Adam: [0:00] Three weeks is a little bit too long to be away from the family and a little Adam: [0:03] bit because our spouses get a lot of responsibilities to handle stuff. We can be like coordinators from here and coordinate with I call my mom, hey, can you pick up the kids and stuff like that to relieve my girlfriend. Papa Mia, reine Männersache. Tomas: [0:22] Der Podcast von Papas für Papas und für alle, die Papas mögen. Klingt cool, ist es auch. They are five, they are from Sweden, they have all children and they make together with their children music in videos on TikTok and Instagram, the millionth of click on it. Welcome to Dead Harmony. They play a concert in Wien and I have them in a hotel room in Prater get caught. A very impressive guy with a lot of cool thoughts, a lot of mindset, what the family is talking about. Tomas: [0:53] You listen to it and if you like it, let's do it. Welcome to Dead Harmony. at least a part of that harmony usually you are five now there are two guys sitting in front of me it's adam yes and thomas yeah thank you for coming here i really appreciate it yeah Adam: [1:11] Thank you for having us. Tomas: [1:12] Yeah uh you you are here in vienna it's first time you are here in vienna yes Adam: [1:16] For me yeah for me as well and for that harmony obviously yeah first time. Tomas: [1:21] And yesterday the day before yesterday you've been to a concert in germany in erding in bayern and tonight you will be in the Gasometa, which is one of the concert venues in Vienna. Yes. It's going to be great. I'm going to be there. And that's the reason why I said, okay, let's get them to an interview. They call Dad Harmony. They are dads. They make music. That's the same as I do. Yeah. So that's why I have you here. And I really appreciate that you, we have this perfect room in the Superbude Hotel where you stay. Adam: [1:50] Yeah. Yeah. We live there. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Tomas: [1:52] Perfect. i love it i love it here it's really great and they gave us the room it's Adam: [1:59] A nice uh vibe with the whole hotel yeah i think yeah. Tomas: [2:02] It is and uh i like to be here so we can talk about family and that's what it's all about um one bad news at the beginning you're not going to sing i'm i'm sorry if if you want to hear them sing uh just buy the album or come to the concert or anything or go on tick tock yeah that's where it all Bernhard: [2:20] Began yeah exactly uh do Tomas: [2:22] You still remember when you realized okay this just blew up really really big Bernhard: [2:27] Yeah it was like uh i think it was in the morning after peter's bachelor party it was when it all started you Tomas: [2:38] All had headache Bernhard: [2:39] Yeah a little bit i think adam had more than yeah of course Tomas: [2:43] It's always the honest Bernhard: [2:45] Yeah exactly but i uh i recorded the video on the bachelor night and posted it on tiktok to my like seven followers or something just totally random that i posted it to be honest and then i woke up the next day and i looked at my phone and it was like oh it's quite some action going on here so then i went down to breakfast and said as a joke, Bernhard: [3:13] like, guys, we're viral now, I think we have to move to LA. Adam: [3:17] Yeah. Tomas: [3:17] And then it got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger, and that's where it all started. Bernhard: [3:22] Yeah, exactly. Tomas: [3:23] I got one question, because speaking from my personal experience, bachelor parties are usually more about beer and laughing and telling jokes nobody should hear. And it's less about singing in harmony. Bernhard: [3:34] Yeah. Tomas: [3:36] Why did you, are you doing that often just to sing all together? Have you been a band before or did it come by incident? Bernhard: [3:47] We all like to sing. Adam: [3:49] Yeah. Bernhard: [3:49] And we have like, everyone have different musical experience from the past, like in different ways. Yeah. But most of you went in the same music class in high school. Not me, but the others. And everyone has some connection to music. Yeah. Adam: [4:11] And I think that when we hang out with each other and through the years have been drinking beers and doing whatever, it's like then we usually sing something as well because we think it's fun. Tomas: [4:25] Yeah, it is fun. Obviously, it is fun. but it's not quite common to do it on bachelor parties. Was it going