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Tekla Knös - interview somewhere in time
This is an interview made with the Swedish punk band members Emil and Henke from Tekla Knös at Humlefestivalen, Finland in august 2004 (14.08.2004). Due to me being completely overworked all autumn, I wasn.t able to write and translate the interview until now, so it may be that some things that appear in this interview are out of date. Enjoy!

Mazze: What does the name .Tekla Knös. mean?

Emil: She was a poet that lived in the 19th century and she had a big heart for unfortunate people.
It was Markus who came up with the name. When he was a little boy he often had to go to church. But he didn.t think it was all that fun, so he used to sit there and skim through the pages of the hymn-book and looked for the best and funniest names he could find, and when he found Tekla Knös he laughed heartily.
Then back in 96 when we started the band, he told me that he had a great band name. I couldn.t believe my ears when he told me that we were going to name the band .Tekla Knös., but with time I have got used to it.
It.s actually pretty funny. Once I was walking in a school wearing a .Tekla Knös. t-shirt and suddenly a girl comes to me and asks me why on earth I.m walking around with a shirt were it says .Tekla Knös.. I explained to her that we have a punk band called .Tekla Knös., she bursts out laughing telling me that Tekla Knös is her grandmother.s mother!
Henke: Once I had appeared on TV broadcasting that my church arranged, and there I was telling about myself and that I was playing in a band called .Tekla Knös.. After I had left someone calls me from the studio telling me that someone had called to the studio asking for me. It was an old lady who was related to Tekla Knös that wanted to talk to me, she wasn.t Christian or anything, she had just watched the show and wanted to talk to me.

Mazze: It feels like God sometimes arranges these funny coincidences in our lives just to encourage us. Tell us what .Tekla Knös. means to you?

Emil: I would like to say it.s us living out our vision. It.s a part of us so to speak. It.s a vision that we have, playing that kind of music were we can use the same language that we use in our everyday lives.

Henke: To be straight and honest.
Emil: To Christians and non-Christians as well, it.s God leading us. We haven.t decided to whom we are going to play for; it.s for them who want to listen. We have noticed that it has touched many Christians, and that maybe wasn.t the vision when we started the band but I think it.s great that they get in contact with God just through listening to us.
Henke: We are talking about outer- and inner missions. From the beginning the idea was not to awaken those who are sleeping in the benches.

Mazze: I.ve heard about people who have bursted out in tears while listening to your songs.

Henke: My father wrote a tear filled mail to Markus saying that he gets so blessed while listening to us. I think we put words on many people.s thoughts.

Mazze: Why do you think that.s so? Is it just that many people carrying the same thoughts or has the Holy Spirit been leading you?

Emil: I really hope so, or else it would only be a recipe for pancakes. I think we express everyday feelings, but without wrapping them into too much wool, which you very easily tend to do. It.s very simple, straight lyrics which you easily can take to your heart and understand. That.s really what the whole thing is all about, for it to be straight, simple and close to your everyday life.
Henke: There are also many people within the church that get irritated on all the unwritten rules that exist on how you may express yourself, how to say and how to be.

Mazze: Still people tend to lock themselves into these rules.

Henke: Yes, it.s the only-you-do-it-in-our-way mentality. They tell you to go out and reach people, but do it in THIS way. If that stops you from reaching people, then let it be. I want to tell it in the way that I usually do, then it feels good when you are the one you are and not trying to be someone else. Then it becomes much more frank and honest, and people will know when you really mean what you say.

Mazze: It seems that you are pretty alone with what you do.

Emil. We don.t know exactly what plans we have for the future. That will be up to the Lord to show us. But what we have said is that we really would like to see someone taking over after us, that there will be more Christian punk bands. Because that.s something we have gotten proof of so many times, that we are really needed out there as a band.
We have had so terribly many setbacks in every way that it is really ridiculous. It just feels like give us a break man, but then we have thought that let.s just do this show. Then when being there and notice how moved people are, and how people write of their experiences on our homepage, then you really get moved yourself. Once a girl wrote that she now is on good terms with good again, then you feel like it isn.t we who have done anything but God has done something through us. What I mean is that if God does something through us, then it bears fruit and then it is something that is good. And that.s what makes us want to keep going. If we would notice that we just would be another band among others, then it wouldn.t matter anymore and we would just quit. I wouldn.t even think about it, I would just quit.
Henke: Then you just have to move on to the next thing.
Emil: If it bears good fruit, as said in the Bible, then it has to be from God. Does it move people.s hearts, does it bring people closer to God, then there are no doubts, it has to be something good.
Emil: But there is someone who doesn.t want us to go on.

