Jocke's, Martin's and Sami's posts translated to English

[stjärnor]

You may remember that the artist Jesper Waldersten worked with kent during the recording process of 'Jag är inte rädd för mörkret', and the resulting photos and artwork went into the book 'Lägg er inte i'. It has been reported that Jesper Waldersten has accused kent of plagurism as he has a project which uses the phrase 'Jag är' repetitively, like La Belle Epoque does. Jocke's reponse:

I haven't spoken with Jesper Waldersten since the release party for the book 'Lägg er inte i'.
It was a large book where his art and photographs illustrated the music to the album 'Jag är inte rädd för mörkret' (note the title 'Jag är/ I am. Not his idea that time either).
That was 2 years ago.
I have never seen or heard about his 'project'.
It is not an idea which is in any way unique.
I would never think to go out and say that the Jag är-thing* is my invention.
It is a classic narration technique.
A cliche, if you want.
It is usually the first thing you begin with when you want learn to write poetry.
Forumula 1A.

Some simple examples of the other who have used the Jag är/ I am-thing in songs:
Alf Robertsson "Mitt Land" from 1983
Imperiet "Kriget med mig själv" from 1988
Nine Inch Nails "Mr Self Destruct" from 1994
Oh Laura "Release Me" from 2007

There are surely 1000 more.
Rediculous is just the beginning.

* The swedish word which Jocke used was 'greppen', which translates as 'handle' or grip, which I understand (your internet 'handle' was your username back in the olden days!), or trick, but I though the post was easier to understand using 'thing' instead.

[stjärnor]

Jocke replies to forum member Frågg in the La Belle Epoque thread which was discussing the instruments used in the song.

It is a Rhodes MkII which was used.
Have written the majority of the songs on this instrument this time.
It is also difficult to know what is electronic and what isn't.
And what it role that plays at all.
The instruments you use are the ones which fit the song.
Since you may be able to hear what is what then so it is interesting that many think that La Belle is 'electronic', as if by default that would be something bad.
Which is just what Frågg has said here.
Just 'classic', 'authentic' instruments embellished with a little synth harp.
Even the voice has been brought up as 'processed' with 'too many effects'.
As it would be worth less than something is, yes what? 'authentic'?
When it actually is 2 low dubs sung very dead and 2 dubs which are an octave higher + an upper part in verse 2.
What is authentic?
I can't for the LIFE of me understand the thing with 'no guitars'.
What is it with Sweden and these guitars. Rock this and that and blablablabla.
Make your own record with 56thousand guitars on it and listen to that.
Listen to the the third Oasis album. There are over 30 guitar pieces on certain tracks.
Or listen to DoJD for the rest of your life.
There are not as many guitars on that as some believe either btw.
Hate 'Rock'.

[stjärnor]

In the thread about the cover art for Tigerdrottningen, the discussion is on the 'kent' logo and if it will be on the cover of the album.
Jocke replies: (the parts in brackets I have added so that it reads clearer)

No it won't be any nicer. (with the logo on the picture)
In 90% of cases the logo ruins the picure and when it is there it is for 'marketing reasons'.
That is to say that those who will buy the record will 'recognise it'.
Another reason NOT to have the logo on the cover.
We prefer the physical album wrapped in plastic with a sticker (of the logo) placed on afterwards.
The record company do not like this.
But what they think we have longlonglonglongsince stopped caring about
Although the logo will probably be added to posters if we print ones with the cover art on.
Then it will be placed so that it does not get in the way of the expression.
Personally, I am extremely pleased with the picture.

[stjärnor]

Still in the thread about the cover art for Tigerdrottningen, a forum member asks why they didn't leave off the logo from the beginning. Jocke replies:

Exactly as I said.
For marketing reasons.
In the beginning of a bands career there is a point to having a logo since no one knows who the band are.
I think that the logo is nice and fits in on Verkligen, Isola and to a point on Hagnesta Hill.
On the other albums it is doubtful.
But certain cover pictures are more placards than others and you can see it from the point of a film poster-perspective, that using the logo as a reinforcing part of the 'message'.
Whether you like it or not, the cover is a part of the so called marketing campaign.
In these days people look up the new album on the internet and often both the cover and the artists' logo appear even if they are not integrated.



