Thanks so much to Mark Bryceland for the interview! I had written about the Perth, Australia, early 90s band Wash on the blog back in March. I was surprised to hear that the band is planning to reissue their songs thanks to Chapter Music! And I needed to learn more about the band. Mark also shared with me his new project and was happily surprised as well. Clearly he likes the music I also like! So it made total sense for this interview to happen. So if you haven’t heard about Wash, please hear them now!

++ Hi Mark! Let’s 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?

There was often music playing in the house and in the family car – my Dad liked Roxy Music, Motown, Boz Scaggs, Motown and I particularly remember a lot of Smokey Robinson’s ‘Being With You’ album. As kids, we listened to the charts a lot: the Australian one  and Casey Kasem’s American Top 40. I noticed I liked sad, melodic stuff such as ‘What About Me?’ By Moving Pictures, ‘You Weren’t in Love With Me’ by Billy Field, ‘All Out of Love’ by Air Supply. I was also really into John Lennon at this time, in particular ‘Mind Games’, ‘#9 Dream’ and ‘Watching the Wheels’. Being the early-to-mid 80s, there were loads of great synth-pop, rock and ballads around and I became obsessed with Simple Minds’ ‘New Gold Dream’ and Tears for Fears’ ‘Songs From the Big Chair’ albums. Later In high school I got into the Jesus and Mary Chain. A school friend, Stephen Garrett, lent me his Psychocandy cassette. I thought the noise was a cassette fault and gave it back. The more accessible ‘Darklands’ album was released very shortly after. I particularly loved the sad, melancholic title track, then got into Psychocandy after Darklands! Friends at School were listening to The Smiths and Echo and the Bunnymen and alternative British pop. A few friends were punks but I didn’t like punk, being very much a child of the more effeminate new-romantic era. So I was listening to all sorts of alternative music at that time and especially liked British indie and older stuff like Love, The Doors, The Byrds and Bread etc. I always wanted to play drums, so saved up and bought a beaten up old Rogers drum kit for $50. My parents flipped and I wasn’t allowed to play it in the house so I really looked forward to joining a band in order to practice.

++ Had you been in other bands before Wash?

I played drums in two cover bands with high school friends. One was The Funeral Party with Paul Collins (vocals), David Coggin (guitar). Paul Bristow (guitar) and Stephen Garret (bass). We mostly played covers of The Birthday Party and Bauhaus songs plus an original called ‘The Night the City Screamed’. We performed perhaps a handful of parties and gigs. I was also in a Joy Division covers band called Covert Activity with Stephen Garrett again (bass) and Peter Norris (guitar). I had seen Covert Activity play at a ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition at Applecross High School with their previous drummer just before Stephen enrolled at my school. We didn’t have a vocalist and we never played live, but we practiced most Sundays in Stephen’s very hot garage. Both bands eventually merged and then played half a gig at The Stoned Crow in Fremantle, which ended prematurely with an argument upfront, and we broke up on-stage.

++ What about the other band members? Were they in other bands too? 

I’m not sure about Alan Matthews (bass) and Courtney Babb (guitar), but Rolf Farstad (guitar and vocals) was in another band with Jon Scull called Benji. Jon Scull did the artwork for the Wash ‘Demo’ cassette. One of Benji’s tracks, Iguana, made it onto Guy Blackman’s compilation ‘Bright Lights Small City’ in 1991 alongside Wash’s ‘Klunk’.

++ Where are you originally from?

My family moved from Paisley in  Scotland to Perth in Australia when I was a kid. Perth was a nice place to grow up but it started to feel a little small as I got older, so I moved to London and spent the first year seeing a lot of gigs and a lot of bands – including a lot of  the first Stereolab gigs! Laetitia had a cool voice and presence and was very sweet. The band had a raw energy in those days, much like the Super Electric EP, produced by Ian ‘Robbs’ Robbins. I ended up going to far too many gigs and soon got bored of gigs altogether and have generally avoided them ever since. The last gig I went to see was a Dory Previn tribute evening at The Betsey Trotwood in London in 2024 and before that Deerhoof in 2014 who were great, of course. 

++ How was Perth at the time of Wash? 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?

Perth is a geographically quite large and spacious suburban city with a relatively small population. It’s a famously isolated city and international acts at the time would often omit Perth from their touring schedule on viability grounds, I think. Despite Perth’s relatively low population there was quite a vibrant and diverse alternative music scene. Venues including The Old Melbourne, The Shents in Shenton Park, and The Stoned Crow in Fremantle were good venues for seeing a variety of alternative bands. I liked quite a few Australian groups such as The Go-Betweens, The Church, Ratcat, Lubricated Goat etc.

