Johnossi – “Playing live is why we exist”

The Swedish indie rock duo Johnossi tells what it means for a band to postpone a tour five times in a row and how to use the involuntarily gained time for something good.

“It’s absolutely frustrating to work on an album for two years and not be able to play live for that long. Every time it was close, then again there was no reward. Not just for us, but for the crew, the management, the booking agents who put a lot of work into something that just kept going up in smoke.

The emotional side is the worst. It’s extremely important for us to actually play in front of an audience and get immediate validation for what we’re doing. We couldn’t just exist as artists in the studio making records. Playing live is the main reason we exist. So it was dark, really dark. Over time, self-esteem sinks and all the joy about the new songs sometimes seems completely pointless.

We’ve got it covered now. Even if everything cost quite a bit of money. We wrote and recorded a new album that wouldn’t have happened without all the cancellations. Time gained out of frustration. We’re still here and we’re not giving up. Under no circumstance.”