Because I Wanna

The listening world can’t have failed to notice the avalanche of decent music arriving from Sweden, a region that has for decades been likened to a dustbowl on the musical landscape. The Wannadies have long enjoyed status as the fluffy Angel Delight filling of this musical smorgasboard, and will continue to do so, it seems.

“I’m delighted that the rest of the world can finally see what’s going on up there,” laughs vocalist Christina Bergmark. “Many bands, like Soundtrack Of Our Lives or The Hives, have been hugely successful in Sweden, but no-one outside has cared, up until a year ago. It makes me laugh when they’re presented as newcomers or debut acts…it’s like ‘No! They’ve been around for years, it’s just you guys that haven’t noticed!’.”
On this Saturday afternoon, it seems as though Bergmark has every reason to be animated. The band are preparing to support Robbie Williams and Kelly Osbourne in the Phoenix Park, and not even the Dublin fog playing havoc with their inbound flights can dampen spirits. “Robbie isn’t really my cup of tea, but his show will be amazing, it’s almost like a circus. And I’ve seen Kelly Osbourne live already when she was playing with Har Mar Superstar”.
Sightings of one Ms. Osbourne being chased up Wexford Street by packs of photographers have not been uncommon this afternoon, and it’s a fate that Bergmark is happy to leave to her. “If we’re in a place where the type of people there listen to our music, maybe one or two people will approach us, but we’re not hassled in the street. Our songs are quite well known, compared to the band or the band name anyway. People ask us what songs we’ve done, we’ll start one up and they always know and like them, which is great. We can get on with our lives, I don’t want to be loved personally. As for what’s happening with Kelly… well, that can’t be a good life.”
The band have recently finished their sixth studio album, Before And After, which in itself deserves huge recognition, not least because it may be the first ever album recorded in a man-made studio that the band themselves have put together brick by brick.
“Talk about the long way to record an album! It took over two years, and the recording time was only about four to six weeks. We built for a while, then recorded a bit, then built a bit more. We wanted to do this album ourselves, without involvement from record companies, and we didn’t have money to rent the studio. These days, you don’t need the million-pound mixing console, you can buy a Macintosh and record and it will still sound good today… once you know what you’re doing.”
One thing is for sure, Before And After doesn’t sound as though it was recorded in a half-built hut in Hackney. In spite of these new adventures in bricklaying, the band are staying true to form. “It’s the same band, so in that way it’s the same set up, but we think the songs are different. I wouldn’t say it’s too far off what we’ve done, but it’s new. I think we found our groove over the years. The first two albums were lovely, but we didn’t know how to record them. We were scared in the studio and we listened to everyone else. On the third album, we realised we didn’t need the rule book, and from then onwards, we’ve decided that we’ll do what we like.”

The Wannadies Before And After is available now on Cooking Vinyl