There were a few good record shops in Perth. Dada Records (still in business on Pier Street) was something of a regular hangout for people into alternative music at the time. The staff were cool and funny and would often make recommendations. 78 Records on Hay Street was a big one but seemed a bit snooty and dull so I didn’t go there much. There was a Perth musician called Kim Williams who had his own band (Summer Suns, who put out a few nice singles) and a while later he opened a record shop called House of Wax, first on King Street then moving to an arcade on Hay Street, which I started to visit more often – he specialised much more in UK indie music than Dada’s – so it became a new favourite.

++ I can think of quite a few great bands from Perth! Did you have any favourite bands in Perth at the time? Was there any that you think deserved more attention, that should have been bigger? Or ones you really enjoyed sharing a gig? 

The most enjoyable and memorable gig I ever saw in Perth was the very first The Blackeyed Susans gig at the Seaview Tavern in Fremantle in 1989ish. The Blackeyed Susans were an Australian ‘super-group’ made up of David McComb and Alsy McDonald (The Triffids), Rob Snarsky (ex-Chad’s Tree), Ross Bolleter, and Phil Kakulas (ex-Triffids). They did a bunch of covers by the Velvet Underground, Elvis and others, and later put out some original stuff in the 90s. The Seaview gig was packed and the Perth audience were uncharacteristically enthusiastic on what was one of the hottest evenings of the year. On the basis of that performance I thought they should have been a great success. 

++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process?

Rolf had been writing songs and wanted to put a band together. He put an ad in House of Wax for musicians and Alan joined him first. They played their first gig supporting Thou Gideon at The Actors’ Centre (I think) in Northbridge. Thou Gideon’s drummer, Cameron Potts, sat in on drums. I can’t remember how I ended up joining – I’d known Thou Gideon’s lead singer Mark Lilypie for years so perhaps he recommended them to me, having known they needed a drummer. We first rehearsed as a trio, played two or three gigs and recorded half the cassette before Courtney joined us on guitar. Courtney beefed up our sound quite a bit and we sounded much improved thereafter. You can hear the difference Courtney’s guitar made in the second lot of songs we recorded for the cassette. 

++ Was there any lineup change in the band?

We were fairly stable for a few months after Courtney joined and until I left for the UK: we played a few more gigs and recorded the rest of the tracks on the cassette. We were in something of a hurry to get the cassette out before I left. I was replaced on drums by Jamie Hamilton, and the band played one or two more gigs and recorded a couple of new tracks before splitting. Those two later tracks will also be included on the forthcoming re-release. 

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

We were from south of the Swan River and practiced in a rehearsal studio next to the Fremantle Market most Saturdays. Rolf wrote his songs at home and brought them in as and when. We learned them fairly quickly and would just run through them all a few times at each rehearsal. We worked solidly and with little fuss at rehearsal to get the arrangements as tight as possible and then often had a beer at the Sail and Anchor in Fremantle afterwards. 

++ What about influences? 

Rolf and I were both mad about The Jesus and Mary Chain. We all liked Creation and 4AD stuff like Ride, Lush, My Bloody Valentine and Pale Saints, I think. Rolf was into Sonic Youth and Sub-Pop stuff too, and loads of other stuff. I was also into a lot of UK indie like Sarah Records and The Pastels, The Vaselines etc. 

++ One bit that struck me is that you were the only shoegaze band in Perth at the time. Is that really so? In Australia in general, did you find any other like-minded bands?

I don’t think we knew or used the newly-coined music media term ‘shoegaze’ at the time – I just thought of us as ‘indie’. There were a few Cocteau Twins-ish rock bands around (The Cutting for one) but not what might be defined as shoegaze at that time – the definition seems to have broadened considerably over the years. I don’t remember other bands playing anything similar at the time and the Perth alternative music scene was quite diverse, so we’d play on some pretty eclectic bills. There was a bit of excitement around the release of Ratcat’s very successful ‘Tingles’ EP in 1990. They played Ramones-type power pop and their single ‘That Ain’t Bad’ became a huge crossover hit in Australia after its release, which helped popularise alternative rock in Australia to some degree and offered some inspiration to young bands at the time, including ourselves. 

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

A friend of mine, Michael Lock, and I were into the same stuff. We’d comb through NME and Melody Maker for new bands to check out. Back then if we wanted to hear something we’d have to visit Dada Records. There was so little demand for some of this stuff in Perth that they wouldn’t stock it and we would often have to order it just to hear it. Michael never had any money so I’d usually have to buy it and make him a copy on cassette. Michael and I became huge fans of bands like The Pastels, Primal Scream, Slaughter Joe, Meat Whiplash. Michael was the one who suggested the band name, ‘Wash’, and I and the rest of the band liked it too. ‘Wash’ fit well with the one-word indie band names so popular at the time; Bleach, Lush, Ride etc. It also matched the washy distorted sound of the guitars. 

