Johanna Billing: YOU DON'T LOVE ME YET

“ ‘You don’t love me yet’ is the title of an art project by Johanna Billing, which starts today at Galleri Index. The core is the difficulty in entering relationships. In the form of a live concert, a lot of bands – from First Floor Power via Marit Bergman to Florian, Hello Goodbye and Nina Ramsby – will make their own versions of the misfit-declared punk troubadour Roky Erickson’s melancholic song with the same title. You write that the musicians will interpret Roky’s song in a ‘manifestation-like form’, and that the project superficially borrows the format of Band Aid. How will that happen?

– It will be like a marathon gig, or a long lament that is reinforced by the title ‘You don’t love me yet’. Then everyone should do a common interpretation on record which is similar to Band Aid, but with the difference that they are alternative artists. I felt it was nice to have that form, because the song is both disillusioned and hopeful at the same time.”

Translated quote from DN, 2002-10-02, Malena Rydell. Read full text in Swedish.

“How do you fill a gallery with a young audience? With a concert of course. /…/ 18 bands get 15 minutes each when the indie pop musicians and their friends move into the gallery premises on S:t Paulsgatan. Young anxiety is the theme: ‘The project is based on the feeling that it is becoming increasingly difficult for young people living in a big city to get to grips with how they really want to live.’ The index-friends are bringing in more cartons of vernissage beer, everyone has been with everyone, on the floor is a red crocheted beret tragically lonely and lost. Who said that it would be easy to live?”

Translated quote from SvD, 2002-10-04, Clemens Poellinger. Read full text in Swedish.