The interview was done in cooperation with zine Still Crucified.
1) Hi so introduce your band please and tell us
something about your history and members?
We started out back in ’86 after about
a year of trying to get some people together to form a band and to have
something to do to relieve us from the boredom in suburbia. We were just 4
friends who hung around and drank beer and caused mischief anyway so we thought
that getting a band together would be fun so we started to practice in my
bedroom much to the enjoyment of my parents.
After about a year, and a change of rehearsal place, we started to play gigs but early ’88 Michael the original Bass-player decide to quit so we got Jens instead. This line-up recorded our first album Livsstil (A Way Of Life) in 1990, but it wasn’t released until ’92 for different reasons. One of them being that Jens had to move away due to work commitments so a new bass-player was recruited. That was Jarl and with him we did our second album Ett Tusen Glas (One Thousand Glasses) in 1994. He, in turn, left in 1995 and was replaced by so Olof and together with him we made Johan an official member of the band. He did the sax and keyboards on Ett Tusen Glas. During the late 90’s Andreas, the guitarist decided to leave so we used a mix of guitarists for the next couple of years.
As Olof left for Switzerland during the early part of the new millennium we didn’t do much for a couple of years. That’s until we were invited to do a gig at a close friend’s birthday party. Magnus wasn’t really interested in drumming anymore and Johan wasn’t interested either so the line-up for that gig was me (Thomas) – Vocals, old bass-player Jens, and 3 friends from Antipati: Johan – Drums, Robert-Guitar+b/vocals and Radar-Guitar+b/vocals. That is also the current line-up.
2) Who come with idea to reunite Agent Bulldogg again?
Well we never officially did split up so there is not really a reunited band. However some of the past members were not that interested in playing more so we continue with a new line-up. But what pushed me and Jens to start rehearsing together again was that an old friend of the band had a birthday party so it kind of gave us the kick-start we needed.
3) Randale Records released reedition of your two
albums Livsstil and Ett tusen glas on vinyl, it is planned also reedition of CD
versions? And do you personally prefer CD or vinyl version?
Yes there will be re-releases of the CD version
released this spring and they will have some bonus tracks on them as well, from
compilations and such.
My first immediate answer would be that I prefer vinyl, but sometimes and with some bands for some reasons I enjoy CD as much. But the vinyl product is what I grew up with and therefore prefer.
4) Did you released something in the past except this CD´s? I know on some compilation songs like Carolus Rex or Brewed in Sweden...
No, not really. We are featured on a couple of compilations, including some bootlegs but we haven’t released anything else yet.
5) Are you working on any new songs? When we can look forward to any new record? Will be your new songs in Swedish or in English?
We are about to write a couple of songs, and we have a few old ones never recorded and our plans are to record some more stuff. However I can’t say when, as we will rehearse the songs first and personally I’m not interested in releasing anything I won’t find good enough. I guess we continue to write in Swedish but some English lyrics might slip through the net so to speak.
6) On old releases you used also saxophone and keyboards - will you use it again in new songs?
It depends on the songs. Back then we used to have a Johan handling both those instruments, but he is no longer in the band. We might use it in a studio though but whether we will use it live or not, I don’t know.
7) Are there any differences between old scene in Sweden when you played and nowadays scene in your country? And can you describe the scene in your area today?
The scene is the healthiest one we have had music wise both with bands and clubs, and probably fashion-wise as well. Also it seems like politics is kept at a minimum, which I think is good. However that said, a great deal of the people involved today wouldn’t have become or stayed within the scene for long back in the 80’s. I’m not trying to be cocky now, but it was a very different climate back there and then. It didn’t mean nothing if you just looked the part but wasn’t ready to defend yourself or your friends. There were all sorts of rites de passages for us when we started as Skins and it is not the same anymore. Today it seems like being a Skinhead these days is not as stigmatized as it used to be in the early 80’s, at least not in Sweden. Back then the police were constantly on our backs. Nicking us for anything they could come up with or stopped us for searching once an hour. And if it was not the police it was some other gangs who attacked you whenever or wherever, well as long as they had the numbers anyway. A weekend passed without being nicked or in a fight was unheard of. Also the media don’t boast out horrendous stories about Skinhead related crime, true or (more often) false as much as they used to, although we sometimes get our share of shit thrown at us still.
Before we’d reach the age so that we could drink legally at bars we either stole beer, or had someone older buying it for us and we used to hang around in the street corners or at The Helicopter place, which was our meeting place and kind of HQ. These days the young ones hang around in parks which of course are more convenient, and better if you want to avoid having your drink confiscated by the police. However just by turning 18 was in no way a guarantee that you’d get served at a bar. These days it’s quite easy to get into pubs and so, but that was pretty scarce back then. Normally you’d spend more than half of Friday night finding a waterhole that’d serve you and when you found one you hung onto it for as long as possible. It normally took about two weeks before you got banned and the search team was on its feet again.
Nowadays there are more people in the scene dedicated to put on shows and clubs and that is of course great. Also people go to gigs for a laugh more than a fight which was sometimes the case back in the days. This also means that there are more people overall that attend gigs and that too is of course better than in the old days.
8) Sweden is well known because of many talented bands, can you recommend to us some new breed bands?
I’m not really sure what to regard as new breed bands because some of the bands I will list below have existed for quite a while. Anyway, Antipati is a great band, not only because three of them now are members of Agent Bulldogg. Other good bands worth checking out are The Lowlifes, Torpedo GBG, Prins Carl, Oldfashioned Ideas, Vindicate This and there’s also a new local band called Projekt 9 which could be going places.
9) What about tour across Europe, are you plan something like this?
That would be great but then there is a whole lot of work to be done. But if we are able to do it we most certainly would! We have played in Germany a couple of times, and are going back there two times later this year. Also we have a trip to Belgium planned and hopefully one to Spain. Also we are to appear on a festival here in Sweden this Easter together with amongst others Angelic Upstarts, Business, Major Accident and Evil Conduct to mention a few.
10) On gigs you play old songs or new? Or both?
So far we’ve only done old songs, with one or two new covers thrown in for good measure. If we write any new good songs we will of course include them even though I realize that most people would want to hear the old stuff.
11) Do you know anything about Czech scene?
Not as much as I would like. Back in the days most of what we heard was that it was very politicized, then again that might have been mostly rumours? However I hope, and think, that the Czech scene is growing and that people care more about the subcultural aspect rather than the politics.
12) Plans for the future?
As I’ve already mentioned our plans are to write some new material and hopefully to record it as soon as possible as well. Also to play some gigs. We have at least 5 lined up but it will probably be a couple of more if we’re lucky.
13) Last words for our readers...
Thanks to you Michal for your interest and your patience. Sorry for the late answers! We’d really love to play in the Czech Republic (we actually did a gig with Zona A back in ’94 I think, in Austria), so if there is any possibility for us to come and play, please let us know.