Interview: How darkwave duo Red Mecca Survived chaos and relapse

On their new album Red Mecca, a duo from Northern Sweden, successfully blend darkwave, post-punk, synthpop, and cinematic electronica. But it was far from certain that this album would see the light of day. Vocalist Susanne Jonsson’s sister was murdered, her relationship crashed and Jan Strandqvist fell back into drug and alcohol abuse. Release Magazine editor-in-chief Mikael Kahrle asked the creative duo about their painful journey, their genres and influences – ranging from Tubeway Army, Joy Division and Cabaret Voltaire to Massive Attack, why the former vocalist Frida Madeleine left and and receiving some remarkably honest and interesting answers.

“You can’t keep your misery a secret”

First of all, congratulations on another strong album. You’ve been quite productive with “Stay” (2023), “Away” (2021), “Truth” (2019), “I See Darkness in You” (2018)… the list goes on. But this time you weren’t even sure the album would see the light of day at all?

Jan: That’s right. We were in chaos from between the finishing of “Stay” mid 2023, well actually from my side, from the very beginning of 2023 when my father passed away, ’til early 2024 when, I speak for myself, I broke the relapse loop. It was just pain in life. And suddenly, I got the grace, from where I don’t know. It was something outside of me.

The press release is heart-breaking: Susanne’s sister was murdered, her relationship crashed and Jan fell back into drug and alcohol abuse. I understand that this is difficult to talk about and personal, but can you say something about what happened, your journey and whether you are in a better place today?

Jan: I’ve got no problem talking about it. Actually, I need to talk about it. It’s the way. As mentioned beforehand, I relapsed back into severe addiction because the Spirit was gone, it was dead, and in that place, the alternatives had run out and it seemed like a good idea to use and drink. I couldn’t bear it and was exceptionally self-centered and self-pitying. In that mess, we completed the double-album “Stay”. There’s a lot of unforgiving darkness in that piece of music. But there came a window on the 21st of January 2024 and I made the call out for help. Since then, life has got better and better and better. Yeah, there were crises during recovery, but I had the tools to navigate through. Today I’m grateful and harmonious. The exact opposite of then.

Sussie: In times of crisis your whole life turns upside down and it was really hard to keep things together when my sister died. The way she died was very hard to cope with and it gave me images in my head that will never go away. The saying that time heals everything is not untrue, and I am in a better place today. Writing lyrics and singing has for sure been a part of the healing process.

The album is very dark but there’s more to it than that, like in the spell-binding title track “I Will Be That Dying Star in Your Sky”. Can you tell us about how you dealt with your crisis in particular songs and how you managed to move forward with yourselves and the songs? Some advice to people who feel trapped in misery?

Jan: You can’t keep your misery a secret. It will kill you. There’s always a path to a solution. But the very nature of mental illness, and addiction in whatever shape, whatever it is based on, is that you must go on keeping it a secret because the guilt and shame is too much to bring out in the light. But is has to be done. Or it will kill you. In one way or another. You have to be unswervingly honest. The title track is created from the almost euphoric feeling of release from the bonds. It’s an ode to life itself. “I’m here, still kicking.” We moved focus from ourselves, and away from the almost paranormal stupidity and turmoil in the world, to creativity, brotherhood and sisterhood. So humble we could be in solidarity. The title of the album, by the way, is a fragment from a poem by Iranian poet Parnia Abassi, which was killed in an Israeli air strike of Teheran in 2025.

Sussie: “I Will Be That Dying Star in Your Sky” is about acceptance and that it doesn’t matter how painful a separation or a death is, you still have to follow your own path. “Spirit” is for me a dedication to my sister and feelings around that. The phrase “May will always be the darkest of times” is true. So many sad goodbyes and a broken family. The lyrics are almost like a diary about life under different circumstances, I still lose my breath a bit when I listen to “Spirit”. Everyone reacts differently to horrible situations in life, but for me it’s been important to do normal things, go outside even though I didn’t feel like it and stay close to friends and family. Make yourself create new things and be grateful for every day.

Go with the flow

It’s quite common that bands that play in the darkwave, post-punk, synthpop, melodic electronica and cinematic alt-pop genres stick to one genre, but you successfully blend all of these – and more – and the end result is more grandiose, atmospheric and deep this way. Is this intentional or the way it turns out when you work in the studio and find your flow?

