Although we are the first to use the short-cut known as genre to describe music, we love when a band blends styles so effectively that no one adjective can truly describe their sound.
Refused has been this type of band since its inception. Hardcore? (Post-)Punk? Metal? Screamo? What about those Jazz and Electro influences on their landmark album The Shape Of Punk To Come? In the end, who cares, really? They have be been at the forefront of heavy music for a long time and this all you need to know.
In parallel to Refused, vocalist Dennis Lyxzén has been a musical hyperactive. He is the driving force behind INVSN and currently fronts Fake Names. He’s been part of several short-lived projects. Some would even argue that his seminal band is in fact The (International) Noise Conspiracy.
Refused’s latest album War Music is available on Spinefarm Records.
INVSN’s Forever Rejected is out on Dine Alone Records.
Catch Refused on their upcoming North American tour:
What have you been listening to the most lately?
The record that really blew my mind this year is by an artist called LINGUA IGNOTA. The record is called Caligula. She’s amazing. I think she might be from the East Coast somewhere. It’s really raw, kind of like weird Industrial Noise music. She’s got an amazing voice that goes from really beautiful to screaming and growling. Thematically, I think the record is about sexual abuse survival. It’s an amazing piece of art, it’s a fantastic record. It’s not for the weak-hearted, if you want to put some music on in the background to have a nice evening, definitely not the record that I would recommend. It’s a bit of a demanding record, which I like. Most music that I like is very demanding, actually. So that’s one of my later discoveries this year that I really, really got into it. And I must also admit that I love the LANA DEL REY record, as a contrast!
Which is more of an easy listen, right? What makes you switch gears in your listening selection? Is it just the setting? What best time do you find to listen to different things?
Sometimes when you travel, you want to listen to something that’s not as demanding. I mean, Lana Del Rey is good when you’re on the airplane or something because it’s quite melancholic and quite sad but it also has this really soothing kind of thing to it. When I listen to music at home, I really try to dig in on music that challenges you. Not necessarily that it has to be difficult but that challenges your perception of what kind of music and so on and so forth. I’m really an explorer when it comes to music, I would say. I’m insanely curious. In my mind, I have this idea that every day, I should discover a new song or maybe even a new artist. I spend a lot of time listening to music. When I’m not touring, I try to do at least two or three hours every day when I just listen to music.
What’s your favorite means of discovering new music these days?
Well, I only listen to vinyl, which makes it a bit complicated. But when I’m on these discovery path, like the Lingua record, I did go to Spotify, checked it out and thought it was amazing so then, I buy the record on vinyl. So I think the internet is pretty good. I do a lot of Discogs or Allmusic. When I listen to music, I google a lot and I connect the dots between projects and bands and artists and so on and so forth. When I listen to a band, I try and find out what these people have done before or after, and then you discover new music that way. I have a list on my phone of hundreds of records that I’m looking for. Then I do playlists from my phone for when I’m traveling, because you can’t bring your vinyls with you, of course.
What strikes you first when you listen to new music? Is there anything specific you’re looking for?
I think it is more just a vibe of things. I want it to be interesting and interesting can be anything from, just being a good song to a mood or certain aesthetics or certain sounds. I mean, it also depends on what I’m looking for. I have periods where I dig deep, like a couple years ago, I was really tired of guitar music so I decided to check out synthesizer-based music and within a couple months, I have 100 records like that. Then, you sort of wade through that and you find your ten favorite records that stays with you for the rest of your life. That’s how I operate, I get really into something and for a couple months, that’s all I listen to, that’s my jam. The last couple months, I’ve been listening to a lot of early 80’s, what you’d call Punk Funk maybe? White people playing really poor Funk music. That’s been my jam for for the past two months.
Can you name five records that really had a strong impact on you, throughout your life and tell us a bit of each one?
First of all, I would say DAVID BOWIE, Let’s Dance, which is an odd record because it’s not his coolest but it was the first record I bought with my own cash. David Bowie, since that day, in 1982 maybe, I’ve followed his career ever since, I have all of his records. I’ve been faithful to Bowie my entire life. As an artist, as a singer, as a person that switched genres, I feel a weird little bit of kinship to him.
