Topprovdjur in Berlin, Germany
Topprovdjur, meaning Top Predator in Swedish, is the name of a 5-piece band from Stockholm. Think of early New Order when they still had that Joy Division sound but with a new vocalist, a punk rock band with keyboards creating dance floors in unexpecting dark clubs. The droning synth feedback underlines the urgency in their music, as if they spent 20 hours of a long dark winter day in Sweden preparing for the precious few minutes of sunshine in which they could come outside and perform. Red Wizard, braving volcanic ash and sunshine deprivation, recently found time to exchange a few emails with the fine young Scandinavians.
Listen to “Hear The Flood Coming” while you read
Listen to “Hear The Flood Coming” while you read
Naturally, the first topic of discussion was vampires. Låt den rätte komma in AKA Let The Right One In (2008) is on everyone’s minds. They reassured Red Wizard there were no vampires, just scary cold suburban darkness. It is within this chill that the five members of Topprovdjur grew up and formed a band. David, Mathias, Philip, Frederick, and Jesper met in high school, drew straws to decide who would play what instrument, and have been playing together since February 2009. When asked why they play music, they replied, “What inspires us the most is the process of creating new music. Our dream is to make something new and original that will inspire others. The process when we make music is usually someone having an idea or a sound. Then we start to jam around that and hope that something good will come out of it. When it does we’re happy, and when it doesn’t we’re sad.” The first happy moment resulted in the song “North”.
Since then, the quintet have been writing, recording, and performing around Stockholm. Utilizing a public recording studio (thanks Swedish government), they are gradually building towards an album’s worth of songs, as they simultaneously hone their live show. A study of their clips on YouTube shows a band developing its voice, becoming more comfortable with their instruments and band mates, and growing in skill, showmanship, and experimental range.
Wizard Wars is happy to be hosting their 5-song demo. Download it now.
“Our music is for free because we want to spread it and we want people to have it, listen to it and hopefully enjoy it.” Check them out on your computer, and if you are anywhere near Stockholm look for them in the club.
Topprovdjur concert poster by electricophelia
Why a whale? “In Swedish the associations with Topprovdjur are, for many people, hostile animals that are scary or frightening. The whale is a top predator but not the one you think of. The image makes you stop and think which the point is.” The illustration was done by Stephanie.
We’re happy of course, we’re happy of course, we’re happy of course, we’re happy.
TOPPROVDJUR LINKS:
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After listening to their music I must say I’m quite astonished, in a really good way! Everybody, I demand you to check them out, if you’d like to experience something good, of course. But who wouldn’t?