Mazze: I read on your homepage that you recently have been experiencing some ruff times.

Henke: It has been coming in phases. If Markus gets better then it.s the next fellow getting something, and then the next and the next and so on. It has been like a relay-race baton, it almost gets too obvious.
Emil: We.re starting too feel like; c.mon we.ve seen all that before, can.t you come up with something new?
Henke: Like the time we were going to record the album, just about a week before we were going to the studio my knee collapsed, and then I.m supposed to play the drums.
Emil: It has affected us all, it has stricken against families, health, and the spiritual and just about everything. Sometimes it has felt like just how much does one have to take? But now we have told God that the burden has to be lifted from our shoulders, especially in our own lives that we.ll have the strength to keep on going. We need help from God and other people as well; we have now tried to have others take on some parts of the job, like selling merchandise through the internet.

Mazze: I have understood it that way that you do pretty stuff much by yourselves.

Emil: We do just about everything ourselves.
Henke: Markus have pulled horse loads of work. But that has also been his thing; it.s his gift, to run the record label and doing the merchandise part. He has been doing it because he thinks its fun. Then it.s strange when he suddenly is too exhausted to do it any longer and we have to take over. We don.t have the same fire about it as Markus has, I mean we have other talents and managing the record label and stuff like that maybe hasn.t been one of them.
Emil: Instead we are both pretty good at farting instead.
Henke: *laughing his lungs out*

Mazze: Let.s take a sound sample later on.

Henke: We can show you later. But it has been really tough with Markus being ill, and then I have also been ill and still have to take over. I haven.t got the strength to do all too much, and now I also have a daughter that awakens every night at about four and wakes me. Then you aren.t all to fit.
Emil: And the other one has got a bunch of kids. I work at a little company, which takes quite a lot of time and engagement, and then you have to try to get everything done in no time whatsoever. It.s just not possible.
Henke: Both I and Emil have families and are married, that.s a totally different position. But we are looking for solutions; we would really need help with fixing shows because we really haven.t the strength or the time to do it. I think God has to help us with that one.
Emil: Someone who fixes shows for us, someone who updates the homepage and someone that would take care of the merchandise for us.
Henke: Well about two out of three are solved, and that.s were we are today.
Emil: Those things take a lot out of you; it feels like it it.s enough with the rest. And that.s what we want to do, we want out and play. It.s the shows that the main purpose, out and meet people. The other stuff is honestly said boring as.
Henke: But at the same time you want to show people respect, we do want to have contact with them and support them.

Mazze: You are from pretty different backgrounds, aren.t you?

Emil: I am an old skinhead, and Markus has a alternative background. I.ve played in a couple of Oi!-bands and punk bands. So for me it felt very natural when we started talking of starting a band together with Markus. It was a vision I have had for a long time without finding anyone to share it with. It was incredible when our paths finally crossed each other. And then when Henke came along a couple of years later we got that stability in the band that hadn.t been there before. It had been quite complicated with different drummers and singers and all what ever. So it took a couple of years of work before the band became what it is today.
Mazze: So you were a punk that got saved?

Emil: Nah, I was never a punk. But I surely was a skinhead.
Henke: Our style of punk is pretty brutal now; it has gotten harder hasn.t it?
Emil: I would like to say both yes and no, it.s both. It.s kind of a blend between Oi and punk, it.s more the lyrics that decides what kind of style it is, if you want to make a difference between Oi and punk. Some call Oi streetpunk, it.s the same only more workers-society based lyrics in the Oi music just to make a difference, when punk again is more political and leftwing based.
Henke: And we all listen to quite different sorts of music, Emil listens to a lot of heavy stuff and that can be heard in his guitar sound, in my opinion. Then again I have been taught in the classical music school.

Mazze: Well that.s totally obvious when listening to Tekla Knös, or maybe not?

