Tag: Eddie Bengtsson (Page 1 of 3)

PAGE En Ny Våg

PAGE call it “Keyboardbaserad Retroromantisk Popmusik”…

The veteran Swedish duo of Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko are back with ten newly written songs recorded during 2022 – 2023. Having released their first single ‘Dansande Man’ in 1983, ‘En Ny Våg’ (translated as “A New Wave”) consolidates 40 years of PAGE.

Having first started a re-exploration of the post-punk synth innovations of TUBEWAY ARMY on the 2017 long player ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ that continued on 2019’s ‘Fakta För Alla’, Eddie Bengtsson again uses Gary Numan as a catalyst, alongside associated bands ULTRAVOX (both John Foxx and Midge Ure periods) and DRAMATIS (comprising of former Numan band members), for an opus shaped by a Moog Voyager XL and Moog Minitaur.

The driving rhythms and swimmy synths on the ‘En Ny Våg’ title song show things are business as usual but sound of piano and the mournful violin of Chris Payne from The Gary Numan Experience add a new uplifting dimension to this stage of PAGE’s Numanisation process. There’s the classic mechanised octave play on ‘Vi Kommer Tillbaka’ which ramps into a sparkle during its final quarter in the vein of Foxx-era ULTRAVOX while the frantic synth punk of ‘För Du Är Rädd’ is classic PAGE.

Photo by Jonas Karlsson

‘Stop-Vänta-Nu’ opts for more solemn overtures but the excellent jaunty robopop of ‘Det Här Är Mitt Sätt’ and its four chord progression provides catchy riffs in that imperial synth vein with fabulous vintage Moog soloing in what was originally conceived as a homage ‘Fade To Grey’. Another highlight ‘Början På Något’ is gloriously bouncy in its glam sparkle but dressed in electronics, it even provides welcome reminders of ‘Dansande Man’.

Despite the ivory intro, ‘Frusen’ morphs into something more speedy with RRussell Bell of DRAMATIS providing frenetic guitar interventions while the downbeat demeanour of ‘Förloraren’ is bolstered by sweeping synths recalling VISAGE’s ‘The Steps’. On ‘Genomskinlig’, Bengtsson gets to realise more of his Billy Currie synth hero fantasies via his Voyager XL while at the finish, the intimate ‘Korridoren’ hypnotises in its beatless aural cocoon held down by a repeating bass squelch and eerie string machines in a manner that would make OMD proud.

An immediate and entertaining poptronica journey with the occasional spike of punk and the snap of glam, if ‘En Ny Våg’ sounds familiar, then that is kind of the point. As Eddie Bengtsson said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK recently: “If someone tells me ‘that sounds a bit like early Numan’ or ULTRAVOX, I give them a high five. Because that means that they have understood what I’m trying to do”.


‘En Ny Våg’ is released on 29 September 2023 by Energy Rekords as a CD and vinyl LP, available from https://hotstuff.se/page/x-7640

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

https://www.instagram.com/page_svensk_pop/


Text by Chi Ming Lai
26 September 2023

PAGE Interview

Photo by Simon Helm

Since their first single ‘Dansande Man’ in 1983, Sweden’s PAGE have stuck rigidly to their “Keyboardbaserad Retroromantisk Popmusik” manifesto, never feeling the need to use live drums or a brass section.

Ironically, Eddie Bengtsson traded in his drum kit for two synthesizers to form PAGE with Marina Schiptjenko. Inspired by TUBEWAY ARMY, ULTRAVOX and SILICON TEENS, the duo have nurtured their own brand of poptronica. When PAGE went on hiatus in 2000, Bengtsson continued with his solo project SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN while Schiptjenko found mainstream European success as a member of BWO.

But the special chemistry that was within PAGE could not be resisted so in 2010, Bengtsson and Schiptjenko reunited to release a new album appropriately titled ‘Nu’. New is the theme of the new PAGE album ‘En Ny Våg’ which translated into English means “A New Wave”. As on the previous albums ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ and ‘Fakta För Alla’, ‘En Ny Våg’ uses Gary Numan as a catalyst and even brings Chris Payne and RRussell Bell from his imperial live band of 1979-1981 on board to aid the Numanisation process.

Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the continuing PAGE story and the making of ‘En Ny Våg’.

Photo by Jonas Karlsson

What keeps the PAGE partnership going strong?

Eddie: I think that it is because we live so far from each other. We don’t get tired of each other. Also, we have so many other things that we have done and do in our lives. Finally, we are still very good friends and like very much what we are doing and how our music sounds.

Marina: I also would like to add: our history. We kind of grew up together and were both huge fans of the same kind of music. We have so many memories tied to that defining time in our lives.

The concept to “Numanise” PAGE in 2017 began on a few tracks from ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’, how do you think the adventure has gone since then?

Eddie: When I write the songs, I don’t go in with the mission to copy either early Numan or ULTRAVOX (“NumanVox”). It’s more that those artists work like a catalyst to get me in the mood. Of course, I love the sound of those old songs, and I try to emulate it and let it go through a “PAGE-filter”. If someone tells me, “That sounds a bit like early Numan” or ULTRAVOX, I give them a high-five – because that means that they have understood what I’m trying to do.

Photo by Simon Helm

Have you grasped the world of social media and streaming?

Eddie: No, not yet, I suppose.

Marina: It’s boring to do, but I very much like the possibility to share (and to see!) old PAGE live stuff. I have a lousy memory, so it’s so much fun to see old concerts online.

It’s been a while since the most recent PAGE album ‘Fakta För Alla’ in 2019, but there have been two EPs ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ and ‘Aska’. What was the reason for going down this route first?

Eddie: Both of those EPs started as singles. I didn’t have the inspiration for a full album, but I could manage an EP. When those two EPs were done, we just thought, “Let’s put them together and make an album for those who want that”.

Did you impose any rules or restrictions on ‘En Ny Våg’ such as the synths, sounds and software used?

Eddie: I have had the same rules and restrictions for years and years. Once, I was a collector of synths. In other words, I bought lots of synthesizers just to own them; not really to use them. I have always had this idea, this mantra: “You only need ONE synth – force it to sound the way you want it to sound”. So I realised that I didn’t need that load of synths and sold them off. I sold my vintage stuff and bought ONE fat synth instead. I went for a Moog.

To tell you the truth, I don’t only own ONE Moog, I have a couple. Mostly because they look so nice. The last four albums are 80% Moog Voyager XL only. My Moog Little Phatty, I use as a mother keyboard. The Moog Minitaur is for all basses – the same sound on every song. And, finally, the Moog Sub Phatty is only for live. So, yeah, I want to work with restrictions and rules. Force the synth!

Are you still partying like it is 1980 – has any recent pop music been inspiring?

Eddie: I’m not very much for partying – never was. I keep my sources of inspirations very limited. It’s like 3-4 artists, all from the same era of early New Wave / Post Punk electronica. I have come to the conclusion that it was the time when the sounds were perfect. Earlier, I did look into to other styles, new and old; but, looking back, I think that made my own songs be influenced by too many things, and the red thread got kinda lost. So, I like the way I do work now. I have a road to walk down, and it’s very straight, and I love the walk.

Photo by Simon Helm

On the ‘En Ny Våg’ opening title song, you invited Chris Payne from the first Gary Numan live band to perform on it, how was the experience?

Eddie: THAT was a really huge thing for me. To have both Chris Payne and RRussell Bell from the Numan band and DRAMATIS playing on the new PAGE album was fantastic. They are such amazingly talented musicians. Chris plays the violin on the song and his parts really lift the song, I think so, at least. We had contact, and I instructed him to play the parts that I wanted. Then I told him that he could have a free hand to add whatever he could come up with. The part in the middle, where his viola leads, is goose-bumps beautiful.

RRussell Bell also contributes to the album, what did he add?

Eddie: RRussell plays the guitar on ‘Frusen’ (‘Frozen’). He added great atmosphere to the piece. It was so cool to have RRussell, as well as Chris, because he is such an important part of Numan and DRAMATIS story.