to go some kind of laser tag or paintball or anything like this? Adam: [4:35] Yeah, but we did the normal stuff as well. We played some soccer, I remember, you know, when you had the big... Sorby. Balloon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we did the typical bachelor stuff, and this was actually later at night when we were in Sweden, it's normal that you go to relax with a jacuzzi and sauna and stuff like that. So we were sitting there drinking beers and doing what we normally do, which is sing because we think it's fun. Okay. And it was, I think it was Sebastian's suggestion. We should try this song. Adam, you sing like this. Thomas, you sing like this. And just... Yeah, and then Thomas filmed it. Bernhard: [5:09] Yeah, I went up and took my phone and we shouted out that song and we were like, we had a couple of beers. It wasn't our greatest performance. Tomas: [5:21] I was thinking about it. You improved a lot. Yeah, since then. Tomas: [5:25] But it's okay. did you have any idea where this would lead the day after it happened or it is Adam: [5:32] No i remember that we joked about now we can quit our jobs but in reality we never thought it would become a big thing like this no. Bernhard: [5:42] Definitely and we like we we thought like because of all the response we we thought like we have to continue doing this but it was still just numbers on the So it was like, yeah, it got 22 millions and it's lots of comments, but We didn't notice it in our day life, but it was first, like, after a few couple of months when the biggest Swedish morning show contacted us. And then we realized, okay, people do actually watch our videos. Adam: [6:15] Yeah, because from the beginning, it just gave us a platform to do something that we really enjoy, which is singing. And we started to posting on Thomas' TikTok account, and the name was Thomas Widmark. Like, Bad Harmony's name was Thomas Widmark from the beginning. Bernhard: [6:30] Yeah, and then when the television show reached out to us, they asked me, like, what's your name? And I'm like, yeah, Thomas Widmark is not a good band name. So we need to come up to something else. And then we have just started to include our children in the videos, just by coincidence, to be honest. I think it was Michael who, his wife was away, and it was like to manage to record a video, he had to take his children with him, and I had mine at my home, and then it came pretty natural with the name Dad Harmony. so Tomas: [7:15] You were just by incident in charge of the kids because your partner she was away yeah and you had the kids so that's Bernhard: [7:22] Yeah exactly like it's everywhere yeah and and you cannot just leave the home like now and then so i think sometimes i'm not sure if she was away maybe she just wanted to have some time off or something Tomas: [7:35] Yeah how did your kids and the partners react to that a viral thing Bernhard: [7:42] I yeah Adam: [7:43] I think the kids at least my kids are too small or was at least two years ago they were three years old I have twin girls I think it's more, for my girlfriend that, I think she got a little bit impressed by the thing that it went viral. Bernhard: [8:04] I think they overall they think it's super fun but of course it's not just fun for them it's like It's uppoffring. Adam: [8:18] They make sacrifices? They have to. Bernhard: [8:20] Of course. Tomas: [8:20] Sure, they have to. Because it's getting a greater business, a bigger business. Bernhard: [8:24] Exactly. But mostly they think they are super happy about it. They like it. And I would say our children are starting to enjoy it as well. And now they are a little bit like they really want to be in the... It's always their choice if they want to participate or not. But especially my kids are starting to really want to be in the video because they think it's fun. Tomas: [8:50] That's what I recognize because your kids are often in your videos and sometimes singing, sometimes climbing on your shoulders and sitting around or playing. And they want it. At the beginning, it was spontaneous. Adam: [9:02] Yeah. Tomas: [9:03] And now they want it. But when I listen to them or watching the videos, they sing with you. so maybe they heard the song one or two times before Adam: [9:13] Yeah because every time when we sing we do rehearse it a couple of times before we actually sit down and start to record it so it's entirely possible that they, more