After the amazing release of the compilation album “33 turns 45” with all Midlife Crisis in one place, we had the perfect opportunity to talk with singer, bassist and mastermind of the project, Urrke Thunman. The conversation revolves around the band’s beginning, their immediate plans, as well as the influence of the early Swedish punk bands to the later rise of the local scene of “action rock” in the country, as well as the rest of Europe, KISS and whatever seemed relevant in a storm of information, nostalgia and rock’n’roll. Interview: Yiannis Dolas
Rockpages.gr: The band was formed in 2004, what was the situation then? You were taking a break from Maryslim? Dregen was in Backyard Babies, Robban in the Hellacopters…
Urrke: I wouldn’t call it that I “took a break” from Maryslim really. But, I just quite naturally had some time off in between tours and recordings. Robban on the other hand actually had “a break from The Hellacopters” back then. And I would say that Dregen had the same situation with Backyard Babies. They were otherwise terribly busy with their respective bands. Måns on his side did stuff now and then with The Maggots etc, but he was like me, not busy at the moment.
Rockpages.gr: The band appeared as Urrke T & The Midlife Crisis. Did you think to run the band as a solo project?
Urrke: I never really thought of it as a “solo project” though. Even if it from the beginning was all my idea and my wish to do a couple of old favourites of mine from the 77-Punkera. The first vision I had of this little idea was that I would do it together with the guitarist and drummer from a band called Satirnine. (One album on White Jazz). And they were girls. And I played a Gibson Thunderbird at that time. So my clever idea was to call the project “Urrke T & The Thunderbirds”. But as fate would have it it never materialized in that shape and form. One day I talked to Robban about my thoughts, and he directly said – “Why don’t you and I do it? I use to jam sometimes with Måns from the Maggots. You know him to right? And I am sure he would like to play the guitar.” So we asked Måns and he was in for it instantly. Then it just took 2 days at the most and I talked to Dregen on the phone. I told him about our plans and he went quiet for a few seconds and then said. “I wanna be a part of that! You could have use for a second guitar right!?” – And there it was…
Rockpages.gr: How did you decide to record those covers on the first EP?
Urrke: Well it was easy, since as I said, I had already decided that I wanted to record covers of The Users “Sick Of You” and the Avengers “The American In Me”. A regular single. Two songs. Then Måns said that he thought it would be cool to give it a go with the Warheads song “Centre Of Lies” from their only EP, released in 1979. I said “yeah, why not?!” I bought that EP directly from the guys who released it back then in 79 and really love all songs on it since then. By the way, our friend Björne Fröberg (The Nomads) was the bass player in Warheads. And Gyp Casino (Hanoi Rocks) was one of many drummers who played in that band. He is not the one playing on their record though.
And to top it off – Our first EP got to be recorded by “Micke Rip”. Who also recorded the original songs on the original Warheads-EP back in 1979. And he was also one of the guys behind the label “Rip Records” who released it. Pretty cool!
Rockpages.gr: Did you think that you needed original material, when you were working on “Samma Sak” and “3rd Crisis”, or it was stuff that you wrote and were lying somewhere?
Urrke: I did not think that we needed original material, since wasn’t really the “concept” from the beginning. But in 2008 I decided to quit Maryslim. And then when it was time to the “3rd Crisis EP” I had some songs I wrote, as you say, “laying around”. And a few of them were in Swedish and more like the melodic kind of Punkrock. Those I recorded later and used on two solo singles under the namne “Urrke” plain and simple. They were released in 2017 and 2018. But then I had also a few songs that I thought – “These could maybe fit in the Midlife Crisis-costume”. So I sent demos I had made to the other guys. And they said – “let’s try ém out”. So that was how “Here I Go And Here I Am” and “Dark Yellow Easy Flow” ended up on the “3rd Crisis EP” in 2011. And then when I didn’t have any other band than Midlife Crisis I was still writing songs. Just because I wanted to. And that’s how “Shitty Shitty Bang Bang” and “Bye Bye Hey Hey Hey” came about and became two of the songs on the “Samma Sak” EP. When we recorded the UK Subs song we actually recorded one version with the original lyrics in English and one version with my Swedish-translated lyrics. Everybody agreed that the version with the Swedish lyrics came out the best. Since I sounded more like me when I sang in Swedish. When I sang in English I had a hard time to not try to sound like Charlie Harper, haha.. But the guy who has the studio Dustward (Stefan Brändström of Henry Fiats Open Sore and Citizen Kane-fame) probably have a version sung in English on one of his hard drives.
