We will now follow NiDIT from idea to reality, a bumpy road filled with defections and dismissals, but also with happiness, inspiration and crazy fans.
NiDIT is a band that can trace its lineage a long way back, longer than you can imagine. As early as 97/98 an idea came up about a band. It was during a dinner in Oppeby, a suburb to Nyköping, which is kind of ironic when Oppeby is the source of all evil in Nyköping. During the night lyrics were written and plans were made.
The original members were Johan Joensson, Mikael Jonsson, Kaj Sivervik and Mattias Gunnemyr. Sadly they had some problems. To solve the problems Kaj Sivervik was kicked out of the band, something that was done before the band actually was founded. Some problems still remained, the band lacked a drummer. Because of this the band kept on being only an idea. Johan Joensson was former known in poetry circles as a promising red wine poet. Mikael Jonsson had developed his guitar skills under more anonymous circumstances. Mattias Gunnemyr, a former member of such bands as Stuck-up Stylee and Choco Flava was considered an experienced member. Magnus ”Mugge” Eriksson (drum machine and synth) and Gustav Ohlsson (drums and guitar) also appeard in the earlier mentioned bands.
It was when Stuck-up Stylee and Chocco Flava was brought together two years later that NiDIT got an unexpected boost. The bandmembers met during a model car race evening in Gustav Ohlssons house. As the night went on people started to gather in the garage. Chocco Flava used to rehearse i the garage so there were some instruments available. It was this night that NiDIT found the magic in their music and their special sound was created. It was a combination of NiDIT’s lyrics , Chocco Flava’s typical sound and Stuck-up Stylee’s wicked attitude that lay the foundation for NiDIT’s new style. After this night Joensson, Mugge and Ohlsson decided to dedicate themselves totally to the band and a new, more productive era in the NiDIT history began.
A friend named Martin Widén was contacted for the job as the bands demonproducer. He is also the man who came up with the name of the band, NiDIT. Martin was experienced as he had already been the demon producer for a band called The Project.
A minor problem at the time was that two of the current bandmembers lived in another town. Because of this the band could only come together for rehearsal at occasional times. Most of the time together was spent on recording new songs.
A song from this time that the band still talk about with great memories and which is available in a new version on Ingrid EP is the track För du är tjej. A song that started out as a non-serious project that should result in a birthday present for a friend of the band. Soon it was clear that this song would come to be one of the musical highlights of this period of NiDIT’s existence. A period which the band nowdays refer to as non-serious, turbulent but fun and musically inspired.
At the end of summer ’00 a big moment came, NiDIT’s first public appearance. No material had been released before, but some bootlegs had slipped out on the underground market since a tape had been stolen from the rehearsal place.
Only a week before the concert something, by unclear reasons, went wrong and the band was broken up. This happened as mentioned only a couple of days before the gig. By some reason this breaking news didn’t reach the fans who waited by the harbour stage with great expectations. When the crowd got the news and realized that the band wouldn’t come a doomsday atmosphere spread and it was a wonder that nobody got hurt.
The reason for the break up is still a mystery and the bandmembers categorically refuse to answer any questions about that time. Most of the material produced at this time have been destroyed.
Almost half a year later the ravaged band met up again and decided to give it one more try. This resulted in the building of a recording studio in the old rehearsal local (Gustavs garage). Only two days after the reunion a new single, Ismaskin, was recorded. The first track was Stolt som en pistmaskin. The b-side, 3’s äpplen (live), is definately worth mentioning as it’s written to one of NiDIT’s greatest fans. Her encouraging, tributing and persuasion may have been one of the not so unsignificant reasons that the band decided to get back together.
At new years eve ’00 the band had a releaseparty for the Ismaskin-single och that can be seen as the start of a new epoch in NiDIT’s history. As soon as only a month later the band was in the studio to record an EP. One of the tracks on the EP is actually För du är tjej in a brand new version, a sign that the band hopefully are becoming reconciled with their past. However it’s stated that they haven’t been able to do the old version justice, but to avoid tearing up any old wounds much of the song has been remade.
/Helena Arnoldsdottir
English translation by Martin Widén