August | 2018 | KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE

No Fun At All delivered an energy filled excellent show at Punk Rock Holiday this year. It was about time that I talked to the guys for our webzine and it was a pleasant chat we were having with Mikael and Kjell on a hot Summer afternoon.

You recently had some lineup changes in the band, how did it go, did it bring some fresh new blood and energy in the band? Yesterday at the show I saw like thunder coming out of your guitars, in my opinion you sounded even better than that show in 2016.

Mikael: Thanks a lot! It was absolutely necessary to bring in some fresh new blood, like in the last couple of years the things were going, how should I put it…

Kjell: Going downhill!

Mikael: Yes, things were going downhill! We had this new songs, and we wanted to do a new record, we needed some fresh energy to get this feeling back again.

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Does the title of the new record, Grit, has some deeper meaning for you, like grit for staying in the scene for so long, like a stiff upper lip or it is only a random title?

Mikael: I think it is a good name for a feeling, like when you are doing this for 25 years and you need this extra grit to get it going.

I remember you guys back from the 90-ies with all the Swedish bands explosion, do you still have the same hardcore and punk ideals as back then, when you look back would you change something, is there something you regret doing or not doing?

Kjell: Obviously, we are now 25 years older, so that has to count for something but I think in our hearts we are still enjoying the punkrock music and the scene and everything about it, but we all made our mistakes, hopefully we learned something from them.

Mikael: We are doing this in the same, but let´s say it, more mature way.

Kjell: Exactly, I think we are more focused now and the main thing for us is to come to the club, festival or whatever and make a good performance, maybe back in the day other things were more important.

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How was the show for you yesterday? I think you enjoyed it, I saw it on your faces from the front row where I was.

Mikael: That was brilliant. In the top section of my all time favorite shows, I think. It was really good.

Kjell: I think we all agreed that it was better than 2016.

Yeah, for me too!

Kjell: That was an awesome show also! But I think we had better time yesterday.

You also played some new material yesterday in the setlist, two or three songs from Grit.

Mikael: Yeah, we played three songs.

The album came out on Bird Attack Records, are you still with them?

Mikael: Yes, we are.

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I saw on your Facebook page that you only like do three or four shows, then you go home, then you return again for two, three shows and go home again. Are you on longer tour right now?

Kjell: It is just one more show right now, on Friday in Austria.

Mikael: During the Summer, we do like festivals and then you do like a couple of club shows, but in Spring we do it more regularly, like ten shows in a row, it˙s gonna be one in December as well.

If I am correct, I saw that you also go to the U.S.A. like in the Autumn?

Mikael: Yeah, we also do Canada, one or more shows.

Lots of American bands say that the European kids are much more enthusiastic at the shows than the American kids. Is it true?

Mikael: We haven´t been there since 1995.(laughs) but, yeah.

Kjell: That tour was really good, but we were also 25 years younger, so it made a big impression on us, but we´ll see this time how it will go.

You also have daily jobs, you don´t live off your music?

Mikael: Yeah, we all have our jobs, band is just a hobby.

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In Croatia, many people consider Sweden as a promised land, like heaven on Earth, but as I read, there is also problems with rising right wing and fascist tendencies over there?

Mikael: Yeah, they got like 20 percent, maybe even more and they call themselves Swedish Democrats or something like that.

Yeah, the same is also in our country, the ruling party present themselves as center moderate right wing catholic party, but in fact they are the same ones that were here ruling when we had a war and when our country was robbed.

Mikael: So in the Autumn, there is going to be election so we will see here in Sweden how things will work out.

Which part of Sweden are you from. Where do you live?

Mikael: I live in Stockholm, that is like the middle of Sweden.

So, what are the plans with the band for the immediate future?

Mikael: We are writing some new material, new songs.

Kjell: We haven´t really talked about it, but we are well aware, but we will probably play shows promoting this album for at least a year or maybe more, and then we have to talk about what we wanna do next, make another one or something.

Mikael: There is not gonna be ten years between the records this time around though!(laughs)

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Can you still remember the first punkrock show that had a significance for you, which kind of grabbed you by the balls to put you on the scene, make you start the band and play music?

Mikael: For me it was a hardcore show. It was Youth Of Today show. They played in Kjell´s hometown back then.

Kjell: The drummer used my drum kit.

Sammy Siegler?

Kjell: Exactly, it was Sammy Siegler. He was 14 years old, he was very young back then. His Mom has packed his tour gear(laughs), it was back in 1989.

Mikael: That was my first show with stage diving and really got me into this hardcore music.

Kjell: Yeah, they put X´s on their hands back then(laughs).

Have you ever played a show with some Croatian band or listened to some punkrock or hardcore band from Croatia? We have a pretty awesome scene right now. Many younger kids ask me how it was in the 90-ies and I tell them that now is better than ever, all those awesome bands, promoters, kids. I think you´ll agree, if we had that kind of mighty weapon, I mean Internet, back in the 90-ies instead of tape trading, although tape trading had it˙s charms too!

Kjell: Yeah, it was different back then.

Mikael: We need to come play to Croatia. So where is the best place to play in Croatia?

I think Zagreb. It is the capitol and has some great clubs like Vintage Industrial Bar or Močvara and Medika.

Thank you for the interview. It was an honour to have you in my zine.

Both: Thank you, it was a pleasure.

Hesperian Death Horse is a Croatian band which has pretty unique sound in our scene and can not be compared to other bands. I listened to and reviewed their new album for our webzine.

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The band was formed in 2012. and this is their second full length record. This is a concept album the title means Alive in Croatian language. The first part of the trilogy, called Mrtav(Dead in Croatian) was released five years ago. As you might have guessed the theme of the albums is the cycle of life, in other words death, life and birth.

The music Hesperian Death Horse is playing borders between sludge swampy riffs, atonal disonant noise and post hardcore giving a very darkened and bleak perspective to their music. I saw those guys play live in my hometown couple of years ago and it was a very different experience compared to the bands I usually go see play live. The first record had very long songs, and this new one is no exception. The record contains four songs divided into four parts, like chapters of the record. This music is really heavy for listening and you must really get into it mentally, this is not the music for casual listenin because it is heavy, atmosperic, with almost spoken and whispered vocals, murky and deep into guitar and noise work. This is a great record and it is testimony to the work of one of the most original and unique sounding bands in the Croatian underground scene.

8/10