And in the same thread, a forum member thought that JÄIRFM looked better because the logo was on the back and left the cover much cleaner. Jocke replies:

Exactly.
The problem is that with some album covers, is that the logo is chosen early in the career, which then becomes part of the artists' identity and does not always fit with the choice of expression on newer album covers.
A logo also ages.
And not always well.
Even if I think that our logo is still strong, purely from a form perspective.
But it is nicer just on a t-shirt than on a picture like this

[stjärnor]

All the following posts are from the Tigerdrottning thread which makes it easier to follow and understand the comments/ replies. I'll post Jocke's replies to other threads futher down this message and state where they came from.

Forum member (Indie-Jens) has found some coincedences between Tigerdrottningen/ La Belle Epoque and a Swedish band called Imperiet. Jocke:


(for reference: the Imperiet song 'Kriget med mej själv uses the same 'Jag e (är)' type lyric as LBE, and also has the line 'En för alla och alla för en' which is similar to the 'Alla för all och en för en' line from LBE. Imperiet also have a song called 'Innan himlen faller ner' Imperiet at wiki & lyrics to kriget med mej själv)

What connection?
I don't understand what connection there is?
Can you explain?
You mean that the songs happen to be called the same thing?
OK.
YOU don't think that Inna himlen faller ner (before the sky falls down) is a phrase which people in Sweden have used since , yes I know, the middle ages?
I didn't know that there was an Imperiet song with that name, just like the time of JÄIRFM that there was a Patrik Isaksson long which was called 'Ruta ett'.
And, most important of all, had I known that this I would not have cared as both phrases are
commonly used.
I don't even bother to check if there are already songs with the same name as my new ones.
If the phrase/ word is universal.
How many songs are there called, for example. 'Stay', 'I want you', 'Hold on' or 'Release me'?
The list is long, but you cannot take out a patent on a song title.
A little bit like an artist in Mariefred can take a patent on lines beginning with 'Jag är...'.
If you want to argue with this 'connection' here and there then, in the end you can't name a sone anything at all since every word has already been used by someone else.

Does Indie-Jens (the original poster) has any connection to Indie?
It is a music movement which for a start doesn't categorise a sound but was a term for artists and bands who were not signed to a record company. Independent

----

However, another forum member (DanielOlin) said that Jocke denied this link (to Imperiet) on Twitter. Jocke replies:

My God.
Tip: Check Twitter if you must quote us from twitter.
You pulled that right of out a hat.
It was not even close to what we said.
Sharpen up.

----

Jocke says to someone who thinks the band have reached their creative peak:

Since we like to avoid moving backward in all it forms, then we will not mourn when you stop listening.
The band's creative peak is now.
If you do not want the new, fine.
We can not do much about the fact that you are boring.
Listen to the old records then. As I always say (song to the tune of 'My way').
Just just stop whining, OK?

----

And a reply as an addendum to the last post by himself:

Stop whining about music you haven't heard yet, I meant, you understand.
You have all the right in the world to think what you want about music you HAVE heard

----

About the album/ gig rehearsals:

The album was mastered on Friday*, some small final adjustments were made and we approved the finished album today.
Then it will be pressed, approved again, packaged & eventually shipped to record shops/ steaming services, so that with a little luck it can go out on 30th April.
There is still a lot left to contol until then.
It is not as if there is a big red button we push when everything is ready and the record plops out in a second.
Everything must still be done manually & a surprising large amount of people are involved.
So the risk of misunderstandings, misinterpretations and total flops is still imminent.

What are we doing while we wait?
We begin rehearing tomorrow.
So there will be no waiting for our part.
We dismantle the whole album again and begin from the beginning.
To try and work out how we played.
And to try and work out which old and new songs will be on the tour.
And how in the whole world we played those old songs.

