Thanks so much Roger Källs for the interview!
++ Hi Roger! Tell me how did some Norrköping kids got together and made amazing guitar pop? What was that reason that made you make such music?
In that time most kids either played heavy metal or progressive rock(post punk with swedish lyrics)but I was really into the 60’s stuff and powerpop such as the Jam, Blondie and Paul Collins Beat. It was quite a hard time to convince my friends to go that way.
++ How did you know all the band members? Were you high school friends or maybe neighbors? Why, during the whole Saturday Kids lifespan, was there so many lineup changes?
The first setup were the only ones that really dared to play good f*****ng popsongs with a simplicity and stand for it.Those were the people that also a few years later started indiepop fanzines and brought us live acts from England such as the Wedding Present. The music scene in Norrköping turned in to be a kind of a collective (music and arts) and we all knew each other well. Some people played in one band 1 or 2 years and then they’d went on to another band. It wasn’t such a big deal. I wanted to go on with my ideas and some wanted to go Madchester And probably I was a real angry and stubborn young man as well.
++ Where does the name Saturday Kids come from?
The Jam. Saturday’s kids. The song was about working class kids who only lived for the weekends. It was about us.
++ It was 1987, were the sounds from England’s C86/indiepop popular in Sweden? What was the way for Swedish kids to know new music? Did you have some kind of John Peel there? Maybe you had great record stores?
We had a fanzine called Sound Affects, a local radio channel with the same name, a record store, Pet Sounds, a record label, Ceilidh and lots of kids that arranged concerts. Our John Peels were Terry Ericsson and John L Byström from Sound Affects (RIP) and OIa Hermansson (the founder of Ceilidh who discovered Cardigans)
++ What other bands from the late eigthies in Sweden would you recommend?
Wannadies, Popsicle, This Perfect Day
++ Your first release was “Four Beautiful Songs in D’d”(1990) on the SND label. Which songs were included in this 7″? Who were the SND label? I haven’t found much info from them!
Our first release was actually on a Ceilidh compilation but after that it was “Four beautiful ..” Happiness, Me and my brother, Affected Faces and Down. The SND label was the other record label in Norrköping by the time. A bit more into the progressive rock scene. Less indiepop. SND stands for “skit ner dig”…..shit in your pants…..as I said..more rock
++ After that you end up releasing the 5″ “Things Do Happen” on Ceilidh. How did you end up signing to local label Ceilidh? Were they friends?
Yes and fans. Ola Hermansson always preferred us as the best live act at that time.
++ What about the Pet Sounds tapes? These are quite rare items, sought after by collectors. Do you remember how did you have some songs on those compilations? What other Swedish fanzines were there at the time? Was there a big fanzine culture in Sweden?
The Pet sounds tapes are so rare that I’ve almost never heard of them. True! There were fanzines but I seldom read them. Just Sound Affects really. Can’t remember the names.
++ How difficult was to gig or release records for a pop band back then? I have this idea, which could be wrong, that those days Sweden was infested by metal bands and it was hard to get your stuff out to wider audiences.
It was hard but it created a “do it yourself” attitude. No band from Norrköping were big in a wider meaning.
++ How many bands have you been involved with? I know that now you dedicate your time to Northern UpBeat and Absolute Beginners. Any others?
The Way (my first), The Gwen Stacys (directly after the split from Saturday Kids).
++ How do you feel about the incredible explosion of Swedish pop bands during this decade? It’s impressive, really! How would you try to explain this phenomenon?
A mixture of municipalities that were willing to help us with cheap rehearsal rooms and studios (we could get some fundings through the studies circle organizations). A Swedish phenomenon and our interest in all Anglo-Saxon culture??? Cold weather??
++ Having recorded for different formats, what do you prefer, vinyl or CD? and why?
CD……. I’m lazy and it seems to have a longer life.
++ It was just the time of the first big Swedish indiepop wave with bands such as Cloudberry Jam, Club 8 or even The Cardigans when Saturday Kids split. Why was that?
I was a bit bored. We all had developed different taste in music. I wanted to create a more narrow concept. A pure mod band (the Gwen Stacys). So I did!
++ I want to visit Sweden badly, but never really thought about going to your town, if I was visiting Norrköping and I could only visit one place, where should I go?
My place!
++ Anything else you’d like to add?
Keep on keeping on
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