There are some musicians who find a niche and devote their lives to it and subsequently lead a steady career doing so, and then there are others who do it simply for the passion and the music.
Dennis Lyxzén is one of the latter musicians, most famously known as the frontman of Refused, a Swedish band that ceased operation in the late ‘90s but was revitalised for a reunion tour in 2012 (read our review here).
The group defined the hardcore-punk genre and influenced musical culture on a worldwide spectrum. But of course in addition to having Refused on his resume, Lyxzén has been a part of a number of other musical projects including The (International) Noise Conspiracy and more recently INVSN.
This newest musical endeavour which also includes members of The (International) Noise Conspiracy is pronounced “in-vey-zhuh-n” but can also be pronounced as “Invasion – for the sake of making it easy” – the record label owner, producer and musician recommends mid-morning in Sweden.
“I don’t really categorise myself into being into soft music or heavy hardcore, it’s just the approach you take. If you’re a true living being, you’re a multi-faceted person and you’ve got to do what inspires you.”
“I’ve known Anders (Stenberg), the guitar player and Andre (Sandström), the drummer for years – we had been playing together for a while under the name The Lost Patrol Band [who released four albums] but then a couple of years ago we switched our name to INVSN which is Swedish for invasion.”
INVSN had already released two records with Swedish vocals. “We kind of translated the latest one into English, and then changed our name for more of an international vibe” the 41-year old describes ahead of the worldwide self-titled release.
Having initially releasing the first two albums in their native tongue, the music never reached beyond the Scandinavian region. “It’s tricky to get music out further than the Swedish borders but we figured we needed to as Sweden is a small country with only nine million people living there” the vocalist chuckles.
With his worldwide status being associated with Refused, Lyxzén suspects English speaking fans may be disappointed with INVSN now that it has been translated.
“You can’t compare it to Refused though, with the last record being released 15 years ago, I’ve done something like 25 records since then” he boldly states – “and if you’ve followed my trajectory, you can see that it is softer and not a huge departure for me musically.”
On the verge of defence mode, Lyxzén explains his eclectic and diverse musical urges. “I don’t really categorise myself into being into soft music or heavy hardcore, it’s just the approach you take. If you’re a true living being, you’re a multi-faceted person and you’ve got to do what inspires you.”
Lyxzén concludes his views on the topic by acknowledging individual differences. “I think that you need to choose true artistic expression and rather than just finding the formula to make a living off of music.”
The frontman describes his INVSN cohorts to have a similar mindset on music and has known them for quite some time. “I wanted to play music with my friends and that’s kind of how it all came about. I’ve known Sara [Almgren; bassist and vocals] since we were six years old,” Lyxzén boasts. “She is one of the original true hardcore people from our town [after having done] her first U.S. tour in 1995 in a hardcore band.”
“Right now I’m having a great time with INVSN but maybe after next year I’ll focus on some other things.”
In Sweden, INVSN would be perceived as what the English-speaking world would label a super-group. “All of the people in the band are old friends – they all come from the hardcore-punk rock scene and that’s how it all came together.”
After having launched off the ground, INVSN are ready to conquer America. “We’re going to the States in a week for about a month and between doing some other stuff we’ll be going back to Sweden and then basically touring for the next year.”
Lyxzén enjoys touring and looks forward to performing. “I don’t mind the hard work, we’ll do it as much as we possibly can and maybe we can make it down to Australia next year” – the hopeful singer mentions.
The last time he was down under was in late 2012 with the almighty Refused who hadn’t visited our shores ever before. “It was a great tour, I love Australia” the enthused front man claims – “I’ve been there five or six times and I always have a great time there. I have to say some of the best shows of that tour were in Australia.”
That particular tour with Refused to date was a means of farewelling the world as a band, but people are still wondering whether ‘Refused Are F**kin’ Dead’ or not. “We did four shows in Sweden when we came home from Australia and that was meant to be the end but who knows what the future holds” the frontman ponders.
“Right now I’m having a great time with INVSN but maybe after next year I’ll focus on some other things.” A somewhat open door for Refused it seems.
After having wound things up for hardcore-punk legends Refused, the other band members are keeping busy too. “Kris [Steen, guitar and bass] is an opera director. He did his first opera a few months ago and he was fantastic, really cool – and David [Sandström; drummer] is involved in a dance performing musical piece of some kind.”
Not all of Refused are continuing with musical endeavours though. “Jon [Brännström; guitarist] is a doctor now [Lyxzén giggles]. He took some time out from studying medicine to go on tour with Refused last year.”
With his old band mates busy, Lyxzén is dedicated to promoting INVSN’s self-titled album for the next year or so.
For fans of Refused or any of the front man’s side projects and musical endeavours over the years, it is time to prepare for some ‘New Noise’.
INVSN is out now through Shock Records.
