Inbox News | Kate and After

Music is constantly pouring into my inbox and its sometimes hard to keep up with all the talent in this country. Today's inbox news is a band called Kate and After and comes from Gothenburg. I know a few of the members from back in the days when went to the university and all the university parties :)

Kate and After were finalists in the GP Scen [GP Stage] competition last month with Pop icon Messiah, a song with distinct Soundtrack of our lives influences. The competition is one of the biggest competition for unsigned bands in the city.

When did the band start to make music together, and how did you meet?
The band was formed on Valentines day 2008. Carl [Hammond Organ] and Jonas [Guitar] founded the band and shortly after recruited their old companion Jocke [Drums] from their former band The Milestone Corporation. In October 2008 Magnus [Lead Vocals], who the guys knew from university, joined the band. In mid December the band was finally complete when bass guitar player Kristoffer [Previously in Combat Rock] joined the band. In some way or another all the guys know each other from University.

Which bands are your main influences?
Franz Ferdinand, Band of Horses, Arctic Monkeys, Babyshambles, Led Zeppelin, Jakob Hellman, The Soundtrack of our lives, Stone Roses etc.

Do you have any Swedish influences and who might they be?
As seen above Jakob Hellman and The Soundtrack of our lives are great influences, but also bands as Mando Diao and the sounds and solo artists like Moto Boy, Frida Hyvönen, Timo Räisänen and Christian Kjellvander in different ways contributes to what we do.

Why do you think Sweden has so many more talented musicians per capita than the rest of the world?
Beautiful women/men, music and booze have throughout time been main objectives for pleasure. The first and last we have plenty of in Sweden, so why not music? Jokes aside, we believe that success breeds success, so the music pioneers of Sweden should have a lot of cred.

Kate and After - Wrong Intentions [live]


Press photo John Sjölander

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Find more information about the band on their official website and listen to their music at Myspace.
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The Sound of Independent Sweden [part II]

David Coleman is back with the second part of the article about the Swedish music scene [based on location]. Im wondering if its possible to hear the difference between music depending on where its made in Sweden? Check out what David says about that. Oh, and remember to read the second part of The Sound of Independent Sweden!

Read the second part of the article here --->
The Sound of Independent Sweden [part II]

Is it possible to hear the difference between music depending on where its made in Sweden? For instance, is there a special Gothenburg sound, in your opinion?
I think it's difficult for an outsider to hear subtle differences between artists from different regions of Sweden in the same way as I can when listening to British or even American bands. That said, the 'Balearic' electronic pop thing seems to be very specific to Gothenburg. The Tough Alliance, Air France, The Embassy, Boat Club, perhaps even Studio – that's one version of a Gothenburg sound, but then you have bands from the same city like Wildbirds and Peacedrums who are doing something entirely separate.

I think the similarities between artists on specific labels are more noticeable. There's a distinct Labrador sound, for example, and the Sincerely Yours and Service artists seem to be approaching their work in similar ways.

You seem to have a very deep intrest and knowledge about Sweden and Swedish music, [some people call them swedophile's]. Where did your intrest come from? Was it your Swedish girlfriend that made you discover Swedish music?
My fiancée, Emma, comes from Halland. We met in October 2000 [in Sheffield] and she introduced me to a few of the more poppy artists [Sahara Hotnights, The Ark, Mando Diao, etc.], while simultaneously subjecting me to some less enjoyable sounds such as "schlager". Ugh.

She's certainly the reason why I've visited Sweden so many times, but if I'm honest I was already interested in Swedish music before we met. The two early triggers were my first 'proper' gig [a pop-punk band called Fungus, who had a deal with Parlophone in the mid-to-late nineties] and an amazing mixtape that I received from a No Ripcord reader called Magdalena, which introduced me to The Bear Quartet, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and others. I guess the love affair started there and the great music I've discovered subsequently has only served to fuel it further.

Which one is your top 5 list of Swedish musicians/bands [and the favorite album by each artist]?
Ah, that's a difficult one. I struggled to narrow the list down to fifty for the feature! Ok, in no particular order:

Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Wildbirds and Peacedrums - The Snake
The Embassy - Futile Crimes
The Knife - Silent Shout
Vapnet - Jag vet hur man väntar

Happydeadmen's Silent Sigh City and Bear Quartet's Human Enough are probably my favourite songs.

PSL

PSL is a Swedish music blog that i read on a regular basis. Its hosted by the national Swedish television [SVT] and the music-veteran Per Sinding Larsen [hmmm, maybe that's where the name of blog comes from?]. Per releases news about music in Swedish, but if you are interested you can always use Google translate and get updated.

By the way, the best part is the special video performances and you don't need a translator for that ;) Check out more here ---> PSL. Here is a few of my favorites!

Hello Saferide - Arjeplog


Moto Boy - What It Was Like To Be With You


Frida Hyvönen + Markus Krunegård - Dirty Dancing


Kristian Anttila - Tio


Laakso - Västerbron


The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - The Passover


Markus Krunegård - Jag Är En Vampyr

Swedish Grammy '09

The Swedish Grammy award of 2009 had some prices for our favorites. These are a few of the winners:

Album of the year:
Anna Ternheim - Leaving On A Mayday

Group of the year:
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Communion

Rock Group of the year:
In Flames A Sense Of Purpose

Female artist of the year:
Anna Ternheim - Leaving On A Mayday

Live act of the year:
Robyn

Song of the year:
E.M.D. - Jennie Let Me Love You

Male artist of the year:
Håkan Hellström - För Sent För Edelweiss

Newcomer of the year:
Kleerup - Kleerup

Composer of the year:
Kleerup - Kleerup

Producer of the year:
Kleerup - Kleerup

Lyrics of the year:
Annika Norlin - More Modern Short Stories From Hello Saferide

MTV award, Best video:
They Live By Night - Catching Up.
Regissör: Senay/ Kolacz

Grammy Live Act: Robyn


Grammy Live Act: A Camp


Grammy Live Act: Christian Walz

The Holidays are Here!

For all of you Swedophiles who feel tired of the traditional Celine Dion Christmas songs i have something for you. Oh, no its Christmas! was released by Razzia Records last year and feature many of our favorite artists and their versions of Christmas songs.

Just to name a few: Hello Saferide, Kristofer Åström, The Soundrtack Of Our Lives, Maia Hirasawa, Laakso, Firefox AK, Tiger Lou among others.

Go check it out!