Growing up in Varberg, a small town on the west coast of Sweden, Roger, Thomas and Tobias were all rehearsing at the same place, though in different bands, except for the occasional weekend jam session. In their mid teens, Roger and Thomas moved to pursue their musical career elsewhere, Roger to the east and Thomas to the north, while Tobias continued his back home. Some educational years of touring and recording albums with all kinds of different acts later, they met up again in Varberg for a Jimi Hendrix tribute concert in 2001, and after a successful performance the guys simply came to the conclusion that they should start a band. This match was too good to go to waste. Kamchatka was formed.
A few years later, after saving up enough money, they decided to record an album in their own studio (which has been developing ever since), with the help of an old friend of Rogers, Nicholas Elgstrand, who recorded,
mixed and produced it together with the band. Bullen & Sillen, friends of the band, mastered it at Studio Mega in Valinge, just outside of Varberg. An old friend of Thomas’, Per Wiberg, who also designed the album cover, hooked them up with a New York based indie label called Grooveyard Records, where the first Kamchatka album was released January 1st 2005.
After about a year of an occasional gig here and there, which were all well received, the guys started to get restless, so they decided to record another album, subsequently known as “Volume II”, this time recording it themselves on an eight-track, Tobias bringing the technical expertise. Once again they called in Nicholas to help mix and produce, but this time mastered it themselves, lending the gear from Jonas Eckerström, another old friend of the band, mainly with Tobias behind the controls. Per, again, standing for the artwork. It was released on Grooveyard Records in January 2007.
After yet another year of an occasional gig here and there (there is a serious lack of venues to play at in Sweden), they had started recording their third album when the American rockband Clutch, whom they had opened a few gigs for in Sweden in 2007, invited Kamchatka to open for them on their US-tour, which gave the guys their first opportunity to prove themselves to the American audience. After 21 successful performances they returned back home to complete “Volume III”, Tobias standing for the technical expertise, and Per Wiberg adding his magic, this time both with beautiful keyboards,and magnificent artwork. It was mastered by Johan Eckerblad at Mintelligence Studios and released on Swedish label Superpuma Records
at the beginning of March, 2009.
In November 2009 Kamchatka were once again invited by Clutch to open for them, this time on a month long tour of 23 gigs throughout western Europe.
2010 Kamchatka first and foremost focused on the writing of their fourth album. It was recorded and mixed in their very own Shrimpmonkey Studios, once again mainly with Tobias behind the controls, during the winter and spring of 2010/2111, and mastered by Johan Eckerblad at Mintelligence Studios. Like on the previous albums, the cover art is the work of Per Wiberg, who also appears on keyboards on one of the songs. The album is released September 5th on GMR.
Wrong End
Kamchatka Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Will it take 'til we do something 'bout this?
It can't be we are supposed to accept this,
Though it seems most people do.
And those who don't
Who put their trust in greater powers
By bitterness will be devoured
When they don't come through.
Ever turning.
Conscience burning.
Never learning
When it's time.
Can't we all feel the taste
Of everythings meaninglessness
In a collective loneliness
Such as this?
What a waste.
Howcome we'd end up in this state?
Our inability to communicate?
We all have opinions about what it is.
Ever turning.
Conscience burning.
Never learning
When it's time.
In Kamchatka's song Wrong End, the lyrics are an emotional plea to society to take action and confront the issues that have been plaguing them. It allows the listeners to reflect upon the state of the world, the inaction of individuals and the need for collective action. The first verse poses a question about the timeframe it would take for people to become aware of the problems and take action. The suggestion seems to be that we should not accept the status quo, even if many are choosing to do so. The passage hints at the fact that people who put their trust in institutions or other establishments are likely to be disappointed and eventually consumed by what little improvement is shown in society.
The chorus speaks of the struggles of conscience, the ever-turning frustration that continuously burns inside us, and the realization that we are never learning from our past mistakes. The second verse speaks of the collective disillusionment of today's society, the meaninglessness of everything we do and the loneliness that comes with it. The lyrics lament that this has been a waste, and that people are unable to communicate towards a collective solution.
Line by Line Meaning
How long
How much time will pass
Will it take 'til we do something 'bout this?
Will we need more time to take action?
It can't be we are supposed to accept this,
We can't just accept this situation.
Though it seems most people do.
Even though it appears that most people do.
And those who don't
But those who resist.
Who put their trust in greater powers
Those who have faith in higher authorities.
By bitterness will be devoured
Their bitterness will consume them.
When they don't come through.
When those authorities fail to deliver.
Ever turning.
The cycle continues.
Conscience burning.
Our sense of morality is conflicting.
Never learning
We never really learn from our mistakes.
When it's time.
When it's necessary to learn.
Can't we all feel the taste
Don't we all sense the flavor.
Of everythings meaninglessness
Of the emptiness of everything.
In a collective loneliness
In a shared feeling of isolation.
Such as this?
Like this one.
What a waste.
It's such a shame.
Howcome we'd end up in this state?
How did we get to this situation?
Our inability to communicate?
Is it our failure to effectively express ourselves?
We all have opinions about what it is.
Everyone has their own view of the problem.
Contributed by Matthew T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.