Scandinavian Indie - Starmarket Interview


Scandinavian Indie Presents: A short interview with


by Erik Söderström (chief@lysator.liu.se) 
after a gig at Herrgår'n, Linköping, Sweden, 14-Sep-95.

Starmarket are:
Patrik Bergman (vocals, bass)
Magnus Öberg (drums)
Fredrik Brändström (vocals, guitar)
Johan Sellman (guitar)

(c) 1995 Scandinavian Indie

If the answer is "A." it was answered by the group as a whole.

Q. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE GIG TONIGHT?

PB. We were all tired at the end. Someone said "we'll play one more song!", and we were like "No! No!" But it was a good gig. About as fun as Gothenburg. That was a great gig! Well, this one was just as fun actually with all those people down there. 'Amber' worked like hell! A sure floorfiller.

Q. WHAT SONGS DID YOU PLAY?

PB. 'Your Style', 'Amber', and then 'North', 'Withered', 'Nailbox', and 'School'. Some of the last four will be released on a limited edition (500 copies) vinyl single. After that we played 'Cosy And Warm', 'Orbit', 'Scattered', 'Unwanted', 'Chuck', 'Hollowminded' and 'Parking Lot'.

Q. WHAT OTHER BANDS ARE YOU PLAYING IN?

PB. Well, Fredrik also plays in Blithe (bass), Magnus and Johan play in Shredhead, so that leaves me all alone in Starmarket (ha ha). Fredrik joined after they (Blithe) had released their second album. About Magnus and Johan? That's another story.

Q. WHAT STORY?

PB. Okay. As you might know, there used to be two guys, Stefan and Fredrik Granberg (yes, they are cousins) from Randy in Starmarket. Drums and guitar. That was really great. They had the experience we needed and connections with the record label (Dolores), which got us onto that label. They were still in the band when we recorded the album "Starmarket", but when the whole thing got so big, it went too well, so they quit. They wanted to have time for their own band, Randy and not just Starmarket. That's where Johan and Magnus came in. They joined about two weeks before our first booked gig, and we didn't have time to rehearse at all, which they (at the gig) probably could tell from the way we sounded. That was in Gothenburg, april this year by the way.

Q. ARE YOU EXPLORING ANY FOREIGN MARKETS?

PB. We're signed to Semaphore in Germany and the Benelux countries. Japan? We're only available on import there right now, but we'll negotiate some kind of deal this autumn with some company. I have no idea how well our records have sold outside Sweden though. Oh yeah, we were featured in a fanzine in the U.S. called "Maximum Rock 'n Roll" too, and got a great review. They said they had expected typical swedish music but were surprised.

Q. HOW ABOUT INFLUENCES?

PB. All of us have a really wide taste in music, but personally, I like american bands like Archers of Loaf, Superchunk, Posies and Sebadoh.
FB. I'm into the american sound as well, but I also like Portishead and Swervedriver. They have an american sound at least.

Q. ANY SWEDISH FAVOURITES?

PB. That would be Fireside (did I mention Fireside?), Salt, Bear Quartet and ... hmm, Honey Is Cool. Those are the ones that comes to mind right now.

Q. WILL YOU TOUR OTHER SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES?

PB. Not tour in that word, but we do have gigs outside Sweden. Tomorrow, we have a gig in Denmark and in november, we'll probably be in Oslo. That's about it for our plans right now though.

Q. WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE NUMBER '69' ON YOUR T-SHIRTS?

PB. We have no idea either! The label made them for us. We never asked why they put '69' on them.

Q. ANY PROBLEMS COMBINING THE GROUPS YOU PLAY IN?

FB. For me, it's kind of tricky, but I definitely work harder with Starmarket. I mean, I want to do more than just play bass, which is what I do in Blithe. Here I sing, which I love to do, and play the guitar. It's a lot more fun and a whole different feeling.
JS. Well, there are no problems for us. Shredhead is not that known yet, so we have time and room for Starmarket.

Q. HOW ABOUT RELEASES?

PB. First, we released "Amber", a 3-track single, then this summer, the full-length "Starmarket" and now, right now, we're releasing an EP called "Your Style" with 5 tracks on it. One is included on the full-length and one is from the 'Prince' compilation, the rest have never been released before. About the 'Prince' compilation - we played 'When Doves Cry" on that one.

Q. WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DOLORES?

PB. Well, West Side and North Of No South thought we were too scattered. That was back when Stefan and Fredrik from Randy were in the band. It was the Randy connection that did it. But because Randy was signed to Dolores, we had no trouble with that label.

[at this time a guard comes into the room and tells everyone, except the band, to leave, and he didn't leave before they were all out of there.]

A. That really makes us sick. Guards telling us we can't talk to our friends in our (the band's) own room. It creates such a bad feeling. It makes us all just want to leave.


Scandinavian Indie Starmarket interview 14-Sep-95



Scandinavian Indie - your Internet guide to scandinavian independent music
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Snail-mail: Erik Söderström, Björnkärrsg. 13 B:34, 582 51 Linköping, Sweden

This page was last updated Dec 26, 1995 by Erik Söderström