THE HISTORIC ISLAND SPOT WHERE ABBA REUNITED
RIKSMIXNINGSVERKET — better, and more simply, known as RMV Studio — is “an impossible name, also for Swedes,” admits co-owner Ludvig Andersson. But there’s a good reason for its lengthy, official moniker. Ludvig’s father, ABBA’s Benny Andersson, who co-owns the Swedish studio, had wanted to use the name (a suggestion by ABBA’s former engineer, Michael Tretow) for the group’s Polar Studios, but was legally unable to use the word verket, meaning “institution.” “At the time in the ’70s, you weren’t allowed to call anything that wasn’t an actual institution or department that. But in this day and age, they don’t care anymore,” says Ludvig, who helps his dad with myriad aspects of ABBA’s business. Thus, the National Institutional Department of Mixing was born. “It’s a joke,” Ludvig explains, “and it sounds kind of nice.”
Housed in a 150-year-old former naval warehouse on the island of Skeppsholmen in the center of Stockholm, RMV overlooks the waters surrounding the city and features a restored Neve 8068 console from 1977, formerly owned by Max Martin. Since opening in 2011, RMV has hosted Coldplay, Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf), Daniel Caesar and many local acts — including ABBA, which recorded Voyage, its first album of new music in 40 years, there. “It’s in Stockholm, and I’ve done a lot of recordings in there with my band,” says Benny matter-of-factly. “So it was obvious. Why would we go anywhere else? Besides, the money stays in the family!”
LUDVIG ANDERSSON Benny and I, both being musicians, had been saying for a while that one should really have a studio, shouldn’t one? I think we knew that it was going to be difficult to run it as a commercial, profitable operation. But we both love studios, and here was an opportunity to build one and to have our own.
BENNY ANDERSSON To have a studio available when you need it is vital. Before [ABBA] built Polar Studios, we had to go to find time in the studios that existed in Stockholm, and sometimes, there was no availability. Obviously, RMV is open for booking for anyone, as long as they’re not Donald Trump fans.
LUDVIG I think our main selling point is that we’re not in a basement. We have big windows overlooking the inlet of Stockholm. We have daylight in this building that has a lot of character, and it has a very good soul. I remember when we had just opened, it kind of felt like that studio had been there for 200 years. It hadn’t, but it somehow married and matched with the existing building in a way that [gives] it a very welcoming, warm atmosphere.
BENNY It’s full of French doors all the way around. Normally, when you go into a studio, it’s down in a cellar somewhere. There’s no light because of the sound isolation. But we did that anyway, and it works, as long as there’s not a bus standing right outside — but then we just wait for a minute until it disappears.
LUDVIG What was fascinating [when ABBA reunited] was that they walked through the door, and from an outsider’s perspective, it was as if it was yesterday. There was no, “Oh, wow. How cool is it that we’re back together?” It was just like, “OK, hello, let’s have a coffee and do our COVID-19 tests and then get to work,” which was really lovely to see. [They were there for] a month and had quite reasonable working hours for 75-year-olds.
BENNY Yes, that’s absolutely true. Once the ladies came into the studio and we started recording and going through the songs and all that, and they went to their mics, all of us said, “Wow. It’s like no time has passed.” It’s just continuing from when we last met. It was quite amazing, actually, I have to say. And the fact that they can still sing.
LUDVIG Most of the time, not to say all of the time, it works because we’re very similar. [Benny and I] share the same sort of morals and values and views on what music and art is. He and I have a very good relationship, and it’s nice to see your father often.
BENNY It’s wonderful for me, too. Of course it is. And he’s right. He knows what I feel and think about everything. If he needs to, he can answer for me whoever asks him a question about what’s going on. That feels very comforting.
Interviews conducted separately and condensed.