Interview #22 - Michael Öhrnberg

My name is Jessika and I have the most pleasurable role of being Michael's friend. I don’t know much about the music he writes about, as some of you might have experienced, but I do know a thing or two about this man. So I thought it was time to give you all a glimpse of the man that gave words like epic, classic and head nodding a face. Hope you enjoy.

All for the Love of Music

In true beats, breaks & big smile spirit let’s begin with, could you please tell us a bit about yourself?  Upbringing?  School? Guilty pleasures?  Age?  Shoe size? Your choice really…

37 years old. Geek. Dr Pepper addict. Lazy. Bearded. Tattooed. Swedish. Record collector. Youngest brother. Elitist at times, amazing always.

What was your first love music wise and why? 

I think I fell deeply in love with music from day one. I don’t quite remember what the absolute first things I listened to was, but I do know that the two groups that I blame for this lifelong lunacy are Madness and Adam & The Ants. I think I was about 6 years old when I first got Absolutely on tape, and it started something inside of me. The same goes for when I first heard Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming around the same time. It was something that was special and unique to me, or so I felt, and that there was a whole world out there to be discovered that was completely different to the world around me.

Have you done any of your own music?  If so, what type and how did it all go?

Well, there have been a couple of occasions in my life.  The first time around I suffered through 3 years of playing the trumpet when I was around 10 years old.  Don’t ask me why, it was just one of those things that you were more or less expected to do back then. The second time was at the end of the 90’s when hip hop since a long time had sunk its teeth into me. Me and some friends back in my hometown started up a hip hop group called The Dungeon Crew, later known as Shufflas. We were like 7 emcees and one DJ and we rapped in English. I got bored however after a year or so and quit the group. Some years later, my friend MaaSen, who had been a part of Shufflas, had gone solo and become what I would guess was Sweden’s first openly gay rapper. He was recording a 7” for some label and wanted me to guest on one of the tracks, and so I did. It was the first, and only time, I ever rapped in Swedish. And apart from a few times on stage and some really terrible guest rap on some friends demo that’s been it.

Have you always stayed within the same genre of music or do you tend to explore and challenge your own personal taste?

I started off with listening to British pop ska and new wave as a kid, got into heavy metal as well as artists such as Depeche Mode and Howard Jones a few years later. Then Beastie Boys and LL CoolJ turned up and changed it all. Even though I listened to other forms of music all throughout my life, I think that from when I was about 13-14 until I was in my late 20s everything more or less revolved around hip hop in all its forms. Hip hop will always be the love of my life, even if I despise most of it that is produced, but I listen to all kinds of music today. Everything from sugar sweet indie pop to Norwegian death metal, from straight edge hardcore to electronica, from sad singer songwriters to politically conscious reggae. Throw in some Justin Timberlake and I think I more or less filled the whole spectrum.

I know that you have been writing a lot and you do like to express yourself in writing. Is this something you still do, and is it something you can share maybe? What inspires you in your writing? In what format do you generally write?

I think I’ve always written in some way or another. I wrote a lot of stories as a kid and loved creating my own worlds. I think that it’s something I have to do to stay sane. Most of what I write I do just for myself and its things that no one else will ever get to read. Apart from the blogs, I nowadays write a daily diary and from time to time poems. Poetry was something that I was heavily into a few years ago, and I even dabbled a bit with the weird world of poetry slam for a while.

Speaking about writing, why the blog? How did the idea come to life and why in English since you are a typical Svenne?

I started up a blog in Swedish back in 2006 under the name of Queen Elizabeth. It was meant to be a personal blog, but quite soon my interest in music and my need to tell everyone what is good or not took over, haha. After a while I changed the name to beats, breaks & big smiles and quite soon after that I switched to English. There were 2 reasons behind that change. The music that I mostly wrote about is a very small scene internationally and I knew that even fewer people in Sweden were interested. So I switched to English both because of that, but also because I wanted to challenge myself a bit. I wanted to try to keep my English alive, and to see if I can make my opinions understandable in another language.

What do you want to achieve with the blog and who do you want to reach out to with your thoughts?  I .e. who do you want to read your stuff?

Good question.  I would like to sound idealistic and say that I’m doing it for the sake of the culture, but it’s all about ego, haha. No, but seriously, the basic idea behind it is that it’s just a forum for me to share my own opinions about music and culture, and if anyone else reads it that’s just a bonus. But with time that has changed a bit, and I want to use the blog to help artists that necessarily don’t get the attention that I think that they deserve to get heard. But I’m also realistic and know that I write for very few people out there, and that I won’t exactly get rich and famous by doing it. One thing that I hadn’t really expected when I started this blog was all the amazing people that I have got to know all over the world, people that share the love for the same things and who I in many cases would consider friends even if I haven’t met them in real life.

Seems like you write about music from all over the world, what do you think Sweden has to offer when it comes to music? What is the music scene like in Sweden, do you think?

Sweden has always been a strong scene musically and there are always interesting names out there. If I look at what I personally listen to however you can probably fit them all on one hand. The live music scene however totally sucks. It’s a disgrace!

You have been travelling a bit lately and it gave you a taste for more, so I´ve heard. What was the reason in the first place that you decided you wanted to leave this beautiful, oblong country we like to call home?

Just being tired of this beautiful, oblong country, and its narrow-mindedness and lack of culture outlet I guess. There was also this wish to see something else.  I spent 4 months in Melbourne and loved it. It didn’t really work out, so I came back a few months ago. The goal now is to work and save up some money to go away again. Who knows where?

Which artist has stuck with you from day one and what is, in your opinion, the best piece of music ever written?

Oh, good question. I can’t pin point just one artist, but I can name some people that have stuck with me and inspired me in different ways: Chuck D, Beastie Boys, DJ Shadow, Paul Heaton, Henry Rollins, Refused, Massive Attack, Madness, Adam Ant and Morrissey. It’s however impossible to name the best piece of music ever written, but Endtroducing by DJ Shadow and Om Det Inte Händer Nåt Innan Imorgon Så Kommer Jag by David Sandström is among the finest out there if you ask me.

Being a music lover, what is the best place to find great music of today and any special favourites at the moment? Feel free to share links as well if you can.

I get it from the artists and the labels themselves, and from different blogs and forums online. I am a big downloader and I’m not ashamed of it, but I also pay for what I really like. However, I have never paid for a digital file so far in my life, and will hold out as long as I can. I want something physical if I’m to pay money for it. I guess I’m too much of a collector to settle for less. What I listen to at the moment, you all should know by now since you’re all following my blog like the Nazis followed the Jews, vigorously.

Let’s end it all like we started it, the way you usually do it: Any shout-outs?

I want to thank all the artists and readers for all the support. Sometimes you overwhelm me, and I’m grateful! Some people that need to be mentioned a bit extra is you Jessika, Kristian, jamesreindeer, babelfishh, Brzowski, Jen, Bokklubben, Julia LaDense, Mich and Evak. Expect great things in the future. It will be epic!