Venerea

From the westcoast town of Falkenberg in Sweden we have one of the most hardworking and enduring bands within the melodic punkrock scene. Approaching almost 30 years as a band “Venerea” was born in the early 1990´s when you still bought CD:s instead of downloading MP3:s from the Internet. We sent over some questions about the past, present and the future.

                                      Courtesy: Venerea Band.

First of all, congratulations for still being around and making some great and kicking music after all these years. Sweden was quite a different country back in the early 1990´s. We were lucky enough to get your first humble demo tapes back in the day. Obviously you had a lot of humor in your lyrics on your early demos and your first minialbum “Hullabaloo”. What do you remember from recording the “Hullabaloo”-album and how did you end up on “Brööl Records” from Norrköping which also did release the famous “Tjöplusta” compilations?

Mikael Persson: Ta very much! I think we sent out demo tapes to get gigs in youth clubs etc. and they either liked it or saw some potential to cash in on the rising punk boom, so they suggested a mini-cd. They were just starting out making records as well. My most enduring memory is that the guy who produced it didn’t trust the studio monitors – they were “too good” – so after recording he made a cd copy and took it out to his car to listen through his crummy radio speakers to see how it “really” sounded…and then went back in and changed the sound accordingly. Hence, the sound is as bad as the musicianship. But that was the case with a lot of stuff I liked and we were just happy to have a record out.

Even though it was your early humble beginnings, those songs are still priceless in many different ways. Would you ever consider to perhaps play a one-off concert with the early demos and the first album in full or would it be too difficult to get in the mood for such a “nostalgic trip”?

Mikael Persson: We usually bring a few old skeletons out of the closet when we play Falkenberg and I really enjoy reverting to overt silliness from time to time, but I can’t imagine there being an audience for it anywhere else. If we’re still around for the 30 year anniversary of Shake Your Booty in ’25 we’ll probably be asked to do that one and that I can imagine.

After a couple of years your lyrics and music got more “serious”, in that sense that “poli-tricks” and harder riffs replaced the humor and songs played in major upbeat. Was that a reaction from getting older and growing up?

Mikael Persson: Yes? I do think a lot of the lyrics are still humorous but not as blatantly silly. Most people find new things to laugh at between ages 15 and 45, right?

Next question might be a bit provoking and infuriating. We believe in God yet we find it interesting that many punkrock bands also sometimes seem to be divided into their “own little perfect world”. All scenes, groups, organizations have their own “codes” right? ”. Is there something that honestly “pisses you off” when it comes to the “good old left wing punk scene? Anything that is obvious and close to “brainwash”?

Mikael Persson: I’m probably the wrong guy to ask, since I don’t consider myself part of any regimented scene. I’m a middle aged middle class guy who enjoys playing music; sometimes it’s punk rock. Twenty-odd years ago there was a lot of talk of “selling out” and maybe there still is in the DYI scene, but since so few are buying these days I don’t think it’s particularly relevant.

In the same vein as the previous question we usually find the “state of the globe”-questions. Trump and Putin has even got their own song by another Swedish punkrock band that has been around almost as long as you. Even though it´s unlikely is there anything with Trump and Putin that you can relate to in a positive way or are they just pure s**t?

Mikael Persson: I’m sure they try to do their best like most people. (They’re people too, as the Lama would point out.) I’d chew the fat over drinks with either of them and I’m sure there’d be ways to relate. They’re both tragicomical characters, aren’t they? It’s the fact that majorities have voted for them that’s so scary…not scarycomical.

These days you are playing a lot more in Mid-Europe, especially in countries like Germany. How come that you have such a big following in good old Deutschland and have you ever been outside Europe touring?

Mikael Persson: I think most Swedish punk bands singing in English play more in Europe than at home or overseas. We’ve had a bunch of German labels from ’97 on and mostly German booking agencies etc. They’ve asked us out is why. We’re easy. Also, it’s relatively cheap to travel around Europe and more people live there so the small percentage that’s into obscure punk will still be enough to pad out a decent sized bar. We’ve also played Canada, Russia and Japan.

Alright, let´s relax a bit with some good old “This or that”-questions. Try to pick only one alternative!

• Falkenberg or Varberg? A) Falkenberg
• Stalin or Hitler? A) Stalin would triumph in a wrestling match
• Lapdog or No Fun At All? A) No Fun
• Riding The Waves or Last Days of Summer? A) Weezer’s or the Cure’s?
• Trump or Bush Jr.? A) Cliff Barnes
• The New Testament or The Old Testament? A) I only know the first three + Live at Eindhoven, so old I guess
• Surfboard or skateboard? A) Fell off before I got board

Are there any bands or music that you listen to that might not be that obvious to your listeners?

Mikael Persson: I don’t listen much to bands we sound like anymore so yes, hundreds. I have a Spotify playlist called bra skit that’s about 20 hours long and all over the place; no bands repeated I think. But lately I’ve mostly nerded in on Guided By Voices and other Robert Pollard-related stuff.

These days most bands have their own “Bandcamp” or sell records trough their digital channels. Is there anything that you miss with the good old 1990´s in terms of how people listened to music?

Mikael Persson: Yes. Many of the best records take multiple listens before you “get it” and when you bought it, you were sort of forced to listen because you’d paid for it. Nowadays because it’s free and easily available you’re more likely to give it a quick listen and discard it, and miss out on a lot of goodness. I also like the whole package with sleeve/artwork/lyric sheet etc so I’m more fond of physical records I own that ones I’ve downloaded, with very few exceptions. From a band viewpoint, if we’d sold so-&-so many records in X someone would ask us to play there, so that was handy.

Some Swedish historical sociology. We are both almost as old to remember the late 1970´s and the 1980´s. Those times were quite “leftwing” and “socialistic” to say the least. The TV had shows like “Vilse I Pannkakan”, “Tårtan”, “Anna och Långa Farbrorn”, ”God natt stund med Beppe Wolgers” and another classic ”Lillstrumpa och Syster Yster”. In the 1980´s we had TV-shows like “Solstollarna”. Today one might perhaps doubt that these TV-shows would be granted access for different reasons. Whatever you thought of these TV-shows they were at least funny as heap. What memories do you have from these unique era´s in Swedish TV-history and how did it affect your childhood?

Mikael Persson: I actually bought Tårtan on DVD last month and rewatched it; still great, as are a lot of the ones you mentioned. They made my childhood happier than it already was. But more importantly, because we only had two TV channels, everyone watched the same thing and would talk and laugh about it and often even re-enact it the next day, so it gave us a sort of communal kids’ culture to build on and helped us relate to each other. And kids with less than vivid imaginations could get some laughs too by repeating catchphrases.

    

Alright. It´s time to start wrapping things up and focus a bit on the future for “Venerea”. What does 2019 hold for the band and in terms of new songs what can we expect?

Mikael Persson: Flygare & I have been invited to play Venerea suff acoustically at a pool party in Canada in August, which will be a first. Then we’re going to Mexico in September, and perhaps a few European gigs at the end of the year. We’re also trying out new drummers again; we’ve had more than Spinal Tap. New songs I hope will be all singalong ditties, easy and fun to play. Dana & I have another band called Majors too. We just recorded a demo, but that’s not so punky. Fun though, and good enough for release I think.

Last question for this time. Like in the good old times of A4-musiczine´s are there any last reflections or thoughts that you would like to share with your listeners around the globe?

Mikael Persson: Thanks for your patience; for listening and reading. See you downstream or up the road I hope.

Thank you very much for the interview!

For more info check:

https://www.facebook.com/venereaofficial