Music & Arts, Sweden

The Umgås Understanding – Merk and Kremont

When thousands of fans rush to dance to your beats, your set is mentioned by Billboard as one of the most unforgettable moments of Ultra Music Festival 2016, your top video has over 7 million views on YouTube and your Twitter following is on track to 50k followers, any bass addicted music fan would agree that Merk and Kremont are living the dream.

But we lovers of EDM sometimes forget that the people spitting out our favorite beats at damage-inducing decibel levels are just that: people.

At Umgås, we are all about the people. So, when we had the opportunity to sit down with Merk and Kremont to get behind the music, we jumped at the chance.

This duo from Milan is on track to take the world by storm, but they took the time to sit down with us in between their hectic touring to learn a little more about Sweden and help us learn a little bit more about them.

No spoilers, but be prepared to hear about life without zippers and some Candy Crush dominance in this edition of The Umgås Understanding.

Thanks for joining us Merk, Kremont. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourselves for anyone who might not have heard of you yet. 

Kremont: We are Merk and Kremont. We are two young guys from Milan in Italy. We started producing six years ago EDM Music.  We loved Progressive house, we loved groovy house music and we decided to start our own project, and so far we have released a bunch of different tracks from labels such as Flamingo, spinning and protocol. That’s what we do. We DJ, we play parties and produce music. 

You guys are definitely living the dream!  Let’s get started with the first question…

If you had to choose to make the world live without one of the following Swedish inventions, which would it be? Why?

• The Adjustable Wrench
• The 3 point seatbelt
• The pacemaker
• The Zipper
• Skype

Kremont: Definitely not the pacemaker and Skype because otherwise we wouldn’t be here today, and I would probably say the zipper because I think it’s only something you use in fashion. There are definitely other things you can use to close your jacket. Everything else is way too important.

 Merk: Yeah, I feel the same!

Of these six Swedish artists, who has had the biggest impact on your life? Why?

• Avicii
• Swedish House Mafia
• Ace of Base
• Roxette
• ABBA
• The Cardigans

Kremont: The one that influenced us the most, I would definitely say Swedish House Mafia. I love everything about Swedish House Mafia. “Don’t You Worry Child,” “Save The World…” I don’t know, there are too many!

Merk: And I would say Avicii. I really love the old ones. The remix of Armin Van Buuren (I don’t remember the name, do you remember the name?)

Kremont (laughs): No I don’t, but it’s a good one

Merk: I really love the tracks Super Mario…Silhouettes

If you had to give one of these Swedishy gifts to anybody in the world, what would it be and who would it be for?

1. Free Candy Crush gameplay for life
2. A trip to Summerburst Electronic Music Festival
3. A Husqvarna chainsaw
4. Or a brand new Electrolux vacuum cleaner of your choice

Kremont: I would definitely choose the first one, the Candy Crush for life, and I would send it to my Mom. Actually today she just sent me an image on my phone. This is no joke, she is third worldwide. She’s a maniac, she plays that game all the time, and today she is third in the worldwide rank. So that’s my gift.

Merk: A trip to Summerburst for sure. For my girlfriend. Yeah, yeah, actually she goes with us every time we play in good venues, but I would definitely go with my girlfriend to Summerburst. 

Choose fast and don’t have regrets! Have lunch with/get drunk with/punch….GO!

1. Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and the Nobel Peace Prize
2. Dolph Lundgren, action movie star
3. Ingrid Bergman, famous Hollywood actress (Casablanca)
4. Avicii, No. 7 DJ in the world 2015

Kremont: I would probably go to lunch with Ingrid Bergman when she was a little bit younger because she was way hotter back then.

Merk: Alfred Nobel would be an interesting lunch.  We can discuss a lot, he’s a character!

Both: Get drunk with Aviici!

Kremont: It might not be the best idea, but of course we are joking. We would love to get drunk with Aviici. 

Kremont: I would say punch Nobel because he’s a little bit old so…I mean definitely not Aviici, not girls and not the actor from Rocky!

Merk: I don’t want to punch nobody (laughs).

That was easy wasn’t it? Now a quick Swedish Tale, and we will have a true Umgås Understanding of you! With the Swedish Tale, you get to choose whether you tell us a true tale or a tall tale.

Kremont: When I was a little kid, I attended this summer camp in Vermont, and we had some Swedish guys there, and they taught me some words. I asked them to teach me how to say “I love you” in Swedish and they taught me these words “För jag röra din rumpa.”

 I probably said that sentence to every girl in the camp, and the reaction was always bad because actually that thing means “Can I touch your ass?”

That was a great tale! Thanks for sharing it with us and thanks for spending time today to let everyone get to know you a little bit better.