Interview: Peter Jandreus (The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977 - 1987)
In June of 2008 Premium Publishing will finally unveil "The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977 - 1987", the long awaited compendium of all the music that matters from the scene's formative years. Over 10 years in the making itself, or a lifetime as may feel to author Peter Jandreus, the book aims to catalogue every artist and every record with full bio details, capsule reviews, ratings on rarity and value and more. A fool's errand? Perhaps, but a worthwhile venture to obsessives like me who want to know every detail there is to know. Needless to say, I'm eagerly awaiting a chance to pour over my own copy. However, in the meantime, let's find out more about the man who put it all together - Mr. Jandreus was kind enough to answer my questions via email.
I know that in the book's introduction you already recount how you became involved with underground Swedish punk, but how did you end up getting interested in punkrock in the first place? You say that you already were listening to bands like Ebba Grön and the Sex Pistols, but was that as intense as you got? Or were you into other stuff at the time as well?
Actually, I think it goes back as far as when I was in first grade. A classmate played me the first Noice LP ("Tonårsdrömmar") and I was immediately hooked. Their attitude was very punk, they looked punk and the lyrics were obnoxious enough for a seven-year-old to say the least even though their music is perhaps more in a power-pop vein. Then I found a Ebba Grön record without cover in a dumpster and I went on from there. Sex Pistols, The Clash and after that I discovered The Exploited when I bought a record only because of the cover. But, it was Rövsvett that really got me interested in more obscure stuff.
What was it that grabbed your interest?
A combination of the powerful and fast music, the overall attitude, the anti-culture, the looks and the feeling that it wasn't the music industry that made the choices for me but the D.I.Y. way of life always has been the ultimate reason why punk is so important for me.
Another issue you discuss in the introduction is how you based your artist selection on your own personal definition of punk music, yet you concede that punk is about much more than that. What exactly does punk mean to you then? How did you arrive at your definition and what do you consider to be the dividing lines? Do you think the idea of punk has evolved over time? Did it mean the same thing in 1977 as it did in 1987/1997/2007/etc?
Well I think it should mean the same regardless of what years we are talking about but since the 70s it has been divided into different subgenres such as for instance oi!, crust, straight edge. These three subgenres are all punk, but still very different in attitude, politics and the way it sounds. Today there are almost as many different styles of punk as there are in metal and the culture that goes along with it. Punk is perhaps the only rock genre that from day one had a political point of view that was more than just a fuck off rebel attitude even though there are many bands that consider themselves to be unpolitical.
In the early days it wasn't so important how the music itself was but as it evolved into subgenres it sure made sense to sort them out. You have to keep in mind that punk can be so much and you choose for yourself what you want it to do for you. However, my book is about music and the social and cultural aspects are perhaps not so important when we're talking about history of the bands and the records they put out. I think the nature of punk is not nostalgic but finding music that has been lost to history is part of what record collecting can be about. Hopefully my book will attract both collectors and music fans.
The different subgenres are presented in my book and I'm not saying they are the correct ones for everybody, but they are the most commonly used. When I'm talking about my personal preference, it is because there can only be one in the book, otherwise it would be too confusing for the reader. I don't think too many will have a problem understanding what terms I am referring to when reading the explanation presented.
Why do you think it's important to document the Swedish punk scene, down to the most obscure, forgotten band? Is it mainly for other completists such as yourself or does it serve a higher purpose? What do you think we can learn from it?
Um.... I've done this crazy work for myself. The fact that people get a chance to read about all those obscure bands and the details in the discographies is more or less a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Some people do yoga or abuse sex or drugs to cope with their inner anxiety. I like records...
What's the most surprising thing you learned in doing research for this book? I'm sure you spent a ton of time tracking down all sorts of odd characters from the old days, but are there any particular folks that stand out from the crowd?
Probably that there is a punk connection to long time rock a billy singer Jerry Williams!
[Also] One of the members of Absurd became a priest and he claims it's the same thing as being a punk, I guess that stands out.
At what point in your life did the collector mindset kick in? When did it occur to you that there might be some worth to holding on to all these old records?
I am an only child and that means I naturally would end up a collector at least according to Freud. I've always been something of a collector ever since I was a kid. Coins, stamps, you name it...
I think as soon as I realized that some of the records I went scavenging for were hard to find, I understood that they would be worth more than the ones you'd find all the time.
Has there always been an active network of similarly minded folks or is that a more recent phenomenon?
Over the years I have gotten to know a lot of people like me but like I said I'm doing this for myself and I'm not really that interested in making it a social hobby. The network has more or less lost its importance since the eBay phenomenon and it's a lot more rewarding to get in contact with the punk scene of today I think.
What's the most prized piece of your collection? What about your favorite underrated gem? Any holy grails you still on the lookout for?
In terms of money it should be the Vicious Visions single. Only about a hundred copies were pressed and it has never been re-released. Rövsvett has always been underrated and I like their second ep in particular.
That fact that I dug so deep into the Swedish releases made me miss some really excellent foreign stuff that I've never been able to track down [for] a reasonable prize as they got to my attention too late for that. So I would say the Helen Keller single, the Screaming Sneakers ep and the first Briard single.
What's you take on the various MNW "Svenska punkklassiker" collections? Do you think they do an adequate job of providing an intro to the scene or would you do it completely different?
Before you were able to download anything of your desire I would say so, but today these types of compilations are more or less useless if we are talking about as you say an intro. But if you know nothing about the first wave and do not want put down some time to get mp3's, that double CD is perfect. And it's legal too...
Personally, I'm stoked that I'm able to find downloads for all sorts of obscure records I'd never be able to find/afford on my own, but how do you feel about it? Do you participate in that digital archivist scene or do you consider yourself more or a vinyl purist?
When it all comes down, I'm a music fan. If I'm unable to find a particular gem on vinyl at an affordable price I'll buy a bootleg. I see no problem with that what so ever. If a legitimate reissue doesn't exist, I think it is only right that someone makes the songs available. What doesn't exist even as bootlegs you simply have to get as mp3s. And they are really really boring. CDs too btw...
What do you think of Sweden's current punk scene? Anything exciting worth paying attention to? Do you think that Sweden's punk legacy is being properly represented by today's crop of bands?
What's really nice is the fact that punk has never been as popular as it is today, not even in the 70s! There is something for everybody these days and if you don't find what you're looking for on vinyl or CD, there's always Myspace which in my opinion is the most important musical revolution since the turntable! The sound quality provided could be better, but I'm sure that will change in the future.
I'm not really the right person to ask about new bands for obvious reasons, but I like the new wave of extreme distorted d-beat raw punk bands a lot.
Care to cite any specific examples?
I really don't have very good examples but I'm talking about the Disclose-sounding bands. Surfing MySpace I've found a bunch of those, but I don't remember the names. However, a local band doing this shit would be Giftgasattack.
Now that your book's finally done and being released, what's next for you? You gonna do a sequel or what?
Yes, what else am I gonna do? Next up is the following ten years.