"And also it's really great to write new music, and find new subjects, and not having to think of baby, baby, and I love you, and love songs."

Newly started band DAMPF put out its debut album The Arrival on June 3rd and Metal Covenant was given some time at Sweden Rock Festival with bandleader A-Tron [Real name: Martin Eriksson].

In the '90s this humble and seemingly unpretentious man was a multi-platinum artist in Scandinavia and I guess pretty popular in quite a few other territories as well with his eurodance songs and back then better known under the stage name E-Type.

Tobbe: A lot of people were really surprised when you broke the news that you would go back to playing heavier music again after such a long time.

A-Tron: Yes, absolutely. I've seen some comments. Maybe I shouldn't, but it's so typically me, or maybe it's typically a Swedish thing, to focus on the negative. Of course I've seen comments like "Finally E-Type is making music again, but it's heavy metal. What the hell is his problem? Is he mentally ill?".

And now when the album is out, it's pretty much the same. I think we have been given some great reviews, which I was very happy about. But then you get that stab when the biggest Swedish newspaper, and a German newspaper as well, just want to thrash it. And, you know, that's what you remember, and that one guy on Facebook who thinks what I've done is stupid. And that's so foolish of me, because I am so happy.

I'm happy about the record and I'm happy about every song. I'm not happy because I want to convince you now to like it. And not because of making money or getting more known. But I'm happy because I have a vision of a group that's named DAMPF, and what should DAMPF's music be like? Well, exactly what we have delivered now. Both high and low. Death metal, pop choruses, euphoria, drunkenness, remorse, I'm sorry, a ballad. It's just got to have twists and turns, you know. And I'm just really happy now.

Tobbe: But as a professional artist I think you have calculated with some bad reviews and I guess you handle this all right.

A-Tron: I would like to say that there are two reasons why I handle this all right. The first one is that I'm actually not 22 anymore, and there's a life experience coming with that, and I don't get so angry anymore. If you would get angry with me, I wouldn't be so angry with you as I would have been 20 years ago, where I would have gotten very angry if you would have been angry with me. Today I would just say, "You know what? I'm hungry. Goodbye! I don't care. Look! A beautiful woman.".

And the second part of it is that I haven't made the record because of impressing someone, but I have made exactly what I want to do. And also I got to meet Jona Tee from H.E.A.T. I sent the songs to him and he sent them back and I was like, "What has he done? It's the best I've heard.". It was Borne On The Wind and Winterland. He had been getting some kind of feeling and was working all night long. He should have gone home and his women got mad at him, and he was like, "I couldn't. I had to finish the song.".

And I can hear that this is someone who likes it, you know. I'm thinking, "You're 20 years younger than me. How are you able to understand my love to Judas Priest, Saxon, Motörhead, Céline Dion, Händel, Mozart, Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys and everything I've experienced?".

Tobbe: This record feels to me like a now or never situation. What's your take on that?

A-Tron: I haven't been thinking about that. The important thing was: I sent those two songs and he said, "I think both songs are awesome. They must be on the record.". I said, "What record?" and he was like, "We're making a record. Isn't that why you're calling me?". I'd go, "Well, if somebody wants a record." and he said, "That's our decision to make. We can always put it up on Spotify if you don't get a record deal.". So, those two songs are an integral part of this project.

I wanted a lot of nature, like a different project, where we also touch upon death metal and find the way back to the '80s. Maybe not everything with Mayhem and Bathory, but yet back to, you know, my old regions of Maninnya Blade and Hexenhaus. So I sent another song, and he said, "Well, let's see. Send more.". So he didn't like that one. I still want to do that one, but it didn't fit right now. So he's very tough as well.

And my thoughts go straight to Denniz PoP and Max Martin, because they were also like, "It's an okay song, but write more.", which means "No, it won't make it.". So then I sent a whole bunch, like made song after song. And in the end he called me and said, "Now we've recorded 10 songs.". And then my manager called and told me that we got a nice little proposal from a company that I love in Germany who is called AFM. But it was… The deal wasn't so…

But I still think it's an incredibly nice company with a lot of amazing music. And so we found this wonderful one, with Jani [Wilund] and Toni [Nuotion], Gramophone in Finland. I think we would have sold more records if we would have chosen maybe a German company. But it's not made for that reason. We wanted to make our record, and keep our own identity, and bring in musicians. A lot of people thought it was really strange that we brought in guest musicians, you know.

Tobbe: You mentioned Denniz PoP and Max Martin. I would say that you are kind of one of them and you really were in that sphere back in the day when you put out those classic pop songs.