At the end of the album, there is an atmospheric track called ‘Korridoren’ that would make OMD proud, how did that develop?

Eddie: That was a quickie. Actually, I wrote it when the album was done and ready to be pressed. There was this day when I had just bought a new microphone, and I wanted to test it. I connected it and tried it out. The sound of that mic was unbelievable, compared to the mics I have been using before. So, I sang a line that sounded good – very close and kind of intimate – and then I put the instruments on that. It took me an hour or so. The result was a very cool song. I like it. Maybe OMD can make a cover of it? 😉

Photo by Jonas Karlsson

One of the highlights is ‘Det Här Är Mitt Sätt’ with its catchy riffs and soloing, what was the idea behind this?

Eddie: The idea was to use that synth sound that leads the song. I did this sound, and it was very much the sound as heard on ‘Fade To Grey’. So, I guess my goal was to make something that would sound a bit like ‘Fade To Grey’; I failed with that, but it became something else. I suppose it sounds very much like classic PAGE.

On ‘Genomskinlig’, you get to do the Billy Currie synth hero thing again, but have you considered getting the Korg ARP Odyssey reissue or does what you have already do the job as you require?

Eddie: No I haven’t. I have no need for it, because I force my synth (the Moog Voyager XL) to sound like a Billy Currie Odyssey solo. The result isn’t perfect but almost – and definitely good enough for me.

What are your favourite songs on the album?

Eddie: My favourite songs are ’En Ny Våg’ (‘A New Wave’), ‘För Du Är Rädd Nu’ (‘Because You’re Scared Now’) and ‘Stop-Vänta-Nu’ (‘Stop-Wait-Now’). All of them are very good songs that I’m very proud of. I totally love everything about those songs: the way they are built, the sounds, the arrangements, the melodies, the beat, the harmonies, the vocals, and the words. They really represent what I’m trying to do.

Marina: ‘En Ny Våg’ and “För Du Är Rädd Nu”, those are two magical PAGE songs.

Photo by Simon Helm

This present phase of PAGE started in 2010, it is more enjoyable than back in the day?

Eddie: Maybe. I haven’t thought about that. I guess it’s more mellow these days. It feels nicer now, when I really, really love the sound. PAGE has always been special, in the sense that there was never anyone that sounded like us. And that is still a fact.

Marina: I am so happy and grateful that Eddie doesn’t force me to play too many live gigs *laughs*

PAGE, in the early days, was a lot about live performance. I truly enjoyed it back then, but now it’s more pressure.

What is next for PAGE?

Eddie: Now we have to kind of sit back and see how the audience will receive the album. I hope they like it as much as we do. When it comes to playing live, we haven’t decided yet if we are going to perform the album or not. If the right opportunity arises, then we might. But it would have to be something that means something special. When it comes to composing, I’m at the moment taking a rest. Maybe, someday, I will start all over again with filling myself with inspiration and ideas.


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to PAGE

‘En Ny Våg’ is released on 29 September 2023 by Energy Rekords as a CD and vinyl LP, pre-order from https://hotstuff.se/page/x-7640

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

https://www.instagram.com/page_svensk_pop/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Fte7PuO7hpVbBFrX075fC


Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Simon Helm
8 September 2023

PAGE Blutest Du? EP


While poptronica trailblazers PAGE have maintained an international cult following over the decades, apart from the occasional cover version like DEPECHE MODE’s Dreaming Of Me’ and OMD’s ‘Electricity’, or during live performance with ‘Lyssnade På Min Radio’ (Listening To My Radio)’ done in English for their first London show, they have always sung in Swedish.

But taking a leaf from the imperial phase of KRAFTWERK where songs were released in a variety of languages, the duo of Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko present a new EP with variations of their music in German and English.

Leading the ‘Bludest Du?’ EP is ‘Blöder Du?’ translated into German. Originally from the most recent album ’Fakta For Alla’, it means ‘Are You Bleeding?’ and takes things in a darker direction than PAGE have ever been in their long career. The use of German enhances the foreboding nature of the stark brooding electronic backdrop.