and more you know take after what we sing and stuff like. Tomas: [9:28] That and do they like the rehearsing or are you driving them crazy with doing the same song 30 times or more our Bernhard: [9:35] Wives have gone crazy Tomas: [9:36] About that I can relate Adam: [9:39] But no i think the kids when we rehearse they usually run around doing other stuff and then if they want to be with us when we film we tell them if you want to come you can come now or else you can go play somewhere else so many times in our videos when you see that we have one kid or two kids there are often five kids running around somewhere else doing something else and. Tomas: [10:02] Then do Do the rehearsals sneak into lullabies in the evening when you bring them to bed, then you do the song again just for them to fall asleep? Bernhard: [10:12] I sometimes sing lullabies for them, but it was more when they were younger. I would like to sing more lullabies for them, but they aren't always up for it, to be honest. Tomas: [10:27] I think there would be a lot of people that would really, really appreciate Tomas: [10:30] that you were singing the lullabies for them. Bernhard: [10:32] Yeah. Adam: [10:34] What did you sing for them? Bernhard: [10:37] Like when I sing lullabies for my children it's like can be like a Whitney Houston song or something it's not like the typical when I so Tomas: [10:47] You're not rehearsing in the lullaby section in the evening Adam: [10:50] No we actually we actually have sang a couple of lullabies yeah we have with that harmony. Bernhard: [10:56] Twinkle Twinkle and Bram's lullaby yeah we have posted two Adam: [11:01] We tried a couple of times with Sebastian's youngest she's like only a couple of months so when she was crying we were trying to maybe we should try a lullaby now twinkle, twinkle but it didn't work, we wanted her to be like yeah yeah. Tomas: [11:20] Yeah speaking from experience I'm a musician too and the hardest thing by doing rehearse dates with my colleagues because we get 12 children five group members is that there are kids and we have to take care of them and then find the right date for them is really, really, really hard. So it must be easier for you because you can take the kids with you when rehearsing. Bernhard: [11:44] Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's like it's so much easier. And it's like then our spouses get some free time and they can do anything else if they want to. And yeah, it's much easier. Adam: [11:59] Yeah, yeah, really that you can bring the kids and they will be stimulated and they go play with the other kids even if they don't want to be... Tomas: [12:09] And they like each other? Bernhard: [12:10] Yeah. Tomas: [12:13] That's a really win-win situation. Okay, but now you're on tour. When did the tour start? Bernhard: [12:20] It started almost three weeks ago. Yeah, it's three weeks in total. So now we have three concerts left. So we're going home on Sunday. Tomas: [12:30] Okay so it sounds really exciting touring through europe but how do you handle it being away from your families Adam: [12:36] It's uh tough uh i i've never been away this long before from my family so of course it's tough but it's if you compare today with like 20 years ago we have facetime and stuff like that so we can call our kids every day and talk to them yeah and i i would imagine, that's made it easier to do it today than to do it 20 years ago. But of course, you miss them. Bernhard: [13:05] Yeah, and I think it's... If it's up to us, we would prefer to have a little bit shorter, like maybe a maximum two weeks or something. Adam: [13:24] Three weeks is a little bit too long to be away from the family and a little bit because our spouses get a lot of responsibilities to handle stuff. But most of us have pretty good help with parents. and so we can be like coordinators from here and coordinate with i call my mom hey can you pick up the kids and stuff like that to relieve the my girlfriend so. Tomas: [13:50] You do that when you're on tour you still do the coordinating back home of Bernhard: [13:54] Course yeah some of it Tomas: [13:56] That's nice Adam: [13:56] Yeah not. Tomas: [13:57] Not every day does that so Adam: [13:59] No but but it's actually it's so easy when you can just call and i can ask my mom what we're doing today would like to go with the kids and do something or something. Tomas: [14:10] Yeah. And there is some kind of ritual