Kent (band)

The band Jones & Giftet (Jones & the Poison) was formed with members Joakim "Jocke" Berg, Martin Sköld, Markus Mustonen, Sami Sirviö and Thomas Bergqvist (synthesizers). It all started with Berg going to London and buying two guitars, one for Sirviö and one for himself. Sirviö and Berg had a band that rehearsed at Balsta Musikslott which consisted of three people. Inspired by My Bloody Valentine, Sköld and Berg decided they were going to start a new band. This happened at the school S:t Eskils cafeteria Grönan. Berg and Sköld met up with a very drunk Mustonen outside of the Restaurant Vildsvinet in Eskilstuna. Whilst drunk, he promised to join the band and play the drums. Thomas Bergqvist, a friend of Martin Sköld, was invited to come along and play the synth. The first gig was played in Lindesberg in Västmanland, and the second at Knegoffs in Eskilstuna.

In 1991, Jones & Giftet won the contest Cult 91 at the Skylight in Eskilstuna. Magnus Nygren from EMI was taken by Jones & Giftet's demo got them a gig at Stockholm venues Daily News and Universitet. Today Kent is very pleased that Nygren chose to pass on the band.

1992 is the year that Martin Roos plays with Jones & Giftet for the first time at Cult 92. Soon thereafter Thomas Bergqvist was replaced by Martin Roos. On September the 30th, 1991—Jones & Giftet changed their name to Havsänglar (Angelshark lit. Sea angels). Gigs at the "Spaghetti Companiet", Hannas Krog and the Pet Sounds Bar followed.

In 1993 Martin Roos moved up to Stockholm, and soon the rest followed. Jocke Berg's brother Adam, came up with the new name Kent. Kent played at Stockholm venues Tanto, Hyndans Hörna and Uppsala venue Kalmar Nation.

In March 1994 Kent recorded a 10-track demo under very simple conditions in an 8-track studio at Nytorpsskolan near Blåsut in Stockholm. The demo was given to Peter Ejheden at pet Sounds who back then was working as a booker for a club (Pet Sounds Bar). In the same chain of events where he got the tape, Ejheden quit Pet Sounds and started working at BMG. In April Per Lindholm, A&R at RCA/BMG heard Kent for the first time and was immediately interested. On the 26th of June, Kent's first contract was signed. Kent went up to Silence Studios in Koppom, Värmland, to record the debut-album.

In 1995 Kent released their eponymous debut Kent. It was distorted and not much reminiscent of what Kent would release in later years. It got almost no commercial reputation at all. Four singles were released, with "Frank" closest to being a hit.

Just one year later, in 1996, Kent released Verkligen (Really). Guitarist Martin Roos had left the band for his career at Kent's record company BMG, but has since become the band's manager. The pre-release single "Kräm (Så nära får ingen gå)" immediately became a radio hit and gained Kent some serious fame for the first time. Two more singles were issued, "Gravitation" and "Halka". Musically, the album was slower with less distortion and more emotion. A Japanese release of "Verkligen" featured the group's first English-language song, an altered version of "Kräm (Så nära får ingen gå)" entitled "What It Feels Like".

In 1997 Kent released Isola. Guitarist Harri Mänty had joined the group since Verkligen. Verkligen had been heavily toured, gaining some reputation for Kent. The pre-release single, "Om du var här" (If You Were Here), became a hit as would the second single, "Saker man ser" (Things You See). Musically the album changed a lot from Verkligen, going a lot in the direction of slower, more thoughtful songs with more emotion. The last song on the album, the 7 minute, 47 second-long "747", with a characteristic keyboard riff and a long instrumental outro, became the band's closer for every show for the next 8 years, and won numerous best-song polls on Kent's website. It was also released as a single, cut down to four minutes and with an added short chorus.

In 1998, what many in Sweden had been asking for became reality when Kent released an English version of Isola, featuring an extra song only available on the English version, "Velvet". Kent embarked on two accompanying US tours to promote the album. The first was in support of fellow Swedes, The Cardigans, during which they highlighted new song, "Protection", and the second was a double-bill with American band, Papa Vegas. The band would close the shows for the second leg of the tour with what they described as their "only cover song", a version of Depeche Mode's classic single, "Stripped". Singles were released in various territories for three of the album's songs, "If You Were Here", "Things She Said" and "747" (featuring the English version of "Kräm", entitled "What It Feels Like"). The English version of the album was initially not meant to be released in Sweden, but public demand was too great. The English version sold poorly outside of Scandinavia.

