Soilwork
Moscow Syndrome

04.07.2008

In the whirlwind of Swedish melodic death metal that hit Russia in the first half of 2008, Soilwork delivered the final blow. Though they didn’t attract such a huge crowd as their countrymen In Flames and Dark Tranquillity did, they still delivered a stellar performance that left most of the visitors utterly satisfied. But yet before the gig we made use of the opportunity to do an interview with the band’s energetic singer Bjorn “Speed” Strid. The history of our interviews with the man began as early as 2002, but it was the first time our reporters met him in person. Speed fully justified his nickname – he was constantly on the move, doing the soundcheck, talking to the band’s fanclub, and still finding time to do this interview in three different takes. And we are more than glad that he did, as he provided us with a lot of interesting information on the band’s latest album “Sworn To A Great Divide”, the current personnel situation in the band, the vocalist’s short stint with Coldseed and a snowstorm experience in Texas…

You have done a lot of touring in support of the latest album “Sworn To The Great Divine”. How do you like it so far? What have been the highest and lowest points of this tour?

Well, I like the touring and the album. I really enjoy playing the album alive and it sounds different on stage. And when we are doing the stuff such as “Sworn to the Great Divide” and “As The Sleeper Awakes”, it works very well live and they sound even better than on the album. The highest point of the tour was, I think, in Seattle in the USA. The show was really cool, the club was really full and everyone was singing, so I just threw them the microphone and said, “You can sing and I will have some beer”.

Can you say a few words about the incident in Texas when your tour bus was caught in the ice storm? As far as I know, Texas is a very warm place…

Yes, we were close to a crash. We were stuck in a snow storm, and it was so weird, because we were in Texas, it was March, and there was a lot of snow, it was really cold and slippery, ice was everywhere on the road. And it wasn’t in Russia, in Siberia, believe me it was in Texas. I think it was right near Dallas.

Who is the second guitarist in the band now? We all know that Ola Frenning left in February…

Right now we have David Andersson, who has played with us before and he is still doing the session work now in the band. After a summer we will make the final decision who is going to replace Ola.

How did the band react that Ola left the band?

Well…Ola won’t return to the band any more for sure, and it was a natural decision of the band, everyone in the band felt the same and understood that we couldn’t work with Ola anymore. If you think so, you need to do something about it, or the band will be dead. And we let him go, and now we feel much better.

Are you still friends?

Ehh, not really. You know I understand people, when they tell you, “You need to go”, of course you don’t like it. But it was something we really needed to do. I know that some people think that I am an asshole or whatever. But you know it’s the matter of the band. You can’t be friends with everybody.

Do you think that Soilwork is now a different band without Ola and Peter Wichers (guitar)?

It was a real challenge for us when Peter left the band and we were really sad to see him go, because he made that decision. I can’t say that it was like a surprise for us, we felt that something is coming, and I could see that he was jumping out of the band, and of course we were very sad, but we also knew that we could overlive it, we have so many songwriters in the band, and I think you can see this on the latest album.

Let’s now discuss “Sworn To The Great Divide” a little bit, this album was recorded in a strange place called “Not Quite Studio”. What does it mean?

It’s a studio in our hometown Helsingborg. We recorded everything there except the vocals, and I went to Vancouver to record the vocals. We decided to record the album there to able to go home and rest our ears from this music. But it took so much time, we worked there for something like a half of a year. Guys went there for two hours and then “Oh, well, I want to watch that movie…” (laughs), so next time we won’t make an album there.

For this album you had a new producer, a new cover artist, but once again you recorded vocals with Devin Townsend in Canada. How did you get to work with him once again? I heard that he basically retired from music…  

Yes, you are right. He was also the producer of “Natural Born Chaos” (2002) and at that time he worked with us in Sweden. I wanted to continue to work with him for each record, but he was busy and went on tour. He is not busy anymore, he hates touring and he is writing music all his time now. I called him up and said, “Man, I really want to record the vocals with you again!”, and he felt that it was a good idea. I also thought it was a good idea to go to his place, because this guy doesn’t like planes, he doesn’t like traveling. So we worked in his basement for two weeks recording vocals. I think he is a great singer, a great producer, he is a really inspiring person, he made me feel relaxed while I am singing, and he was trying to get the right vocals, he knows what to do with me. He is just great!

I have read on several websites that when you worked with Devin the first time on “Natural Born Chaos”, the band was really influenced by him. Do you agree?

I absolutely agree, and I don’t think the Soilwork music will exist without Devin Townsend. He has always been such a big inspiration in the way he writes music, he sometimes goes away from metal and makes something really unique atmospheric melodies, and it is very inspiring.

Do you like all Devin’s projects?

Yes, almost all of them. His music has changed my life, especially “Terria” (2001), I love it.

Your previous album “Stabbing The Drama” (2005) had very personal lyrics. What are your songs about this time?

I should say that this new album is even more personal, and I wrote about the things how I felt, what emotions I had that time, and I tried to make this on the new album, because time is going so fast, and I remember the time when I was 18 and now I am going to be 30 and we are growing up on the road, and I develop like a person all the time.
 
Can you comment on the song “The Pittsburg Syndrome”? What is the story behind it?

Well, actually it was in America, the day was terrible, and the band was in a really bad mood, it was raining like hell. Darkest Hour, who were with us on a tour, decided to jump out off the tour because the guitar player was sick, and the funs started to burn the tickets outside the bus, blaming us that Darkest Hour jumped out of the tour. We didn’t expect anything from that day and show, so we went on the stage, expecting that the people would be in a bad mood, but it turned out to be the best show in the USA. So it’s like the turning of the whole day, it started terrible and ended with the best show.

