Detektivbyran

"It took three months to just sample our piano"
Detektivbyrån is apparently pronounced "Dee-tek-teeve-bu-ron“, which I guess makes sense. They are a band from Gothenburg in Sweden (what another one?! Yes, that’s right). They describe their songs as ‘warm delicate melodies that you can easily hum along to’. Basically they sound a bit like Yann Tiersen’s Amelie soundtrack, so like… Nice ‘n’ French. But if you’re thinking that sounds a bit rubbish, I’d recommend checking out the Youtube videos documenting the making of their latest album ‘Wermland’. Any promoters out there, take note of the last question and invite them over here to play! I promise I’ll go.

What does the name mean?

Hello! If you translate Detektivbyrån to English it means The Detective Agency. The number one reason that made us stick to this name once we´d discovered it was that it was playful and funny in a good way. People laughed when we told them our band name and that´s great. The idea came from a style of music that we´ve always called "Spy-Rock". "Spy-Rock", as far as I’m concerned doesn’t sound at all like us but it´s instrumental music just like ours.

How did you get together?

Martin and Anders are brothers, so they have been around each other for a while. The three of us used to play in the same bandy* team, IF Boltic. We were something like six or seven years old when we met for the first time at the bandy arena. Martin and Anders decided to start playing together when both of them had re-located to Gothenburg in 2005. Jon soon moved to Gothenburg and joined the forces of Detektivbyrån. 

* The intriguingly named “Bandy” is apparently a winter sport involving hitting a ball with a stick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandy ) IF Boltic was apparently one of the best bandy teams in the WORLD for a bit, so well done Detektivbyrån!

What instruments do you use in your live shows?

Accordion, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Drums, Pads, Scissors, Synthersizers. We bought two MEGA synthesizers for this tour. We have stuffed them with all the instruments that we've used on our recordings. 

It took three months to just sample our piano. We have put drawing-pins on the beaters to get a more "Honky-Tonk" sound. We sampled the piano in 8 different sensitive levels. Four with sustain and four without sustain. So when we play the piano live it is the same piano used on the recordings, that goes for all the instruments/sounds that we use live.

What are you're influences?

I personally listen to a lot of Country, Metal and Punk/Hardcore music. I guess you get influenced by everything you listen to. We've always been big fans of musical instruments. The instruments that we use in Detektivbyrån are really easy to have fun with. So the instruments themselves are really big inspirations.

I went to Gothenburg last year and think it's pretty much the nicest place I've ever been. Do you like it?

We sure like Gothenburg. It's a nice city to live in. The nicest city I've ever lived in. Gothenburg is Sweden’s second biggest city, but the people here still have the mentality of a farmer. Which is good and nice for country boys like us. We feel welcome. There's a lot of stuff going on so there's always stuff to do and places to visit. 

What have you released to date?

"Hemvägen EP" – 2006
"Lyckans Undulat" CDS – 2007
"Split 7" with Hemstad (vinyl)" – 2007
"Wermland" - 2008

How will you celebrate the release of the new album?

Touring. We are out playing Sweden for two months right now. There's nothing like playing live so that's a good way to celebrate the release of a new album. 

Have you played in the UK much? Do you have any UK dates lined-up?

We've never played in the UK. We would love to go there for some dates. No dates planned yet though. But we make sure to keep you updated.

[Jan 2009] Back to Top