Henke: *laughter* I.m a musician, but the thing is.
*laughter*
Emil: And we others are not musicians then?
Henke: No, that.s not what I mean. It.s something I always been carrying with me. I have played classical piano and been a percussionist at an orchestra. I have played all kinds of instruments before. I wasn.t a stranger to punk music, I have always wanted to play that kind of music and I love hardcore. So the style of music has never been strange to me, I have been listening to it since high-school. But I think my style of playing is rather unorthodox for being a punk-band drummer because I tend to mix everything.
Emil: But still you have developed as a drummer during the years you.ve been playing with us.
Henke: By playing punk-music I have actually become a better drummer, in every area. Because when you play drums in a punk-band it all depends on you, keeping up the tempo and rhythm. It.s a big responsibility and sometimes it doesn.t work out.
Emil: And people think that playing punk can.t be hard, they think it.s easy as. But it isn.t, ask Henke; he had a hard time in the beginning. It isn.t just about hammering the drums, it has to sound good, and it has to. swing.
Henke: There has to be feeling in it.
Emil: You can.t just put a drum-machine on the job.
Henke: Every mistake you do will be heard by all.

Mazze: By being in a punk-band, isn.t it a lot about politics?

Henke: Yes it is, but we would never be able to have a party.
*laughter*
Emil: Definitely not.
Henke: The core is somewhat in common, but then we have quite different opinions about things.

Mazze: You are bound to be misunderstood from times to times.

Henke: They worry about single words.
Emil: Definitely; .You may not say bad words!.
Emil: I think it.s a form of hypocrisy among Christians. I sometimes use swear-words in my everyday speech, and many get caught up on some words and see them as a curse or that one is calling upon satan or something similar. I don.t look upon it that way, sometimes you can.t find the right words when you want to express yourself a little stronger, and then you tend to use ugly words. There.s no real meaning to them but it.s an issue that can be discussed if it.s correct or not to do so.
Henke: I do feel uncomfortable when colleges to me swear; it depends on which situation it happens in. But it is also something that is easily changed, just don.t use those words. I think that.s why people react so easily when those words appear. But then again it seems like it.s totally ok to talk behind each others backs.
Emil: it.s strange how we Christians sometimes make some sins to be worse than others. Some things you are definitely not allowed to do, but talking down on different communions, talking behind each others backs and saying bad things about your brother is in some strange way ok, because it.s not visible. Personally I think it.s much, much worse. Like if Markus would say a bad word, I wouldn.t care about that too much, but if he started talking behind my back saying that I am a big piece of sh*t or something like that, now that would really hurt.

Mazze: You have rather strong opinions in your lyrics; do feel you have a responsibility to know about the things you write about?

Emil: You definitely have a responsibility for the things you say, so it doesn.t affect people in a bad way. But we have the Bible to follow and we usually feel it in our hearts if something is right or not. Mostly we only have positive lyrics, they are meant to encourage people to live in love and in relation to each other.
Henke: We don.t try to show off ourselves as perfect people, because in reality we are actually pretty rotten people.
Emil. Seriously, especially Henke, he.s the worst in the band. Sorry.
Henke: No comment. Markus, help me. No but that is really the way it is, we highlight things that are as much for us as for others. Sometimes I have been listening to our records and what is said on them has affected me, although that.s obviously the way it should be. But it is things that we should think about over and over, the lyrics comes from the inside of us and are directed to ourselves as much as they are to others.

Mazze: But obviously you are role-models as well.

Henke: It is sometimes a heavy burden. Because you know that you are not all that people think you are. I once read a notebook that a 13-year old girl hade written and in it under the head line .pop-idols. it said Bob Marley and Tekla Knös. It felt pretty weird, because I don.t look upon us in that way.

Mazze: The song .Hjältar faller hart. (Heroes fall hard), has it got something to do with this?

Henke: Markus, you have written it, it.s better if you explain.
Markus: I am not entering the interview; I will soon go and lie down again. In our society we are so very quick to praise other people as heroes, and we create gods from famous people around us all the time. I think that Gudrun Schyman (a Swedish politician) is a example that speaks for it self, first they praise her to the heavens and everyone.s saying .look how good a role-model she is!., and she takes all this to her heart an grows as a person, suddenly she gets problems with alcohol, and when that reaches the public she falls to the ground and is walked all over. It.s the typical human beings search for other gods than God himself, and we praise other humans instead of God. The song is a reminder to us about the fragility of these human gods, which no one is as they are presented to be. If you praise yourself the fall will also be hard, from which the name of the song also comes .Heroes fall hard.. It.s what you been talking about with role-models and so on. As for me, and surely for Henke and Emil, we do what God tells us to do and we are happy that people love us and because of the response we get at concerts, when you see that people actually wants to do something. We think it.s great, but I want to tell them that it.s not me who is supposed to be the hero, but it is Jesus who.s the hero. If they make me the hero and the role-model I will disappoint them sooner or later.

