1990 | jones & giftet forms in Eskilstuna | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 During 1990 Jocke Berg and Martin Sköld went to the same school in Eskilstuna in Sweden. Jocke heard a tape with My Bloody Valentine (Isn't Anything) that Martin played in the cafeteria Grönan near school. Jocke did not know Martin but after talking about music and lending records back and forth they decided to start a band together. Jocke Berg and Sami Sirviö already had a band together called Coca Cola Kids (because of the huge amount of Coca Cola they consumed while rehearsing at Balsta Musikslott). Sami became part of the setup and they went on to recruit Jockes friend Markus Mustonen as drummer. They also asked Martins friend Thomas Bergqvist to play synthesizer. This became the first setup of what was sooner to become the band kent. The band was named Jones & Giftet (Jones & the Poison) after the reverent Jim Jones who arranged mass poison suicides for his cult disciples in Guayana. Jones & Giftet started rehearsing at Balsta Musikslott near Hagnestahill in Eskilstuna. A man called George "Jojje" Nemeth at one of the study associations helped the band to get access to the band Memento Moris old rehearsal quarters. He also helped the band to record a demo at Studio Skyline and arrange the bands first gig in the town of Lindesberg. Later the same year the band also plays a gig at Knegoffs in Eskilstuna. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1991 | winners of cult-91 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 In 1991 Michael Svedberg at The Study Promotion Associations Music and Media department in Eskilstuna arrange for the band to record a song called (Jag har en) Djävul i mitt skåp in a studio called Ambassaden. Michael and Jojje also helped the band to record a video for the same song using the set from a theatre play at the Eskilstuna hockey arena. The video was shown as a bonus at a video gala in Eskilstuna in May. It was also shown in a kent special in the Swedish TV-channel ZTV in the 90's. This year they also win a band competition called Cult-91 at the club Skylight in Eskilstuna. Magnus Nygren from the record company EMI watches the gig and gets interested in the band. He sees to it that the band gets gigs at Daily News Café and the University in Stockholm. Jones & Giftet also play at the club Max 500 in Eskilstuna, and at Karusell and Bull & Bear Inn in Stockholm later this year however nothing more becomes of the contacts with EMI. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1992 | havsänglar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Martin Roos plays with the band at Cult-92 (this year won by the band No Funktion featuring Harri Mänty on percussion). Martin also replaces Thomas Bergqvist in the band shortly there after. Jones & Giftet changes their name to Havsänglar (Sea angels) on the 30th of September 1992. The band plays gigs in Stockholm at Spaghetti Companiet, Hannas Krog and Pet Sounds Bar. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1993 | the birth of kent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 All band members move to Stockholm during 1993 as it is the center of the Swedish music scene. The band plays in Stockholm at Tanto, Hyndans Hörna and Kalmar Nation. During 1993 the band again changes their name, and ends up choosing a suggestion from Jocke Bergs brother Adam: kent (a Swedish surname). During 1993 the band starts wearing black suits to strengthen their image. Kent also plays at Bob Hunds release party at Tre Backar in the end of 1993. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1994 | kent signs their first record deal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Kent records a demo in Nytorpsskolan in Stockholm and passes it on to Peter Ejheden at the record store Pets Sounds as he also booked bands for Petsounds Bar. Peter then ended up changing jobs and went working for the record company BMG. At BMG Per Lindholm was working as A & R and he came upon the demo in April 1994 and got very excited. Per also watches kent perform as opening act for The Cardigans at Tantogården in Stockholm June 8th. He gets even more convinced that kent is a band with potential.There are other recording companies interested in kent as well but June 26th the band signs their first record deal with BMG/RCA Victor. The biggest reason kent choose to sign with BMG is that the deal gives the band full artistic freedom. August 10th kent play in a beer tent at the Hultsfred Festival and in the fall they start recording their debut album at Silence Studios in Koppom, Värmland reworking the demo from Nytorpsskolan. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1995 | kent releases their debut album | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The first single released from the debut album was När det blåser på månen and it was released February 6th. Jonas Linell is hired to do both the video and the cover shoots. He has shot most pictures for kents album and single covers as well as promotional photos since then. The album was simply called "kent" and was released march 15th. On March 27th the second single Som Vatten is released and the third single Frank is released 29th of May. A video is shot for the single Frank but this time they decide to use Adam Berg, Jockes brother as director. Adam is used as director for most of the bands videos from there on. Kent plays ten concerts during the spring and then joins D.A.D and Brainpool on the Lollipop tour that has a grande finale at the Lollipop festival at Lida Friluftsgård in Stockholm. The closing gig in front of 10 000 people at Lida becomes the bands big break. After this they play another four gigs before Martin Roos chooses to leave the band in September to concentrate on his job at Sony Music. He also becomes the bands manager. The band decides to use Harri Mänty to replace Martin when needed but he is not featured as a permanent band member. 18th of September a fourth single from the debut album is released; Jag vill inte vara rädd. The band starts recording the follow up to the debut album kent during the fall. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1996 | release of the follow up verkligen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 In 1996 kent won their first Grammi for best rock group (they were nominated for three awards) with the following motivation; "Young enthusiasm, modern attitude, Swedish lyrics in a charmingly boxy package". 9th of February the first single from the new album is released, its called Kräm. The follow up album Verkligen is released March 15th 1996, exactly a year to the day after the debut album kent.The new album tops the charts for weeks and a second single called Halka is released 29th of April. The band goes on tour during the spring and summer giving almost 60 concerts. The Hultsfred Festival, the Roskilde Festival, Ruisrock, Stockholm Water Festival and Lollipop are among the venues. During 1996 kent also hires Harri Mänty to permanently replace Martin Roos. The third single Gravitation is released September 23rd. In the mid of October kent makes another gig in their hometown Eskilstuna. October 23rd the album Verkligen is released in Japan with an English version of Kräm as bonus track and the english version is called What it feels like. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1997 | isola reaches the bigger audience | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 In the beginning of the year kent wins a Grammi for Video of the year 1996 (Gravitation). Nille Perned wins a Grammi for best producer for his work with kent, The Souls and Wannadies. Kent also receives Swedish album of the year for Verkligen at the Rockbjörnen gala. Kent gives a concert in Lund in February and also plays in Eskilstuna in the end of April. 15th of may they start rehearsals for the recordings of the third album at Kvarnholmen in Stockholm. 12th of June kent travels to Galaxy Studios in Belgium to start recordings. Producer this time is Zed "Smago Zmon" Nagrano who actually mixed the debut album kent together with Nille Perned. The band stays in Belgium until July 7th and then takes a break before recording additional material in Ljudhavet Studio, Stockholm on the 28th of July. On the 27th of August the last additional recordings are made at Europa Studios, Stockholm before Zed mixes the album during two weeks in Galaxy Studios.October 6th the fist single, Om du var här, was released and went straight to number three in the Swedish charts. Kent plays six songs on MTVs party at the department store NK in Stockholm in the beginning of November. When the album Isola is released November 12th it immediately sells gold (50 000 albums) bringing it to number one in the charts in just a week. On 27th of November kent opens the Isola 98 tour in Lund. In December the single Om du var här sells gold as it reaches 15 000 sold copies. December 8th kent receives the newly founded Eskilstuna Musicprize at a ceremony in their hometown. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998 | kent conquers europe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Beginning of a new year also means its time for award shows and kent receive Album of the year (Isola) and Pop/Rock group of the year at the Grammi gala and at Rockbjörnen they win the awards for Best Swedish group, Best Swedish album (Isola) and a special award for outstanding accomplishment in the Swedish music scene. 26th of January the second single from Isola is released; Saker man ser. Kent starts getting good placements at charts in the rest of Scandinavia as well and 16th of February kent releases their first international single in Europe; an English version of Om du var här; If you were here. The Isola 98 tour continues till the end of February. The band then goes on a European tour 17-29th of May and releases the English version of Isola on April 27th. They then again tour Sweden starting 6th of June and end it august 14th. They also do shows in the other Nordic countries and a gig in Germany. 