In 1999, Kent released Hagnesta Hill, named after Hagnestahill, a part of Eskilstuna where the band had had their first studio. The first, pre-release single, "Musik non stop" (Music Non Stop), a disco-rock song, became a huge radio hit and helped bring recognition for this album. The album was, for the most part, faster and less ballad-focused than Isola, and also mildly experimental with drum-machines and electronics. The singer and songwriter of Kent, Jocke Berg, later complained that he thought the album was too long (thirteen songs spread over one hour). Two more singles were released, the industrial-esque "En himmelsk drog" (Heavenly Junkies) and the power-poppy "Kevlarsjäl" (Kevlar Soul).

In 2000, an English version of Hagnesta Hill was released, featuring two songs from the Swedish version replaced with two new English tracks ("Just Like Money" and "Quiet Heart"). The album was also released in a limited digipack with one of the excluded songs, "A Timekill to Die For", included as a hidden bonus track. The album was accompanied by the release of the single, "Music Non Stop", featuring the other omitted song, "Insects", as a b-side. A single show, played in front of a tiny crowd at London's Astoria 2,[10] was recorded for Japanese TV and has been widely bootlegged. A Japanese edition was released, featuring fourteen songs, one of them being the bonus track "Time Kill To Die For". A planned US release of the album was shelved, resulting in only "cut-out" promo copies floating around. Likewise, a US tour never materialized, as there was officially no album to promote.

Since their debut, Kent had recorded a large number of b-sides, usually exceptional in quality. Since most of these singles had long gone out of print, it was very hard to get these legally, so in 2000, Kent released the 2CD B-side collection B-sidor 95–00 (B-Sides 95–00). It featured 21 b-sides, re-recorded versions of two of these and two totally new songs. One of them, "Chans" (Chance), was also released as a single. A hidden bonus track, featuring Finnish vocals performed by drummer Markus Mustonen, was also featured.

After a long break, Kent started to work on their next full-length album in 2002. They reported from the studio that they tried to make an album consisting of ten singles. The first single "Dom andra" ("The Others") became a huge hit on Swedish radio. When the album Vapen & ammunition (Weapon(s) & Ammunition) came out, the next two singles "Kärleken väntar" ("Love Awaits") and "FF" (from the double A-side FF / VinterNoll2), plus the album track "Pärlor" ("Pearls") became huge radio hits, resulting in album sales over 600,000, more than twice as many as any other Kent album to date. The definite proof of the album's success was evident when the band received seven Swedish Grammy Awards in 2003.

An English version of the album was planned—as can be seen on the tape titled "Guns & Ammunition" in the "Dom andra" music video—but was cancelled, according to lead singer Joakim Berg: "We decided it was not worth [releasing the album in English] when we realized we had sat in a tour bus for two long US-tours, and nothing had happened."

Kent hadn't toured for several months when it was announced that they would only do one single performance in Sweden in 2003, on June 6, the Swedish national day, in Stockholms Stadion which holds a crowd of 30,000. As the band told the crowd to come there dressed in white, it was nicknamed "The White Concert". The concert received mixed reviews and critics claimed that the band should have done something extraordinary at the concert, instead of playing more or less the same setlist as in the 2002 tour.

The band also played at the less known Parkfestivalen in Moss, Norway on June 14, 2003.[11]

Kent live in 2006.

After taking a one-year timeout, Kent returned to the studio to record their sixth album in 2005. Studio reports said it would be "a very dark album". The first single released, Max 500, was well received by both fans and critics and became, as the last three singles had, a radio hit. When the album Du & jag döden (You & me, Death) was released, it was very well received and was considered by most fans to be one of their best albums. Two more singles were released, "Palace & Main" and "Den döda vinkeln" (The blind spot) – the last one stirring up some controversy among Kent fans because Kent didn't release any b-sides along with it (but still the single has a shorter version of the song). The last track on the album, "Mannen i den vita hatten (16 år senare)" (The Man in the White Hat (16 Years Later)) was very well received and is seen by many fans as Kent's best effort. It also became the first song ever to replace "747" as the finale of a Kent concert.

During 2005 they embarked on "Turné 19" (Tour 19), doing 12 gigs in Sweden, one in Norway and one in Finland. The concerts took place in huge tents with a capacity of up to 18,000. This was the only tour that followed the release of "Du & jag döden".

There were rumours about Kent releasing an EP, as they had been spotted in studio and guitarist Sami had said, "We might release an EP, but if we do it will only be digitally released." Just one month before the November 2005 release, The hjärta & smärta EP (The Heart & Pain EP) was confirmed, as a CD as well as a digital release. It was well received and contained five tracks, "Dom som försvann" (Those Who Disappeared) becoming the radio single and having a video recorded. The EP made No. 1 in Sweden and remained on the charts for 33 weeks.[12]

During 2006, the band has played only once in Sweden on the Hultsfred Festival and on two festivals in Norway. They've also released the single “Nålens öga” for Swedish Save the children. It is their longest single to date, at a time of over six minutes.

Kent live in 2008.

During December 2006 – 2007 the band announced—on two different occasions—that they had started recording their seventh Swedish studio album, and that guitarist Harri Mänty had decided to leave the band.