during FaceTime in the evening or before the concert. Bernhard: [14:15] It's quite tricky with that, especially when the children get older, because our concert is set at 8, and then you have like sound check, 5 o'clock, and then you need to eat, and then you... But it's mostly you call them after sound check, because then they're home, often, but now when they are older, they have training and they have activities. So sometimes it's tricky, but one time, even if it's short, you can manage it one time a day. Adam: [14:52] Yeah, my kids actually got new bikes a couple of days ago, so they are super excited. So every time I call them, they're just, hi, I need to go out riding a bike. And then they're giving. Tomas: [15:03] So I miss you, bye-bye. But it's okay for you, you're safe and they're not really missing you, they got their bike. Adam: [15:09] Yeah, yeah, yeah, they got their bike. Tomas: [15:11] Okay, and is it difficult for you, or do you know if it is difficult when you switch back from this tour mode to that mode? Bernhard: [15:19] We talked about it earlier, that if we were single guys and just coming home to the regular life. Everyday life. Yeah, exactly. I think it would be a little bit difficult because it's a very surreal life when you're on tour. But now when we have our families and all of that, our children, we miss them so much. So I think it's going to be quite easy, I'm hoping. But still, when we're going home, then it's our spouse's time to have a rest. Adam: [16:04] So Bernhard: [16:05] We cannot be Adam: [16:06] As comfortable as you are on tour. Someone fixes the food, someone fixes with the car. Now we need to stand in the kitchen again. Bernhard: [16:16] And do more than before. Tomas: [16:19] When you're back, then your spouses get the three weeks tour. Adam: [16:23] So we are not coming home to relax. Bernhard: [16:26] No, exactly. Adam: [16:27] We're coming home to put in the work. Tomas: [16:29] It's just fair. Adam: [16:30] It is, because if it wasn't for our spouses, this would never be possible. So we kind of owe them to be extra great partners. Tomas: [16:41] What's the next big thing for that harmony? Bernhard: [16:46] What's the next thing? We're coming back to Germany in August, and it's even bigger venues. Adam: [16:55] That's outside venues. That's the first time we are going to sing outside. Bernhard: [16:59] And I think one of the places have a capacity of 3,000, I think. Adam: [17:04] Yeah, so we need to start promoting. Bernhard: [17:07] Yeah, in Bad Nauheim and Dinsla. Tomas: [17:11] Okay, so we get to know the world, or at least Germany. Bernhard: [17:15] Yeah, and we're planning to expand our tour as well. Hopefully, we're planning to go on the big capitals in Europe, more big capitals, like Rome and Paris, because now we have mostly toured in Scandinavia and Germany. Tomas: [17:36] German-speaking countries. Exactly. Adam: [17:37] Exactly, yeah. Tomas: [17:38] And do you think it would be possible sometimes just to take the family with you in summer, maybe? Adam: [17:42] Yeah, well, when we come back in August, we probably will bring our families with us. Tomas: [17:51] Have they been to the concert? Sure, they have. Yeah. They have, in Sweden, Adam: [17:55] Yeah. And in Oslo. Bernhard: [17:57] You've got your phone. Adam: [17:59] Yeah, in Oslo, yeah. But that's the first time in not Scandinavia they will see us. Tomas: [18:05] I'm going to come to the end because I don't want to take too much of your time. Some kind of category in my podcast, I call it Back to the Future. Bernhard: [18:14] Yeah? Adam: [18:14] Oh, my favorite movie. Tomas: [18:16] Yeah, it is? Adam: [18:17] Yeah. Yeah, I have actually a title of the clock. You know where the lightning strikes a clock? I have the clock. Tomas: [18:28] The clock tower? Adam: [18:29] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tomas: [18:31] Okay. Adam: [18:31] Yeah. Tomas: [18:32] Okay. And why it's your favorite movie? Adam: [18:35] I don't know. I've been watching them since I was a kid. I really just liked them. And I liked the DeLorean car. It's super cool. And I think Mike Lee Fox is amazing. Yeah, he is. Tomas: [18:47] There was a documentary on Netflix. I've watched it. It's great. Adam: [18:49] No, I haven't seen it. Yeah, you should. Then I need to see it. Tomas: [18:52] It's really interesting. It's called just a Michael J. Fox movie. All right. So it's about him and he's