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The (International) Noise Conspiracy.
"Mînga bècker smî, blir en stor î."
That's the only Swedish phrase I know, and it wasn't until the last minute of my conversation with Lars Strümberg, guitarist for The (International) Noise Conspiracy, that I realised just how trustworthy Encarta really was. Not only was my accent apparently spot on, but I had also just laid down a phrase which summed up the sentiments of our previous 19 minutes of conversation.
The (I)NC are as well known for their high energy rock as they are their political opinions. Marxism, Communism, anti-capitalism: these are all not so much underlying as overt beliefs which have driven the band before they even formed.
"I guess what we are now is all due to our background in music before this band," Strümberg explains. "We were all part of this community of punk and hardcore type expressions through music. I spent most of my adolescence in a small town that had a really vibrant punk scene. It was an environment that was keen on using music to talk about things and communicate messages and ideas. It was a natural progression to go from what we'd each done to a different direction while keeping the mentality of where we'd grown up. We basically just do the same thing but in different places and on a different scale. We take that punk DIY mentality but bring it to a, in quotes, 'regular rock venue'."
Having read the anti-capitalism essay in the liner notes of 'A New Morning, Changing Weather', I felt overwhelmed at best and downright depressed at worst. It seemed as though nothing we did in the Western world was free from capitalism, so how could one find any day-to-day satisfaction knowing that there was still so much to change in the world?
"Of course, you always have that Western conscience: it's like you said, a lot of things you do and how you live in the Western world is a direct consequence of how people live in other parts of the world. It's really easy to be discouraged because the world really is in a sad state at this point, but it's important to do what you can.
"For example, we played a benefit show for the Palestinian struggle against the wall that Israel is building. It was for a Pro-Palestine organisation to help them get funds to help with community and civil rights work. We got up on stage and people were wary and just sitting up the back until Dennis [Lxyzën, singer] said, "It's really cool that we're here to play and gather support. People in Palestine would want us to have a good time!' We're doing what we can to help, but at the same time we don't have to feel the weight of our guilt just because we're not right there fighting at the time. We're doing what we can right here, we've got to be passionate and enjoy what we're doing. If we could, we would change the world right now! We want to live in a world that feels progressive for everyone, where everyone can take equal part, where their responsibilities actually mean something; but in order to get there you have to do as much of that as you can right now. If you don't it's easy to get really destructive."
Speaking about their live shows, Stršmberg admits that he likes them to have a "gospel feel". This is not hard to imagine given the context of the interview and my growing urge to don my CCCP T-shirt and take to the streets.
"At shows the music never stops and the beat is always there but there are different elements to it. It's really important to establish communication with the crowd and to not have that boundary there between performer and audience. It's unfair to use music just a vehicle for ideas, it would make it uninteresting and contrived. We love playing music and if you're going to inspire others then you've got to inspire yourself, it really is as simple as that."
And 'Mînga bècker smî...'? "It's actually one of the more classical Swedish sayings: 'Many small streams can become great rivers'. It ties in with everything we talked about; it's actually pretty perfect!"
Cassie Hilditch
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The (International) Noise Conspiracy play at Fowler's Live on Tues 11 April
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