Thanks so much to Anders Lindgren for the interview! I wrote about the Swedish band 99th Floor some time ago on the blog. Then through Facebook Anders got in touch with me a few weeks back and he was up to tell me the story of his band, a band that recorded some very fine pop songs and that I knew very little, that I had discovered not too long ago. So I am happy that now I do know a little more about them, some interesting details for sure and makes me wonder a lot about the Swedish pop scene. There’s always been good bands there!

++ Hi Anders! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?

Absolutely my pleasure. I’m fine, and it’s a nice day in Stockholm, so it’s great. Yes, I still do music at an acceptable level, which means that not much time is spent training in rehearsal rooms. I have a band called Safari Season,   which initially played surf-inspired music, but which has become more for English folk pop / psychedelia I think 

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what your first instrument was? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?

I started playing recorder at music school. It was the only instrument available at the time, and it was awful. My parents had a simple travel gramophone when I was little and the music I listened to was 78 records and commercial floppy disks from Readers Digest. I had received the 78 records from an old man and the music was Swedish jazz and songs from the early 20th century. When we bought a tape recorder, my mother played big band jazz and Swedish dance music all day. What made me really interested in music was that I started playing guitar after a lot of ups and downs. You were not allowed to start playing the guitar too early because your fingers were too small  thought the music school.

Some milestones that meant a lot to me then, and that are still close to my heart were.

– The film about the Woodstock festival. When I sat and watched the movie, someone whispered to me from the back just before Jimi hendrix was in the picture. “There he is”. POW. I was completely obsessed with Jimi Hendrix. I bought everything I found with him. Had a pretty decent collection of Jimi Hendrix records in the end.

– The double album – “The Guitar Album” – (Polydor). Jan Akkerman, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Buchanan, John McLaughlin and Freddie King. Absolutely amazing mix of guitar players.

– “Nuggets: Original Artifacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968” (Elektra) –

I became obsessed with vinyl records early on, and sometimes there were cut-out broadcasts to my small hometown. There I found “Nuggets” for 25 cents (3.95 SEK). It’s probably the record I’d played the most times in my life. I took the opportunity to buy another copy. It also became the most played album among my friends. I knew all the songs by heart, so it also became a bit like an English language course. The groups that were on the record could not be reached so it was very frustrating.

– Electric Prunes – “Mass In F-Minor” – (Reprise). When I heard the music in a movie, I threw myself at the speaker on the TV. It was something absolutely amazing what I heard, but what kind of music was it? Frustrating. When I was working in a record store, an old hippie came in and sold the record. I thought the cover looked exciting so I played it in the store and POW. There was that amazing music.

– Simon / Garfunkel- “Bridge Over Trouble Water” —The record that was the first LP I saw and heard. Thought the music was magical.

– Beach Boys- “Greatest hits” – Outstandidng. Saw commercials for it on English TV. When they froze the picture and the surfer stood there and they played “I Can Hear Music”. Wow

– Spirit – “Future Games” (Mercury Records) – I found the record as a Cut Out at the same store as were I found “Nuggets” and at the same price 3.95 SEK. I played it throughout my teenage years. I even wrote letters to Randy California. The records just floated and the songs blended together in an amazing way

– Later there were more bands of course e.g. Velvet Underground, Suicide. Echo and the Bunnymen, Ramones, New York Dolls, Blondie, Fairport Convention, Led Zeppelin but “Nuggets” were always the most important. Today I listen to everything. There is so much good and exciting music.

++ Had you been in other bands before 99th Floor? I believe your were on Ebe Johnsson’s Swing Quartet in Karlstad, right? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?

Yes we had a band in my hometown Karlstad called Ebe Johnson’s Zwing Quintett. We took the name after a yarn shop (fabric store). We were very inspired by “Nuggets”, but we got the epithet punk. We played the first punk concert that was in Karlstad so that was probably why we were called punk. With Ebe Johansson’s Swing quintet, we played a lot locally and were often connected to larger acts both Swedish and international. We sounded a bit like the garage bands from “Nuggets” but maybe a bit more unpolished. There’s a track I have from a live concert. It is a Swedish adaptation of The Standell’s “Dirty Water“, but it is not about Boston but about Karlstad.

During that time, I also played in a synth duo called Maggots, an art band called Living Kebab, a duo called Tomorrows Act and a band called Zenit Nadir. There were several temporary constellations, but the memory fails.

++ What about the other members?

We were all friends from school and we became 99th Floor. The drummer Gunnar also played at the same time with another Karlstad band called All That Jazz

++ Where were you from originally?

Vi kom alla från Karlstad . We all came from Karlstad

++ How was Stockholm at the time of 99th Floor? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

There were many bands that played, but there were not so many venues in Stockholm for unestablished bands, which was a shame, because there could probably have been exciting bands. When I played I do not remember how the others sounded, I only remember the after parties. There were good record stores, but I mostly hung out at used stores like the Record Exchange, The Beat Goes On and the 55’s record exchange. That was enough for all record reviewers in Stockholm to sell their records there, so there was everything. The venue that was easiest to get a gig at was a pub called Tre Backar. There were always two bands per night, one local and one from another place. The other place was a restaurant called Cityhallen and had bands every day. We often played in both places. Most of our gigs were in Uppsala, which is a lively student city with many venues. So Uppsala became our home arena, and there we also had our manager.

