 |
Starting a band
"We were all part of the Music factory (Musikfabriken).
A club where bands and fans of alternative music came together.
A place where heroes like the cult, the cure and joy division joined
forces with The Clash, Sex pistols and Kraftwerk.
We danced the pogo and worshipped the darkest of them all: Sisters of Mercy."
October, 1988 - Skellefteå, northern Sweden
A festival in support of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas is to be the first gig for Pär Wiksten, Stefan Schönfeldt, his kid brother Fredrik, Gunnar Karlsson, Christina Bergmark and a guy on violin.
They take the name The Wannadies.
"It was only for a gig but somehow the name kind of stuck..."
Only weeks later, after having saved up enough money from studycircles*, they enter the local
|
|
studio 'KN' to record three of the four songs they have.
(* Studycircles is an educational tool, encouraging people to get
together to learn new languages, how to cook/paint/play an instrument etc. Every group of people is given a small sum per meeting, to pay for the teacher.)
February 1989 - 'Smile'
They release the three track ep 'smile' (which was also the title of
the fourth song - the song they didn't record). Though it is very much a low key/no money/no marketing/no press release, they are immediately spotted by the national newspapers - 'single of the week!' - and indie radio-shows like 'Bommen'.
"We were so thrilled to be getting played on the radio - we had a party, waiting for it to come on, and after they had played it we awarded ourselves gold 'Smile' records!".
|
|