There is a warped perception that artists just pick up the threads and dust down the old songs and go out.
But that is far from the truth, at least for us.
Often when we go in to rehearse we remember nothing of the old.
We listen, go through all the old notes with chords, transpose keys which no longer fit my voice or are difficult somehow or another, try to think what sounds were used, which sounds are passed their best before dates and how we will lift/ see that the old can somehow work with how we want to do it this time.
Sometimes we play old songs exactly as the were, but often it is more fun for us if we take old forward, try to inject something of the now, which makes it exciting again.
Which songs we still feel we can perform after all these years with dignity, which we like now & which work together is the hardest thing when building a setlist.
A puzzle.
Where all the pieces will fit in to a whole which will evenually hopefullybecome a really good gig.
But as usual we do what we consider is best now.

*I asked Jocke on twitter where the album was being mastered. Sterling Sound in New York, was the reply.

----

Kat Von D, posted this image on Twitter, and a forum member wondered if it was a collaboration with the band, or just a drawing inspired by kent. Jocke replies:

http://pic.twitter.com/aUMNNDNF1R

We really love Kat so we asked if she could do something on the theme of Tigerdrottningen.
Something which was really here ans L.A. and the whole symbolism around the scene.
Kat thought that it was really fun.
She is really fantastic.
It was magic

----

In the thread about the cover of Tigerdrottningen, the look of the cover has been discribed as metal/ fantasty/ fashion inpsired. Jocke replies:

Haha.
Yes, if you think of metal or fantasty first and foremost when you see the picture you probably have a very narrow frame of reference.
Tightly drawn and very conceptual with super professionals in every stage in the production.

----

In the thread 'Demo by kent' a forum member asks if a youtube video is by kent. Jocke replies:

Ehh??
No, it is not us.

----

In the same thread someone else asks if another youtube video is by kent, Jocke replies:

Come on.
It can be heard clear and simple that it is not me who is singing.
Versions with only acoustic guitar and vocals are very rarely 'demo recordings'.

[stjärnor]

It's been a while since I did any translations for this thread, and there's loads to catch up on. I'll post as and when I can.
This first batch are from the thread about the song 'Vär är vi nu': (original posts here and here)


Thanks!

This is one of my favorite songs ever.
I am so pleased with the flow of the composition. Totally seamless between the verse and the chorus and there is not an unnecessary note anywhere.
And throughout the wonderful vocal package in the chorus is a Crosby, Still & Nash- feeling which for me feels like when you drive a car through Laurel Canyon or along PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) towards Malibu.
The lyrics and the music are like and old married couple who are happily together after 70 years.
The lead vocals are from my demo and I realised early that I could never surpass this take.

----


This song was written almost exactly a year ago and I recorded a quick demo as the song just fell into my lap just when I had (literally) finished writing Mirage.
I did it 'over' Mirage's drum arrangement which I just slowed by 6bpm as I didn't have the time to make up a new sketch since the song just pushed it's way in and I was scared of losing the melody changes in the verses which I heard crystal clear in my head.
When I had recorded a sketch I could then make a new 'prod' around the idea.
But the lead vocals are just one take + 3 voices in the chorus which I sung direct as I head them in my head and are intact from the first demo.
The beginning of the song is about a night a long, long, long time ago where some of the band + Max Brandt & Andreas Bovin were involved. It was a legendary, euphoric and sad evening and everyone, even those who were not there knows what happened.
We met in the studio for a start-up- dinner before the new album (at the end of July I believe) and I played the twenty-something songs I had written for Tigerdrottningen.
When this verse began it startled everyone and they smiled for everyone remembered that evening and what it symbolises (for me).
It was such a nice moment for we all shared the same feeling and everyone knew it.
I had believed that I would never record this song as I thought that it was so private and personal that it felt scary to share it with anyone.
Had a diffuse idea that the song would be left in a drawer.
But Sami said directly, in D minor before the chorus that he thought it was the best I had written.
I don't regret that I recorded it, but it was fucking scary to stand there like a geek and expose the emotions to a text which so extremely clearly describes a situation which everyone in the room knew the meaning of, in my life.
When Rudie and Beatrice later, in LA, came in and did the oyeah-hook at the end, the tears ran from all the uncles

----

Someone asks if this is about when Harri left the band. Jocke's reply was simply:

Sigh.
You're joking, right?