talking about the Parkinson's. Very, very interesting. But the category is about if you could give yourself a piece of advice when you were not at that yet. What advice would that be with all the knowledge you get now? Bernhard: [19:14] Ooh, that's a tricky question. Adam: [19:17] Yeah. i think that one advice for me would be for me then to give my for me now to give myself then would be not to be so hard on yourself and you know when you feel like you're not enough or the children are angry and you think they don't like you obviously that's they like you but they show it in maybe by being angry or something so don't be too hard on yourself when you feel like you're I'm not enough, because if you try, you probably are. Tomas: [19:52] Very good advice for yourself for your younger self yeah Bernhard: [19:57] I'm trying to it's a very good question and it's great to think about it Tomas: [20:05] A lot of people say just be relaxed lean back and take it how it comes yeah Adam: [20:12] Of course because that's like the classic when you get your first child that you are like stressing over everything yeah so that's a good advice and I would, no I don't you were perfect. Tomas: [20:38] Everything went perfect that's okay two more last questions could you define I couldn't find the perfect definition so I don't need one could you define who is a good father What does it mean to be a good father? Bernhard: [20:55] I think to be present, that's very important, like both physical and emotional, exactly. And Adam: [21:11] I mean, I think you can be a good father in many ways. You might think that you are a good father by giving your children whatever they want, for example. But I think it's important to be a good father in setting boundaries and teaching them about life. Bernhard: [21:33] And give them love as well. Adam: [21:35] Yeah, love and affection is probably the most important thing. The children need to feel loved. And that's kind of going back to my earlier answer, that even when you feel like they don't love you, you still need to love your children. Bernhard: [21:54] Yeah. And I think patience. And patience is one thing to answer your earlier question. Patience, I would say that would be the tip to my younger self. Have more patience. Tomas: [22:08] So be patient, this dough shall pass. Bernhard: [22:11] Yeah, exactly. And let them do things in their own pace. Because sometimes you're like, oh, you want them to start walking. And you want them to learn to bicycle. And sometimes it's like they have no stress. Tomas: [22:26] They are in the moment. Bernhard: [22:27] Exactly. Tomas: [22:28] They live right now. Bernhard: [22:29] Exactly. So have patience. Adam: [22:32] Yeah, that was a good one. Tomas: [22:34] And there is the last question. there is uh on spotify there is a playlist uh created for the podcast it's called the papa mia playlist of doom yeah and there should be a collection of the worst songs but not your worst songs just the songs that your kids listened about 10 000 times yeah and that's the reason why you can't stand the songs yeah Adam: [22:54] I know exactly. Tomas: [22:55] And you can add two songs each of you can add one song That Adam: [22:59] Was a big pain when they were younger. It's horrible. But now I would say my kids are really into a Swedish group called Dolly Style. And their song... Bernhard: [23:15] Yeah, Habibi? Adam: [23:17] No, no, no, the new one. The new one. Bernhard: [23:20] Cow something? Yee-haw. Adam: [23:23] Dolly style Yee-haw. Bernhard: [23:25] I kind of like that song. Adam: [23:27] It isn't necessarily a bad song, but I'm tired of it. Bernhard: [23:30] But my daughter listened to that as well. Adam: [23:32] Yee-haw, running on a horse. Bernhard: [23:36] Yeah, it's Smashing to Pieces, I would say. It's a group in Sweden, and they have a song called Six Feet Under. and it's not a bad song from the beginning but I'm quite fed up with it to be Tomas: [23:50] Honest okay I'm gonna put these songs on the playlist thank you really for coming to the interview thank you and have a good show tonight thank Bernhard: [23:58] You very much nice to meet you maybe we'll Tomas: [23:59] See you there I'm the tall guy looking a little bit Scandinavian and I'm gonna scream my ass off thank you very much thank Adam: [24:09] You Papa Mia Reine Männersache. Tomas: [24:12] The podcast from Papas for Papas. And for all the Papas love. Klingt cool, is it also.