Mazze: Can it not also be used as an excuse for people, .if I only support Tekla Knös, they will do all the work and I don.t have to do anything..

Markus: They create an image of who I am and then I do something that to them doesn.t work with the Christian beliefs, like this with bad words, I.m surprised how important it is to some people. I usually don.t use bad words in my language but sometimes it happens. And I don.t think it.s that big a deal but for some people who was this picture of who I am and it suddenly doesn.t apply and that it appears to them that I am an ordinary person that sometimes fall, sometimes do bad things, and has bad habits, then everything suddenly collapses, everything I.ve done and said.
Emil: It.s a form of hypocrisy.
Markus: But God chooses to use fragile people, and that.s what this song is about, to see the real hero, to see Jesus. Find your identity in him and not in pop-idols, tv-stars or something else including Tekla Knös.

Mazze: And now, I would like to ask you; what do think about metal?
Emil: It depends on what kind of metal it is, I really like Pantera. If it.s got to be metal it has to be the real stuff, not any poodle-rock ala Narnia.
Mazze: They played here yesterday.

Emil: I think that they do a great job and they have an incredible message. It.s great for people that listen to stuff like that. But if you ask me personally, I don.t think it sounds that good. It has to be rawer. I don.t know if you count Slipknot as heavy metal, but I like them. But I could image that they could play a couple of Pantera.s songs in heaven, such as .walk..

Mazze: You think God agrees on that one?

Emil: Absolutely.
Henke: I like something of everything. I.m a big and old Helloween freak. But I also like Slipknot, Soulfly and so on.
Emil: Soulfly is great, and they.re from Brazil.
Henke: I have to say I like some of Extol.s stuff.

Mazze: They played at Bobfest 2004, and so did you.

Henke: It.s really an odd feeling coming there, you feel so out of place that.s it not comparable to anything else. But still you can.t help but love the people there. They are so snowed in with what they do, but it.s such a joy in it both with the audience and with the bands.
Henke: But I can.t understand corpse-paint, blood and all that. What.s the point in it? Have they got any arguments to why they do it?
Emil: To me it.s something that symbolizes death, Satanism, and so on. But if they see good fruit from what they are doing, then I guess its ok. But I still don.t understand it.
Henke: But I think Bobfest is one of the best places to be playing at. The people that attend are just great.

Mazze: As a Christian punk band you probably don.t get to play at festivals or happenings that are just punk.

Emil: No, that happens very seldom.
Henke: We were the more easy-going part of Bobfest. It was kind of contrary to the rest of the bands. We usually stand facing the public.
Emil: And then we also smile.

Mazze: Your song .Skins .69. suited as well here at Humlefestivalen as at Bobfest.

Emil: It was a bit extra fun playing it at Bobfest, can it get more wrong?
Henke: What did we say?
Markus: .There.s more to life than leather and make-up!.
Emil: We want to see more Christian skinheads that would be fun. Many of my old friends are so beaten, they are already trampled on and people just keep on bringing them down. They are already lying on the ground and many of them have problems with alcohol. And many people really hate them. A lot of churches today are praying for revival, but often I sit and pray that it wouldn.t happen yet. Because I know that if it today would be revival in the churches, they wouldn.t be able to handle it. As soon as someone a bit odd enters the church today everyone freezes and are almost scared to death. What would happen if people started flowing in?
Markus: Yes, what if they use bad words?!
Emil: I believe that the church first must be revived before the revival can start. If the church doesn.t change I believe God will make the revival start outside the church.

Mazze: It.s pretty interesting participating in the Sunday meeting after Bobfest, when both the regular church members attend and the Bobfest people.

Henke: We usually participate and watch it before we leave.
Markus: It.s a change between generations.
Emil: It.s funny how some people have combed down their mohican haircut and have put on some nice little shirt.

Mazze: Ok, now tell me you.re favorite albums, that.s always fun.
Henke: Weezer
Emil: bum bum bum. .I.ve got my hashpipe..
Henke: ok, ok, I take it back.
Emil: There are three artist that I never tire of; Ebba Grön, Cornelis Wreswiik and Dropkick Murphys.
Henke: Stonefunkers, Weezer and. Christian Walz.
Markus: That.s very little metal. No punk either.
Henke: Most punk you can be is being yourself.

From here the interview got off track and topic and could be found crashed into a pine tree in the forrest.