[stjärnor]

A few more posts for tonight:


In the thread about the #kentfest gigs, there is discussion about a new/different closing song than MIDVH. Jocke replies:

I have never uderstood myself why the closing song must be long?
Yes, but it just is. Because IT WAS IN THE PAST. An unwritten kent-rule actually!
We are gladly going against such rules and how things should be like old-kent.
Pondering to never again do songs which are over 4 minutes in length.

----

In the thread about 'Din enda vän'... (multiple posts)

Jocke clears up that the three pre-album release songs weren't singles:

Ok.
These three songs are a so-called album teaser.
A foretaste of the album.
It is not singles, but even the newspapers who incidentally received ALL the info wrote that it's singles.
It would be counter productive, and even stone stupid to release three singles, three days in a row.

---

And that the song is not about Utøya:

Well. It is not about Uyøya.
End of discussion.

---

Someone asks 'can we not interpret the meaings of the songs ourselves?' (re the Utøya comment), Jocke replies:

1. I comment exactly how I want to, ok? My music, my text, my choice.
2. Perhaps it is because I do not WANT the song to be associated with that event.
As it is about something which is important to me.

---

A forum member likes the way the hammering drums and piano emphasizes the end and start of the verses. Jocke replies:

Thanks!
That was how the whole compostion began.
Kick with delay + dreamy 'klockigt' (?) piano + base notes on the grand piano in the chords Em-A-D-G (before the chord changes to Am instead of Bm) and where the ragged kettle drum which hammers on.

But the spring spring spring Ledin- reference* that has been mentioned I do not understand.
Have never heard the Ledin song.
Was thinking more of The Crystals 'Da Doo Ron Ron' actually.

*I guess this is the Ledin refered to above: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomas_Ledin
And 'Da Doo Ron Ron' for those who don't know the song:

[stjärnor]

Morning, a few more translations....


In the thread for 'Allt har sin tid' there are some differing views, some love it, some (really) dislike it, Jocke replies:

Those who don't understand that this is one of the 'fattest' (swedish slang: best) songs we have made are actually dumb in the head!
None of my new compositions are a 'rushjob' (which can easily be heard if you hhave any sort of music ear).
My professional pride forbides me to ever be careless in a composition, and those of you who think that this is a badly written song I would like to see you write a better one yourself.
Good luck, suckers

---

In reponse to a post in the 'Innan himlen faller ner' thread about Jocke's political position:

Don't talk shit about people here, ok?
Keep quiet with your subjective ideas about my (and others') personal views.
You seem to be full of shit, so I understand if it is hard to hold back, but try harder!

---

In the thread about 'Svart snö' a few members were discussing the line from the song 'Ta mig till refrängen nu' (take me to the chorus now) and if it feels unkent-like. Someone thinks that it means the person/people in the song doesn't want the mundane (the verses) but want the action (the chorus), almost concluding the 'I love your money/ want to be rich/ travel the world' theme in the preceding verse. Jocke replies:


That is a really nice interpretation actually.
For real.
Wish this is what I thought of when I wrote it, but I had more of a soul/gospel vibe (I know it sounds odd, but it was) and I was thinking more of a classic call & response-exclamation
Although in the demo stage the 'gospel feel' was more wishful thinking about my 3-4 little unruly voices which lay in the lurch and would be developed into something bigger in the studio.

Like when James Brown would shout out "Take it to the bridge"? Jocke replies:

Exactly like this!

[stjärnor]

An article about Tigerdrottningen was posted online by a (subscription only version) Swedish newspaper. According to the forum member posting in the thread, the newspaper said that the name 'Tigerdrottningen' came from a TV documentary about a tiger in a reserve that is doing the opposite of what is expected of a tiger. Jocke responds:

The majority of your post is slightly distorted. Have not read ABs interview except to proof it the same evening it was done, and can't remember exactly how my quote has slipped. (they always change something)
The name doesn't come from there, except perhaps subconsciously.


and in the same thread (after a direct quote of what was written in the newspaper, which was much the same as posted above):

Although it was not exactly wrong.
But most of it usually is when a long answer is shortened.
It is not as correct as you think.

