Markus: We're totally isolated. We don't know if we're selling records or not. I often ask our manager, "How's our band doing?" We don't really care what people think. We just play.

THC: How did you choose the name "Kent"?

Markus: When we moved to Stockholm, we wanted to have a different name. We just wrote down lots of names.

Sami: Kent is the name of a guy, a loser guy from the '70s. It's a Swedish first name, like Kent Johanasson. It was always that guy who drove a moped and was the coolest guy in school and had a jean jacket with patches, but nowadays he's just a loser, a junkie.

THC: On Isola, many of the songs make allusions to Elvis and "The Graduate," among others. How did they work their way in?

Markus: Joakim writes the lyrics, and he always wants people to think hard about them.

Sami: He doesn't want to write politician music, like, "Think this or think that." He wants you to have your own free thoughts.

Markus: He almost never tells us what the lyrics mean.

THC: How do you think Swedes are perceived overseas? Are the stereotypes accurate?

Markus: Scandinavian people are shyer.

Sami: It depends on how much you drink.

THC: Do Scandinavians drink more than most?

Sami: In New York, they make the strongest drinks I've ever tasted. Nowhere in Scandinavia can you find bars that make such strong drinks. I think New Yorkers are heavier drinkers.

THC: Do you have any advice for graduating seniors going into the real world?

Markus: Yeah, don't trust anybody. [Laughs.]

Sami: The real world, what's that? All we see are hotels, stages and tour buses.

Markus: We used to have jobs like real people. All my advice is, pay your bills.