Kent (band)

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Kent
Kent live at Roskilde Festival, 2005
Origin	Eskilstuna
Country	Sweden
Years active	1990–present
Genres	Rock
Labels	Sony BMG
Members	Joakim Berg Markus Mustonen Sami Sirviö Martin Sköld
Past members	Thomas Bergqvist (90–92) Martin Roos (92–95) Harri Mänty (96-06)
Website(s)	kent.nu

Kent is a Swedish rock band founded in Eskilstuna/Torshälla in 1990, with the name Coca-Cola Kids, later Jones & Giftet (Jones & the Poison), and Havsänglar (Angel sharks, lit. Sea angels). The band's logo is distinctive, using a lowercase "k" and the ITC Avant Garde Gothic Book typeface. Kent has had several big Swedish radio hits since the breakthrough single “Kräm (så nära får ingen gå) ”. As of 2005, they are probably the most popular rock band in Sweden, but are more or less unknown outside Scandinavia. Kent has tried an international career with English versions of the albums “Isola” and “Hagnesta Hill” with accompanying US tours for the former, but they gave up after not reaching the breakthrough they had hoped for. Kent continued their Scandinavian endeavours with two more albums and an EP, continuing to win several awards along the way and becoming one of Sweden's premier bands.

Two of the band's four members are Sweden Finns.

1 Members
2 Former Members
3 History
4 Discography
5 External links

[edit] Members

Joakim Berg – Lead vocals, guitar
Martin Sköld – Bass, keyboards
Markus Mustonen – Drums, backing vocals, keyboards, piano
Sami Sirviö – Lead guitar, keyboards

[edit] Former Members

Harri Mänty – Rhythm guitar, programmings and percussion (1996-2006)
Thomas Bergqvist – Keyboards (1990–92)
Martin Roos – Rhythm guitar (1992–95)

[edit] History

[edit] Jones & Giftet and Havsänglar (1990–1994)

Jones & Giftet (Jones & the Poison) is created. The members are Joakim Berg, Martin Sköld, Markus Mustonen, Sami Sirviö and Thomas Bergqvist (synthesizers). It all started with Jocke going to London and buying two guitars, one for Sami and one for himself. Sami and Jocke had a band that rehearsed at Balsta Musikslott which consisted of three people. To the tones of My Bloody Valentine Martin and Jocke decided they were going to start a new band. This happened at the school S:t Eskils cafeteria Grönan. Jocke and Martin meet up with a very drunk Markus outside of the Restaurant Vildsvinet in Eskilstuna. Whilst drunk, he promises 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. The second gig at Knegoffs in Eskilstuna...

In 1991 Jones & Giftet wins the prestigeful contest Cult 91 at the Skylight in Eskilstuna. Magnus Nygren from EMI was lit up Jones & Giftet's demo and he got them a gig at Daily News & Universitet. (Today Kent is very pleased that Magnus chose to fry them."

1992 is the year that Martin Roos plays with Jones & Giftet for the first time at Cult 92. Soon thereafter Thomas Bergqvist got sacked and was replaced by Martin Roos. September the 30th, 1991 - Jones & Giftet changes 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 moves up to Stockholm, and soon the rest follow. Adam Berg (Jockes brother) comes up with the new name Kent. Kent puts on suits and Jocke puts the guitar aside, and for the first time, they start rocking! Kent plays at Tanto, Hyndans Höra and Kalmar Nation.

In march of 1994 Kent records 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, Peter quit Pet Sounds and started working at BMG. In april Per Lindholm, A&R at RCA/BMG hears Kent for the first time and ignites instantly. On the 26th of june, Kent's first contract is signed. Kent went up to Silence Studios in Koppom, Värmland, to record the debut-album.

[edit] Kent and Verkligen (1995–1996)

In 1995 Kent released their epynomous 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.

Only one year after, 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" - The latter one later to be hated with a passion by the group. 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".

[edit] Isola (1997–1998)

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 charasteristic 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.

[edit] Hagnesta Hill (1999–2000)

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 Depeche Mode-esque "En himmelsk drog" (A Heavenly Drug) and the ballad "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 Scala Club, was recorded for Japanese TV and has been widely bootlegged. A Japaneese 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, was also featured.

[edit] Vapen & ammunition and the White Concert (2002–2003)

After a long break, Kent started to work on their next full-length in 2002. They reported from the studio that they tried to make an album consisting of 10 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, many fans complained that the sound was too produced, poppy and commercial, and too much focused on choruses. Despite this - or perhaps thanks to - both next singles, "Kärleken väntar" (Love Waits) and "FF" (from the double A-side FF/VinterNoll2), plus the album track "Pärlor" (Pearls) became huge radio hits, sending this album over 500,000 sales, more than twice as many as any other Kent album to date.

An English version of the album was planned – as can be seen on the tape titled "Guns & Ammunition" in the "Dom andra" video, but was cancelled, according to the singer: "We decided it was not worth it (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 do one single performance 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". Generally it was considered a good concert, though the critics claimed that the band could have done something "extra" at the concert, instead of playing more or less the same setlist as in the 2002 tour.

[edit] Du & jag döden and The hjärta & smärta EP (2005)

After taking a one-year timeout, Kent returned to the studio to record their sixth LP 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 & I 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 Dead Angle) – 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.

During late spring 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".

During the summer 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 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 single EP made #1 in Sweden.

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.

On December 1st, 2006, the band announced that they have started recording a new album which is due for release by autumn 2007.

On January 9th, 2007, the band manager and former member Martin Roos announced that Harri Mänty decided to leave the band during 2006.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year	Cover	Information	Chart positions				Sales and certifications
Year	Cover	Information	SE	FIN	NOR	DEN	Sales and certifications
1995		Kent 1st Studio album Released: March 15, 1995 Format: CD	22	-	-	-	^{IFPI Sweden: Gold Swedish Sales: 40,000}
1996		Verkligen 2nd Studio album Released: March 15, 1996 Format: CD	1 (1)	-	-	-	^{IFPI Sweden: Platinium Swedish Sales: 80,000}
1997		Isola 3rd Studio album Released: November 12, 1997 English Version: April 27, 1998 Format: CD	1 (1)	12	35	-	^{IFPI Sweden: 2x Platinium Swedish Sales: 160,000}
1999		Hagnesta Hill 4th Studio album Released: December 6, 1999 English Version: April 28, 2000 Format: CD	1 (1)	6	9	-	^{IFPI Sweden: 2x Platinium Swedish Sales: 160,000}
2000		B-sidor 95-00 Compilation album Released: November 29, 2000 Format: CD	2	18	31	-	^{IFPI Sweden: Platinium Swedish Sales: 80,000}
2002		Vapen & ammunition 5th Studio album Released: April 15, 2002 Format: CD	1 (7)	1 (1)	1 (3)	4	^{IFPI Sweden: 5x Platinium Swedish Sales: 300,000}
2005		Du & jag döden 6th Studio album Released: March 15, 2005 Format: CD	1 (6)	2	1 (2)	2	^{IFPI Sweden: 2x Platinium Swedish Sales: 120,000}