747 is released as single in Sweden July 13th. September 3rd kent are awarded Best live band by the Swedish tabloid Expressen. The band hits Europe again with a tour 9th of September and tour until October 12th.There were plans to release Isola in the US and these plans were pretty much helped by the following chain of events: the US radio DJ Gene "Bean" Baxter happens to hear the kent single If you were here during a vacation at Iceland thanks to some swedish excahange students who brought the CD from Sweden. The song catches his attention and he gets a hold of a copy and brings it to KROQ, the influential radio station in LA where he works. If you were here is instantly added to the stations play list. The song quickly catches on with the US audience and spreads to other stations in the US. This made RCA decide on a US release of the album and the English version of Isola was released in the US and in Canada on September 15th. September 7th the English version of Saker man ser; Things she said, is released in Europe.  The band goes overseas in November 1998 to do promotion. They do a radio show in West Virginia and they make their US concert debut by playing Bowery Ballroom in New York together with The Cardigans. They end their visit to the states by playing a showcase in the Virgin Megastore at Union Square in New York. Back in Sweden kent records an exclusive song for a compilation album sold for the benefit of Amnesty International. The song is called Längtan Skala 3:1 and is produced together with Magnus Frykberg. In December 1998 Melody Maker put Isola as number 50 on the top 100 records of the year. In the end of the year Jocke reveals that kent is about to start rehearsing 27 new songs for a possible new album scheduled for release in October 1999. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1999 | kent hits the usa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Kent starts the year with an exclusive fan concert at a club called Heaven in Stockholm to shoot scenes for the 747 video. Kent tours the UK 21st-30th of January and then directly fly overseas together with The Cardigans for their first US tour spanning February 1st to February 23rd. The joint venture with Cardigans is a result of the friendship between Jocke Berg and Peter Svensson and their joint side project in the band Paus. Back home in Sweden in march Jocke confirms the plans for a new album release and says its now scheduled for release in November and that it will be released in both Swedish and English.747 is released in the UK March 1st and the video that was shot in January is only released in English. Kent continue touring with The Cardigans in the Nordic countries march 17-23, the band then heads back to the US to join Papa Vegas for a tour spanning from april 7th to the 4th of may and then the band head for London to play a MTV Special at Shepherds Bush Empire. If you were here is also re-released in the UK May 17th. In the end of may the band start rehearsals for the recording of the new album, again using Zed as their producer. The album is then recorded in Denmark and Sweden during the summer and autumn and then mixed by Zed in Brussels and Paris.  The first single Musik Non Stop is previewed on kents official website October 27th and on November 11th kent play the song live in Swedish TV on the show Sen kväll med Luuk. November 15th the single is released as a limited edition of 5 000 copies in Sweden. This time kent is using Johan "Stakka Bo" Renck as video director. Musik Non Stop instantly becomes the number one single in Sweden. This fall Joakim Berg also again join forces with Peter Svensson from The Cardigans to start writing material for Titiyo. On December 6th the album, Hagnesta Hill, is released in sweden and the album goes straight to number one in the Swedish charts. On December 23d kent gives their fans a Christmas gift through the bands official website; by inserting the Hagnesta Hill CD into a computer you get access to a special website and an exclusive bonus track called Noll (also known as Utan titel). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 | tour non stop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Kent goes on a Nordic tour with The Ark as support starting 28th of January. In some cities kent arrange a special party for their fans after the concert. The tour gets great reviews and the closing gig at a sold out Johanneshovs Isstadion in Stockholm march 9th becomes kents biggest gig so far (apart from festivals). In the beginning of they year they also receive Pop/Rock group of the year at the Grammi gala and Rockbjörnen awards for Swedish group of the year and Swedish song of the year (Musik Non Stop). Per Sinding Larsen and Mathias Engstrand follows the band around every now and then during all of 2000 to make a documentary for Swedish TV. The second single from the album called En Himmelsk Drog is released march 8th and again Johan Renck is directing the video. En Himmelsk Drog enters the Swedish charts at number