Former REFUSED Frontman Writing Book About His Experiences With Band

Dennis Lyxzén, the frontman of the defunct seminal Swedish hardcore band REFUSED, is writing a book about his experience with the group through his point of view.

"Writing has been a dream of mine and it seems like a good idea to start off with a subject I know well," Dennis told Sweden's SVT in a brand new interview (see video below). "A lot of people have talked about it. Not that they're begging me to write a book, more that they're curious about us. I figured that enough time had passed that I could get away with it now."

He continued, "When I read my journal, I understand why people walked out. We were jerks. We were used to doing things fast. The circumstances were insane. Your point of view changes and then you think, 'That's what it was like.' Then you read what you wrote back in 1994-1995, and the way we lived was unreal. The things we accepted, 'This is what it's like, being in a band.' Anyone who quit was a wimp. But it was too much to take. Now it's like, 'What on earth were we doing?' Still, it's fun to read about it."

When asked what will be different about his book compared to the previously released REFUSED documentary and retrospective releases that have been made available over the course of the last few years, Dennis said, "The documentary went in pretty deep, but only covered our last year together. To me, this is really… It's about me. I can't lie and say it's the complete story of REFUSED. It's about my life during that period of time, what demons I battled back then and what I liked. It's a closer look at myself as opposed to just listing details like, 'Pelle Gunnerfeldt was in the studio on that one.' It's so totally different. The middle portion of the book is excerpts from my journal. Two years, every single gig. What we ate, how little we slept. It's loads of details about dates and gigs. The introduction and conclusion are freer, from memory. The last 1.5 years, I wrote everything on this laptop that disappeared, but I have notes on every gig from 1994 through 1996. That's a large portion of the book. Actually, when I started writing, my… Aside from obvious 'Get In The Van' references [Henry Rollins' memoir], Lundell's 'Jack' was my inspiration. The basic structure is similar, with journal entries and freer passages. An account of a repetitive life that captures something bigger. That was my biggest source of inspiration for this book."

REFUSED's legacy was chronicled via the "Refused Are Fucking Dead" collection, which featured never-before-seen material and videos. In addition, REFUSED's landmark 1998 album, "The Shape Of Punk To Come", was remixed and remastered in 5.1 surround DVD audio format, and was re-released through Epitaph Records. Also re-released were remastered editions of REFUSED's "Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent" and "The EP Compilation" CDs.