A-Tron: We were incredibly good friends. We all loved making music and we managed to end up under the same roof. We cooked something together and everyone could evolve. Max Martin is an amazing singer. He was the singer in It's Alive. And I have heard all the demo tapes he did with Backstreet Boys and everybody. He sings five times better than the artists do. The only time I heard him where he didn't do that, even though he did good, was for Robyn and some Céline Dion song, and I was thinking "Okay, they do this better.". But he didn't want to be an artist and is happy with what he is doing.

Tobbe: It's a luxury as songwriter and producer to be able to sing and show the artist how it's done.

A-Tron: Exactly. And then say, "I don't want to be an artist.". But I've had that yearning, and I still have that, you know. But it's maybe because I can see the excitement in it. And I think that DAMPF is maybe the most exciting I've done in 25 years. You know, we will be on stage in Finland and at the Gefle [Metal] Festival and sing and do these songs, in the best possible way.

Of course we wish that we had a € 30,000 budget, in order to rent cranes, have jacuzzis, smoke machines, and chimneys that Rammstein had, and huge cogwheels. But we don't have that and we don't have the economy to get there anyway. So that will be exciting. But we're only in the beginning.

Tobbe: You also mentioned Maninnya Blade and Hexenhaus, who you were playing with in, like, '87-'88. After you had done that stuff, did you have some thoughts to continue with, kind of, traditional metal?

A-Tron: Yes, absolutely. You know, there were songs like Europe's The Final Countdown and Jump by Van Halen, so it was possible to make hard rock but a little happier and melodic. But they didn't want to do that, at all. They wanted to keep that dark, you know. And today I could appreciate if Kataklysm, Legion Of The Damned, Lamb Of God or Witchery would do a grand pop chorus. So, I understand, and I realize how fed up they got with me. I was fired. That's the way it was.

And I don't know, you have to talk to one of those guys, because I sometimes think about if they thought that I was a bad drummer. But I don't think I was a bad drummer, because I did some difficult stuff, I personally think. And I practiced a lot and stuff. But it was more like I was thinking, "Stop making 8- and 9-minute songs! Let's make it commercial!". So I was out, and then went to Niklas Jarl at Deluxe Music, sold my drums, purchased Atari synths, and was, like, "Now I'm gonna do my own thing!". And that was a little bit synth based hard rock, kind of like Amaranthe today, to some extent. But it became this massive house song instead, which was kind of strange.

But I was happy about that it just became something. You know, from nothing to something. Jonas von der Burg produced it and told me, "Martin. You're a really crappy rapper.". I have a buddy called Johan Renck, Stakka Bo, who we had to bring in. I was like, "Okay, okay, okay.".

So I have never stopped for a while to think, like, "What? This didn't become my rock record.", but I just went for the ride. And it has been amazing. But there is one thing that I might contemplate, and which I don't really understand, but that's because of my religion and the way I look at life: Martin Erikson does E-Type for many years, Martin Erikson makes a new record, and have to rename it DAMPF. Why do I have to do that? Why can't I just make music? What is it that makes people disappointed, sad, happy, angry?

I don't mind starting a new group, because I can broaden my way of writing music. You know, the script for videos, the artwork, and I have worked on our logo until my fingers bled, like trying and trying, and, "No! It's too similar to Pain's font. What the hell!". But it has been fun and it's an amazing hobby. But maybe I should have left out all the names and said, "My name is Martin. I make music.".

Tobbe: I would say kind of the opposite. Imagine putting out this new music as E-Type.

A-Tron: [Laughs] Imagine the stampede. People would be so damn disappointed. Because they wanna dance, and they wanna hear This Is The Way with its bass rhythm, you know. I try to do that in Twilight Eyes nevertheless. But I think it's safest to not fool anyone. I think E-Type's '90s eurodisco is awesome; I'd love to do it.

The song The Other Side: I was for a while thinking about going to the USA and talk to Max Martin and ask him, like, "You know what? Maybe we should do this one as a eurodisco song.", because I wanted to have such a song for quite some time now. But then it occurred to me that this song is the best first single for DAMPF. Because DAMPF isn't so far away from E-Type. It's really close.

Tobbe: When I listened to the record the first time I could hear the pop rhythms in there all the time in some way.

A-Tron: I remember in, for instance, Borne On The Wind and The Other Side, that they had this certain beat, but then on top of that the hi-hat goes slightly backwards. We talked a lot about the drumbeat. But then you don't have to run the bass backwards as well, because then you're close to eurodisco. But keep this little, little back beat. In my world it becomes more vivid by doing that. And DAMPF has no audience and no one knew about it. If someone likes it I'm very grateful.