two but climbs to number one within a week and then stays in the charts for 10 weeks. Kent does one gig in Los Angeles in the beginning of April and then plays four gigs in Norway in the end of that month. May 8th they record another MTV Special at Shepherds Bush Empire in London before heading out on their European tour.The English version of Hagnesta Hill is released in the European countries during the spring and early summer. Music Non Stop gets high rotation on MTV Europe and MTV broadcasts a kent special featuring two songs from the special recorded at Shepherds Bush in London. Sweden is exclusively appointed to provide musical entertainment at the opening of the World Fair Expo 2000 in Hanover June 3rd and kent is one of the acts, unfortunately Jocke catches a bad cold and the gig has to be cancelled. In June a new official English kent-site is launched. The site is kent-music.co.uk where English speaking fans can read about kent, listen to kents music as well as several web radio stations playing new music. Kent plays festivals like Glastonbury and Rock am Ring and ends the European tour at Roskilde Festival at the end of June. Music Non Stop is released as single in Europe in July. The band does a gig at a festival in Skellefteå, Sweden before going to Käringön, an island off the coast of Gothenburg. They spend the time at Käringön rehearsing before going on tour as one of the main acts together with bands like Sahara Hotnights and Teddybears STHLM at the Swedish Kalas 2000 tour during July. During the days at Käringön kent gets word from the BMG USA division; kent's US showcases scheduled for August are cancelled due to lack of interest from the right medias. After the Kalas tour kent tours Europe again during August and September starting of with a free concert at London Astoria recorded specially for Japanese TV. The Reading and Glasgow festivals are among the other gigs. August 28th the third single from Hagnesta Hill, Kevlarsjäl, is released in Sweden. The maxi single versions includes the two tracks that were exclusive for the English version of Hagnesta Hill; Quiet Heart and Just like Money. On September 14th and 15th Adam Berg shoots a new video with kent in Stockholm using about 400 kent fans recruited from kents official website. Its a new video for Music Non Stop intended for the US market. In October Hagnesta Hill is released in Australia and Japan.  In the end of the summer its getting obvious that the US launch has failed. BMG USA blames the US music market: there is simply not enough demand for kent's guitar based music. The planned release of Hagnesta Hill in the US September 12th is also stopped. During October kent records four new tracks using Martin "Nåid" Landqvist as producer. Two of the tracks are re-recordings of two old b-sides from the Kräm maxi single; Rödljus and En helt ny karriär. The new versions are named Rödljus II and En helt ny karriär II. The other two brand new songs are called Spökstad and Chans. Spökstad is pressed as a one-track single and is distributed for promotion and to some stores but is then quickly retracted making it one of the most sought after kent items. There are copies out there that escaped destruction but probably a very limited amount. Instead Chans was chosen for single release 22nd of November with a special remix of 747 by Nåid as b-side. All four songs was then released on a 2 CD compilation together with all kent b-sides released between 1995 and 2000. The compilation was simply named B-sidor 95-00 and the release date was November 29th. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2001 | kent takes a break | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Releasing both Swedish and English versions of albums together with heavy touring both in Scandinavia, Europe and the USA 1997-2000 has driven the band to its absolute limit and kent proclaims a much needed 8 month vacation during the spring and most of summer 2001. Some band members take the opportunity to work with some side projects. Jocke has written material for Titiyo together with Peter Svensson from The Cardigans and the album Come Along is released during may and becomes a huge success (it ends up selling 500 000 copies). May 19th (about three months later than planned) the long anticipated documentary by Per Sinding Larsen and Mathias Engstrand called Så när får ingen gå (Ett år med kent) or Closer than allowed (A year with kent) as it would translate to in English is aired on Swedish television. 