On July 18, 2007, the band announced the title and release date of their new album, Tillbaka till samtiden (Swedish for "Back to the Present"). Its official release was on October 17, 2007, but many stores began selling it five days in advance due to an internet leak of the album. The album was met with mixed, but mostly positive reviews. The first single of the album was released on September 17, 2007 with the title "Ingenting" (Swedish for "Nothing"). The band played four songs at a private gig in Denmark where their new album premiered. The sound of the album has been described as more electro based rock similar to Depeche Mode. Due to the speed in which the tour's concerts were sold out, the band added seven extra concerts to their Scandinavian tour. As well, lead singer Joakim Berg has remarked that Tillbaka till samtiden contains some of his favourite material he has recorded. They were also presented with Album of the Year and Group of the Year at the 2008 Swedish Grammy Awards. They went on to win a Rockbjörnen (Swedish for "The rock bear") award for Swedish Album of the Year and a P3 Guld award for Swedish Group of the Year. Kent released the compilation Box 1991–2008, featuring all their previous studio albums and previously unreleased material, in all Nordic countries on October 29, 2008.

On October 4, 2009 Kent announced their eighth studio album Röd and the first single Töntarna was released on October 5 as digital download.

On November 2, 2009 Kent auctioned off 100 limited physical copies of the song "2000" for charity. The song was also released as digital download. "2000" was used as the theme song to the Swedish documentary Hemlösa, covering the homeless problem in Stockholm. On the same date the song "Tuna 350" was released. It was written by Martin Sköld and Markus Mustonen to celebrate the 350 year jubilee of the Swedish city Eskilstuna where Kent was founded.

On June 14, 2010 Kent announced their ninth studio album, En plats i solen (Swedish for "A Place in the Sun") due for release on June 30, only seven months after the release of their previous studio album, Röd. Joakim has said about the recording of En plats i solen: We had a kind of idea that we were going to record an album very quickly this time, we had already some demos ready. We wanted to go into the studio, record and mix the album and then distribute it directly. Unlike the two previous albums, which were produced with Danish producer Joshua, En plats i solen is produced with Swedish producer Stefan Boman who worked with the band on Du & jag döden (2005). The band also released the first single from the forthcoming album, featuring the two A-sides Gamla Ullevi and Skisser för sommaren.

Kent embarked on a summer tour in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, starting at the Peace & Love festival in Borlänge and finishing on August 8 at the Skanderborg Festival in Denmark.

Kent live in 2012.

On June 22, 2011 Kent signed a recording contract with Universal Music in Sweden, after sixteen years with BMG and later Sony Music. The band's manager, Martin Roos, said in a press release: "After sixteen years with BMG/Sony Music it feels great with a new beginning, and Universal Music gave us the best offer. In April 2012 Kent released their tenth studio album, Jag är inte rädd för mörkret (Swedish for "I Am Not Afraid of the Dark"). The album was recorded in France and the songs has been described as "proud" and "hopeful". The album included the song "999" which was a major hit in Sweden. In December 2012 Kent announced on their Twitter account that they were to release a track on New Year's Day called "Ingen kunde röra oss".

In the fall of 2013, Kent went to Los Angeles and recorded their eleventh album, Joakim said in an interview: 'We wanted to do this kind of Fleetwood Mac thing and go to LA and dream under the sun. Now the dollar is so low, in addition – all the big studios are empty, no one uses them anymore.'[13] The first single La Belle Epoque was released on March 12 and the album Tigerdrottningen was released on April 30. During the month of May Kent went on a small club tour in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

In the summer of 2014 Kent held their own festival called Kentfest in Gothenburg and Stockholm. They also played at festivals in Denmark and Norway. In 2015, Kent performed at three concerts in Scandinavia, Joakim Berg announced at the Bråvalla festival that they were going to record a new album that fall. That year, Kent celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Kent, by releasing the band's first 10 albums on vinyl.

In February 2016, Kent was elected to Swedish Music Hall of Fame. They then announced that Då som nu för alltid (Swedish for "Then as Now Forever") would be their last album, and that they would make a final tour in the Nordic countries, with the last concert in Stockholm in December 2016. The album Då som nu för alltid was released on May 20, 2016.

• Kent (1995)
• Verkligen (1996)
• Isola (1997)
• Hagnesta Hill (1999)
• Vapen & ammunition (2002)
• Du & jag döden (2005)
• Tillbaka till samtiden (2007)
• Röd (2009)
• En plats i solen (2010)
• Jag är inte rädd för mörkret (2012)
• Tigerdrottningen (2014)
• Då som nu för alltid (2016)

• The Hjärta & Smärta EP (2005)

• B-sidor 95–00 (2000)
• Box 1991–2008 (2008)
• Best of (2016)