Back to the Music With Ingrid

On 18 October 2024, the impossible came true. Kent announced that they would be reuniting as a band on stage for three Stockholm shows, which quickly turned into six due to overwhelming demand. Fans were excited – fans were divided. Suddenly, anything and everything was possible. 

Quickly the question arose: who would be first to get an interview with the legendary frontman, Joakim Berg? Who would get the lowdown on what had finally brought the band to this gigantic decision to play live again? Something they had promised would never happen again, since striking the last note on “Vi är inte längre där” on 17 December 2016.

The answer came in quickly. No one… Until Joakim bumped into Back to the Music with Ingrid’s moderator, Sarah Snavely, and asked her if she wanted to continue the conversation they’d had a year ago. He still had a few things to say about music, his process, the big wild world, and the upcoming shows, but journalists asked such boring questions. How about another session at Ingrid Studios?

In this episode, Joakim Berg, Sarah Snavely, and Björn Yttling sit down for a deep dive on setlists, rehearsals, future plans, and a whole lot more. Intimate, exciting, and entirely honest, this two-hour interview gets way beneath the ordinary surface, revealing a man who takes his privileged position seriously and intends only the best for his fans. An artist in a band that takes nothing for granted, especially not the incredible relationship he has with each member of Kent, which he was reminded of from the very first rehearsal. “I belong here. These are my people.”

Episode highlights:

• How My Bloody Valentine in a school cafeteria sparked his friendship with Martin
• A short demonstration of his signature claw-handed guitar playing 
• An explanation of his favorite Kent song
• A story about a pair of very sweaty PVC pants
• How YouTube is a key player in figuring out how to play
• Which Kent member loves ABBA the most

From trombone to bass to guitar to vocals. From punk to jazz to rock to indie. From music videos to music production to the uncomfortable landscape of lead singing. “I’m always thinking about music,” Jocke Åhlund explains to Sarah and Björn (who he shares a band with) over the course of a raucous hour at the studio. We dig in deep on his long-standing relationship with music. Including how he loves the Ramones for having a single sound and drumbeat, but has trouble himself making music that holds to one genre. Get the lowdown on this multihyphenate’s magical non-formula, and learn just what Swedish music may be all about.

Refusing to wear headphones in the softest way imaginable, Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens' fame joins Björn and Sarah on the evening before his departure from Sweden after a month-long recording session. He takes us back in time to the recording industry of the 80s, explains how he taught Grant McLennan to play bass with zero musical training, and what it’s like to be both a musician – and a music critic! Oh, and let’s us in on the gig he played at the inauguration of the Go Between bridge in his hometown, while disclosing his favorite studio in the world as….

A week before releasing his 8th studio album, John Englebert of Swedish rock duo Johnossi joins Sarah and Björn to share the highs and lows of his creative process. He waxes lyrical on everything from scientology and air miles to why Johnossi started without a bassist, how the White Stripes helped them along, and how the band’s songwriting process has evolved over two decades together, because, you know, “Rehearsing is boring.” Oh, and we learn what Ossi really thought of the lead single on the new album when he first heard a demo back in 2019. A truly raucous ride of a conversation, we leave him with the last word: “Music is a magical thing." 

• Why Kent is so loved by the Swedish folk 
• What the band fought about when they were together
• A secret room at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm that is very dear to his heart
• If Kent could possibly maybe someday...

• How a kids’ TV series with a sunburst Fender stratocaster inspired his music career. 
• How the Swedish music funding scene got Kent on its feet and then kicked them to the curb for not abiding by the rules. 
• How liquid courage (vodka) brought the band its drummer.
• How melody writes the lyrics.
• How Kent abandoned guitars

Hello loyal listeners! We’ve been busy recording and touring since you last heard from us, and in the muddle of it all, thought we’d lost the files for 4 brilliant episodes we’d recorded back before we got busy again. And then - magic! They appeared. Enjoy!

Replacing the guitarist of Brit-pop sensation Suede at the ripe age of 17, Richard Oakes has spent the bulk of his adult life playing big stages and churning out cult classics. The show goes on, this time from a small town outside of Stockholm, where he lives with his Swedish wife and happened to cross paths with Sarah, who not only started a band with him but also pulled him into the studio to discuss the ins, outs, ups and downs of being a superstar well into the 21st century. They cover everything from Denmark as the most stalwart of Suede lovers, Crushed Kid as the secret band name when they road-test new material, playing arena gigs, how 80s modulation makes Brett’s ears perk up, and the gorgeous sound of icy wiry guitars.

