An interview with Karin Axelsson:
Hey Karin, how are you doing?
Hey there! I am sick actually, I have a cold that's being pretty stubborn. But besides from that I am good, haha! I'm on tour right now with In Flames and Gojira and so far so good!
What's your opinion on your previous records nowadays? Are you still satisfied with the songs, the production, and the artwork?
Well as time goes you always think of new ideas and things you could have tried, being a musician you always have a need to improve yourself. "Eden Fire" was our first album and it contains a lot of really old songs that were written before I was in the band, it was something to help us get started from my point of view. "Only Inhuman" felt like to me more like a real debut album to me because after that everything started to happen and suddenly everyone knew who we were. I am very satisfied with that album, the artwork and everything. The release of "Only Inhuman" was an important time for Sonic Syndicate. "Love And Other Disasters" is an album taking our music to another level, we have grown as a band and as musicians and we are very proud to present "Love And Other Disasters" to you.
You've recently released your new killer album "Love And Other Disasters", where did you record it, who produced it? Can you tell us more about the recording process and how are the reactions on this one so far?
We recorded "Love And Other Disasters" in the same studio as "Only Inhuman" which is Black Lounge Studios. Also with the same producer which is Jonas Kjellgren, the guitarist of Scar Symmetry. We chose to use him this time as well because he is a great musician and producer. He also is very open-minded with a lot of great ideas and easy to work with. So since we knew him so well from the last time, the recording precess was much easier and we could try out more ideas. But the mixing process was different. We chose to do it in In Flames studio with Roberto Laghi. The only thing was that we only met him very shortly and discussed our ideas and then we had to leave for a tour in America with Nightwish, so it was completely up to him to make our album sound as good as we wanted. We had some e-mail contact of course and he sent us the songs but it is not all like actually being there. However we are all very glad that we gave that task cause he did an amazing job. The reactions of the album so fas has been very good I think, it seems like most people have different favourite songs and I think that's really good.
Is there any story or concept behind your CD title "Love And Other Disasters"?
The title is the thing that binds the lyrics together, it's what the songs are about mainly. Some of the songs are stories about Richard and his life and some of the songs are like a wake-up call to get people thinking. 'Power Shift' for example is a song were we want people to start thinking about the world and what we can do to make our situation better. With the global warming that goes on right now the world won't last long and if we don't start doing something about it, we have only ourselves to blame for the fall. Maybe it's a depressing way of thinking but it's true.
Where did you get ideas and inspirations for some of the lyrics on "Love And Other Disasters"?
Richard is the one writing all the lyrics and they have been very personal to him. It's about his life, experiences and personal thoughts. I know that some of these songs on "Love And Other Disasters" are about the way he views the world and the situation we have right now with the global warming and everything.
When it comes down to writing a new song or an album what's the process like?
Richard is always writing lyrics and when we have some new song he decides where he think he can fit the lyrics in. Our writing process this time was different than before. Roger used to be the main writer and he basicaly gave us almost finished songs and we just put our last ideas in before recording. This time we all wanted to be a part of the writing, so we all sat down together at least 8 hours a day on our rehearsal room, just jamming together until we had something that we though was good enough. We never planned how we wanted the songs to come out, it was just a natural thing for us. The only thing we wanted for this record was to be more diverse than "Only Inhuman".
When you look back on when Sonic Syndicate first started out, what do you think of you guys now?
Well I wasn't there from the beginning, the three Sjunnesson brothers started the band in 2003 as a hobby thing, playing covers and switching members back and forth. Then I joined the band in 2004 and we started doing more shows and getting more and more serious. I didn't have a plan for how I wanted this when I first joined the band, it was a new thing for me but the more we played the more I knew that this is what I wanna do with my life and I will do whatever it takes to get where I want. I love my guys, they are like brothers to me. We are all like one unit and I wouldn't wanna change the way it is right now.
What bands have you toured with? Are there any that you would definitely want to tour with?
Right now, as I said before we are on tour with In Flames and Gojira. We have also toured with Nightwish, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility, Soilwork, Caliban and Himsa. If I could choose one band to tour with it would definitely be Nightwish again. I know there are so many great bands out there that I love and would love to meet, but Nightwish are something special. Not only that I love their music but they are the sweetest people you can ever tour with. We toured with them in the US in May this year and it was one of the most fun tours we've done so far. The first day they said "We're all in the same boat, we're doing this toghether as a team". And we did. So I hope that we can tour once again with those sweet guys.
What are the future plans for Sonic Syndicate?
We will keep on touring as much as we can, hopefully go to Japan and Australia next year and also do a headlining tour in Europe. What I wanna do is to just keep on touring, releasing new albums and have as much fun as possible. Of course this is also my job now but I don't see it that way. This is a dream coming true for all of us.
Would you ever want to do an all acoustic show?
Who knows? Haha! Well Roland and Robin have played a couple of songs acoustic on radios in Sweden and on signing sessions. I think it's a nice thing to watch and something different. We're not afraid to do different stuff so maybe we'll do some acoustic things some day, but I don't think there will be a whole live acoustic set, maybe a couple of songs.
Describe your music to an elderly church lady.
Thinking she probably never heard something like that before and she probably don't even know what metal is, I would say if she wants to have an early heart attack this could help, haha! No, just kidding! I would probably say that this is pretty hard music, distorted guitars, screaming guys but with a lot of great melodies. And if she would listen to it and give it a chance I think she would like it.
Any advice for all the new bass players out there?
I would like to say keep on playing! Always believe in yourself, work hard and do the things you think is fun. You don't need to take classes in school to be a good musician. All you need is practice and time.
What are your views on metal music as of right now compared to when it first started out?
I think the metal music is changing a bit. Especially I think it's becoming more and more accepted everywhere, playing more on tv and radio and nothing really seems too extreme anymore. I think that the modern metal styles with it's many bands have helped a lot to as I said get the more harder old school metal get more accepted.
Is MySpace the great Satan of the 21st Century?
I don't think so. MySpace for me is a very good thing. It's a great tool to reach out to a bigger audience, make new friends and contact. It's also a good thing for fans to be able to get in touch with bands. Like us for example, we try to answer all the comments and e-mails we get, personally I think it's a very important thing to do. If I e-mail one of my biggest idols for example I would get very happy if they answered me back.
Do you ever get annoyed by hearing the same questions during an interview?
Will you get angry if I say yes? Haha! Well, there is only one question that I get tired of hearing and that is when people ask me how it is to be the only girl in a band with all guys. I mean why does it have to be wierd in the first place? It's not something I ever think about unless people ask me about it.
Any final words of wisdom, thoughts or comments?
I would like to thank our fans out there and I hope the people reading this will like our new record and come and see us live!
http://www.nuclearblast.de/
http://www.sonicsyndicate.com/
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