Then I must say, MINOR THREAT, the two seven inches on LP. That record and SLAYER Reign In Blood are probably the two records I’ve listened to the most in my entire life so those are some important records.
What else? DEAD KENNEDYS, Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death, that was the record that made me a punk. The record that made me go from being kind of a metalhead into coming to school with a mohawk. That was that record. I bought it, I went to friend’s house and we put it on and that’s a record that still blows my mind to this day.
Then, I have to say a German Industrial band called EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN. They’re fantastic, they put out a ton of records. The singer was also the guitar player from NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS for 20 years or something like that. They’re an insanely difficult industrial band, they don’t really play with instruments. They have jackhammers and grills and fucking shopping carts that they pound. They made a record in the 90’s called Ende Neu, which is their attempt to be a bit more commercial and that record was my introduction to that band. It opened up a whole world of music for me that has been a really, really big part of my life for the past six, seven years or so. Truly amazing record.
Some of these choices, as you pointed out, might not be the most conventional ones for these artists. Do you have any other hidden gems or dark horse, where you really love a song or a record from an artist and you find it gets overlooked? Where everyone is about this one thing but to you, the true gem is elsewhere.
Yes, yes. Honestly, that’s my whole approach to listening to music. I mean, a band that has “that” record, yeah, you love that record, but I am the guy that listens to all the records and try to find the hidden gems. That’s kind of what I do with a lot of popular bands. I am very much the guy who will say “you know, their second record is bit cooler” because that is very much how I operate with music. I think that being a musician myself, you have a lot of understanding on how the creative process works and how you can make a record that sounds a certain way and then two years later, it sounds completely different. Not because you changed that much but because circumstances around you have changed. I’m so fascinated with the creative process of music that I love record that failed. I love when DANZIG went Industrial and everybody hated him. I love his Industrial records. Danzig V and VI are amazing because there’s so odd and they’re so great but so not what people expected, not what people wanted. So that’s a huge part of how I listen to music basically.
Is there a band that only put out one release (demo, 7″ or LP) that you truly love and you wish they would have kept going but they disbanded and you never got to get anything else out of them?
Yes. If you’re into Hardcore music, a lot of bands did not put out much. Some of my favorite records are seven inches of bands who put out one seven inch. You know, they put out like two songs and you’re like, “oh, they’re my favorite!” There’s a whole list of really obscure Punk stuff that I wish they would have done more records, like DEFECTS or ANTIDOTE or DEEP WOUND. Deep Wound just put out one seven inch and they could have done so much. There’s so many of those Punk and Hardcore bands. There’s a band from Detroit called the DOGS, they put out one seven inch and it’s fucking amazing. That’s all there is, three songs, you can’t find anything more with them. That’s the reality, a lot of bands just did one record or one seven inch. I mean, even a band like the SEX PISTOLS, they only did one album, that’s insane! So there’s a lot of bands that you kind of wish would have done more, especially bands that you wish would have released an album. You have a seven inch with two fantastic songs and you’re left wondering, why couldn’t they have done eight more songs so there could have been at least a full length record.
Moving on to live music, what are some of the most memorable shows that you’ve seen in your life?
I saw RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE two months after the first record came out. They came to Sweden and played in front of 200 people in 1992. They were amazing. Me and my friends went because Zack used to sing in a Hardcore band called INSIDE OUT, again that put out only one seven inch! They put out only one seven inch and it’s amazing. So we went to Stockholm to see his new band and they were amazing, mind blowing. Then after the show, Tom Morello walked out in the crowd, and we’re standing there with Hardcore tshirts. He came and said “oh, you guys are Hardcore kids? Come and hang out in the dressing room” Zack talked politics with us for two hours. That was pretty awesome.
I also remember seeing BILLY BRAGG in 1995 or 1996. He came to Stockholm and he was the first artist that saw that, the way he talked to the crowd, the way he interacted, the stories that he told about politics and life, it was so powerful that it really affected the way I talk in between songs and the way I want to approach a crowd.
