Interview: No Fun At All

Legendary Swedish melodic punk rock group No Fun At All will release their brand new album, Seventh Wave, on October 14th via SBÄM Records. I sat down with Mikael, a guitar player in the band, and talked about their new material, older recordings, songwriting, touring, pandemic, and many other topics. Enjoy.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. How have you been?

I’m all good thanks. Just got my hand on the vinyl of the new album and it looks damn good. And it sounds pretty decent too in my opinion. 

You recently released a new single? Can you please elaborate on what’s the song all about?

As for “See the splendor” I guess it’s just Ingemar being fed up with the monarchy and the royal family. “Dead and gone” is about a destructive relationship. 

Do you plan to unleash more tracks before the album’s release?

The album is gonna be out on 7th October so there will no more singles. But I think SBÄM is gonna push Future nights, Future days” in connection to that. 

It’s Not A Problem announces your brand new full-length Seventh Wave? What’s hiding behind the album title?

It’s the seventh album and it will hit you like the seventh wave in the ocean. 

It has been about four years since you released Grit, your previous album. It’s excellent material, so do you plan to continue at the same pace, or Seventh Wave maybe unveils some new direction for the band?

I guess it’s pretty much in the same vein as Grit. Don’t fix the motor if it’s not broken. It contains the NFAA sound you’re familiar with but I think the songs are more solid and varied. 

Can you share more details about Seventh Wave? What can the longtime fans (including myself) expect from the new record?

The album was recorded together with Mathias Färm at Studio Soundlab just like the last time with Grit. I think the production is better and rawer this time. It contains 12 tracks and it’s all killers and no fillers as usual. It’s catchy, fast and with hooks and riffage up to your neck. 

It’s mindblowing how you never lost your consistency during the years. Each album is perfection (in my opinion). What’s the key to writing flawless skatepunk tracks and preserving quality over time?

Thanks, you’re too kind. For me as a songwriter it’s important to get influences from different kind of music. I like to listen to music that is challenging and exciting and not the mainstream garbage. When I listen to free/spiritual jazz, afrobeat, obscure rock from the the late sixties to the early seventies, black metal like Volahn, early 80’s hard core or contemporary raw punk like Rat Cage or Larma it makes me creative and full of ideas. When I have 12 or 13 songs that I’m really satisfied with I present it to the other guys. I don’t like to make 25 half baked songs that need to be arranged in eternity. 

Many bands already shared their Covid stories on our pages, so I am curious how the lockdowns, restrictions, and pandemic in general affected your work as a band?

We weren’t active at all as a band during the pandemic as we are spread out across the country. But I recorded demos in my home studio so the the album was pretty much ready when we got the chance to meet up again. It felt pretty strange when we got home from the tour supporting Pennywise in Australia in February 2020 and were ready to kick off the “Out of bounds” 25 years celebration tour together with Satanic Surfers and suddenly everything got postponed and cancelled.

The band started back in the early nineties. What are the pros and cons of the scene nowadays compared to back in the day?

For me personally I appreciate and enjoy doing this in an another way compared to back in the day. In the mid-nineties and up to 2000 we were doing it full time but nowadays I have a full time job and doing this during weekends or on vacation time. I think the scene as a whole is doing pretty good compared to the nineties. All the legendary bands, as Bad Religion, Pennywise, Strung Out, Lagwagon, Millencolin and so on are still up there, killing it as good as they always have. 

What are the plans after you release the album? Are there any plans for touring or any other projects?

First off we’re going to Australia in late October to do 10 shows, starting off in Perth. After that there’s gonna be a couple of European tours in the spring before the festivals start in the summer. Hopefully we can go back to tour South America, North America and Japan after that. 

Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything you would like to say to our readers?

As always, the faster you run the sooner you get there. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. 

All the best!

/ Mikael