by Jon A

Mob – almost one decade on and thousands of strongbeers down, the Copenhagen noiserock four-some keep putting terror into the lives of hapless indie kids.

Mob have been nursing their own little corner of the Copenhagen alternative rock scene for almost a decade now with two albums to show for it, ”And This Was A Good Day” in ’99 and ”I Believe In You” in ’02, and raging liveshows to guarantee any doubters that they are well worth putting their faith in for a while yet. Theirs is a noisy, heavy minor chord-based alt-rock with melodies buried somewhere underneath, not unlike … And They Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead in the way they tend to sound like delicate indie pop performed by an amphetamine-crazed heavy metal band. Apparently fuelled by a love of noise and beer rather than visions of taking over the world, there seems to be no breaking into the mainstream in sight for this Danish combo, all the better for the initiated who get to enjoy their unspoiled fury. LowCut hooked up with guitarist Peter Ahlers Ol-sen and bass player Kasper Skov at Studenterhuset, just after bumping into an acquaintance who, when I told him I was on my way to talk to them, remembered Mob playing their debut gig support-ing his old band, Naked. In such a small town, how has Mob managed to remain its best-kept se-cret?

Kasper: ”There’s not much of a scene for us really: We’re right there between indie and rock – too hard for the indie crowd, too weird for the rock crowd.”

LowCut: Let’s get the history of the band straight.

Peter: ”We did one record before, ’And This Was A Good Day’ in November ’99. Mob has been around since ’94 and the songs on that album were from that whole period. Surprisingly, the press really liked it, though.”
Kasper: ”It was sort of a compilation. The new one is more focused. That one was Mob in ’98, we’ve changed the line-up since then.”
Peter: ”We haven’t been very good at promoting ourselves, we’ve just been simmering, but we have a nice audience in Copenhagen + a few in Jutland.”

LowCut: So there is a scene for you outside Copenhagen?

Peter: ”Well, in Germany too, we’ve played some 40 jobs there within the last year. Actually we ought to play more in Denmark.”
Kasper: ”Why we’re also making a new record in the end of this year, which is going to be more rock-orientated.”

LowCut: You’re a lot harder live than on record.

Kasper: “I Believe In You’ was made soft, maybe that was a fault.”
Peter: ”We had a real hifi producer on it, maybe that was a fault. Live it’s more of a party, drinking beers...”
Kasper: ”… More arms than head…”
Peter: ”… Maybe we could get that in the studio as well.”
Kasper: ”We’re still a young band.”
Peter: ”We’ve been on a few record labels too: First Alternate, but nothing really happened there.”
Kasper: ”Then some spirited guys from Århus came along, Martian Records promised us money and we went into the studio, but when we were finished they had no money, and everything just kept dragging on and on, so then we started Lärm and released the album ourselves in 2002.”

LowCut: Everything seems to be floating a bit.

Peter: ”For our next record we have record label and booking in Germany, Tumbleweed.”
Kasper: ”They’re really serious about it, they came with us on tour and sold merchandise.”

LowCut: So, what do you want to do with your music?

Peter: ”It’s really selfish, we’re just a bunch of nerds in a rehearsal room.”
Kasper: ”We all come from different backgrounds: Peter from hardcore, I have been playing bad rock, Morten [Haaber, vocalist/guitarist] has been playing bluegrass, Gustav [drummer] comes from jazz. We just got together to create big music.”
Peter: ”We don’t have 40 songs, each of the songs take their time, and they have to be able to stand that time...”
Kasper: ”… We’re constantly rearranging them.”
Peter: ”We like the contrast between soft strumming and walls of noise.”
Kasper: ”Like a butterfly run over by a truck.”

LowCut: The music is very emotional, yet you seem to be healthy young men. What’s your problem?

Kasper: ”Morten likes to quote Robert Smith [from The Cure], that it’s about getting into an emotion and create a mood.”

LowCut: So you’re not cutting up your arms?

Kasper: ”We did that when we were 16.”
Peter: ”The music is gloomy -”
Kasper: ”- but we still get happy from playing it.”
Peter: ”It’s about creating a mood. No compromises, no limitations for the noise.”
Kasper: ”It’s not that complicated, really. Morten writes the lyrics as they come.”
Peter: ”And they’re sad because everything’s in minor.”

LowCut: You remind me a lot of … And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.

Peter: ”Well, they have that same thing going with a really frail thing and a very simple, basic heaviness.”
Kasper: ”A bit like Smashing Pumpkins, indie with balls.”
Peter: ”Not that we like them though. But we can feel some of the effect in Germany from … Trail Of Dead, and people have also likened us to Mogwai.”

LowCut: Rock is big again at the moment, albeit in a more polished form than yours.

Kasper: ”That’s not us at all. But right now people are into the 70’s thing, so maybe in a while they’ll want to hear 80’s stuff like The Jesus And Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, and that’s where we come in. Right now we’re just building up good liveshows, and we’re delievering every time, even when we played for one paying audience member at Forbrændingen in Albertslund.”
Peter: ”They get the same show no matter what: We played a show in Germany in a basement for 10 people where the barman upstairs kept telling us we couldn’t play too loud, but in the end every-one liked it and it turned out to be great party with table football and beers. Even though we turned up the volume. We just want to keep on doing that.”
Kasper: ”Record labels aren’t lining up to sign us. You’re not gonna get 8 minute tracks played on the radio either. But we’re gonna keep doing our thing for a while yet. We’re gonna be even more embarrassing than the Stones.”

www.mobsite.dk