The Life and Times of Montt Mardié

1983 Born on the 16th of September with brown eyes. They turn blue on the 21st of December.

1984 Learns to walk, talk and sing. The family moves to the top floor of The Keyser Building.

1985 Learns to write and play the piano. In December he stops talking. He is quiet from the 11th of Dec 1985 to 5th of May 1987. His first word after one and a half year of silence is “kite”.

1986 Gets suspended from kindergarten when he refuses to apologise for stealing a hair bow from the girl next to him. From the third of July he can’t fall asleep without his parents playing him Mozart.

1987 Starts talking again. Spends the summer with his aunt in Paris. He tells her that he is going to be an author. From August to December he buys three kites a week from the Skiezerkite Corporation, with his emergencies-only credit card. He keeps them on the roof of The Keyser.

1988 Writes his first short story, “When Spring Left Us”. The reviews are moderate.

1989 Writes his first play, “A Story Told Twice”. It never goes into production.

1990 Starts first grade. Meets Annie Reed for the first time on the 17th of August. He has frequent correspondents with his aunt.

1991 No data found.

1992 On the night of the 16th of July The Keyser burns down. Luckily the family is on vacation in Vienna. They decide to stay another week and make arrangements for a new home. He writes his 16th short story, “A Kite for Mr K”. It is his best work so far.

1993 On the fourth of September he reads “Other voices, other rooms” and doesn’t leave the apartment for two weeks. On the 17th, the day after his birthday, he takes a bus downtown and buys a guitar. That night he writes his aunt a letter, telling her he will no longer be an author.

1994 Hears “Cars and Girls” by Prefab Sprout for the first time and doesn’t leave the apartment for eight days. Writes his aunt a letter, telling her he will be a pop musician.

1995 Starts his first band, “Ceremony”. Changes the line up three times in two weeks. Writes his first song, “Too Many Songs Unwritten”. His parents are troubled.

1996 Seventh grade. Sits behind Annie Reed during class. His father travels to India and will never return. He performs with his new band “Auto” for the first time. Annie Reed is in the audience.

1997 “Auto” breaks up. “The Intelligence” is formed.

1998 School trip to London. While the rest of the class stays at a hostel (The Generator), he insists on staying at the Hilton. He only joins his classmates for sightseeing. Sometime during this week he loses his virginity.

1999 Prom night. Finds Annie Reed in the backseat of a car. The car owners name is Chet McKenzie. Records three songs with The Intelligence. Titles unknown.

2000 He is offered a scholarship to The Stockholm Academy of Music and studies there for almost two semesters. Decides to drop off and to join his former classmates in high school.

2001 The Intelligence breaks up. Spends the summer on a boat in the archipelago outside of Stockholm, writing an opera.

2002 Graduates without a diploma. Spends most of the year in Paris with his aunt. He begins to write short stories again. “To Build Rome In a Day”, to mention one of them.

2003 Works in a comic book store. Reads a lot of comic books.

2004 Spends six months in Hawaii. Learns to play golf. Writes 23 songs, three short stories and finishes the opera, “Requiem”. On his way back home, he get’s signed to the record label Hybris.

2005 In his bedroom he writes and records 12 tracks in two days. Hybris releases the songs as his first full-length album “Drama”. It is received well. He feels misunderstood.

2006 Releases the EP “Science”. Works closely with a big band arranger. Decides to record his new songs with a horn section and a string quartet. Also, he sings duets with the elite of Swedish pop. Writes over 80 songs. Starts taking medication.

2007 The double album “Clocks/Pretender” is released. Plays The Southern Theatre in Stockholm in May, with strings, horns and a full band behind him. He disappears after the show and isn’t seen in Stockholm for the rest of the year. Gets signed by record labels in Taiwan (Silent agreement) and in the UK (Ruffa Lane).

2008 Travels to Taiwan. Plays The Rainbow Festival. Says he never wants to leave Taipei city. On his way home, he writes a song, “Sweden (I know I must forgive you)”. Releases “Set Sail Tomorrow” in the UK. It is received well. He feels misunderstood