Rockpages.gr: The songs on the first EP are covers from Swedish punk bands from the 1970’s, The Users, Warheads and the Avengers. Can you describe us a bit the rock’n’roll scene in Sweden back in those days when you were growing up? What bands would you go and see live? Who did you meet? What did you listen to back then? Tell us a few important Swedish rock’n’roll records that were released then and we should listen to today…
Urrke: Actually only one of the songs is by a Swedish band. I.e. Warheads. But The Users was an English band and the Avengers were from San Francisco, USA. Anyway. In the end of the 1970ś I was a young kid. But I had already had my childhood time discovering rock music ind I idolized first Rod Stewart for a short while and then KISS. And that was like worship more than anything. I also appreciated and had records and cassettes with Sweet, Alice Cooper, Status Quo, New York Dolls, etc. Then in the summer of 1977 I heard the Sex Pistols and “God Save The Queen” in Swedish radio. That turned everything upside down and inside out. For me and apparently many many more. I got totally exalted by this new Punkrock-thing. The Clash, Ramones, The Damned, etc. And in 1978 I heard the first Swedish Punkbands. Ebba Grön, Kriminella Gitarrer, and local heroes PF Commando. I lived in small town Gävle at the time so I went out and foremost saw the bands that played the local scenes. PF Commando, BUGS, The Pillisnorks, Lars Langs, Traste & Superstararna, and so on. Also Stockholms Bitch Boys, Ebba Grön and KSMB came to Gävle and played. Important Swedish Punkrock records (albums) I wanna mention that are highly valid still today, especially are PF COMMANDO “Manipulerade Mongon” (1979), EBBA GRÖN “Weŕe Only In It For The Drugs” (1979) and BITCH BOYS “H:son Produktion” (1980).
Rockpages.gr: How come you were releasing one EP at a time and not a full length album?
Urrke: I would say it was a matter of limited time. Also we had no record company who paid our studio-bills. So I had to pay for all the studio time myself. And I could hardly afford more than 3-4 songs, haha.
If we recorded an album all at once it would take much more of an effort. Maybe we even would have needed to rehearse before entering the studio. Now, we just decided 3 or 4 songs and when we came to the studio everybody knew the songs and could play them without any problems at all. Everything we have recorded and released are first, second or third takes. Live in the studio. Only vocals, guitar solos and some percussion are added after; all drums, bass and rhythm guitars are already recorded at the same time.
Rockpages.gr: On the back cover of “Cranked Up Really High” you wrote that the band has no website, no e-mail contact, therefore it cannot be contacted at all… Tough shit! What’s the story behind that?
Urrke: Haha… Yeah, I remember that. It was just a statement to stop people to try to ask us if we wanted to do gigs, concerts, tours, interviews, etc. We just wanted to have a bit of fun without any consequences whatsoever. We wanted to be unpretentious. We wanted to be a band but at the same time not a band. Hahaha…
Rockpages.gr: Although these songs were recorded and released 20, 15, 10 years ago they still sound fresh. And if you don’t know that they are covers you might think it’s your material. What do you think about that?
Urrke: Thank You so extremely much! I think that is the best ever compliment and review we could ever get! I like it and feel grateful about it. Just the way I want it to be. It is a bit like I thought when I learned that many of the Nomads songs on the early 80’s albums were covers, by The Sonics, Teenage Head, Alex Chilton, etc. At first I had no idea. It just sounded like The Nomads.
Rockpages.gr: You also experimented and recorded some of the songs in Swedish language. 70’s Swedish punk bands did that as well back in the day. Do you think that works? Sometimes it’s weird to listen to rock’n’roll music in a different language than English. What do you think?
Urrke: I think it works very well yes. At least for us people who understands swedish, haha. I totally get your thinking also. I remember that I found it easier to connect with Punkrock that were sung in English rather than in German back in the day. Like Die Toten Hosen for example. I didn ‘t really like them until they released their “Learning English”-album with cover songs by the Sex Pistols, 999, UK Subs, Chelsea, Damned, Adverts, etc. Also, there were Metal bands like Baron Rojo who sang in Spanish. But, one band I actually loved unconditionally, even though they sang in their native French tongue, were the metal band Trust! Their single “Antisocial” (in French) and also their local-patriotic song “Paris” are big time favourites. I love them! I also love Belgian hero Plastic Bertrands debut album “an 1” (1977). Also all sung in French. Weird.. I must have a soft spot for the french language. Haha.