But this also means that we could make a record where we didn't have to think, like, "We must follow up this hit.", you know. When I watched The Other Side reach about 300,000 on Spotify, I was thinking, "Hey! You know what we've done? We've just painted ourselves into a corner.". Whatever we release now people will go, "No, no, no. The first one was better.". So we're already in that pattern, you know.

But, you know, in the end everything doesn't have to be like The Other Side and there's a lot of different stuff on the album. With E-Type I never had this, because we have always tried to make another song that sounds like This Is The Way or something. There has always been a template and you follow the same track. I hope that DAMPF can be different, you know.

Tobbe: But I think people understand that you try to make another song like This Is The Way. That song was pretty big. Is it something you can even grasp today?

A-Tron: No, it's kind of strange. And at the same time a little sad, because you paint yourself into a corner that is hard to get out of, you know. Like, "Wait a minute. I've done this too. I've done Life, reggae songs, ballads, and whatever." and they go, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's not as good.".

Tobbe: Many musicians put out their first album in their 20s and then they're fucking doomed for life to continue with that style of music. Yet not Martin Eriksson. He has changed styles a couple of times. Not many people dare to do that, or are even able to do that. So, are you brave?

A-Tron: Yes, I think so, when it comes to that. But then I have fear of heights, bacillophobia, and a lot of other stuff. [Laughs] But above all I think there's so much energy in doing what you like, you know. I'm very good friends with, and love my mentor in life, Ernst Billgren. During an exhibition he called himself Wilhelm von Kröckert. He said, like, "I have a new exhibition. I have painted a lot of paintings, but it doesn't feel like Ernst. So my name is Wilhelm von Kröckert.". I was thinking, "This guy has lost it.". But as I came home I realized one or two things and sent him a text message, "You are a genius." and he was like, "I know.".

He and Max Martin has, like, the same kind of humor. You know, there's irony involved. This is a few years ago now. He was like, "I can't find the energy. I can't finish the paintings for the exhibition if it's Ernst Billgren. This is something else.". And also it's really great to write new music, and find new subjects, and not having to think of baby, baby, and I love you, and love songs.

Tobbe: You have a pretty unfair advantage in forming a new band, considering you have a huge network of contacts which new bands generally haven't. So, do you kind of feel like you're on the gravy train sometimes?

A-Tron: That's a good question. I see two axes. The first one is I. I call the world's greatest… I mean, I love Björn Åkesson, but there is no one singing like Johan Hegg in Amon Amarth. So I call him and ask him, "Do you want to take part of this?" and he says yes. But then there's another axis, and that's how long the fall might be. [Sings] "This is the way", and then I do DAMPF.

Someone on Facebook wrote, "This is the end, man. Goodbye. We will never meet again. You're over. You're gone. You have taken all your great eurohits and sunken them into a barrel of tar. It's over.". So there are two axes. And I sometimes think about what Dagge, Dennis PoP, would have thought about this. I think he would have thought that this was really fun, like writing music again and doing fun stuff again, and because I have never ever sold one CD in Germany, and now we've sold 20 at least. [Laughs]

And I think it would be a little bit fun to hear what Sandberg [Max Martin] thinks about this. He likes songs, and he likes constructing and ideas and details. But an answer to your question: Absolutely, yes. But it's great that you're saying it, because I haven't actually thought about it.

Tobbe: Most people obviously know you for the E-Type music, but, as far as I remember, the first time I ever saw you was in, like, '93 when you hosted that late-night show on Sweden's ZTV. What can you tell me about that show, really?

A-Tron: It was called Lördagsmos. So, I was a VJ and it went well, was pretty popular, and people were watching and stuff. And then the boss came down, like, "Martin. We like you. We want to employ you and we want you to create your own Friday or Saturday night show." and I said, "I want to do Saturdays. I want to do Saturdays for all the kids in the country that have nowhere to go to, but still want to come to a party. I want to make a show where you can sit at home and party.".

The only thing you need to do is jump into the shower, get a beer, or a soda, or popcorn, depending on age, and then sit down in front of the TV and then there's a two-hour party. It's skateboard, it's high and low, artists, strange videos. You can call, you can fax. I had the fax machine in the lower edge. You know, and then people began writing dicks and stuff. But we had to stop it when political symbols and other shit came in, you know.

Related links:

www.dampf-official.com
www.facebook.com/dampf.official
www.instagram.com/dampf_official