the moment, I need to figure out how to keep the spiritual arts alive without doing that while still having the rest of my life, etc.
As for other hobbies, I recently found my old box of Magic: The Gathering-cards from say 1994-1998 or something, like the years before the music. So now I have begun playing with them again and find it extremely fun.
++ Also wanted to ask you about this year’s World Cup how do you see Sweden doing this time around? Any chance that it is finally coming home?
Oh regretfully I am not into football at all, I used to watch the world cups and the euros and so on but not anymore. Most of what I remember about it goes back to the 1994 World Cup and our precious bronze medal, hehe. But I keep my hopes up for my friends who are very engaged! The old Dreams End-member will definitely watch every game.
++ Been to Göteborg just once but I plan to return sooner than later, so would love to ask a local. What do you suggest checking out in your town, like what are the sights one shouldnât miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?
In terms of bars and restaurants I think the area around Stigbergstorget has gotten very nice, here one can start a nice Saturday night for example.
If one comes during the summer and stays for more than 1-2 nights I would perhaps take a trip out to the Archipelago, and an Island like BrÀnnö. Boat+tram takes maybe 1 hour from the city.
++ Anything else you’d like to add?
It’s been a joy remembering all these times. We were lucky to be able to live through such a magical time and place.
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