The effective video made by Mark Kjahart Pettersson gets around lockdown restrictions by having Bengtsson and Schiptjenko appear grainily on multiple vintage TV screens while a mysterious figure reveals an inner turmoil through implied physical disfigurement.

Also featuring on the EP are two tracks in English, ‘Start’ and ‘Tracks’, the Gary Numan song. ‘Start’ wears its Numanoid cosplay on its sleeve and pays tribute to a time before ‘Dance’ ever happened, with buzzing Minimoog basslines and swirling Polymoog strings coming over like a mash-up of ‘Metal’ and ‘Tracks’.

And speaking of the side two opener from ‘The Pleasure Principle’, PAGE’s 2017 album from ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ had already included a faithful version of ‘Tracks’ in Swedish as ‘Spår’, so the artistic fixation with the man who once called himself Valerian more or less comes full circle.

The fourth track on the ‘Blutest Du?’ EP is the mighty instrumental ‘Saint Anastase’; from the previous ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ EP, it channels a Vox ‘N’ Foxx cocktail with hints of ‘All Stood Still’, ‘I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)’ and ‘Swimmer’ over an incessant neo-motorik beat.

Those that may have been cautious about investigating PAGE in the past due to the language barrier will find the ‘Blutest Du?’ EP an ideal introduction. With electronic hooks and melodies in abundance that recall the best in Synth Britannia, there is now no reason not to.


‘Blutest Du’ is released by Energy Rekords as a CD EP, available direct from https://hotstuff.se/cdm-page-blutest-du-ep-limited-edition-300-copies-ercds178/78629

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

https://www.instagram.com/page_svensk_pop/


Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Jonas Karlsson
4th December 2020

PAGE Puls

Photo by Jonas Karlsson

Of late, Swedish poptronica duo PAGE have well and truly fallen under the spell of the imperial Synth Britannia era.

The releases in the last few years from Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko like ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’, ‘Start’, ‘Fakta För Alla’ and ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ have clearly been influenced by imperial phase ULTRAVOX, TUBEWAY ARMY, VISAGE and DRAMATIS.

‘Puls’ (‘Pulse’), an energetic track from their most recent album ‘Fakta För Alla’, gets a period makeover in a new video clip complete with waveforms. Recorded at Gothenburg’s Sticky Fingers last fall, it is made up of out-takes from a forthcoming live DVD naturally entitled ‘Fakta För Alla Göteborg’.

The track itself drops in a higher glam quotient with a stomping rhythm line and saw waves lined up in catchy phrases. Strings and soaring synths point to Billy Currie as a source of inspiration, but there is nothing derivative about the stylings.

With PAGE very much in the Moog, the ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ EP issued in June included a cover of Gary Numan’s ‘Tracks’, a Swedish version of which was on ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’. But the opening instrumental ‘Saint Anastase’ was fully in the vein of Vox ‘N’ Foxx.

Having adapted the ULTRAVOX B-side ‘Alles Klar’ as ‘Allt Är Klart’ previously with his SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN project in 2007, these electronic pioneers are very much in the musical DNA of Eddie Bengtsson and this re-exploration of his roots has enabled him to produce some of the best work of his career which began with PAGE’s debut single ‘Dansande Man’ in 1983.


‘Puls’ is from the album ‘Fakta För Alla’ released by Energy Rekords as a CD and vinyl LP, available from https://hotstuff.se/page/x-7640

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

https://www.instagram.com/page_svensk_pop/


Text by Simon Helm and Chi Ming Lai
31st August 2020

PAGE Under Mitt Skinn EP

PAGE, the Swedish poptronica trailblazers are back with a new EP entitled ‘Under Mitt Skinn’.

Releasing their first single in 1983, the duo of Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko is seen as the classic incarnation despite the line-up variations over the decades. In between her stints, Marina Schiptjenko joined Alexander Bard from ARMY OF LOVERS in VACUUM and then BWO, while front man Eddie Bengtsson had his ongoing solo mission SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN but initially found fame with S.P.O.C.K.

