Vicious Visions a true testimony - an interview with Mr Boo
VICIOUS VISIONS
If you are an avid collector of rare European 7" punk rock, then you probably recognize the name Vicious Visions and the song "I beat you". Very little is written about the band which has led to an almost mythic status for this Swedish punk band hailing from the same town as pop composer and Roxette member Per Gessle.
I got hold of cult figure and founding member Mr Boo - BoAndersKarlsson via the Swedish punk site - Punktipset.se
So Bo tell me, how did your interest in music start?
-I was born the very same hour Elvis Presley came on the air for the very first time -It's all right, my mama. I formed my first band in 64 - The Dogs - brutal punk with oil barrels as drums - lyrics like - Bah, bah, bah Ooh, ooh, ooh. Was bullied and beaten in school for digging Stones instead of Beatles.
Your first encounter with punk?
-Well, it was not the first contact, but witnessing The Sex Pistols at Östra Stranden was a straight mind-blower for me. The level of energy that the Pistols, tight, hungry and eager for action, delivered......!!!
What made punk so appealing to you?
-Suddenly there was a new outlet for what you really felt in the face of a monolithic world, wrong from beginning to end and impossible to change. Feelings like disappointment, anger, frustration and hate. Punk actually came as quite a surprise that this was possible inside such a pretty banal media as rock music.
So this newfound outlet led to the formation of Vicious Visions?
-Well I ran into the vocalist, No, in the street by accident. Can't remember what town it was. Anyway. We recorded the sounds from Hötorgshallens pinballhall. We were fans of Miles Davis What'd I say and Agartha. And punk was just one of our influences. We played the streets - just vocals and acoustic guitar and a small battery amp on full feedback. Our set was made up of Sex Pistols songs and "Things we don't like" - the first tune Vicious Visions ever wrote.
We played days and nites outside the departure hall at Kastrup airport so there and then - we decided to start a band.
OK, so how was the local scene back then?
- Do you mean Halmstad? Fuck! Ha-ha. We set up "Free Republic of Bongonesia" in a flat at Kaptensgatan down at the centralstation and commuted between there and the studio at Pusterviksgatan at Järntorget. We picked up the drummer Nisse Noise and the guitarist X.etc.
Then it was off to Berlin. We wanted to tear the wall down, as our first li'l achievement.
What about gigs. Any found memories?
-The best gigs we did music wise must've been the two nites at the Zebra porn club. That gig is actually on tape and the only recorded live gig I know of. But on the other end of the spectrum, I mean chaos and destruction wise; we did a gig on the back of a truck in Kreuzberg. Lots and lots of people, every one of them bored to death by some shitty local band playing bloody awful versions of Iggy Pop songs. When we went on they told us we only got 10 minutes till they would switch the power off.
- Tune the bass with your teeth, Nisse Noise said to me, and when I looked up I was staring straight into a pussy 10 cm from my face. Yeah, two naked girls suddenly appeared on stage from nowhere and started to put their clothes on - straight into the first song - bam! Massive pogoing. Five songs in totally frenzy. And when the power went off I could hear the crowd go - No Hell No - No Hell No.
I chucked myself right out. Pretty intense 10 minutes. Somehow we made it bleeding back to Kukuck. It hurts playing punk rock. Next morning Krona came in with the pay we didn't expect and the news that we were booked for the whole week-end at the coolest club, which name I can't recall right now. (Krona was an important person in Vicious Visions, deeply misunderstood with a heart of gold. I'm sad to tell you he died last year). The cash from the gig covered breakie and beer for our little entourage 15-20 people on a lawn in front of Checkpoint Charlie. But, in that moment one of the band members decided to call it a day and went home to play with a kiddiepopband, what a fucking wanker. No one named, no one forgotten - asshole.
We did other chaos&destruction gigs - Bastionen - before Berlin - Hötorgets pinball hall - deafening racket over the PA - my acoustic with contact mikes - flanger, big muff - most of "never mind" "Things we don't like" "No Fun" in like 10-12 minutes. They all hated us.
Don't mention Sprängkullen. And Kukuck! My, my, with German singer and German drummer. That was some chaosgood fun!
The recording - which became the much, sought after piece of vinyl "I Beat you".
- It proved just impossible to find musicians that not only stood up to that lifestyle but also were able to play what I and No wanted. The music industry wasn't interested. Therefore you could say Vicious Visions imploded. We played music for a while. I wrote, recorded, financed and played all the instruments on I Beat You. It's our last recording and our testament. A legacy for some I gathered.
How do you feel about all this sudden interest in Vicious Visions a band, which broke up more than a quarter of a decade ago?
- Might be some weird justice in this world after all.
So can we expect any more releases from Vicious Vision? New pressings of the original demo maybe?
- Well, the interest is not so sudden. Every year or so ever since the split some company's showed interest in releasing the old stuff but when they find that my arse ain't moving for free they kinda loose interest. There are offers now and I reckon there will be in the future. I don't know, I can't be much bothered. Bad for the people that likes the stuff. Good for the bootleggers and the record collectors. That's why I made a MySpace profile so people can hear it. I'll put up more stuff when I've time and feel like it.
Vicious Visions at MySpace - Click here!
But any new release depends on a serious bidder.
In the 80´s punk was quite political, I mean anarcho-punk like Crass and so on. Bo tell me, did Vicious Visions have an political agenda?
-Political... Well. No. It was more like pushing a attitude ;- I rather die than taking any crap from any fucking A!!
Like expressing a craving and a longing for freedom.
In Berlin we all lived in KUKUCK (kunst unt kultur centrum Kreuzberg, one of the biggest and most famous squats in Berlin at the time) Good fun and great friends with the BZ people.
Squatting is a good hobby. More people should do it.
Punk 30 years on. Is punk still something that is relevant and needed in 2007?
- Every day new li'l punks coming up like disgusting li'l fungi. I think it's got something to do with society being a cunt and there's fuck all to do about it.
The best thing about Vicious Visions?
-I guess it's I Beat You, good drive, good aggro. I still like it.
And the worst thing about Vicious Visions?
-That we were aborted before we reached our creative peak.
Mr Boo The Foot smoke - Berlin -81
And what about Mr Boo?
-Naturally the character Mr Boo died with the band Vicious Visions. Nobody can stop the time. I am 53 now and I sit and remember this. I got bored with playing music and stopped ages ago. At the moment I'm writing the lyrics for a new band called TheHolyTrip. - Click here!
Any final words?
-Yeah. Sometimes I hear people talking about the myth of Vicious Visions. Just remember :- I ain't no fucking pop star, if there's a myth I'll be happy to pop it.
Javisstja!
Hallå där, tänkte kolla om Farbror Punk visste hur man får tag på Bo. Håller nämligen på med en liten dokumentär om punk på Västkusten med fokus på Halmstad, Varberg o Falkenberg. Tanken är att det ska va en blandning utav gammalt och nytt, och att ha med någon som var en del utav det hela när det kom igång eller vad man ska kalla det inte vore helt fel.
Är en del utav studier i Medieproduktion med förresten, jobbar inte för tv eller så alltså.
Tacksam för svar!
Ha det fint!
/Emil
Nice intervju! :)
Coolt, min pojkväns pappa ju. =P
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