Mando Diao - Down in the past and looking to the future

Having been in the music industry for 20 years, Mando Diao are about to release their 9^th album in October of this year. While the band line-up has seen a lot of change, their music continues to be well received. After the usual pleasantries and getting him to admit that Glasgow is a great city, front man Björn Dixgård opens up about shower thoughts, his Swedish soul and the importance of play.

It’s universally known that we all have our best, most enlightening thoughts in the shower. That said, what are your “top shower thoughts”?

Björn Dixgård: That’s true! I think they’re mainly about singing and stuff like that. Being in the shower can give you weird thoughts and lyrics… I came up with the lyrics to the song “Ringing Bells” in the shower, and I couldn’t even tell you what they mean, exactly, they’re just really abstract and surrealist.

© Gussta Felias

You’ve said that Good Times was the most ‘democratic’ album you’ve released in terms of how much everyone contributed. Would you be able to tell me about that more?

BD: Well it came out of Gustaf quitting the band, and a friend of ours suggested “Well now it’s happened, you should take songs from every member in the band” whereas before it was mostly me and Gustaf. We had never made an album like that before and it was just time to create one like it. We just all had the right vision, whereas this next one is mostly Jens and I, so it’s different again. But it was great having lots of different input and all the variation.

Säv, säv, susa

Your album Infruset is entirely in Swedish. Considering how language can shape our expressions and even our identities, would you say that it ‘felt’ different to sing in your mother tongue?

BD: It does feel very different, I couldn’t really describe how, but it’s like it got closer to the roots, closer to the roots of yourself. English is our second language, and I love singing in English, but I think it’s more my attitude that comes through, whereas my soul sings in Swedish. Then there’s the fact that the lyrics aren’t ours, they were written by [Swedish poet] Gustaf Fröding, a big national hero. They were his words and our music, so while they were our songs, they were also his songs. He died at the beginning of the 19^th century, so it felt like talking to the past, or being in an old theatre, or an actor in a really old movie.

You’ve been in the music business for quite a while now, 20 years! What was the most surprising thing you learned about the music business?

BD: The people that work in record companies, you think everyone is cool but most of them are real fucking idiots. A lot of them are really shit people who are in it for everything else but the music. Nobody really knows what they’re talking about. And we learned not to focus on anything else because otherwise it can be really depressing, so you learn to concentrate on the most important thing: the music.

I always feel that way about life! When you’re younger you think adults have it all figured out, and when you’re an adult you realise they don’t. No one really knows what they’re doing, ever! It’s all a big conspiracy!

BD: Yeah, nobody knows what’s going on, and nobody knows what “good music” is. It’s a very subjective thing. I might hate a song that you love. And then there’s so much that influences it, the timing, all these things you can’t control… Then there are loads of people who think there’s a recipe to creating to good music, but there isn’t.

Another musician once said that the people who work in big music companies aren’t “music” people, they’re business people who are just trying to find an easy template to reproduce.

BD: Exactly! When we made our first record, we were 20 years old and we were lucky the music company wanted it the way it was. We did the demos in a basement in our hometown. We started off doing everything ourselves, and stuck with that. We do love working with people who are good at arranging and producing music, and it can be great, it can be beautiful, but like to stay independent. Another thing that we learned is that, well, you always think that success will make you happy, but success in your career doesn’t make you happy. If everyone in the band likes and “feels” the song, then that’s happiness. Of course you hope other people will like it too but you can never really know with that.

Shake

How do you feel about being compared to other bands then, is it annoying?

BD: Not really. All the music in the whole world is a copy of other music. Music is what you feel, what you’ve heard before. We never go to the studio, take a song that we like and try to make the same. We don’t work like that, I don’t know if anyone does. But we go to the studio and make a song, and it’ll probably sound like a thousand other songs.

Since there are so many crossovers in music, with artists spanning multiple genres, mixing and borrowing from different traditions, do you think it’s a little bit redundant to still speak of genres?