Last but not least, 1991 maybe, me and my partner at the time, we were young kids, I was like 19, we took the train down to Stockholm because we wanted to see the RAMONES. They were played and it was great but they opened up for IGGY and I didn’t really know that much about him. I knew about you, but I didn’t really listen to him. It was the Brick By Brick tour and he came out and he was amazing. It was not like anything I’d ever seen before. I mean, The Ramones were great but then Iggy came on and the way he moved and the way he presented himself on stage was such a huge influence on the person that I have become. That was a really powerful thing and that’s still to this day. It’s one of those shows where, I didn’t know but then he came out and he blew my mind.
What are some of your favorite lyrics? It can be a line, a song or the overall work of a lyricist.
Well, first of all, let’s backtrack to the DEAD KENNEDYS and an aspiring young punk. The way Jello Biafra sang about politics, funny, smart and clever, that really influenced me. To me, that was finding a way where I could express how I felt, through someone like the Dead Kennedys or even The CLASH. Bands that talked about politics in a certain way, really inspired me as far as songwriting went or as far as the way I write lyrics. But I have to say, one of my favorite lyrics is a band from the UK called The SOUND. They were a Post-Punk type of band. The singer, Adrian Borland, killed himself in the 90’s. They had a song called Counting The Days, which I think is one of the most beautiful song about a broken heart that’s ever been written. That’s some of the most beautiful words that I know.
Can you name three songs that you consider to be perfect explain what makes them so special?
GRAHAM NASH, Simple Man, because it’s short, to the point and it’s amazingly beautiful. Also about relationships.
Another song that is really amazing is called Shivers by a band called THE BOYS NEXT DOOR. They became The BIRTHDAY PARTY and then of course, NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS. The Boys Next Door was Nick Cave’s first punk band. The song Shivers -which is written by the guitar player, Rowland S. Howard. He was an amazing character- and this song is truly fantastic. One of my favorite songs, just dealing with the beauty and alienation of being a teenager basically.
Then let’s say a song by The GUN CLUB, House On Highland Ave. It’s an amazing song about a serial killer and the composition of the song is perfect. Gun Club is one of my favorite bands and that’s probably one of my favorite songs.
Is there any classic or universally acclaimed artists that you missed out on when they first came out and discovered way later? Or perhaps an artist that you didn’t like at first, but learned to appreciate over time?
Yeah, I mean, they’re not my favorite band but…when I got into Punk, the biggest band in the world was U2 and it kind of made me hate U2, they seemed self-righteous. I wanted to listen to Punk and they were all over the radio. They’re definitely one of those bands that I’ve been going back and now think they are amazing. Of course, they were on the radio all the time because they wrote fantastic songs. They’re definitely one of those bands that I really wrote off and I thought they were horrible. Another band like that was DEPECHE MODE. When I heard them, I did not like it. I also grew up in this time era, in Sweden in the 80’s where if you weren’t into synth music like Depeche Mode, you went to a subculture or you were into Heavy Metal. I was interested in Metal so I had a weird bias against synth music and especially Depeche Mode for a long time. I was convinced that I kind of hated them and then maybe 10 years ago, I thought I should give it a listen and now, I have every record, I saw them live two years ago and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. But it’s hard to admit it to yourself when you’ve been categorically writing someone off for a very, very long time. You keep repeating, “They’re not great, they’re not great” and then when you hear it for real you’re like, “Oh no, this is amazing”.
Being in Sweden, I assume that a lot of bands, especially from the USA didn’t make it out. Are there any specific bands that you really wish you could have seen over the years, but never get the chance to?
Let me think. I mean, we’re in a weird climate of music where every band kind of exists, you know what I mean? You go to a festival and there’s always some old bands playing that you never thought you were going to see. So I’ve seen most of my favorite bands. Sometimes, I wish I’d seen better versions of my favorite bands, if that makes sense? Where you saw a band and it was fine but you wish you’d seen them 20 years ago. Well, MINOR THREAT is probably one of my favorite bands of all time and they broke up in like ’84 and they never came to Sweden so that would be one of those bands. I wish I could have seen the BAD BRAINS when they were great. I saw the Bad Brains two years ago and it was not great. I wish I had seen in the heyday, in the mid 80’s. I would set it in the mid 80’s, not even in ’81.
