Interview Jeet Kune Do

Jeet Kune Do, a Swedish Hard Rock band, shares their journey from childhood friendships to creating original music, blending classic influences into their sound.

1. Can you tell us about the origins of Jeet Kune Do and how the band came together?

All four members grew up in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden and were all known to each other since playin’ in several different bands through the history. Tommy was out of a band since a while back and wanted to find some good friends who shared the love of music and to play just for the fun of it. First Uffe and Marko joined in and after a while so did Jerker. Beginning as a cover act playing music from bands like KISS, The Hellacopters, Deep Purple and others the desire to create something original arose and from there it just went on.

2. What inspired you to focus on Hard Rock music, and how do you incorporate your various influences into your sound?

All the guys in Jeet Kune Do share the same heroes and they all relate back to classic Hard Rock Music. Of course all variations of Rock and Metal had made their impact through the years and therefore you can find bits of various influences in the music. We are all very creative during the writing sessions and since everyone contributes in every song these influences shines through.

3. You've mentioned playing live is a big focus for Jeet Kune Do. Can you share some memorable experiences from your live performances?

Very time we hit the stage it´s a new experience. You don’t really know what you will meet but when you finish a song and you get that roar from the audience you just know that’s where you wanna be. As we started out as a cover act I will always remember the first time we played our first original song, No Halo, and after just a minute the people in the crowd sang along with the chorus. That was special.

4. What was the creative process like for your latest releases, particularly the songs recorded with engineer Gustav Ydenius?

Working with Gustav is a real treat. He’s just such a nice guy with an incredible ear for music. He almost seems to read our minds in the recording process. Adding a touch of magic along the way. The songs are almost finished when we hit the studio but we always work with the harmonics on guitar and vocals to get it right. That is not finished before recording and it adds a touch of nerves to the process and makes it great fun to record.

5. How do you approach balancing covers of classic rock songs with your original music? Do you find one aspect more challenging than the other?

It is always a bit difficult to play songs from your childhood heroes. You just don’t want it to sound bad or corny. Myself for instance didn’t wanna play Detroit Rock City by KISS since it was kinda holy for me. Uffe convinced me to play it and it’s been on the set since. It is always important as well that the classics blends into our own original music so it makes a full concert and that we ourselves and the audience feels that it makes a whole.

6. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your original songs, such as "Strange Addiction"?

Strange Addiction is about a person with some real personal issues, needing to control everything and to be in the center of everything. In a real bad way…. Better to let those kind of people wear a white jacket with long sleeves, securely tightened at the back

7. Can you share some insights into your experiences working with other bands prior to forming Jeet Kune Do? How have those experiences influenced your approach to music?

We all have a long history with performing and recording acts in the past. For example:

• Uffe – Miss Willis. Uffe is still with this band and you can check them out on: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7L9c1sBa0Q07TJ77D1UYtM?si=abNjp2tiTiuIKdgbzM0ilQ
• Tommy – Rat Sald (Hard Rock and Grunge): https://open.spotify.com/artist/290TVWzH7P7MkSTN6ShUSK?si=4PO9vbIySvaK6fZojxeZ_w
  Electric Earth (Hard Rock): https://open.spotify.com/artist/2FmuGDCIdHOkeeaZMWLFQ6?si=KPgckQ1mQoaYc1Rp6STmJw
  Gooseflesh (Thrash Metal): https://open.spotify.com/artist/5lQqv7Mi9YhydBT2nf3sct?si=YQxc1sIySFG7L5TyvnaKuA
• Jerker – Thn Rinkside (Pop/Rock) https://open.spotify.com/artist/1RGwf8VfbwCEyicCleDstD?si=Qcx2_rK6Rn2m3xB7IDZOaA
  Kapten Kermit (Pop/Punk): https://open.spotify.com/artist/1L835FxGKZLivabIOdzpwS?si=Y_aXuoyKQmGK-gtbilMmKA
• Marko – Educated in Los Angeles where he lived for a long period of time as a hired gun before returning to Trollhättan.

The main difference between now and the past is that we now share the same love for the music and that we don’t let our egos get in the way which makes it all so much more fun and enjoyable.

8. As a band from Sweden, how do you view the current Hard Rock scene in your country and globally? Are there any trends or changes you've noticed?

Sweden, as you probably know, is a great country for music and rock music in particularly. For some time the Death Metal scene was all over the place and since we’re living near Gothenburg with all their great bands it could be somewhat difficult if you were not in that scene. Nowadays it feels like the more classic Hard Rock is making a great comeback and people tend to return to great melodies, Groove and sing-a-long choruses. It suits Jeet Kune Do well and we’re looking forward to the future.

9. What are your plans for future releases and performances? Any upcoming projects or tours in the works?

No tours on the schedule for now event though we will play some live shows in the summer. We will release our next single called Down Down in a couple of weeks and we have started writing new material that hopefully will be recorded in the autumn and released sometime near the new year.

10. Lastly, how can fans stay updated on your latest news and music releases, and is there anything else you'd like to share with your audience?

The best way to stay in touch with us is to follow us on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/JeetKuneDoSweden). None of us are into the whole social media thing so there is no TicTok, Instagram and so on. We are just a Rock ‘n’ Roll band wanting to play music, hahaha…For all of you out there who likes to Rock and Party – Stay true to yourselves and don’t let anyone tell you what to think. Together we will conquer in the end!!