Ola Nordqvist has proven his elegant poetry in many songs. In his new box set, The Bohn Archives, Nordqvist takes us on a ride through the most intense period of his professional life, Barcelona 2008. It's less a collection of songs than a historical document -- a philosophical and personal analysis of the life of Bohn -- and it will make your head spin. Ladies and gentlemen, Doc pictures recording artist: Ola Nordqvist, checking in from a tour stop in Sandviken, Gävle.
In The Bohn Archives you sing exclusively about this person Bohn. Tell me about him?
Well, he’s everything I ever wanted to be. He’s a Truth-seeking, globetrotting, engineering, all together a complete human-being. I live my life through him. I never wrote any of these songs, Bohn did, by doing what he does. I just tell about it. The ideas of songs about Bohn struck me like a lightning bolt, or like the sudden powerful wind in the subway (a phenomenon which appears when the trains pushes the air in front of them).
I know many of the songs were written during a three month period in the summer of 2008. What happened there? Looking back at that period, how do you feel about it?
You know, I have the feeling that everything in my life had lead up to this. I’ll always remember it as "the revelation-period"; I discovered something within me that I never thought would reach the surface of my mind. After many years of singing and songwriting it seemed like the search for my musical quest was finally over.
Could you do it again?
“He grew up in a small town // never put his roots down // he never figured out what he’d done to deserve it” [Ola Nordqvist cites one of his most famous songs - Unkown legend] there’s a magic to those kind of songs. And it’s not a Joe Labero kind of magic. Honestly I don’t know if I could do it again. I listen to my muse.
In the past you been playing with various bands, perhaps most prominently Checkpoint Charlie, how has this experience been compared to that?
Well, don't get me wrong, I always loved being part of a band and all of that, but as the he summer came along I knew that this was something different. There was a more profound thing going on here, you know. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on at the time. I mean I could be doing extensive touring with CC playing songs like "Wall of love" and "Boys making noise" night after night, but somehow I knew from instinct that I had to leave the guys behind and follow this track and see where it would lead me. It was a thing of becoming who I was born to be.
Many of your songs are also credited to two other collaborators - Jonsson/Öjemar. What have they meant for your work?
Without them none of this would’ve happened. To get this mess of adjectives about Bohn in order and to turn the words into lyrics I needed some assistance. With a crew consisting of two very talented writers/producers plus myself, a great number of songs and videos were created.
A classic question, what comes first the music or the lyrics?
Well I can tell you this much, I have so many methods of writing and I use all of them from time to time. Usually I start off with a familiar melody and build lyrics around it. I give you an example: Ångestlåten started off as the classic Swedish hootenanny song “Idas sommervisa”. All of the lyrics came to me in a sort of stream of consciousness kind of thing. It’s hard to explain really, it was like if someone spoke through me. It’s not like I sit there and meditate over every line. Later on I switched the music around and all of a sudden there was the version that you been hearing on the radio. It was all done within an hour.
How do you feel about your so called religious hard core fans?
I don’t really feel like I have any hard core fans. I mean I just don’t.
But there is a religious feeling to it.
Hmm, I mean what religion are they? What sacrifices do they make, and to who? If they do, then I have hard core religious fans. I would like to know when and where they make their sacrifices because I wanna be there.
Someone once told me that your collected work is like the bible, everything is in there somewhere.
Well, that goes without saying. [Ola bursts out into laughter]By releasing this very extensive 12 CD box-set, does it feel like putting an end to your career?
It is what it is, huh? What can I say? This is it. I did that so far. If the inspiration doesn’t come to me I don’t do anything. You might never hear from me again.
Now The Bohn Archives is released on his birthday. Does that have a meaning?
No. I never plan anything ahead. Today is his 24th birthday so let us all celebrate and cry out: Happy birthday Bohn!
The Bohn Archives
All songs written by: Nordqvist/Jonsson/Ojemar
A special thanks to:
Jens Ojemar: Light engineer
Peter Ojemar: Speaker
Leif Ojemar, Olga Royo: Studio
"The Bohn Archives Volume 1: The Barcelona summer" is available now on:
- 10 disc deluxe blue-ray version with handwritten lyrics by Nordqvist and a 60-page booklet containing previously unpublished pictures of Bohn plus the regular 180-page hardcover book. The music on the discs is packaged with thousands of images of photos, lyric sheets, letters, videos and memorabilia.
- A base model DVD-version.
- A vastly underpowered CD-version.
- A thin sounding Mp3-version available through Itunes music store.