102 hours of kent-material has been cut down to only one hour. The band does one public gig only during 2001 at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden 15th of June. They also do a private gig in the Stockholm Globe Arena for Carlsberg on the 23rd of September together with The Ark and Roxette. October 3rd kent starts recording a new album in Copenhagen. The plan was to yet again use Zed as producer but he is overworked resulting in kent doing most of the producing on their own using Martin Von Schmalensee as co-producer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2002 | a year of success | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Recordings of the fifth studio album continue in Stockholm during the beginning of 2002 before Zed does the final mixing in Stockholm and Brussels. The first taste of the new album is brought to the audience February 14th when kent performs the song Dom Andra at the televised Grammis gala in The Stockholm Globe Arena. Using the Hagnesta Hill Hyper CD fans can preview the video for the single Dom Andra before it has its TV-premier by loading it into their computers and accessing a special website. Dom Andra is released as single march 18th in Sweden and the b-side is a new version of an old demo called Vintervila from the period when kent was known as the band Havsänglar. The single enters the top of the Swedish charts and remain number one for 12 weeks. Kent performs on a charity gala called Faddergalan April 1st and the performance is broadcasted on Swedish television. During April discussions about a kent DVD is held between kent and BMG however kent later decides not to release a DVD. Vapen & Ammunition is released 15th of April and becomes the bands biggest success ever. The album enters the Swedish charts as number one and remains on this position for four weeks. The visual theme of the album is pictures of tigers and there are some theories about why; During the time of the albums completion Jocke saw a documentary on tigers and got influenced by that. In the song Sverige we find the words translated to "a tiger ashamed, I know how you feel". Jocke uses the tiger as a symbol of Sweden, maybe as a parallell to an old Swedish anti espionage slogan from the 40's called "En svensk tiger". Jonas Linell shot the pictures for the album and single covers and the tigers used are (of course) the white tigers at Parken Zoo in Eskilstuna. During May kent does a warm up tour with the Danish band Mew as support playing cities in Norway, Denmark and Finland. In June Rockparty (the organisation behind Hultsfred Festival) releases a compilation with bands who have played the festival. An exclusive remix of "Quiet Heart" signed Martin Von Schmalensee can be found on this compilation. During the summer kent plays a few nordic festivals (like the Roskilde and Quart Festival) before hitting the Swedish roads as a part of the Kalas 2002 tour together with Thåström and Hellacopters. Kent is also supposed to go on the Danish Wig Wam Tour but it is cancelled after just one show due to financial difficulties. June 19th the video for the second single release from the album called Kärleken Väntar is sneak previewed on Swedish TV. The video is directed by Johan Renck and the singles hit the stores July 8th and goes straight to number one in the Swedish charts where it stays for seven weeks. In the autumn kent goes on a Scandinavian tour with Melody Club as supporting act. Many of the shows sell out fast and extra capacity is added where its possible. The Sounds is also added as extra supporting act in Stockholm and Gothenburg. 4th of November the third single from Vapen & Ammunition is released, its a double A-side single with two separate one track CDs. The first CD is FF in a special singles mix and the second CD features a brand new song; Vinternoll2. Two new videos by Adam Berg is released. The single sells gold in just one day and goes straight to number one in the Swedish charts. In the mid of November kent wins the MTV European Music Award for best Nordic act. They move a concert in Finland to another date and fly to Barcelona to accept the award. A new white limited edition version of the album featuring Vinternoll2 as a separate CD is released December fourth. When the band end their tour at a sold out Stockholm Globe Arena on December 6th they put an end to the most successful year in the bands career in terms of chart placements, record sales and ticket sales and the total accumulated sales of kents albums since 1995 in Sweden alone is now at a staggering 843 000. Jocke Berg ends the final show of the tour in front of 16 000 people at a sold out Stockholm Globe Arena by saying "..its going to be a while until we meet again..." before singing the standard closing song; 747. During 2002 there were plans to release Vapen & Ammunition in English (hence the English text on the cassette in the car stereo in the video for Dom Andra) but December 30th 2002 its confirmed on kent´s official website that there will be no English release. After this kent pretty much decides to put a stop to their international career and focus on the Nordic countries. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2003 | the white concert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Kent decides on a well deserved brake after a hectic 2002 with low activity during 2003. In January 2003 Vapen & Ammunition reaches 300 000 sold copies in Sweden earning it 5 x Platinum. February 18th kent receives a record-breaking 7 (!) Grammi Awards at the Grammi gala. This year kent also receives awards for Group and Album of the year at Rockbjörnen and Group and Song of the year at Swedish public radios brand new award show P3 Guld. In 2003 Joakim Berg also receives the text writer/composer of the year award from the Swedish Music Publishers Association of Sweden.  