Jan: I discovered years ago, that my plan to make some very specific genre track, like now I’m gonna make that hard-pumping floor-filling techno-flirt, it came out a dreamy atmospheric slow pop tune. Or something completely different. So now I know that I have to just go with the flow. I’m not kidding when I say that I’ve got at least 3000 songs in the computer from the last 13 years. Some nearly finished. Some with vocals, but most of them instrumental. Surprisingly good. Still, it’s like 4% of them made it to a commercial release? But sometimes we have recycled some old tracks, like “Are We Having Fun Yet?” and “Miss You So” from “Stay”. Those are from 2004 actually, but run through 2023 filter. You know, I like both the stripped down – and the bombastic, cinematic.

Your sound is a bit unpolished (in a healthy way) and almost semi-organic, ranging from Kraftwerk-styled melodies to cinematic vibes. How do you achieve this?

Jan: Thanks. I have no idea, haha. I’ve been turning the knobs of synthesizers since 1980, so I have my 10 000 hours and some skills nowadays. It seems like I know what I’m doing. I can find the sounds and manipulate them as I wish.

Susanne, there are many historic success stories of female singers from the jazz, blues and rock world, adding their human touch to electronic, quite mechanical music – have you listened to some of these singers to find the right approach?

I haven’t listened to any other singer that has changed genres in particular. I tried to find my own place in the music. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. I’ve been working towards simplicity and less decoration when I sing. Hope Sandoval in Mazzy Star has been an inspiration, I like her voice and her timing for example.

The future of Swedish rock?

Jan, you joined post-punk band Brända barn (means Burned or damaged children in English) in the early 80:s, and from what I’ve understood it was difficult to keep the band going when your vocalist Anders Brodin moved to Stockholm and made a career for himself as a marketing manager for big corporations like Carlsberg. You’ve reunited several times – were you part of these reunions and what’s the status of Brända barn today?

Jan: Well, that’s not entirely correct. The band split up before Anders moved to Stockholm. Under a brief period, we were all going to move to Stockholm and buy a house – together. TT (the news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå) did a spot on that. The band split up because of the senseless hype. We were suddenly the future of Swedish rock. Too much of a burden for five teenagers, but it was a fun time, and turbulent. I was part of all of the reunions up until 2013. The last gig was at Debaser Strand. And I played synths and percussion on the comeback single “Kåt på exponering” (means “Horny for Exposure”). Then I left, and focused on Red Mecca. We we’re getting attention and begun playing live.

What did you do music-wise between Brända barn and Red Mecca and have you done something else you want to tell us about, as a musician or elsewhere?

Jan: Nothing worth mentioning beside The Congress, maybe. But then my addiction to drugs and alcohol stopped me from doing anything remotely sane. I joined Kretsen for a while, but I only added chaos. More or less – music wise or else. Really. But now since some years back I have two side projects worth mentioning. Hemvärnet with Lars Bygdén and Stefan Ferner-Brisland (Garmarna). We have released two singles but now it’s put on hiatus due to our main projects. Then I have an ambient thing together with a dear friend in Sundsvall, Joakim Bengtsson – Imma. We’ve made three albums. But no attention at all. That’s alright, it’s a just a playhouse.

When you started Red Mecca in the 90:s, you released some quite accessible singles on a major label (Telegram/Warner) that flirted with British electronica pop. But then you switched to the independent music label Massproduktion from Sundsvall in Northern Sweden, where you live, and changed to a more alternative sound. Please tell us more about that and those early Red Mecca years.

Jan: Yeah. I didn’t really know what I was doing back then. I worked with Eric Svensson, a really great house music producer. But the control over the music somehow slipped away. Yet again, I was an active alcoholic and drug-abuser back then and a little bit hypnotized by the possibility to become a rock star. Again. We made an album for Telegram/Warner, which was never released. But the singles released, “Underground” and “Love Is a Savage Thing” are really great club/dance/house tracks. Still are. But that’s not me anymore. My roots are in the punk and post-punk scenes. And that’s the backdrop to what comes out today. And Mats Hammerman, the vice at Massproduktion, is a long time friend and the man who first introduced me to The Tubeway Army 1979. We shook hands saying if there’s ever a profit coming up, we split 50-50. We have total artistic freedom. Then again, it’s like 16 years between the labels. My version have been that I told them, Telegram/Warner to fuck off, but I think they thought me deplorable to co-operate with. Me too was an asshole. Always drinking. And the people I was working with quit. And left was the slicked back hair with mirrored pilot sunglasses. The industry.

Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division

You seem to have achieved a creative synergy in today’s Red Mecca. Susanne comes from a different world – the jazz and blues scene, to be more specific – and lifts the songs with her vocals harmonies. Do you share some of your music taste? I guess you both listen to both household and obscure names from your different worlds?

Jan: I don’t think it’s of any major importance that we share music taste. The important thing is that we experience music in the same way. And about that, I’m sure.

Susanne: Jan has been sending me music that I never really listened to before we met and I’ve grown into it more and more over the years.