Rockpages.gr: “45 turns 33” is a brilliant title. I guess it refers to RPM on the turntable, as well as your age! How do you see things, both in life and music, when you older and presumably wiser?
Urrke: Thank You! It was master mind Dregen ‘s clever idea. Wild Kingdom asked me what to call the album. I pondered about it for a while. Like Professor Balthazar. Or Archimedes really. But I never came to the “Eureka-moment”. So I texted Dregen and asked him if he could come up with something good. “Give me just a moment” he replied. And an hour later it came back. “How about “45 turns 33”? I knew he would come up with something great if I didn’t. He is a very creative mind and I think he loves a challenge also. It mostly refers to the RPM on the turntable. But everybody are free to do other interpretations as well. Our age is past 45 already, haha. Me and Måns are closing in on 60 in a couple of years and both Dregen and Robban are past 50 also. To be totally honest, I don’t feel wiser today compared to when I was 20. It is the same now as then as far as I feel. But I was wise early in life though. Haha.
Rockpages.gr: I’ve read that you are planning to re-unite and make some more music, as soon as Dregen is able to play again. Would you release original material, more covers, or both? Do you have anything written already?
Urrke: We absolutely hope so. I have some stuff in the bin, if or when we come to that. Both own original stuff and ideas about certain covers.
Rockpages.gr: What happened to Maryslim? “A Perfect Mess” in 2007 was a great album. What happened? Why you and Mans walked away? Are you still in contact with the other guys?
Urrke: Thanks a lot again! I agree. I like all three Maryslim-albums a whole lot. I would even stretch it to that I love them. And I hope that Wild Kingdom will release them all on vinyl sooner than later! They were only released on CD back in the day unfortunately. Well, what happened? Probably stuff that happens when a marriage are closing in on 10 years. Only that a band is a marriage of 4-5 people and not only 2. Which makes it even harder to maintain. We were touring quite heavily and I think that took its toll. Even though my touring-memories are almost only positive and happy memories. Måns were never in Maryslim actually. But I am still “in contact” with Kent, Mats and Patrik. But only on social media though, since we all live in different cities in Sweden since many years. Nobody is left in Stockholm anymore.
Rockpages.gr: In 2007 The Hellacopters released what seemed to be their last album of their career, “Head Off”, which featured covers from relatively unknown bands and obscure songs. Did it make you think that “oh, we did that first?”
Urrke: Funnily enough I never thought of it like that. Mainly because I knew that The Hellacopters choice of covers were focused on more recent bands, that had been a part of the 90ś “action rock-revolution” and / or influenced The Hellacopters as a band, plus were friends of theirs. Like The Robots, The Turpentines, New Bomb Turks, Royal Cream, etc. I still have a vinyl copy of that album that Robert “Strings” Dahlqvist gave me when it was just released. And I visited him in Stockholm in connection to a KISS-concert. In 2008. Itś still sealed and unplayed… R.I.P. my friend.
Rockpages.gr: At a video interview you gave I saw in the back of the room the KISS pinball machine. How important were KISS in the development of the Scandinavian scene?
Urrke: Aha! You saw that one. Cool. Yes I have had that machine since 1994. In the 90’s it got played a lot when I had parties, By people from The Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Powder Monkeys, Turpentines, etc.
It might come across as a bit funny that a band like KISS would have inspired the development of the Scandinavian scene. Which was mainly focused on garage rock and street-punk. But fact is that almost everybody in these bands had grown up with being huge KISS-fans in our childhood. So I think it had a certain importance. For instance, the first time I met Dregen and Nicke was after a Hellacopters-concert in my then hometown Gävle in 1996. We met in the bar afterwards and started to chat. About music. Rock N Roll. New York Dolls, MC5 and Stooges, etc. And when we understood that the three of us were KISS-maniacs who focused on mid-70’s Kiss, we hit it off and loved each other in that special Kiss-fan-way instantly.
Rockpages.gr: I guess you’ve met a lot of artists and bands that you followed and you liked when you were a kid. Which one was the most memorable for you? Were you disappointed by any one? And funny, cool stories you want to share?