---

kent met 4 fans in Gothenburg along with GP (a Gothenburg newspaper) and the fans got to ask the questions. Jocke says about the meeting:

To me this meeting with the newspaper was really odd.
In place it was really relaxed and nice!
It was WE who want to do the interview where we would get the chance to have sensible and well informed and interesting questions (which we got, thanks).
And that the newspaper in question would get a chance to do something new, sensible, well informed and which also hopefully would be interesting reading.
That it them became a little notice that we talked with you was remarkable...
What is the point of a newspaper who want to do an interview if none of the questions and answers are mentioned afterwards.
We are happy in any case that we got a nice and interesting chat with those of you who were there.
And 100% better questions than with a usual media-led questioning.
Thanks!

---

Moving on to the Tigerdrottning thread, there are quite a few posts for this one.
Way back just before the release date for the album, it started appearing in some Swedish shops. Jocke replies to a post about the album 'leaking':

It has not 'leaked'.
There are a few different shops, who on their own initiative decided to bring forward an early release date
They started to sell it as soon as they got it in, which the didn't have the right to do.
This happens because the record compant must send out the physical album to shopas a few days before so that it in the the shops on the release date.
For us, this means that all the sale which happened on Monday and Tuesday don't count to next week's chart since the record sales are counted from Wednesday to Wednesday.
That is why many albums are released on Wednesdays.
So that a whole weeks' sales count towards the chart.
But this has been an issue as long as I can remember so I am neither surprised not irritated.
Nowadays it isn't as much of a problem as many stream their music.
But if you as an artist still sell a whole lot of physical copies it can be that you (a touch unfairly) lose placing in the chart because of these unregistered sales.
The money you still get from these sales anyway, but the chart which all artists and record companies want to place high not only because it is cool but because it also generates larger exposure, more places in shops and therefore more sales.
Just so you know.
It's nice that you like what you hear!

Thanks.

---

A forum member mentioned on the forum that they were outside the place where kent were possibly recording the video for something (2nd single, or for the tour).
Jocke replies:

Is this a stalker warning by you?

The reply by the poster was:
Hmm, actually I could ask you the same thing? Joking. Stockholm is Europe's Mjölby (I have no idea why this town was chosen, maybe as it's small?) So don't flatter yourself.

Jocke replied:

Was it not you who stood at a bus stop where I live the other week and now you hang about outside rehearsals 2 times is more than once.
You realise that stalkers is NOT a joke for me OK?

The poster returned and said it wasn't them who was at the bus stop outside Jocke's house, and were not outside the rehearsal place more than once. They happened to be in the area for work, and had no idea who would be there.

---

Still in the Tigerdrottingen thread, posters are discussing the 'unused' song from JÄIFM, and if it appears on this album, or was it 'Ett år utan sommar'? Jocke replies:

It was not 'Ett år utan sommar'
The song that you mean is no longer in the unreleased pile.
It was used for something else.
This is at least the third time I have answered this here

---

Back on the subject (almost) of Tigerdrottningen. Someone mentions the 'classic kent sound'. Jocke replies:

'The classic kent sound'
What is that?
The first 2 albums which were released nearly 20 years ago and which we have never returned to sound-wise?
It that the sound you mean?
I don't really understand how a band who have made 2 albums with drums, bassm guitar and vocals and then 9 further albums which are not based on the rock composition can still have the first 2 albums 'classic' sound
Cool that you like the new album!

[Kurvitz]

So the band is splitting - I'm sure there's some dramatic forum activity going on we're missing. Given Jocke's usual confrontational style and their fans' fervor... Woul be exceedingly awesome if someone translated some of their comments from the last week.

I would just be nice to hear something from them in general.