Your band name come from the fourth album by English industrial music pioneers Cabaret Voltaire? They perform their final shows now – are those on your radar?

Jan: Yes of course. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend their show in Stockholm. That sucks. The very first time in Sweden. And it could very well be the last chance to see them live. I will try not to think about it…

Can you both mention some other favorite artists – past and present, Swedish and foreign? 

Jan: I have to say first of all – Division. You didn’t see that one coming, ey! It was life-changing. I remember like it was yesterday, when a friend showed up, excited, with a cassette-tape. “You have to hear this! You have to hear this!” When “Disorder” played up with the bass line, the swooshing fx and the guitar hook started, I was mesmerized. Standing in my parents kitchen, 15 years old, looking out the window with Sundsvall’s northern mountain in the view. I think that was my first spiritual experience of music. You have to know that nothing music-wise like that, had been made before. Otherwise I listen a lot to Indigo Sparke and Future Islands, whom released a sort of back catalog at he moment with 20 tracks. Emma Ruth Rundle is an all time favorite. And I keep getting back to the British punk scene 77-79 – my formative years, so to say. Lars Bygdén is both a dear friend and an amazing artist. The new album “War” is now released. Christian Kjellvander is another exquisite artist. White Birches is not getting the attention they deserve, they’re very good. And Pre Occupation is spinning frequently. And a lot of ambient. And doom jazz like The Dale Cooper Quartet. One of my all time favourite band is Massive Attack. From “Blue Lines” (almost life changing that one too) up till now, 2026.

Sussie: I listen to Till Brönner, Rachelle Ferell, Esperanza Spalding, Ledisi and blues artists like Enlly and Danielle Nicole. Haha, not a lot of electronica.

Frida Madeleine and Jan Strandqvist receives the Synth award at the Manifest Awards 2017.

Quitting vocalist, Wave Gotik Treffen and “Killing Eve”

Your former vocalist Frida Madeleine left Red Mecca after five years – why? I know she has pursued other paths like her band Kitka.

Jan: As I recall it, she wanted to start a band, less leaning on the dark and heavy, and did it very well. They played a couple of times in Japan and USA, and released an album. And I guess I was not always sane. Sometimes, the insanity from my addictive personality, showed up and created, maybe not chaos, but concern about what was going on. And due to not to be in full recovery, I was self-centered and unwilling to let her into the band’s process 100%. So I guess she got tired and quit.

Susanne, how do you approach her songs live or does Frida show up if she’s available? I can only assume a song like “Alcohol” is a no-go for you?

Susanne: I really like Frida’s voice and lyrics but I approach her songs in my way. I try to make them my own. Since our voices are so different and also the way we sing I choose the one that I like. “Doorway” has been a favorite. Love that song!  I don’t really have a no-go song but I have favorites.

During her years you tried your luck abroad and played at Wave Gotik Treffen. As you know, there’s quite a big and healthy scene for darkwave and atmospheric electropop in many countries, especially these days – do you manage to reach those crowds or do you operate more like an alternative Scandinavian band or in a universe of your own?

Jan: We haven’t played live since 2023. A show is coming through in our hometown at Pipeline on September 12. We have probably lost the contact and communication we built up with the events out in Europe, but I think the fanbase is still more than OK, so to get a grip on it again, we have to scan for interests among venue organizers. We’ll see. It would be nice to have a universe of our own, but that’s not the case. Few bands manage to build a universe.

Your music has a cinematic, dreamy and emotional quality that’s perfect for tv shows and movies and “I See Darkness in You” was featured twice in the hit series “Killing Eve”. How did that come to be and have there been more requests?

Jan: We’ve got a guy working solely for promoting our music for movies and TV and he connected with the woman, Catherine Grieves and staff responsible for the soundtrack sync for “Killing Eve”. That show where a favorite of mine back then when we got the request. It was rather awesome. We have the same track, “I See Darkness In You”, featured in the motion picture “Marked Men” by Nick Cassavetes mostly known for “The Notebook”. We’ve had a couple of more requests from TV shows which never came to be.

What are your future plans right now?

Jan: Right now it’s working all the summer at the forensic psychiatric clinic in Sundsvall, while Susanne is rewarded a well earned summer holiday as a teacher. As mentioned before, we’re doing our first gig in September and rehearsal is on it’s way. All the new material from “I Will Be That Sying Star In Your Sky” have to transform into a live set-up. But I’ll think we gonna manage. We’ll see after that what God is planning. And we’re already recording new tracks. That’s the way it have to be. All the time making new songs. And some old stuff is going to be released as well. I think I have about 3500 songs in computers.

Photos (except for the award photo): Lia Jacobi