BD: Yeah definitely, I never liked genres anyway. Now with all the streaming sites, you’d need to come up with a new genre every week. If I like the song I like the song, I don’t really care what the genre is. Some people might need that, but I don’t give a fuck. I don’t mind if people put us in a genre.

Gloria

If you had to define your own music, how would you do it then?

BD: Well to be honest, I would hope that I could never define it. The day that we say: “This is what we are and this is what we’ll do for the rest of our lives” is the day I’ll stop making music. Variation is important!

Is there a song or certain lyrics that are particularly meaningful to you? Or do you have a band that you always return to, whatever mood you’re in or whatever you need? … essentially I’m asking the real basic “what’s your favourite band” question, just with different words.

BD: Well it really depends on the mood, it makes such a big difference what mood you’re in. Sometimes things just don’t sit right. There are a few bands I’ve been into since childhood like The Clash, The Beatles, Blur and all this classic stuff, but I don’t really listen to that so much anymore, not like I used to. Lately I’ve been to a lot of classical stuff, like Vivaldi, maybe it’s because I need to calm down a little. It just seems to be what I need right now. I can never remember the song names though…

Well who can, really… and on the topic of favourites, is there a venue that you really love playing at?

BD: There’s this Swedish place called Dalhalla, it’s in an old mine, the sound is just great. It’s also been voted the best venue in the world. In August we’ll be playing there twice with The Hives and another Swedish band, The Sound. Then there’s China, it was a different vibe when we went there, but it was special in a cool way. We’re a bit spoiled in Europe with all the music, and it’s a bit different there. Crazy fans.

How so?

BD:… A little “Bieber mania” really.

You’ve mentioned how important it is to maintain a sense of humour. How do you do this?

BD: It’s easy really. To us music is the best thing that ever happened to us. We are very serious about our music, but laughing helps if you get too big headed with it. It’s great to get music from all your emotions, it helps when you’re depressed, but it’s also great when it comes from happiness. We’re a bit like an old high school band, it’s easy for us to find the in-jokes. Our bassist is pretty much like our own personal stand-up, he’s so good at impersonations. And we’re also very childish.

Nothing Without You

Maybe you can tack that on to your next show, a little music, a little comedy?

BD: That would be quite something! Maybe no one else finds it funny though, just us…

How do you stay creative, and how do you deal with the stress of work?

BD: I mean, touring is a lot of stress but it’s also a lot of fun. It’s like being on the school trip of your life. You’re allowed to do everything which is pretty fantastic. We’re free to do anything we want, apart from when you’re on an airplane. But even there we’re free, we play our Nintendo and listen to music, we’re like fucking kids. My son is growing up and I try to make sure he keeps on playing, it’s important to play to be creative. You need to appreciate the magic that is letting yourself play. The weirdest thoughts that you have, let them flow. Be childish.

The band has witnessed a lot of change, but you’ve met this change and handled it productively. What’s the best way to deal with change effectively?

BD: Tend to your relationships. Sometimes you’re able to talk about it and solve it that way, but sometimes you’re not, which is what happened with us. If you’re in a band and you have been for 20 years, then sometimes these things happen, it’s a life thing, it’s no different for us. You lose friends and relationships. We always solve everything as a band by being creative, we focus on the love for the music.

Finally, is there anything you’re looking forward to in the near future?

BD: Well we’re releasing our album bang on the 18^th of October. We finished it in May, and I think it’s a strong album.

Well you would say that wouldn’t you, you kind of have to!

BD: Hahaha yeah that’s true. When I’m an old man I’ll still be saying “This is the best album I’ve created!” It’s short, but strong. It’s very beautiful, very honest, very rock’n’roll to be honest. So I’m really looking forward to that, and then our shows, obviously. As band we just tend to go with the flow really.

Mando Diao will play den Atelier on Sunday 25 August - support yet to be announced.

An EXCLUSIVE competition is inbound - so keep your eyes peeled.

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