I DON’T WANNA GROW UP / JOHN B. MOORE

Show him the MONEY: it's Swedish rocker Moneybrother.

By John B. Moore

Old punk rockers don't die they just pick up acoustic guitars and go the singer songwriter route.

Unless you're Swedish and then, apparently,  you finally give in to your R&B jones, rechristen yourself Moneybrother and record a fantastic hybrid of blues, soul and rock-a-billy with a little bit of left over punk rock rebellion.

In 2003, not long after his put his band Monster to sleep, Anders Wendin decided to go it alone under the moniker Moneybrother. He churned out record after record of fantastic white boy soul in Europe while over here in the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, we just had to make do with pirated YouTube clips of the songs that were never being released in the U.S.

That is until Bladen County Records decided to finally take pity and toss a bone to America with the State-side release of Moneybrother's latest "Real Control."

On the eve of his first U.S. tour, Wendin was kind enough to answer a handful of questions over e-mail, discussing his decision to ditch punk rock, entertaining the umpteenth comparison to Joe Strummer (including mine) and slagging Coldplay for good measure.       

So you started out in punk rock bands. Do you ever miss playing that type of music?

Yes. Screaming at the top of your lungs for an hour is good for therapeutic reasons. But, and with big love to all punk bands out there, I decided a live show could be more interesting if you threw a little of everything in there. Like screaming one song, whispering the next. This sounds pretty basic, but think about it; very few artists work that way. To me a good record or a good show should not be like an hour of aerobics.

Is your approach to songwriting different now versus when you write more punk records?

No, basically it is the same way of writing songs. It is pretty much just a matter of using less guitars and maybe slow it down a little from time to time.

You've had a lot of success in Europe. How excited are you that your music is finally being released in the U.S.

Very much. You know, I read the books and saw the movie, now I get to go myself. All my friends that are in Swedish bands have been over here. Me, I stayed at home and did hard work there. Now it is time to get over here and continue working. For me music is a great tool of meeting friends. When people like my stuff, most of the time we got something in common. I'm excited to see how people in the U.S. are gonna react to my music. In my opinion, and I know every single artist says this, I got my own thing going. You might think it sounds like a bunch of other stuff when you are listening to Moneybrother, but if you want to pick up something like it from any other artist that is recording and touring this year it is gonna be a lot harder than if you wanna pick up something that sounds and looks like...hmmm... Coldplay.

So that answers my next question about whether you plan to tour the U.S. when this record comes out.

Yep. Doing a few weeks tour with Against Me! in April, and hoping to keep touring here all year. Will have to do a bunch of festivals in Europe this summer though. 

Are there plans to release your previous records in the States?

No, I think for business reasons it is gonna be hard. My label in Europe was never very interested in releasing in the States, and now they closed down.  

Your vocals sound amazingly like Joe Strummer on some tracks. Were you a fan?

Of course! Who's not? I love him, but he is not the greatest singer I know. If I could choose, I much rather sing like Ray Charles. I heard people comparing me to Strummer for years. It used to bother me a little, but nowadays I'm not bothered.

My apologies then. When Monster broke up, why did you decide to go solo rather than just putting another band together?

If you know exactly what kind of music you wanna play it is a waste of time having some bass player telling you which direction he thinks you should go. A band is a great thing.  You get a dynamic that is bigger than just yourself and you always have the guys there to tell you when you suck, but I decided I'd let myself suck if I wanted to. 

What's next for you?

Oh, this American release is keeping me occupied for the rest of the year. My goal is to make tomorrow a little bit different then today. That is my focus.