In May 1988, Scapa Flow was formed in Uppsala by Johan Nygren and Carl Sjöström, who both had played in other bands before. They got to know Andreas Carlsson, who could play drums, it became Scapa Flow. Johan Lavsund was also added to the line-up. In the beginning they used synths, drum machine, Simmons drums, sequencer with data storage on cassette tape, an old C-64 as sequencer. The delay always had an important place with its own stand on stage. Johan Nygren and Carl Sjöström shared the singing and synth duti…
In May 1988, Scapa Flow was formed in Uppsala by Johan Nygren and Carl Sjöström, who both had played in other bands before. They got to know Andreas Carlsson, who could play drums, it became Scapa Flow. Johan Lavsund was also added to the line-up.
In the beginning they used synths, drum machine, Simmons drums, sequencer with data storage on cassette tape, an old C-64 as sequencer. The delay always had an important place with its own stand on stage. Johan Nygren and Carl Sjöström shared the singing and synth duties, Andreas Carlsson played percussion and string instruments.
The very first demo cassette, titled "The Core", was recorded in a few weeks and distributed through a couple of local record shops. The tape included a number of older songs from the members' previous bands, songs like "Psycho" and "War" that never made it to debut vinyl.
A few months later, contacts between the band and Front Music Productions had been established. FMP worked on putting a pan-European techno compilation album together, to which Scapa Flow's "Servant" was chosen. In late July, the band entered a professional studio for the first time, to record a new and shorter version of the song that originally appeared on The Core. The release of the Trans-Europa techno compilation proved to be a good start for the band, which now received attention in the media. The song received some positive reviews and the band was encouraged to work on new material.
In October of the same year, Scapa Flow went on stage for the first time and performing live at an anniversary celebration of a local shopping center (Skrapan in Uppsala). New songs were tested as well as new versions of the older ones.
At the end of the year, new material was recorded for the second demo tape "Crucial Impact". The tape included several songs that stayed on the repertoire for several years, including "Red Roses", "Egoism" and the ballad "Open Your Heart".
In the spring of 1989, the band was about to find a suitable image to go with the music. New influences formed a new approach to music and synthesizer sounds and eventually the "monk'n'roll" style was born. The new concept was first tested in May of that year at an open air arena in Uppsala in front of the largest audience yet to experience the band on stage. The impact of the monk outfit and thick smoke was absolute and the recently released compilation band "Overflow" was sold to the last copy. Thanks to the commercial success of Overflow, FMP was soon interested in putting a vinyl together. In July and August 1989, six songs were recorded in a windowless living room with an 8-track cassette deck and a reverb unit. The mini LP had the title "The Guide" and contained six songs that had previously appeared on different tapes. The album was not released until November 1989.
During the fall of 1989, Scapa Flow held several concerts and news songs are added to the repertoire. Own material and covers such as Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the US and ABBA's Money Money. In October, the band played at Fryshuset in Stockholm supporting Twice a Man and Italian band Pankow which gave media attention. Finally, in late November, the vinyl debut The Guide released by the FMP.
Due to the introduction of compact disc technology, the six-track mini-LP soon proved to be a commercial anticlimax and a new, updated version of the album was discussed. In January 1990 the band entered the Musikfabriken studio to record two more songs to be added to the CD version of The Guide. The songs were "Join The Line" and "Creation", giving the rather thin sound of the old Guide material a new push. The CD was licensed to a Swiss label and was released in Sweden the following summer.
In March, the band joined Inside Treatment to go touring Sweden. New material was introduced for the audience in Malmö and Karlshamn, material that later appeared on the album Chased by Sunset. At this time, the band has been reduced to only three members, Carlsson, Nygren and Sjöström.
At the same time as the CD version of The Guide is released, Scapa Flow returned to the Musikfabriken studio to record eight new songs for the second full length album "Chased by Sunset". Their first samplers and new instruments are added to the lineup as didgeridoo, guitars, bass guitars, metal bars, ventilation tubes and acoustic percussion. Guest play from pro musicians C Nordlund, Sonny and Jögge Diamond.
In the spring of 1991, the band is inactive. The label FMP merged with two other record companies and starting business under the new name Energy Rekords. Two members of the band formed the temporary No Hotel constellation to record a Depeche Mode cover for a tribute CD. In August, the much-awaited Chased by Sunset is released and followed by a promotional tour to Germany at the end of September. With Pouppee Fabrikk, the band performed seven concerts throughout Germany and also made a name for themselves by singing Swedish folk songs on live radio broadcast.
Upon returning from Germany, a final concert is held in Stockholm together with cultivated Bimbo and Inside Treatment. The members go separate ways and the band is put to rest temporarily.
No concerts were held during this time. Old and broken synthesizers and instruments have to be replaced, but there was no money to pay for it and so cheaper solutions were sought to create electrified music. Despite the financial downturns, a number of new songs were written, including most of the tracks that later appeared on the album "Heads Off to Freedom".
At the end of 1993, the new material was considered good enough to constitute another full length CD. Eight tracks were picked and recorded at the Vettlösa digital studio in January 1994. A number of new musicians joined the album recording, like Papa Mongo on vocals, Fruxxo on bass and Johnny Melba who delivered some well-appreciated trumpet solos. Several tracks from the album, such as "Leo" later appeared on various compilation albums.
In December 1994, Scapa Flow returned to the stage for the first time in three years with the support of Ticket to Wonderland and Inside Treatment, a comeback in front of the smallest audience that was still met by the band (22 tickets were sold to the concert at Smedjan in Köping).
In the spring, the band performs two more concerts, the last one at Subway in Stockholm. The Subway concert marks the end of Scapa Flow as performing artists and band as a whole. Despite this, songs were written continuously in 1995 and 1996, material which was only published digitally on the website The Sunset Museum.
The commitment from the record company cooled down after the third album, the production was probably too expensive. The band members moved from Uppsala which made it hard to keep the band alive.
2014-11-22, the band reformed for a one-off concert at Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg, for Progress Production's party "Progress 10 2014". It was the first time the band played live in nineteen years.
In August 17, 2018 the album The Core-Demo 0788 was released. It is the first record from the band since the collection Pax Vobiscum 1988-2001 which was released in 2002.
In a 2018 interview, Carl mentioned that there are piles of semi-finished material in their computers.