[DanielOlin]

It's been very quiet, but these are Jocke's two latest posts:

In the thread about the new single Egoist, there were some thoughts from people regarding the message of the lyrics, especially the lines "now it's okay to hate, as long as you hate the correct thing" and "nothing hits as hard as left wing violence" (my crude translations). Me myself and others interpreted the lines as criticism and sadness towards political polarization, while others were wondering if Jocke was criticizing either left wing extremists or perhaps criticizing the mainstream media for treating left wing violence with unjust condemnation.

To Tralfamadore's post: "I don't interpret it at all that's it's 'okay' to hate but rather the opposite. It's a painful ascertainment that some sanction their hate with their ideology, not Jocke's personal opinion. The lyrics have the feel of a deep sigh watching a stampeding polarization that creates hate" ,

Jocke replied:

"Thanks.
The 'motto' * is by the way taken from a fantastic book titled 'We Were Liars'.
Be a little nicer than you have to.
The most beautiful I've read."

* In the song, there's the line: "Our motto for a long time was 'don't take any shit', but you came up with a better one: be a little, little nicer than you have to be now"...

***

Before that, in the album thread, someone said (as a poor joke??) that the band was a bunch of 'stekare', which is a Swedish term for some kind of upperclass party people who are very rich or trying to seem very rich, and that they were often seen at the bars at 'Stureplan', which is a nightclub-area in Stockholm associated with the upperclass and the brat-lifestyle. To which Jocke replied:

"Hahaha.
Yes, we can really be seen there often.
Really, truly.
So often actually that we don't have time for anything else than to be seen there in the bars at Stureplan where we hang out (in the bars) and are [steker*] around and [vaskar**] cristal and talking stock market shares and the latest EDM-trax.
Sometimes we hang out in the DJ booth. Talk a bit. Screws some bottom***.
Spills some vodka tonic on the Vuittonslunga**** as we're checking the Royal Oak-watch.
I'm there Monday to Sunday, all day and night.
At the bars at Stureplan, that is.
All those bars!

Otherwise it's been going very well in the studio.
Just arrived home from abroad with a slight jetlag.
But very satisfied.
Loved Electric Lady.
Loving the new songs.
A very exciting time is ahead.
We'll hear from each other soon!

Love"

* steker = the verb for being a spoiled party brat...
** vaskar = a term for buying something and immediately throwing it away, just to show you can afford it, a weird thing spoiled upperclass party brats do with expensive champagne and such...
*** A DJ-term I guess? I don't know...
**** No idea what this is, must be some expensive clothing...?

[jazzpurist]

*** A DJ-term I guess? I don't know...
**** No idea what this is, must be some expensive clothing...?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'm neither English nor Swedish.

Skruvar lite botten. = Spin some records.
Vuittonslungan = Vuitton-logo. It resembles a "slunga" and I have never come across this word in fashion related articles, so my best bet is that Jocke means the logo itself and not a specific piece of clothing.

[DanielOlin]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'm neither English nor Swedish.

Skruvar lite botten. = Spin some records.
Vuittonslungan = Vuitton-logo. It resembles a "slunga" and I have never come across this word in fashion related articles, so my best bet is that Jocke means the logo itself and not a specific piece of clothing.

Okay, thanks! I'm Swedish, but I had never seen those phrases before, haha.

[Kobbe]

Well jazzpurist, you asked, but I'm afraid I'm not much help here either. The first thing I would also guess to be a DJ-reference, but it's a phrase I've never actually heard. As for the Vuitton thing, again, I'm not positive - spilling drinks on expensive clothing is obviously the gist of what he's saying, but "lunga" means lung, "slunga" means sling/throw/hurl, and neither makes any sense to me. It's either a typo or some kind of clothing thing that is simply over my head, but I think we can agree on the gist of the statement anyway, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

[Anx]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'm neither English nor Swedish.

Skruvar lite botten. = Spin some records.
Vuittonslungan = Vuitton-logo. It resembles a "slunga" and I have never come across this word in fashion related articles, so my best bet is that Jocke means the logo itself and not a specific piece of clothing.

I'd say slunga is slang for a wrist bag (handledsväska) but i might be wrong :-)