Often been considered as Sweden’s answer to Vince Clarke, in 2017 Eddie Bengtsson publically expressed his despair at the state of new electronic music and how it was not enough to have just a single good song on a full length album. So for his end of year listing, he celebrated his influences which he considered to have stood the test time such as TUBEWAY ARMY, ULTRAVOX, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and the lesser known Anglo-Irish combo CUDDLY TOYS.

PAGE’s album from that year ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ featured a musically faithful cover of Gary Numan’s ‘Tracks’ in Swedish as ‘Spår’; it planted the seed for a more Numanesque sound but it was 2018’s ‘Start’ EP and the 2019 album ‘Fakta För Alla’ that saw PAGE totally get in the Moog.

‘Under Mitt Skinn’ includes ‘Tracks’ but also five new songs, three remixes and a cover curio. The opening ‘Saint Anastase’ acts as a mighty instrumental prelude in the vein of Vox ‘N’ Foxx, with hints of ‘All Stood Still’, ‘I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)’ and ‘Swimmer’ driven by a frantic neo-motorik beat. Having adapted ‘Alles Klar’ as ‘Allt Är Klart’ with SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN in 2007, Bengtsson does another fine tribute in acknowledgement of Synth Britannia.

‘Under Mitt Skinn’ and ‘Hoppet’ both continue the Numan fixation which PAGE have explored on ‘Fakta För Alla’ and ‘Start’ with propulsive monosynth riffs, immersive vox humana and precise uptempo structures. But ‘Ta Det Som En Man’ plays with the ivory motif of ‘The Damned Don’t Cry’ and amalgamates it with ‘Fade To Grey’ for the ultimate VISAGE homage på Svenska.

Held together by a metronomic Compurhythm backbone, the clean simplicity of ‘Panik’ is its key, with some simple piano derived melodies and uncluttered strings, but alien distortion counterpoints to add tension. Less derivative and more like classic PAGE, this is the best of the new songs on this collection, although a sneaky ULTRAVOX warble odyssey at the end just cannot be resisted.

Eddie Bengtsson has often remarked that ‘Fakta För Alla’ is possibly the best work of his career and two of its tracks are reworked by others. ‘Blöder Du’ is percussively remixed by Svein Welde but remains moody and doesn’t lose its mystery.

Meanwhile the Hacienda redux by Pierre of ‘Ljuden I Ditt Rum’ adds a baggy wah-wah feel which parties like it’s 1991 and even threatens to turn into the final section of THE STONE ROSES ‘I Am The Resurrection’!

The Side Order family redux of ‘Som Ett Skal’ from ‘Hemma’ however could have done without its irritating glitch stutters and this effect spoils an otherwise acceptable remix of what is now considered modern day PAGE’s signature song.

As a novelty bonus, Swedish industrial band INDEPENDENT STATE featuring John Westlund and Den Där Killen offer a synth punk cover version of ‘Lägger Av’ from ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’; it could be mistaken for a Nordic Plastic Bertrand and that more or less sums up its playfully enjoyable nature.

‘Under Mitt Skinn’ will more than satisfy PAGE fans and enthusiasts of elektronisk pop who have enjoyed the run of enjoyable releases since ‘Nu’ in 2010. But while the dynamic vintage overtures of Billy Currie, Gary Numan and John Foxx are still very much omnipresent on this EP, there are signs through the five new tracks that this influence may be steadily evolving into another phase for Marina Schiptjenko and Eddie Bengtsson.


‘Under Mitt Skinn’ is released by Energy Rekords as a CD, available from https://hotstuff.se/butik/cd-page-under-mitt-skinn-ep-foldout-digipack-cd-limited-edition-300-copies/76383

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

https://www.instagram.com/page_svensk_pop/

https://open.spotify.com/album/6joc62sEjHePUv0ZRncgN1


Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Jonas Karlsson
6th June 2020

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