Yeah, sometimes, I find it’s almost best that you don’t see some of these bands. There’s some bands that I definitely chose not to see because I was thinking there was no way that could even approach the idea I had of them in my mind.
Yes, that’s true. It’s a weird thing because we all grow older and we all developed or whatever and it is weird because you see these artists and you think “I wish I’d seen them when they were young” but at the same time, we have to also be able to grow and grow older. But I mean, yeah, of course I wish I’d seen the Bad Brains when they were great and I wish I did not see them when they were actually really bad, which was a disappointment. I’ve seen some old punk bands that still deliver, where I was like, “Wow, this is pretty fucking great.” Sometimes you get surprised the other way around. You think “Oh, this is going to suck tonight.” And then it’s actually really good.
When was the last time that you discovered a band live that really blew you away?
It was this summer, I went to a festival in Sweden and there was a band called MAIDAVALE. A friend of mine mentioned them and said they’re pretty cool, maybe I should check it out. I was with my girlfriend and it was kind of late and it was getting cold but I’m like, “should we check out this MaidaVale band? they might be cool.” They started playing and I remember the first bass riff started playing and I just looked at my girlfriend with this massive grin on my face. Like, holy shit! We saw the entire set and I texted my manager saying that we need to play shows with this band. I went and bought both their records and I was blown away by how great they were live. It doesn’t happen that often but it was definitely case where I was Ho-ly shit!
What would you say is the band that you’ve toured with that impressed you the most? The one that you just had to watch their entire set night after night?
Oh, interesting. I’ve been lucking enough to tour with a lot of good bands. Maybe one of my favorite tours was with The (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY, in the early 2000’s. It was a band from Boston opening up called the EXPLOSION -pretty cool-, then we played with Noise Conspiracy and ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT headlined. I watched Rocket from the Crypt every night and that was one of the most fun tours I’ve ever been on. It was definitely one of those where you watch them every night and every night was exciting and the atmosphere in the room was always super great. They’re maybe not the best band I toured with, but the the excitement of that tour was probably the most fun we had on tour basically.
Is there any up and coming artists that you’d like to recommend?
That LINGUA IGNOTA record, I think she’s an up and coming artist and I think she’s great. Let me look at my new record collection box here and see if there’s anything special. That band FONTAINES D.C., I really like their new record. See what else we got going on here. I went and saw a band from Chicago called HIDE a couple of weeks ago and it was one of the most brutal and violent shows I’ve ever seen. It was great. They just put out their second record. Also, there’s a band from Amsterdam called ALTIN GÜN and it’s like Turkish Psychedelic Rock. They just put up their second record and I think it’s really, really good. There’s a couple of new tips for you.
That’s all great stuff! I think that rounds it up. Thanks a lot for your time, it was really interesting!
Well, here’s the deal, I’m a huge record collector and I don’t get to brag that often about my huge record collection so when someone calls me and says, “We’re not going to talk about your music” it makes me super excited! Haha. So thank you! It’s really nice to talk about music that inspires me and music that I love.
Maybe I can give you one last chance to brag then. What is your most prized item in your record collection?
It is the MISFITS Bullet seven inch, the original pressing. It’s…quite pricey. Haha It’s quite, quite pricey! Also, there’s a Swedish Punk band called KRIMINELLA GITARRER, which means criminal guitars. They were the first Punk band in Sweden to put out a record. Their seven inch is regarded as a complete Punk classic. They printed 500 copies, and at one of their first shows, they threw 200 copies in the crowd. So there only exist 300 copies of this record and I have one of them. It’s like owning…I don’t know…I mean, I also have the first BAD BRAINS seven inch and so it’s like owning the first Bad Brains seven inch by a Swedish band. I mean, I have a good collection! Hahaha
In closing, do you have any other musical projects going on right now, besides Refused? Anything else that you’d like to promote?
Yes, I have another band called INVSN. We have a couple of records out and we recorded a record that’s coming out next year. Which is really interesting, super different. No similarities to the previous ones at all. Then I’m actually doing a project with Brian Baker from MINOR THREAT. We have a project together called FAKE NAMES, which is also putting out a record next year, and it sounds like Washington DC 80’s Punk Rock. It’s really cool. Yeah, there’s always stuff in the pipeline. Always.
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