Travel

Travel were a Stockholm-based trio consisting of Mårten Karlsson (vocals), Max Bell (guitar), and Anders Ljung (production). Active in the late 1990s, the band recorded a total of 23 songs, released across a series of themed three-track EPs that each explored a distinct sonic idea.

One EP was famously recorded using only a yellow boombox as the main recorder, capturing the band’s fascination with lo-fi texture and spontaneous performance. Others leaned toward polished pop, moody guitar atmospheres, or minimal electronic arrangements.

Travel’s creative process was playful yet meticulous. They often invited guest musicians to capture a specific feel or groove — an approach that earned them comparisons to an indie version of Steely Dan. Their sound balanced heartfelt songwriting with a studio-based curiosity for sound, bridging organic and synthetic elements long before it became common in indie pop.

Although Travel never released a full album, their recordings remain a vivid snapshot of Stockholm’s late-90s underground — inventive, warm, and quietly ambitious.