The band only plays one gig in Sweden during 2003: They arrange an outdoor concert on the Swedish national day, June 6th, at the former Olympic arena Stockholm Stadion. The graphic theme of the concert is developed by the design agency New and Johan Renck. The theme is to have the band all dressed in white at a completely white stage and as a joke the audience is encouraged to dress in white. The 30 000 tickets were released February 28th and sold out in less than 3 hours making it kents largest concert ever (apart from festivals). Another 3 500 tickets were released May 30th due to the high demand. On the sunny and warm afternoon of June 6th the entire audience of 33 500 people showed up in white clothes making it an amazing display and hence the concert is known as The White Concert. Kent also plays one gig in Norway and one in Finland during the summer.In august kent renew their contract with BMG to include another 4 albums. The contract has no time limit meaning kent can release albums in whatever pace they like. During 2003 kents members also involve themselves in some non kent projects; Jocke writes songs together with Lisa Miskovsky for her album Falling Water (released November 10th). Sami produces Mobile Homes "EP" together with Stefan Boman. Markus plays on Nina Rochelles debut album and join their tour. Martin heads out on a club tour called "Kalas Soundsystem" as DJ and also work with a project together with Nåid. Harri spends his time fishing and working as a bricklayer for fun. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2004 | a year of silence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 In January kent wins Group of the year at the Rockbjörnen gala. They also decide to get a studio of their own. The studio is called Park Studio and was built 1976 in an old movie theatre in Örby, a suburb to Stockholm. The studio is pretty much painted all in dark colours and kent nicknames it Psykbunkern (the Psych bunker). Kent starts working on new material in their new studio immediately and more or less disappears from the spotlight during all of 2004 and they do not play a single concert.Martin Sköld releases two singles with Nåid under the name Peking Laundry during 2004 but apart from that there is no news from the band until mid November when the band reveal that the release date of their sixth studio album called Du & jag döden is set to the 15th of March 2005. Tour plans for 2005 is also revealed; kent plans to tour Scandinavia with three of the largest concert tents in europe. Tickets to the tour is released November 22nd and a record-breaking 50 000 tickets are sold within the first day. The tour premiere in Gothenburg is totally sold out the first day and kent quickly decides to release tickets for an extra concert in Gothenburg the day after. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2005 | ten years and a tent tour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 January 24th the name of the first single from kents sixth album is revealed: its called Max 500 (named after the club in Eskilstuna). February 7th kent performs the song at the Grammi gala and the performance is broadcasted in Swedish television. The single is released for digital download the same night. The singles hit the stores February 9th and by the 14th it has already sold platinum (20 000 copies) and has shot to number one in the Swedish charts. It also becomes kents first number one single in Norway. Tuesday march 15th, exactly ten years to the day after the release of their debut album, kent releases their sixth studio album; Du & jag döden. Although the Swedish record sales for each week are summed up on Wednesdays Du & jag döden manages to become Swedens most sold album in only one day! The odd looking cover of the album is a 3D rendering based on an original artwork by Oskar Korsár and the CD is sold in dark CD cases to match the dark tone of the album. March 21st 1500 tickets for a warm up gig at Store Vega in Copenhagen are released and they sell out in a record-breaking 15 minutes! March 22nd another 1500 tickets are released for a second concert the day after and of course sell out as well. In the beginning of April, three weeks after its release, Du & jag döden passes 200 000 sold copies. May 2nd the second single, Palace & Main, is released digitally. Two days later its released in the stores. Harri has also been in Las Vegas with Adam Berg to shoot a low budget video. In this documentary video Harri puts the original video budget to play on the roulette table. He actually wins and the money is later donated to Swedish Save the Children.After almost two years without a single kent concert, on the 23rd of April, kent enters the stage at Store Vega in Copenhagen, Denmark for a two nights tour warm up. The gigs gets good reviews and the fans are ecstatic. The tour opens at a sold out concert may 13th in Gothenburg and ends in Helsinki 18th of June. Kent wraps up the summer wit a concert at the Roskilde festival 30th of June.  