Messed!Up
Johnossi returns to Hamburg with their latest album in the ”rucksack”, and Messed!Up takes the opportunity to catch up with John Engelbert about ”Blood Jungle”, touring in Germany and how it has been to be part of and observe the transition from selling CD’s to digital distribution of music.
John Engelbert meets up backstage at Fabrik two hours before their show and points out that he is tired and may not be in his best model mode the next hour when the photographer ask him it it’s ok to shoot some photos during the interview; stressed because his voice doesn’t work out as usual. Squeezed into a worn-out sofa Engelbert tries to get his head in order before the show, drinking strong coffee when the interview starts.
Back in Germany again – welcome! In comparison, you perform quite much in Germany. Why?
That’s right. We make most shows in Germany because of great support from our German fans. More interesting is why we don’t have this kind of support in other countries – why does it only work out really well in Germany? The scene is much more alive here than in Sweden. It won’t say it works out bad in Sweden but there’s a greater interest in Germany and more people willing to come to our shows why we can perform at more places. Well, there are quite many living in France as well and it doesn’t work out there anyway. We have been here so many times and established a reputation by playing live and now get the opportunity to play at bigger and bigger venues every time we return here. On the downside is that bigger venues mean fewer gigs and we are a touring band – we want to play live.
In other interviews you’ve said that touring “takes its toll” in terms of accidents and getting burned out. How does it affect a band that builds its brand on touring? Do you still perform as much as in previous years?
You know, the reason for getting burned out is not always a reaction to performing too much, it’s more a response to our personalities. It happens in between tours as well, unfortunately that’s our nature. Both me and Ossi have to deal with anxiety and depressions just as many, many else in the world. There is a wide range of triggers behind these things but it’s nothing strange, it’s part of being a musician. It is a strange life, going up on stage every night, and as such many things can trigger stress in such situations.
Is touring the reason why it took four years to come up with a new album? It took three years between the first and the second album and since your latest album “Transitions” it’s four years.
Very good question (laughing) but we don’t think like that. Every album needs its time. It’s because we don’t want to put out an album just to have something on the market. I think we have done it well anyway; the first album was released in 2005, the second in 2008 and then 2010, 2013 and now 2017. For fuck sake, you’re right! Well, I can promise you it won’t take five years until the next album.
But do you find it more difficult to be creative after releasing four albums in terms of creative anxiety, pressure etc.?
There might be a bit of truth in it but it has always been really difficult to start the album process. I always find it remarkably tough.
On the last album you have worked with musically different producers NoNoNo. How has it affected the sound on the album?
We really wanted to go through this in a completely different way this time, to reach a new end product compared to previous albums. Of course, the end result is dependent on how you go through the process and we wanted to turn everything upside down and not do like usual, that is to not write and record songs as usual. Sure, we had some fundamental dogmas to start from, otherwise we will be all over the place doing nothing and we won’t do anything. That’s also the reason why we don’t have a bassist, there has never been a reason for it because it works out anyway. However, before we started recording this album we said ”This time we will not rehearse anything, we will not meet and write stuff in the way we always do, we will find another way to put stuff together”. Just sit at different locations, in your kitchen or wherever you want to and text each other ideas just because it’s peculiar in itself.
What is different from working with NoNoNo behind the decks compared to the recording process of ”Transitions”?
It was a completely new thing – for them as well. They had very little experience with recording amplified guitars and how to set up the stuff to record drums, but that was what we wanted. At the same time they are audio freaks, the very reason why they didn’t know much about the classic rock ’n roll setup but the last thing we wanted to have in the studio was a typical rock producer who just wants to use classic things. We wanted something completely different.
Everything, the whole album, is very much a cut and paste product, nothing is recorded in one take. The songs is another thing. I always write them on acoustic guitar before going into the studio. What we wanted was their naive interpretation of what to do with the Johnossi sound. They didn’t have a crapload of rock ‘n’ roll pastiches’ in their bags, rather from the world of hiphop and beats. We made our fifth album and felt that we could stretch it a bit and do whatever fuck we wanted to do. The next album may be the dirtiest garage rock album ever, made over the weekend – or just something we do in one take. There is no right or wrong and this time we wanted to learn something new from the album process.
The new album also involves collaborations with several songwriters. Why? It just felt natural, nothing that we planned. It’s more about letting go and try to write songs with others and was also a way to not getting sick on yourself. It’s great to get inspiration and stimulation to write songs together with others, and in the end it’s just our friends that we involved that for some reason happen to be some of Sweden’s best and outstanding songwriters. But for us it’s just friends you do something fun together with.
Johnossi have stayed in the music business for more than twelve years and have been able to follow its development. What are the biggest changes since you started?
When we started the whole industry was on pause. We have really been part of the massive changes in the music industry, even before the transition from physical CD’s to digital music, before no one ever heard of streaming. I remember when someone said around 2005 ”You must have a Myspace page” and everything that mattered was how many CD’s you sold. When we got established there was nothing to compare to. The industry was had hit rock bottom and just a few years after we started the money has started rolling again, maybe not in the direction of the artists. But still, sometimes I get the feeling that we’re on our way back to how it was in the nineties. However, we started in the period when no bands were signed to labels, there was no budget for anything. We were on V2 [label] which was taken over by Universal Music and all artists except Johnossi and Peter, Björn and John lost their deals. That’s just what was left of 200 bands and artists, and from that point we have seen how the music business has experienced real growth again.
On the other hand, we have never expected any money on selling the product because it was never like that for many years and when it started to happen a few years ago it feels like an unexpected bonus. In hindsight, I’m quite grateful that we started when the industry was at its ultimate low. Everything after that has only been a positive development for us because we didn’t miss anything from the starting years.
It has to be said though that in general I’m quite uninterested in how the music industry works out, it’s kind of boring and nothing that is worth much effort or attention. I would never like to be on the other side, the label side of the industry, since I like music as an experience too much and want it to be magic, just like how you experienced many things as a child. It’s a fucking weird feeling that can’t be explained.
Today there is also much pressure on releasing singles, ep’s and albums more frequently to keep your fans because of tough competition between artists on the market. How do Johnossi think of that?
There is loads of stuff you can do but it’s rather a choice of what you want to do. Some artists are entrepreneurs in their artistry and the do-it-yourself thing, in particular, has turned from being a cool punk idea to be an entrepreneurial attitude in which everyone does it themselves. I find it creepy, it’s not about art anymore. I may call myself entrepreneurial but in other fields. However, I want music to be a messed-up field because it is like that to me. Of course I want to be successful and want our albums to become popular. That’s what pushes me forward, I don’t lay in the sofa on my back doing nothing, but you really should keep in mind that music first and foremost is an art.
Finally, what do Johnossi expect of the Hamburg crowd on a rainy Monday evening in December?
We expect a lot, it’s always a kickass crowd in Gemany! I think it’s going to be really cool! We were here not that long ago, at Reeperbahn in a venue twice as big as this one [Fabrik]. Was it Docks? We have probably performed at every venue on Reeperbahn, this is probably the only club we haven’t been to. It will be a great night although I’m a little paranoid because of my voice, it’s how it usually is.
And the interview is over. John Engelbert goes away for a photo session but promises to shape up when the show starts. It’s all about getting past everyday paranoia and triggering some fighting spirit Engelbert says when he leaves the room.
This article was originally published in Drefvet (in Swedish)
Photographer: © Julia Schwendner
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