Urrke: Oh yes. That is definitely the case. It was great to tour with Marky Ramone in Scandinavia plus in Europe back in 2001. What a loveable bloke! It was also great to tour with Hanoi Rocks in Scandinavia in 2005. Me and Andy McCoy got along great. Another good memory was meeting Joey Ramone in New York city together with Carl from White Jazz/Wild Kingdom. And Wayne Kramer (MC5) backstage in Stockholm. Glen Matlock, Iggy,… The most memorable for me though was probably when I was part of a KISS-convention entourage in Europe in 1994. With Peter Criss as a special guest. We travelled through Germany, Italy, etc in a bus. Peter was in the same bus and the same hotels as us. One day when we were in Berlin, me, Peter Criss and four other guys were out on a tourist sightseeing together the whole afternoon. Taking pictures at the Brandenburg Tor, the remains of the Berlin wall, etc. We finished the afternoon in a pub. Everybody were tired and wanted to go back to the hotel except me and Mr Criss. So we stayed in the pub and the rest went back to the hotel. It was a surrealistic experience to sit in a pub in Berlin just me and him having a couple of beers and talking. He was very open and nice and told me about the recent earthquakes in LA when his home and belongings got totally wrecked. Since we were in Berlin we talked about the Second World War and he told me about Paul and Genes parents and “all that”. Back in 1994 much of the things he told me were not commonly known yet. The Kiss-guys had not yet published their autobiographies. On the way back to the hotel we were both a bit tipsy and Peter found it funny to tell people we met that we were tourists and then asked them if they knew the way to Hitlers bunker. Nobody we approached found it funny though. It was just stupid and crazy. Then later on the tour when he was angry and in a really bad mood he once called me a “stoopid fuck”, haha. That hurt a bit. But it didn’t stay with me. I knew already back then that he was/is a very moody guy and that it was more about him than about me.
Rockpages.gr: Every now and then someone says in an interview that “rock is dead”, Gene Simmons did too, that there are no new bands, no future blah, blah… What do you think? What’s the rock’n’roll attitude nowadays? Do you see new hungry bands coming out?
Urrke: Gene Simmons says a lot of things just to get attention I guess. And to stir things up. But he has strong opinions as well. He just have a way of exaggerating a bit. Anyway. Rock is not dead. It should be obvious for anybody. He got a point though. Rock may not be the “big thing” anymore in 10-20 years maybe? I dunno. With artists like Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Ed Sheeran. Ac/Dc and the lot are still selling out stadiums. But how about new bands? I see new hungry bands coming out all the time. Not many are hitting the really “big time-success” though. But we will see. I am optimistic by nature
Rockpages.gr: How much did White Jazz and Wild Kingdom contribute to the spread of rock’n’roll all over Scandinavia and some parts of Europe?
Urrke: I think that they meant and still mean a lot. Because they were and are independent companies and as such think and work in a totally different kind of way than major multinational companies like Universal, Warner, Sony, etc. These dinosaurs want instant mega success. If not they drop their acts. That is not how the independents think and work. Also White Jazz and Wild Kingdom know the bands and the musicians on a personal level. Their interest in the music and the scene is genuine. They would not be interested in “selling anything” that is profitable.
Rockpages.gr: Πόσο σημαντικό ρόλο έπαιξαν η White Jazz και η Wild Kingdom στην εξάπλωση του rock’n’roll στη Σκανδιναβία και στην Ευρώπη;
Urrke: Νομίζω πως σήμαιναν και σημαίνουν πολλά. Γιατί ήταν ανεξάρτητες εταιρείες και σαν τέτοιες σκέφτονταν και δούλευαν με έναν εντελώς διαφορετικό τρόπο από της μεγάλες πολυεθνικές, όπως η Universal, η Warner, η Sony κλπ. Αυτοί οι δεινόσαυροι αναζητούσαν άμεσα την επιτυχία. Αν δεν την πετύχαιναν, απέλυαν τα συγκροτήματά τους. Αυτός δεν είναι ο τρόπος που δουλεύουν οι ανεξάρτητες εταιρείες. Επίσης, η White Jazz και η Wild Kingdom γνώριζαν τις μπάντες και τους μουσικούς προσωπικά. Το ενδιαφέρον τους για τη μουσική και τη σκηνή ήταν αυθεντικό. Δεν τους ενδιέφερε να «πουλήσουν» κάτι που θα τους έφερνε κέρδος.
Rockpages.gr: We imagine the rock scene in Sweden as a non-stop party with great bands, awesome music, everybody being half-drunk, having a great time, socializing, having sex, drugs, everybody knows everybody, everybody’s playing on everybody’s band… is it like that?
Urrke: Haha! Sometimes it is and was and sometimes it is just the great myth. But there’s no smoke without a fire you know. Haha! Cheers and Efharisto poli!