The third single from the album, Den döda vinkeln, is released august 31st as a one track single with no new b-sides despite the fact that kent has said never to release any singles that do not include new material. The single was intended as a one track promo only single but along the way the record company decides to release it commercially without kent's permission as they are on vacation. Jocke Berg later explains it as a glitch in the communication. A video made of live shots from the summer tour is put together by Marcus Engstrand.On October 29th kent enter the stage during the Nordic Music Awards 2005 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark. They perform the brand new song; Ansgar & Evelyn, that is released together with 4 other new tracks November 2nd on a EP called The Hjärta & Smärta EP. It was recorded during the fall and produced by kent together with Nille Perned and Stefan Boman. At the Nordic Music Awards show kent also receive the award for best Nordic act. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2006 | the beginning of album 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the beginning of the year kent receives two Grammi awards for best rock group and for best video of the year (Adam Berg, Dom som försvann). The best video award is actually presented by MTV. Kent also receives the Group of the year award at the P3 Guld gala as well as Swedish album of the year for Du & Jag Döden at the Rockbjörnen gala (kents 9th Rockbjörnen award). In the end of January its also revealed that kent will do their only performance in Sweden during 2006 at the biggest music festival in the country; the Hultsfred Festival. It has been five years since Kent last played at Hultsfred but this becomes kents fifth performance at the festival. On May 3rd a documentary series about child abuse starts broadcasting in Swedish television. The series is produced by TV4 together with Swedish Save The Children and kent has recorded the theme music for the series. Its a song called Nålens Öga and the refrain of the song is actually from an old Jones & Giftet demo called Som Barn (translates to "like children"). Kent opens their mini summer tour with a gig at Rockfest in Haugesund June 16th. The day after they arrive at Hultsfred in a black helicopter with a small kent logo in gold painted on the side. During the show kent proclaims the song Kräm as dead; since they performed the song so badly in Haugesund the day before they have decided never to play the song live again. The band actually releases a special limited obituary t-shirt proclaming the death of the song and its slod in their merchandise tent at the festival the day after. During the gig at Hultsfred the band brings up their manager and former band member Martin Roos to perform the original Havsänglar version of the song Vintervila. For the first time in years they also perform a cover on stage; The Go Betweens song Quiet Heart, as a tribute to Grant McLennan who passed away may 6th 2006. kent used to listen to The Go Betweens when they were younger and it probably inspired the kent song Quiet Heart. During the song Dom som försvann a childrens choir with dark hoods and baseball bats are brought on stage. The concert s ended with the new stndard closing song; Mannen i den vita hatten. On the 18th kent enters the stage on the Norwegian Wood festival att Frogner Park in Oslo, Norway for the third and last concert of 2006.  Nålens Öga is released as a one track single June 21st and all revenue from sales is donated to Swedish Save The Children. The single quickly sells gold (10 000 copies). In October the Hjärta & Smärta EP passes double platinum (40 000 copies). On December 1st a press release is sent out stating that kent has been at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York State, USA during November to record material for their seventh album. The recording will continue in Stockholm during the winter and spring and the album is scheduled for release in the autumn of 2007. Kent will work together with producer Jon "Joshua" Schumann who has previously worked with bands like Mew and Carpark North. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2007 | harri mänty leaves kent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9th of January kents manager Martin Roos announces sad news; Harri Mänty decided to leave the band during the planning of the new album due to lack of motivation. Martin Sköld and Joakim Berg writes in the bands official forum that its sad but that they are all still friends and respect Harris decision. They ensure that the band is as strong as ever and that the new material is the best they have ever written. To be continued... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||