How it started
This is not a story of a band that got their success
overnight, they worked long and hard for it and that is what we appreciate
so much. So this is not a story of five guys picked together by a record
company, but a story of five guys fighting for success. And they succeeded,
thank god!
It all started in 1990, in Eskilstuna, from
where Jocke Berg went to London to buy two guitars; one for himself and
one for Sami Sirviö. Together with Martin Sköld they played together
and it was Jocke that told Martin that it would be a great idea to form
a band together. Sami agreed.
But two guitars and a bass just wasn't enough....
So one sweet night, Jocke and Martin found a completey
loaded guy, Markus Mustonen, in front of a restaurant. He already played
in a band called 'Beds Of Flowers', but promised with his drunk head to
follow them and drum with them. And he does ever since.
To complete the band, called 'Jones & Giftet',
Martin brought his friend Thomas Bergqvist along who played synthesizer.
The successtory had started...
In 1991, Markus left 'Beds Of Flowers' (at
least we think that is how the story goes) and concentrating even more
on 'Jones &Giftet', they entered the 'Cult 91' competition in Eskilstina,
where young promising bands could show their talents. They won it (yahoo!)
and got in contact with Magnus Nygren from EMI. With him they made a demotape.
The band is still thankful towards Magnus Nygren.
Moving on to 1992, where Martin Roos shows
up for the first time. During 'Cult 92' he played with the band for the
first time. Succesfully. After that, Thomas Engqvist got kicked out (whatever
the reason might have been) and he was being replaced by Martin Roos. In
that year they continued playing small gigs and changed their name into
'Havsänglar', which can be transelated as 'sea-angels'.
In 1993, the band changed their name for the
last time into 'Kent'. It was Jocke's brother Adam who came up with
the idea. Martin Roos moved to Stockholm and the rest followed quickly,
as the whole rockscene is centered in Stockholm. The also put up an image,
wearing suits.
Things were getting better for Kent. In March 1994
they recorded a new demo with ten songs in a very simple eight channels
studio in Nytorpsskolan ('skolan' = a school). This got into the hands
of Peter Ejheden and he went to BMG with it. In april of that year, the
demo got into the hands of Per Lindholm and he was so excited about it,
that Kent signed their first record deal on june 26, 1994.
And finally, in februari 1995 their first
single, 'När det blåser på månen' ('When it's
windy on the moon'), got released. On march 15 followed by their debutalbum
simply called 'Kent'. Later that year they started the first 'Lollipop
tour' in Sweden, together with swedish bands Brainpool and DAD. Needless
to say it was a huge success.
In september Martin Roos decided to concentrate on
his job at Sony and probably also on his manager office. He left Kent,
but now runs their business with his office. To fill in the space, Harri
Mänty played with them during concerts, he did not join the band officially.
1996 was a succesful year. They won a swedish
Grammi for best rockband and also received the Nöjesguiden price for
best band. In february their second album 'Verkligen' ('really')
got released and got a huge success, reaching number 1 in the albumcharts.
Harri M'nty doesn\t appear on the album, but in march he joined the band
officially. A huge tour followed and became a big succes.
The first single from 'Verkligen', 'Kräm' ('cream'),
was also released in Japan, in english and called 'What it feels like'.
The Japanese liked the swedish version better. And so do we...
Also very important, Kent got rid of the suit image
and Jocke's leather pants got very popular.
More prices were won in 1997. They got two
swedish Grammies and a 'Rockbjörn' for being best band. In may they
started recording a new cd with a new producer, simply known as Zed. Kent
stayed a month in Belgium to record and they said it was 'big party' there.
The rest of the recordings were being held in Stockholm. But mixed was
it again in Belgium.
The first single 'Om du var här' ('If you
were here') got released in october and stayed a while in the swedish
top 10. In november the album 'Isola' got the gold status right after releasing
and topped the swedish albumcharts once again. They also started a three
month scandinavian tour which took them to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and
Finland.
Good news reached us in 1998. 'Isola' was
also to be released in english. But first the swedish version got platinum
in februari and won Kent in the same month two swedish Grammies, for Best
album and Best band and they received amazing three 'Rockbjörnar'
in the flattering cathegories Best album, Best swedish band and for
the Biggest contribution for swedish music within Sweden. Congratulations,
guys!
'Isola' did well in the rest of Scandinavia as well,
reaching the 12th place in the finnish album charts. Amusing to add is
that this album got released first in Finland, after that in Sweden
because the band excist of two swedes and three finns. It was only fair...
The english version with the single 'If you were
here' got released in april in most of Europe (the UK followed in october).
But despite all our 'promotion work' in the Netherlands (putting the cd's
there where everybody could see them) it didn't do too much there. Two
tours in Europe were being held, one in april/may and one in september/october.
In the summer they played the usual swedish festivals. In september they
won once again, this time an award for being the Best swedish liveband,
always a compliment. Also the USA got interested in Kent and on november
5th they opened in New York for swedish band the Cardigans.
The latest news is that they contributed on the swedish
cd for Amnesty International with 'Längtan skala 3:1', a very heavy
song and that there are plans for launching a B-sides cd in Sweden.
To be continued....
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