Rockedrømmen Chapter 19
China, ego, solo, and no compromises
An English retelling from Kjell Moberg's manuscript.
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.
K-Jell began as a solo EP idea I had carried for years. When Jef stopped after the 2006 China tour, friends helped me record songs in Bergen. The first single paired Struggle And Break Through with a Ramones cover; the 2007 MIDI release reached 15,000 CDs, and a second single followed in 2008. The unexpected response changed the scale of the project.
Kang Mao then asked for an album and a live band. We recorded Refreshing Power, formed a touring line-up and released it in China in 2009. The album followed the understated visual approach of the singles, while its songs circulated through the label and compilation CDs. What had been a short experiment had become a band with records, an audience and a China tour.
The 2009 tour took us through China by train and taxi, carrying instruments from one club to the next. In Zhengzhou and Shijiazhuang we played through equipment problems and heat, then stayed for photographs and autographs. We finished at Yugong Yishan in Beijing. What had started as a small recording project had become another band on the road.
From the archive