++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

We were the same guys from Karlstad who became 99th Floor. When I studied art history at university, I met Ylva who turned out to be able to sing so she became our singer

++ On my earlier post I was wondering if you and Ylva were siblings or related?

We are married.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

We were very ambitious and trained in a basement room in a suburb of Stockholm called Norrviken. It was usually Ylva and I who made the songs and then we rehearsed how they would sound.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

At that time there was no Internet, so we looked at album covers to find good names. For a while we were called “Seven and Seven is” after Love`s song. We finally arrived at the 99th floor was a good name. 

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

I think the bands that were around us as bands like e.g. All About Eve, The Hoodoo Gurus, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, The Sundays, Popul Vuh and many of the indie bands that were popular then. Difficult to find exactly the influences, you were affected by time and how it sounded directly or indirectly around us.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Take Me to Wonderland”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Ylva and I studied art history at the university, so when we were in Paris we went to Chartres Cathedral to see the famous stained glass windows. The guide in the cathedral was a devoted man named Mr Miller who told about the mystique of the holy light and how it shone differently through the glass windows during the day. It was his Wonderland, so that’s what the song is about.

++ If you were to choose your favorite 99th Floor song, which one would that be and why?

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We played a lot in the Stockholm / Uppsala area, but also at music festivals in Sweden such as the Hultsfred Festival and Dalarocken.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Hard to remember gigs. They are blended together and you remember some of the different reasons. It gets messy, because the memory is messy. When it comes to anecdotes, there is probably stories for an essay at the university. A lot of crazy things happen when you are out playing, many special situations and people seem to have an ability to be and happen around touring. Some gigs I remember so without thinking are when we had a showcase in Uppsala for American Virgin, who thought we were one of three bands in Sweden that they were interested in. So they flew here from the US to watch us and two other bands. When the rumor spread that American Virgin was in Sweden to scout bands, all record companies in Sweden also wanted to be there. Which they also were.

I remember another slightly odd gig because I felt we were out on slippery ice in the wrong context. We played at a closed national institution for serious criminals, and did not think about where we were when we played “Stealin” with Uriah Heep. Ylva sang like a sulfur-releasing preacher. “I was stealin´ when I should have been bying”. The show went well.

Another time we played at a festival in Uppsala where we would get one back beer per member, but they counted wrong, so we had a lodge that could not be entered because it was full of full beer slopes, and the lodge was great. No one went thirsty anyway.

A gig resulted in a knife fight and a police operation and afterwards we partied with what became the local Hells Angels. 

Another gig resulted in us being banned from coming back to a venue because the audience went too wild, and I understand them.

When we were going to do a prison gig, we were told that they were planning to escape at the same time, so we were housed in a gym that the guards closed and left. It was a successful gig. They were so happy that we wanted to play for them. When we were going to leave, an intern wanted to hide in our drum box to escape.

When we played at a place in Uppsala, the owner came and said that we were the second best band in a very long time to play on their stage. Which was best then? -Earth, Wind and Fire he replied.

Our manager went to EMI in Amsterdam because they wanted to world license our records, but we had only released a 7 ”. I exchanged our band T-shirt with Keith Richard who gave me his autograph. 

Our drummer stole Ginger Baker’s towel after a gig!  I don´t know if he used it.

After another gig, the same drummer woke up with a lectern from the venue and at least 300 beer mugs in his apartment that was shining in the morning sun. He lived in a small apartment, so I remember it was crowded. 

Yes, there is much more to be gained from that source.

++ And were there any bad ones?

A few.. Most of the time it was because the sound engineer that the concert venues had was not particularly interested so it did not sound good. But otherwise no direct bad concerts as I can remember.

++ When and why did 99th Floor stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

We stopped because everyone wanted to do something else. We were tired of each other. After a long time, I started playing in what became Safari Season.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Drummer Gunnar continued to play and he sometimes plays jembe at our live shows with Safari Sason. 

Lars who played drums after Micke and Gunnar became drummer in various hard rock bands and has well recorded and participated on at least 35 records.

++ Has there been any 99th Floor reunions?

No, there has been no reunion.

++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV? I read there were TV appearances but couldn’t find them anywhere online!

++ Some of your songs did end up on some movies which is really cool. How did that happen?

I have worked as a sound engineer in film / TV so I was in the industry so the step to play music for someone in the production was not so long.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

We received a very good positive response to our records from the press and critics liked us both in Sweden and abroad. A lot was written about us, so there was little attention.

++ What about fanzines?

++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Many positive experiences, meetings and fun incidents and that critics thought that Ylva was the best pop singer in Sweden. But above all that it was a fun time.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

I write a lot, draw and paint. I am working with various digital tools such as VR and goes to football (Soccer). I´m a big football fan.

++ Been to Stockholm many times, and really liked it but I would ask a native about it, what are your recommendations. I want to know what would you suggest them doing here, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

The best thing about Stockholm is that it is not such a big city but you can stroll around and see and experience a lot. The city has many faces lying next to each other. There are lots of tourist attractions, but to go and enjoy the city, the air and the water is the best in my opinion.

When it comes to food, if you are looking for typical Swedish food, you should look for the country cuisine. Stockholm can offer food from all the countries of the world, but the typical Swedish is called home cooking and is based on the peasant society’s kitchen. The dishes I recommend to you are Pytt I panna, Kroppkakor, Gubbröra, Meatballs of course, Smörgåsbord, Janson’s temptation and herring in all forms.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Fun to think back and realize how much you have forgotten.

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Listen
99th Floor – Take Me to Wonderland