Hello loyal listeners! We’ve been busy recording and touring since you last heard from us, and in the muddle of it all, thought we’d lost the files for 4 brilliant episodes we’d recorded back before we got busy again. And then - magic! They appeared. Enjoy!

In Ingrid’s first producer talk, Sarah and Björn sit down with Australian-born, Berlin-via-NYC-via-London producer extraordinaire Victor Van Vugt. With names like Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and Beth Orton in his bag, he lets us in on his magic touch during a brief visit to Stockholm. And even contemplates moving up north to foot his daughter’s latest dentist bill.

Hello loyal listeners! We’ve been busy recording and touring since you last heard from us, and in the muddle of it all, thought we’d lost the files for 4 brilliant episodes we’d recorded back before we got busy again. And then - magic! They appeared. Enjoy!

Having worked as a professional musician for over 28 years, Martin Hederos knows a thing or two about life on the road and life in the studio. He takes a breather from it all to sit down with Sarah and Björn, reminiscing over the musical segues he’s made between playing rock piano with The Soundtrack of Our Lives to writing string quartets for film music. And ends their session with a real Satie-style treat.

Hello loyal listeners! We’ve been busy recording and touring since you last heard from us, and in the muddle of it all, thought we’d lost the files for 4 brilliant episodes we’d recorded back before we got busy again. And then - magic! They appeared. The first out was recorded on November 26, 2021, an hour before we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the studio, and features none other than the multi-talented and multi-cultural Gina Dirawi. Although some of the content may be past its live gig-sensitive dates by now, the conversation is as relevant and intimate. Enjoy!

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Having spent over a decade in the limelight, Gina Dirawi decided the time was ripe to explore a deeper, more intimate relationship with herself – in sound. Here, she sits down with Sarah and Björn (who produced her debut release) to share the low-down on granting herself permission to follow her musical aspirations, the Arabic in her songs, and rejecting perfection as she enters the spotlight in a whole new way.

Meat stew with strawberries, a wish list of people to work with coming true, and a stripped-down rendition of Kikki Danielsson's "Papaya Coconut." Sarah and Björn hash out the ins and outs of living the dream with Caroline Cederlöf, aka GRANT.

From Swedish Idol to an internationally acclaimed solo career, Tove Styrke has packed a great deal into her years in music. In a conversation equally packed with laughter and energy, she joins Sarah and Björn at Ingrid to get honest about what it takes to make the perfect pop song, how she makes sure the best version of her voice makes it to the final mix, and waxes lyrical over her newly awakened love of Swedish dance band music. And even offers up a rendition of a beloved dance band classic. 

Fresh off the road after her first post-pandemic live shows, Norwegian-bred/Stockholm-based Ane Brun meets up with Sarah and Björn to hash over the immensely intimate landscape of songwriting, while laughing over English lyric mishaps, discussing the non-existent divide between the political and personal, and offering up a heart-wrenching rendition of Sophie Zelmani’s “Going Home.”

The un-quintessential Swede known as Howlin' Pelle Almqvist slips out of his Ingrid studio space to sit in the main recording room with Sarah and Pontus, where they spend over an hour discussing punk vs. rock 'n roll, high-end recording of shitty gear, rehearsing every week for over two decades, and staying true to the original Hives' vision.

In a constant hunt for the occult, Lykke Li challenges her art down to the nitty gritty. Back in Stockholm from LA for a few summery weeks, she joins Sarah and her long-time producer Björn to share her thoughts on self-critique, why she wishes she'd opted for a British accent in English, and how she gets the best vocal tone.

A song called Bing Bong, the 1989 hockey finals, and choosing between Finnish, Swedish, and English. Sarah and Pontus sit down with Krunegård for a soul-searching, anthem-topping conversation.

Keeping a band together for two decades, Australia dreamin', and opting for a producer when you could do it all on your own. Sarah, who's shared many a stage with him, and Björn, who's produced many a song with him, turn Olenius upside down and shake out lots of fun inside info, and even get him singing "Diggioo Diggiley".

Topliners in LA, not having the heart to tell an ex the lyrics are NOT about him, and playing cello with her symphonic mother. Sarah and Björn find out why Lotta calls herself Léon and enjoy a perfect rendition of one of her all-time favorite Lykke Li tracks.