Dungen

Multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes founded the Swedish collective Dungen, whose sound merges 1960s-style psychedelic rock with free jazz, Swedish folk traditions, and ambient instrumentals. Surrounded by fellow explorers, Ejstes has used the group to push sonic limits across releases that evoke forgotten European psych-pop successes from the late 1960s. Initial outings such as 2004’s Ta Det Lugnt established the foundation for an ongoing development that has spanned more than twenty years, extending through later efforts like 2022’s En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog.

Ejstes grew up in the modest village of Lanna in Vastergotland, Sweden, where his father, a violinist, introduced him early to local folk music alongside 1960s rock. During his teenage years he encountered hip-hop and adopted it wholeheartedly, later describing that period as his “punk phase.” An intense focus on sampling techniques came next, and his experiments in the genre led him to uncover a broad catalog of Swedish underground recordings from the 1960s and 1970s. The natural quality of those sessions inspired Ejstes to demonstrate his own ability to perform every instrument he had once sampled. He therefore relocated to his mother’s wooded property in nearby Smaland and refined his skills inside a studio located in his grandmother’s basement.

Ejstes launched Dungen with an ambitious self-titled album issued in 2001 on his friend Stefan Kéry’s Subliminal Sounds imprint. The release generated sufficient underground interest to draw the attention of Dolores/Virgin, prompting Ejstes to return to the studio for three Dungen singles, one of which was featured on the soundtrack to The Jungle Book 2. Dungen achieved wider international recognition with Ta Det Lugnt, released by Subliminal Sounds in 2004 and reissued the following July by the American label Kemado on a version that included a bonus disc. Although Ejstes performed many of the album’s instrumental sections himself, he assembled a supporting lineup that included guitarist Reine Fiske, bassist Mattias Gustavsson, and drummer Fredrik Björling. The collective subsequently toured in support of Ta Det Lugnt, whose psychedelic approach attracted numerous American listeners.

The follow-up Tio Bitar appeared in 2007 and balanced carefully constructed songs with the band’s customary extended jams, while 4 followed in 2008. That record placed new emphasis on piano and introduced drummer Johan Holmegard on percussion. After touring, including several shows alongside Fleet Foxes, the group returned home to complete Skit I Allt, issued in 2010. Five years later, their seventh studio album, Allas Sak, arrived in September 2015.

Between Skit I Allt and Allas Sak, the band received a commission to compose and record a score for the 1926 film The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Produced by Mathias Glavå and mixed and edited manually onto analog tape, the entirely instrumental work was released by Mexican Summer in late 2016 under the title Häxan. Norwegian space-disco producer Prins Thomas was subsequently invited to remix the sessions, resulting in Häxan (Versions by Prins Thomas), which appeared in September 2017. Earlier that year the band performed at the Marfa Myths Festival in Texas, where Woods also appeared on the bill. The two groups were invited to collaborate without external constraints, and Ejstes and Fiske joined Woods members Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere to write and record new material. Mexican Summer issued the results in early 2018 as Myths 003. In 2022 Dungen delivered En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog, their eighth proper studio album and first in seven years; the Swedish title translates roughly to “One is too many and a thousand is never enough.”