Thank The (International) Noise Conspiracy for the rise of China’s underground music scene. The politically charged and very ambitious Swedes formed in 1998 and quickly made plans to spread their message. Ludwig Dahlberg, bassist Inge Johansson, guitarist Lars Strömberg, and vocalist Dennis Lyxzén headed to China a few months after starting the band. A few years after that, China had a budding music scene. “At first we wanted to do things that no other band had really done,” explains Dahlberg from his native Sweden. “We had a friend in China who asked us to come over. We were around for five months, bought plane tickets, and toured China for a month. We had pretty big plans.”

Sometime during that China tour, the Conspiracy changed the face of Chinese music. Western bands rarely toured the country, and T(I)NC’s month-long stay deeply inspired aspiring musicians to build a scene from the ground up. “It was kind of crazy. First of all, it was our first tour and everything was kind of new. It was kind of crazy and unorganized because they hadn’t really had a Western band come there. We were playing these small punk clubs that did not have great PAs or good equipment. It was kind of chaotic but really, really cool. A lot of people came out, and obviously they didn’t know who we were but they wanted to see a Western band.”

Earlier this year, the band visited China again and noticed things had changed for the better. Aspiring musicians were now gigging musicians. “It was cool because a lot of kids who came to our show the first time formed their own bands. We played with a lot of new bands that were inspired by seeing us. That’s flattering and cool to see a whole new underground rock-and-roll scene grow from nothing.”

Since that first tour, T(I)NC has essentially gigged nonstop. During their 2000 tour, their world changed when famed producer Rick Rubin approached the band after a gig. “The first time we met him, we were in awe,” Dahlberg admits. “He’s such a heavy personality because of his history. He’s a big dude with a beard and everything. You can really feel it when he walks into a room. At first, it was a little intimidating, but he’s superrelaxed and chill and a really positive kind of guy. He really makes you feel relaxed. After we met the first time, it was all really cool.”

Rubin had kept an eye on the band and was interested in making a record with the Swedes, but he felt that they were not ready. The band headed out on the road to gain more experience and was finally ready to work with Rubin in 2004. They clicked with Rubin and welcomed his vision for the upcoming album. “He really got what we were about. What he felt and what we kind of feel is that our old records don’t really sound like we do live because there are a lot of guitar overdubs – we’re a lot about bass and drums, and you can’t really hear that on our first two records. He wanted to make us sound on the record like we do live, and that’s what wanted.”

The first order of business in achieving the live feel was to ditch the click track and play from the heart. Without the incessant click, Dahlberg let it all out and does admit to pushing some tunes like an excited drummer would do at an energetic live show. “You can kind of hear it in a couple of places. I speed up a little bit. I’ve never really played to a click track. I wouldn’t feel natural. We did have to do a couple of songs over if I sped up too much. The record is very live.”

The live sound was developed mostly in the preproduction stage during which Rubin and Dahlberg experimented with various drums in search of the perfect tone. Dahlberg could imagine his ideal drum sounds, and Rubin could re-create it in real life. “We went through a lot of snare sounds, but it was fairly quick in finding the drum sounds. I would tell him what kind of drum I wanted and what I usually play, and the next day it was there. It was really cool because I always play vintage drums, and I would tell him what I usually play and the next day he would have the exact same kit from the same year.”

Even after the perfect drums were selected, Dahlberg was still worried that the final mix would sound too stiff and betray that live feeling he was searching for. “This is the first time we recorded a record in the States, so we were a little worried that we would have that super-compressed drum sound where it’s cut in ProTools so it sounds perfect. We were kind of scared about that. We’re very much a live band, and it doesn’t have to sound perfect in that way. Rick’s engineers would come to the practice space, and he would kind of explain to them how he wanted it to sound. He told the engineers to think ‘Jimi Hendrix’ and we knew that we had nothing to worry about.”

Dahlberg carries that Hendrix element over into live gigs using a pair of trusty Ludwig kits. In Europe, he uses his 1966 Ludwig Silver Sparkle, and in the States he bangs on his 1963 Sky Blue Pearl Ludwig. “I bought them both in the States because over here they’re more expensive. I buy all these vintage drums, but I buy them on eBay. I’m kind of surprised how easy to find they are.” Even with all the fancy high-tech tchotchkes out on the market, Dahlberg does not plan on playing a shiny new kit anytime soon … or ever, perhaps. “Not that they don’t sound good. Obviously, you can get new drums to sound great too, but I always had to play Ludwig since that’s my name. I always like the sound. Some of my favorite drummers played Ludwig. I like the vintage look and sound a lot, so I just stuck to it.”

The politically charged Conspiracy takes a different approach in presenting their political ideas. Whereas some bands attach their messages to aggressive music, Dahlberg and company rely on danceable grooves. “That was the thing. Our singer, his old band was Refused. He wanted to play music that was more accessible to everyone. Even though we’re all from the punk scene, we didn’t really want this band to be part of any scene. We wanted to play in front of everyone and play in all kinds of clubs with all kinds of bands. It helps that we’re not aggressive or angry sounding because that alienates people.”

Naturally, Dahlberg was worried about how American audiences would react to the band during their first U.S. tour. For better or worse, the band experienced very little resistance. “The first tour we thought we were going to get lynched and have people want to fight us. It was kind of the other way around. When it does get kind of weird is when we support another band and it’s not our crowd. We played a couple shows in Texas supporting a band, and some people got kind of mad. We talked a lot about the war, and some people got offended. Other than that, it’s been surprisingly smooth. It’s kind of hard to piss people off – not that it’s our goal. We just want to get a discussion. Even that’s kind of hard. It’s kind of hard to be controversial. People think that politics is boring. We try to make it sound exciting, which it can be.”

Political opinions aside, Dahlberg is an entertainer and his band’s basic purpose is to get people dancing. “We try not to shove our opinions down anyone’s throat. First of all, we want to put on a good show and then present our ideas. If people want to pick them up and think they’re cool and want to see more of what we’re about, that’s cool. If they don’t and just come for the music, that’s fine. We’ve always tried to make that clear.”

Dahlberg and his mates think they have a great plan to open ears and eyes. “Be as good as we can be musically. Otherwise, no one will listen if we suck. It starts with the music. Pretty much, it starts with putting on a good show and we kind of have people in a headlock and then start talking about politics.”