++ If you were to choose your favorite Wash song, which one would that be and why?

My favourite is probably Orangeboat. It’s another slower melodic one and Rolf’s vocal has a nice floating quality. The guitars sound particularly good on this one with quite a lot of nicely blended feedback and more of Jason’s string-like effects. The drums play double time on the choruses which provides a nice bit of contrast and variety and makes the arrangement more lively. Not sure the drums actually work that well though – I tended to overplay and no-one ever reigned me in!

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? And what were the best gigs that you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

I think we played about six or seven gigs in total before I left for the UK. One of the more unusual ones we played was a Saturday night gig with Cinema Prague at a surf club in the Scarborough area, I think. I don’t think we were quite the surf crowd’s cup of tea at that pre-Nevermind point despite us sounding like crashing waves. The most memorable was when we played at the Old Melbourne Hotel with Thou Gideon and Rust. Thou Gideon had garnered a reputation for outrageous stage antics, including burning a pig’s head on a spike, performative defecation, spitting, nudity etc. That night, Mark Lilypie swung the body of a dead cat over his head which enraged one or two of the guys from Rust and a bit of a tussle between the bands ensued. Rust asked us to take Thou Gideon’s place supporting them a week later. 

++ When and why did Wash stop making music? Were any of you involved in any other projects afterwards? 

I left the band to move to London shortly after the tape was released and was replaced on drums by Jamie Hamilton. I think they played one or two gigs after that, then split due to various reasons including travel, study and other band commitments. Rolf committed a bit more to Benji after that. 

I’ve played in other bands in London. I played bass for a friend, Silvana Del Bene, who had written some nice songs and performed them under the name Cream Soda. We played a handful of gigs, the first of which was supporting Oasis at their first ever London gig at the Water Rats. We recorded a 4-track demo of Silvana’s songs, produced by Ian ‘Robbs’ Robbins (he was our manager and also produced Stereolab’s Super Electric EP) from 4AD’s Colourbox that sadly never saw the light of day. More recently, I started a new band, The Dark Reds, in London. We’ve just released a debut album largely written by myself and we play regularly around London. I also have a solo project for releasing more offbeat stuff called Rembrandt Swells which I do when the mood takes me. 

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

There wasn’t much press at the time. There was a local fanzine called Party Fears (named after the Associates single, Party Fears Two, I assume). It was a one-man operation by a guy called David Gerrard. We might have got a few small mentions there since it covered all sorts of Perth-based music news and interviews and reviews. I think that was about it!

++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Recording in the studio was a great experience for me and probably the others. Jason was relaxed and easy-going. He liked the same music as us so knew where we were coming from and did a great job of recording and mixing the songs.  We were pleased with how it all turned out. 

++ Also wanted to ask you about this year’s World Cup how do you see Australia doing this time around? 

I’ve no idea about the Australian team, or the Scotland team. I watch a bit of the English Premiership but I don’t know how well England will fare. The UK media have a habit of talking up England’s chances a little too much and then criticising them harshly when they don’t live up to the unrealistic expectations, so I’ll take any predictions with a pinch of salt, although England could do well. 

++ Never been to Perth, nor Australia, so want to ask a local. What do you  suggest checking out in your town, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Perth has great beaches and I always spend a bit of time swimming there whenever I’m visiting from London. The city itself is a little sleepy and provincial compared to London. The University of Western Australia is lovely to visit and has an outdoor cinema nestled amongst pine trees. We saw a bunch of films there in the late 80s and most memorably Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire. If you were to visit, I’d spend more time outside of Perth taking in some of the state’s natural beauty: I’d recommend visiting The Pinnacles limestone rock formations near Cervantes a couple of hours north of Perth. The south west coast and forests are great too, from Albany back up around the coast, the Stirling Ranges and Bluff Knoll, the highest point in the state, the Margaret River wine region, and the karri forests around Walpole. Food wise it’s a mixed bag: I’ve had the worst curry I’ve ever tasted in Perth at the Old Shanghai Food Court in Northbridge – I’m sure it was made with just a can of chick peas in tomato soup with a teaspoon of curry powder. But the Chinese food in Perth can be really good. There are lots of small unlicensed family-run Chinese restaurants scattered throughout suburban Perth. Many are open for just a few hours in the evening. Some are better than others but the good ones are great and it’s fun trying them out. 

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Listen
Wash – Chlorine

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! 🙂

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.

++ Let’s 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? 

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 Mårten were the best parties and shows of the weekend were. There were bands playing constantly at legendary venues like Jazzhuset and Uppåt Framåt. 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.

++ 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.

++ My favourite song of yours is “She Touched My Hand”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s 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 Skåne (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? 

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 shouldn’t 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 Brännö. 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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Listen
Dreams End – She Touched My Hand