In connection with the premiere on SVT today.
Today the documentary film “Mwuana: Above all” premieres on SVT. Last Thursday, Kingsize attended the premiere screening of the film in Stockholm at the Skandia cinema, where we also took the opportunity to talk to the protagonist himself and the filmmakers.
The director Martin Sandin and the filmmaker Viktor Annerstål have followed Robin “Mwuana” Nyström for almost three years in the creation of the documentary, during a time when he tried to create a sequel to the acclaimed debut album “Triller”. The film gives a unique insight into how life as an artist, performer and creator can wear on one and what setbacks Mwuana faced along the way. But also the successes, the important people in his life and perhaps above all the struggle to change himself.
The project began as a rather general idea of Viktor and Martin, which via Mwuana’s old manager Daniel Rehn became a fruitful meeting and an essentially direct, mutual respect was born.
Viktor: I remember we left there and was completely mind blown by what a character this guy is! He opened up straight away and told lots of interesting stories and we played lots of music that he was influenced by…
Mwuana: Dad’s old vinyls.
V: Then it started and since then it has been full speed.
Mwuana goes on to say that it is not the first time a documentary about him has been attempted, which made him initially skeptical of the idea. It was also a fragile time for him to let in outsiders.
M: There was also some type of connection when we met for the first time. I mean, this is maybe the third time that a documentary has been attempted and then ended up in the sand. One guy even lived with me for three months and filmed a lot. So I was a bit skeptical about it at first. But they entered a period that was quite searching for me and I was at some sort of crossroads. It was a crucial time for me to let someone in.
The documentary was, as I said, recorded over the course of almost three years.
V: At first we didn’t know that it would be a documentary on SVT or that it would be a feature film. We just knew we wanted to make a documentary film about Robin and then let the course of the journey show us the way.
M: All in all, it’s been a hell of a pain, haha. It has been both busy and the feeling of slowing down. And that during the course of this trip I went around and doubted quite a lot whether I want to continue with music.
Martin Sandin had not listened to Mwuana much but quickly entered his world through the music and was immediately taken by the depth, love and drive incorporated into his world.
Martin: That artistry and that passion and that drive that Robin has, has kind of hooked into what we’ve tried to do. The search for the driving force, the search for the motive, the search for creating something that is real. We have fought a lot together.
The film begins with a scene from Mwuana’s tour end at Fållan in the fall of 2022. A gig that was the culmination of a tough live period after the pandemic where his body started to fail. The result was then. Viktor and Martin talk about the experience of being able to enter Mwuana’s world.
V: You’ve had to deal with very extreme situations. The opening of the film is backstage at a gig at Fållan which went very badly for Robin. He runs off the stage and I run after him… kicking the wall, screaming… then he runs into an alley and just sits down and I kind of stand there. No one else should be there, but I stand there. You don’t think about it when you watch the film, but it’s a sick thing to stand there. We are there when things actually happen and that is very special.
MS: To stand 50 centimeters from a person who is almost in a state of dissolution, it is a trust and a madness that we have had together. Like some kind of creative outburst. It’s real, like.
Martin goes on to talk about what he considers to be the core of the film.
MS: What I believe is the essence of what you see is what it takes to create a work. What it takes to keep honest artistry alive. It’s what we see and what we follow. Not backing down from your vision, not backing down from who you are. It is only when we create something that comes from the inside from what is the barest thing we have, that someone else can take it in and feel what they have done. I felt that a little the first time I heard songs like “Drama” that speak to me and are only for me. I think we touched on that in the film.
I know you have had many personal struggles and also a stormy relationship. I also know how much the people that I saw were in the documentary mean to you… How has it been to be in front of the camera?
M: There are many things that have improved in my life. That you also grow and mature and that that part is included in the documentary gives me a kind of security in why this can also be an inspiration for someone else. That you can have a stormy and many different forms of mental illness, but at the same time there is a chance to do something good and improve yourself. And it still came with it.
M: I know who I am and who I am today. Take my relationship with Marian; it’s been stormy, but it’s also a stormy way to go. Being a full-time artist. It takes a few years before you understand how it works and what works for me. It’s a shame she’s not here today because I had her in Gothenburg and I got to squeeze her hand pretty hard a few times during the film. She has a pretty big role in it too. Like a kind of angel on the shoulder who really saw me in all my guises. So it feels nice. Now I ended up on her, but I guess I always do that somehow…
“Triller” was also a very personal album. How do you look back on it today, seven years later?
M: I remember a guy who… wasn’t fearless, but who had nothing to lose. Which was young and reckless in a different way. Who just wanted to get “there” and live out their dream. For me it was… I couldn’t make a better debut album.
And a lot of the documentary is about the struggle of following through on that?
M: Yes! And unfortunately, maybe tried to perfect it. But not quite there. And released a lot of other things along the way and had some success. But it probably also disturbed the focus a little. All of a sudden you are out touring with “Craftmanship” and “Loverman”. A really strong single can dominate one’s entire time.
I can imagine that “Loverman” became such a song for you.
M: Absolutely. It created a lot of stuff that I had to go along with. And what I’m doing now is, well… it’s difficult, it’s very sensitive for me. Will people understand where it is I have tried to do? What are the premises?
You have taken a slightly different direction with your music after “Triller” and that music was what would become your second album. What direction have you landed in now?
M: There is enough of this brooding in my songs. Now I want to get some more songs in just for now too. Dancing. I’ve never been good at doing that. 100% feel good music is hard to make if you don’t feel that way. So that’s a bit of what I’ve tried to strive for. I want to get that into this collection of songs.
We have talked about this before, you and I, but much of your creation has had its basis in friction and to some extent destructiveness. Is it something you have managed to get away from?
M: Yes and no. I had three days and would try to write. Three hours in: nothing on g. Fuck. Then I went and bought a six-pack of three-fives at Coop. But it’s just some substitute that makes me sit and pretend that “it’s a bit of a party here”, haha. I have a hard time just locking myself in a room and sitting on a chair with paper and pencil and making music. But I’ve started taking more breaks from creating. Before, I could sit for several days and just bang my head against the wall to get into some kind of trance almost. But you can’t force it, when it comes, just thank God. Then just drive. And it comes from time to time. That level of creativity… there is no better feeling in life.
M: I have tried to influence it. I’ve been really wasted… has it gotten better? Well, sometimes. I have tried working out and eating salad…does it get better? Well, sometimes. So what actually controls it? It is probably more governed by an easy mind, which does not get carried away too much in any kind of uncertainty or expectation.
Speaking of uncertainty, have you doubted your ability to create? I mean you released an incredible trilogy of EPs, a whole mixtape plus “Triller” in the space of two years, basically. It can’t be easy to find your way back to that kind of zone.
M: Yes! Several times. Like hell. I will probably never get that time back. I have accepted that. But it took me a while to accept it. It’s like when people say “do more ‘You know I sell’”… nah. It’s not gonna happen. That time was then, I will not try to recreate it or change my life to find it. On the contrary, I want to get away from all that.
See clips from the interview below. “Mwuana: Above all” can now be seen via SVT Play here!
Interview: Malkolm Landréus
Photo: Viktor Annerstål
