Back to the Music With Ingrid

After 34 years writing, recording, and touring together, “Sweden’s best live band” announced in September 2024 that the end was near – for them on stage. Eager to hear the whys and hows and whats on how Bob Hund could dare deprive the Swedish folk of their live gifts, Sarah and Björn invited the band’s guitarist, Conny Nimmersjö, into the studio. And there was so much to talk about. From naming anecdotes to long-distance band chemistry to solo material to the band’s refusal to overdub in early recordings: “Per tried to get us to record a tambourine but we said no. It doesn’t sound natural,” this conversation is honest, warm, and to the point. And even includes just what the future may hold for “Sweden’s best live band” after Conny strums that final Bob Hund chord on August 30, 2025, and the Swedish live scene goes that much quieter. 

On a crisp spring Stockholm afternoon, Jacqueline Mapei Cummings enters Ingrid Studios’ main room, where she sits down with Sarah and Pontus. 60 minutes pass at the speed of sound, resulting in arguably the most otherworldly and energized conversation in this podcast’s history. This mystical musical maven opens up her immense inner world from the first minute, discussing how music has been and continues to be pure medicinal balm in her multicultural (Swedish-American-Liberian) life. “Music saved me. It sounds cliché but it’s true.” Hear how she channels spirits when creating, how she got herself to write and recently release her first-ever song in Swedish, and how clued-in she is on the artists, lyrics, genres, and songs that have had such a great impact on her. This episode is nothing less than raw, real, and very very rich.

Approaching the 20th anniversary of the album which shot Peter Bjorn and John from Swedish indie obscurity to global mainstream success, Sarah sits down with Peter Morén and her trusty podcast co-host Björn Yttling as they prepare to take this very album – “Writer’s Block” – on the road. Over the course of an hour, they let her in on plenty of band dirt from the past 30 years. From touring with their “Indian” rock band in the early 90s pre-John, to the dogmatic approach they use to write and record albums, to how they decided on Peter Bjorn and John as a name (and how to really spell it), and on to that hot midsummer day in 2006 when Victoria Bergsman quickly recorded her vocals on “Young Folks.” That epic track that would change it all. The conversation rounds off with reflections on future hopes for the band, how they maintain a healthy relationship to that viral track while writing album after album, and a decision on which of the three would qualify as the biggest brother in the band. Who could it be?

On 18 October 2024, the impossible came true. Kent announced that they would be reuniting as a band on stage for three Stockholm shows, which quickly turned into six due to overwhelming demand. Fans were excited – fans were divided. Suddenly, anything and everything was possible. 

Quickly the question arose: who would be first to get an interview with the legendary frontman, Joakim Berg? Who would get the lowdown on what had finally brought the band to this gigantic decision to play live again? Something they had promised would never happen again, since striking the last note on “Vi är inte längre där” on 17 December 2016.

The answer came in quickly. No one… Until Joakim bumped into Back to the Music with Ingrid’s moderator, Sarah Snavely, and asked her if she wanted to continue the conversation they’d had a year ago. He still had a few things to say about music, his process, the big wild world, and the upcoming shows, but journalists asked such boring questions. How about another session at Ingrid Studios?

In this episode, Joakim Berg, Sarah Snavely, and Björn Yttling sit down for a deep dive on setlists, rehearsals, future plans, and a whole lot more. Intimate, exciting, and entirely honest, this two-hour interview gets way beneath the ordinary surface, revealing a man who takes his privileged position seriously and intends only the best for his fans. An artist in a band that takes nothing for granted, especially not the incredible relationship he has with each member of Kent, which he was reminded of from the very first rehearsal. “I belong here. These are my people.”

Episode highlights:

• How My Bloody Valentine in a school cafeteria sparked his friendship with Martin
• A short demonstration of his signature claw-handed guitar playing 
• An explanation of his favorite Kent song
• A story about a pair of very sweaty PVC pants
• How YouTube is a key player in figuring out how to play
• Which Kent member loves ABBA the most

From trombone to bass to guitar to vocals. From punk to jazz to rock to indie. From music videos to music production to the uncomfortable landscape of lead singing. “I’m always thinking about music,” Jocke Åhlund explains to Sarah and Björn (who he shares a band with) over the course of a raucous hour at the studio. We dig in deep on his long-standing relationship with music. Including how he loves the Ramones for having a single sound and drumbeat, but has trouble himself making music that holds to one genre. Get the lowdown on this multihyphenate’s magical non-formula, and learn just what Swedish music may be all about.

Refusing to wear headphones in the softest way imaginable, Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens' fame joins Björn and Sarah on the evening before his departure from Sweden after a month-long recording session. He takes us back in time to the recording industry of the 80s, explains how he taught Grant McLennan to play bass with zero musical training, and what it’s like to be both a musician – and a music critic! Oh, and let’s us in on the gig he played at the inauguration of the Go Between bridge in his hometown, while disclosing his favorite studio in the world as….

A week before releasing his 8th studio album, John Englebert of Swedish rock duo Johnossi joins Sarah and Björn to share the highs and lows of his creative process. He waxes lyrical on everything from scientology and air miles to why Johnossi started without a bassist, how the White Stripes helped them along, and how the band’s songwriting process has evolved over two decades together, because, you know, “Rehearsing is boring.” Oh, and we learn what Ossi really thought of the lead single on the new album when he first heard a demo back in 2019. A truly raucous ride of a conversation, we leave him with the last word: “Music is a magical thing." 

• Why Kent is so loved by the Swedish folk 
• What the band fought about when they were together
• A secret room at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm that is very dear to his heart
• If Kent could possibly maybe someday...