ROCKEDRØMMEN

Book · hardback · 2025

ROCKEDRØMMEN

en spinnvill rockereise fra gutterommet til Kinas største rockefestival

About the book
Format
Hardback
Publisher
Calidris forlag
Pages
638
ISBN
9788284672939
Language
Norsk, Bokmål

An English translation of the book is in the works, targeted for release during 2026. An e-book edition is also in progress.

Kjell Moberg’s memoir of a life in bands, published by Calidris in 2025: 638 pages and 22 chapters, and the story behind every October Party Records release.

First and foremost, Rockedrømmen is a book: a hardback, richly illustrated edition (638 pages) published by Calidris in autumn 2025. The story follows Kjell from his boyhood dream all the way to a concert in front of tens of thousands in Beijing, and it draws on his real life in bands, DIY scenes, and touring, not fiction.

This website is a companion to the book: the same 22 chapters, each retold in English in short form, most with a video layer you can open while reading (or when you just want to travel chronologically through the clips).

Elsewhere on the web

These links document the Rockedrømmen, Kjell, China, and broader rock archive in chronological order.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2016

2017

2020

2021

2022

2023

2025

The 22 chapters

English retellings from Kjell's manuscript, with videos to explore as you read. Selected chapters also include images from the archive. These short accounts are a companion to the book, rather than a full translation.

  1. 01 A little boy in love with music It started on Grandfather’s old turntable, with Neil Diamond, Wenche Myhre and Dizzie Tunes, and me banging my head against the wall in time. The dream was never small: not just to be Elvis, but world domination from the stage. 9 videos Read
  2. 02 The awakening: the late ’70s and the wide-open ’80s A homemade guitar and bedroom concerts were my first steps towards a life in music. At Os Rock Klubb I found people to play with, formed my first bands and eventually shared a bill with the musicians we looked up to. 10 videos Read
  3. 03 The last of the wild ’80s The later ’80s widened my life beyond punk: motorcycles, parties, new records and changing band ideas competed for attention. After S.P.Y., Psychokillers & The Blockheads played one Os Rock show, while Rasputinene, Disney Babies and Sound Of Confusion each gave me a different musical setting before the decade turned. 18 videos Read
  4. 04 Summing up the journey so far The bands on my record shelves shaped the music I wanted to make. Before the band story goes on, I want to go back to the punk, pop, reggae and heavier records that stayed with me, from borrowed albums to Norwegian releases we could hear close to home. 26 videos Read
  5. 05 The ’80s fade, the ’90s arrive Sound Of Confusion faded as the new decade began, and a short stay around Blitz sharpened my sense of what I wanted next. Back in Bergen, I designed Punishment Park around Blondie’s melodic edge, recruited Claes, Anja and Pez, and built a working band that recorded and began playing across western Norway. 24 videos Read
  6. 06 The big record deal A German company offered Punishment Park a route into wider distribution, and we signed on 13 January 1992. We recorded The Return Of The Shovel Police at Delta Studio, but the promised release and master tapes stalled. By keeping the correspondence in writing and securing a DAT copy, I protected the album as the deal collapsed. 2 videos Read
  7. 07 Up from the ashes, blooming again With Leni Ludvigsen on vocals, Punishment Park recorded again and set out on our first long European tour. Our battered red van took us towards new audiences, with breakdowns and changing plans to solve along the way. 8 videos Read
  8. 08 Yugoslavia, here we come! In September 1992, Punishment Park and Agent 86 crossed into Serbia for concerts in Novi Sad and Belgrade. We arrived with a van full of instruments and spare fuel, unsure what the border would bring, and found audiences and hosts who made the journey possible. Read
  9. 09 Phase three Kikki joined Punishment Park in 1993 and brought her own lyrics to the songs we had been writing. With Blendwerk taking shape and the band settling into a quartet, we prepared for another European tour through the network we had begun to build. 26 videos Read
  10. 10 1995: a new year and new possibilities By 1995 we had a settled band and an album ready to go, but nobody to release it. I started Hate You Records to put Blendwerk out myself, while Punishment Park returned to Germany and began a lasting friendship with Tequila Girls. 2 videos Read
  11. 11 A new record deal and more touring, 1996 A new record deal and another tour took Punishment Park into 1996 with fresh hopes. The Dream Circle releases carried us through the next few years, but I keep coming back to the tour whose planned Polish dates ended at the border. 20 videos Read
  12. 12 The beginning of the end As the nineties drew to a close, playing together and writing new songs became different things. Katy joined us for concerts after Claes left, but the old creative partnership was changing, and our final official show opened the door to a new band. 12 videos Read
  13. 13 A new millennium on the doorstep Pez, Katy and I carried on as JEF, a trio with one foot in punk and the other in noisier indie rock. New records and tours took us back into Europe, where a conversation with friends also planted the seed of K-Jell. 9 videos Read
  14. 14 England and the Italian mafia JEF crossed to England with Greenland Whalefishers in 2004 and travelled to Italy the following year. Alongside those tours, friendships with Chinese musicians opened a new possibility: taking our band to China in 2006. 4 videos Read
  15. 15 The China adventure In 2006, Kang Mao and I started October Party Records in Beijing, and JEF set off on our first China tour. What began with a guitar, a suitcase and a lot of questions became the last chapter of JEF and the beginning of a much longer connection with China. 25 videos Read
  16. 16 Os Rock Club Os Rock Klubb was my first rock home. It gave us a place to rehearse, organise concerts and learn from each other, long before I took those lessons out on tour with my own bands. 10 videos Read
  17. 17 My record labels and releases I started small labels to release our own music and keep control of the work. Hate You Records became October Party Records, and the project grew from punk singles and albums into compilation series and a large, volunteer-led effort to present Norwegian artists in China. Read
  18. 18 Booking, concerts and tours Booking for other bands began with a phone call from London in 1993 and expanded through a network of clubs, musicians and friends. I learned by arranging Norwegian tours for international punk bands, solving practical problems on the road and building exchanges between scenes. 140 videos Read
  19. 19 China, ego, solo, and no compromises K-Jell was meant to be one EP, made with friends to see what I could do outside a fixed band. The response to our singles in China changed that plan: an album, a touring line-up and another journey followed. 64 videos Read
  20. 20 2010: a new album, on top of the world Our second K-Jell album took us back to China in 2010, but an Icelandic ash cloud nearly stopped the tour before it began. Eight days after a last-minute scramble to get our instruments to Wuhan, we stood on the main stage at MIDI in Beijing. 31 videos Read
  21. 21 The Peace Prize and a last China visit We returned to China in June 2011 with a new bassist and another album, expecting another adventure. The concerts went ahead, but after the Nobel Peace Prize dispute the atmosphere felt different, and we came home unsure when we would be able to return. 18 videos Read
  22. 22 After China: the future and the road ahead Looking back in the book, I describe a quieter period of local shows, records and videos after the China tours. In 2022, Punishment Park came together at Hulen for a final concert with old friends and songs we had first played decades earlier. 21 videos Read

Sources: the page-by-page cross reference to the archive