Your album titles have always double meanings. What is the meaning for this album title? What do you mean that you are sworn to a great divide?

Well, this time I wanted to make something unique, something different. And you know I feel that it sounds like I am a schizophrenic and there two side of me, and that is the sworn of the great divide.

Soilwork have already released seven albums. You have done some bonus DVD on your latest album. Do you think it’s high time to release a full-length DVD?

This bonus DVD contains a live show from Switzerland and it’s nearly eight songs, and then there is also some video from our hometown, how we were recording the stuff there and also from Vancouver with Devin Townsend and there is much video with Devin, because he is a funny person to video. I think soon we will release a real DVD with a full show and a good sound, besides we have so much material, we have been on stage around 12 years, and so much backstage material has accumulated. I think our bass player (Ola Flink) will have his own chapter, because he is such a funny crazy head. He has calmed down now, but back in the 1990s he was running naked or something like this…

I remember your video for “Stabbing the Drama”, which was very unusual, since you were the only band member featured in it. Have you done any video in support of the new album? And what kind of video do you want to make in the future?

Well, I want to do something different, not typical. I want to do something like racing in the car and maybe we will play in the middle of the stage and the cars will go around us at a high speed. And the story of the latest video is really weird, but it fits to the concept of the song.

How many videos do you think to make for the latest album?

Probably three, because it promotes the band greatly, in Sweden we have channels for heavy music and people see us and buy our albums, and in the USA there are good heavy channels, so it’s very good for us too.

Can I ask you a couple of questions about your participation in the project Coldseed with the drummer Thomen Stauch (ex-Blind Guardian)? What attracted you to this project? You hadn’t known Thomen before and you had already your bands.

This offer sounded very interesting to me. I heard from some friends that a guy from Blind Guardian really liked the music of Soilwork and he wanted to do a project with me. And I was very surprised, that’s crazy! We make so different music. But I like challenges, and this project was like a challenge for me. I like the project, but actually I hoped that it would turn out better. I am not super satisfied with it, but I am alright as it is. There are cool songs but I wish they would be better.

What in your opinion would you like to change on the album “Completion Makes The Tragedy”?

The songs and their structure.... I think this project was very stressed and we should spend more time on the songwriting and change some stuff on it.

Does this project have any future? What is happening with Thomen? I heard he is seriously ill, but not much information about it.

There is no future for this project. Thomen suffered from… how to call it… he had a serious depression and he is feeling better now, but he doesn’t play in any band or something.

There is another project you did a couple years ago with bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, ex-Death) and drummer Jeremy Colson. Did anything come out of it?

Well, we just talked and there is no result, we just had some plans. But who knows, everything can be.

If I am not mistaken you are also in a band that plays blues…

It’s a jam band, and it’s interesting for me. I am a blues man and I like rock’n’roll, and playing in this group is like a development of yourself. I think you will feel it on the next Soilwork album, there will be some blues influences.

Will you make a surprise and perform some blues composition? (everyone laughs)

Oh my God, no, not this time… (laughs)

You have so many projects. How have you manage to find time for everything?

Well, it’s very difficult, that’s why I don’t work now on Coldseed, I don’t have time for them. I am really focused on Soilwork and when I am at home I rehearse on my own to keep the voice warm.

Did you get the name “Speed” cause you do everything very quickly? (everyone laughs, as Bjorn shows his tattoo reading “Speed”)

I am a very energetic person, but this name didn’t come from being energetic. It actually came from school, when I was 13 years old and I was introduced to more extreme metal for the first time. A friend in my class had a brother who was a tape trader, so he was making compilations all the time. The next day he was very curious, “Which band did you like?”, and I said I liked this and that, and he was like “Oh man, you liked only the fast stuff! Now I call you Speed Strid”.

What is your opinion about new Swedish bands, which are becoming famous in Europe?

(points at his T-shirt and smiles) This guy from Sonic Syndicate is from my hometown and I saw them two days ago. They are doing great and they seem to be really on a high point in Europe. As to other bands, there are actually a lot of kids in my hometown, who are playing in metal bands and there is like a new generation of metalheads growing up. I know that we have a very big rehearsal center, where thousands of bands can play and record. And when the kids are coming to check there, and see our picture on the wall, they cry “Oh, did Soilwork play here?! (everybody laughs) So we want to play here too.”

Do you know any Russian bands?

The only one I know is Gorky Park. Actually in Sweden there is something like the union of metal bands that are from Sweden, Russia, the rest of Europe and America, which are rather popular. But the name of one band I can’t remember…it’s such a long weird name, but I know that they play on homebuilt instruments, and they are really crazy.

How do you like tonight’s supporting band Hatecraft?

I heard the guitar player, he plays really good.

Is there anything that can stop Soilwork or yourself from doing music?

I think the only thing is when I don’t have inspiration, so there is no point to continue. But there is still some, and I hope there will be…

What are your expectations from playing in Russia?

Wow, expectations… I heard from my friends that the fans are very warm and crazy here. But I don’t know what to expect, let’s see what happens tonight.

Soilwork on the Internet: http://www.soilwork.net

Special thanks to Vera Dmitrieva (Spika Concert Agency) for arranging this interview

Interview by Viktoria “Ewigkeit” Bagautdinova
Questions also compiled by Roman “Maniac” Patrashov
May 5, 2008
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