During the last ten years FATAL SMILE has built a strong and solid reputation internationally and achieved great success with their various releases. So forget what you think you know about hard rock. Whatever you think you know is redundant. FATAL SMILE have made it so. Influenced by the sounds they grew up with but not dictated to by them, theirs is a sound that takes rock in new directions whilst always having one eye on home. Comforting yet exciting, dangerous yet strangely familiar. Not afraid to bend the rules of the game should the need arise, one day all bands will be made in this image. With that these guys talk of their circus crazed theme and ways with music and plans for the future.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Yxan -aka Mr Y, guitar player and founder- started this band with a bunch of guys in his hometown back in the day. The band became very popular with the hit "Learn Love Hate" of the second album "Neo Natural Freaks" and the touring began. Tours in Japan, USA and Europe showed who could cope and one by one was replaced. First the bass player, the vocals (me!) then the drummer. We who jumped in was all old buds who love life on the road and today FATAL SMILE is more of a gang than a band! Don't get me wrong, we love music, but this band is a full time job. It´s our family, company and the ones who would take a bullet for each other!
2. How did you guys come up with your band name, FATAL SMILE?
It´s taken from a movie in the aftermath of aids. To us it´s symbolic of the southern smile that may be lethal. So far it hash´t been lethal at all, quite on the contrary.
3. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
We don´t really think of it, spur of the moment stuff. Usually true stories of our everyday stuff or opinions. Sometimes about the hell of war or poverty, or being stuck in bad habits. Listen and learn.
4. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
It´s really mixed from "old classic bands" like Whitesnake, Dio, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Metallica, Dokken, Alice In Chains just to mention a few...One tend to follow ones heroes.
5. What made you guys decide to form a band?Probably free beer, free pussy and getting paid for having a wild life with a fucked up life style. Or just gang mentality, the sam reason you´re in a motorcycle gang I guess.
6. What is your opinion on sites posting your guys material and other bands material?
If you mean webzines, I love´m. They are full of respect and love for music, usually maniacs working their asses off for absolutely no money or appreciation, just for the love of the music. When it comes to torrent sites or just stealing what we have worked our asses off I can't describe my feelings for these leaches. They suck our blood and rip the bread of our table!
7. How do you guys feel about the classifications in hard rock? Like alternative, rock, and other subgenres and how some get a negative rep.
I´m too old to understand trends and shit. You've got good stuff and bad stuff, all subject to personality. But you need words to describe music without hearing it so they are somewhat needed. All subgroups are usually connected to a lifestyle, look and many of them suck so the whole genre gets the load of that, which suck, but then again, fuck it!
8. What is your opinion on the current state of hard rock?
That would totally depend on where the fuck you are! In Scandinavia where we live it´s awesome. Lot´s of rock clubs featuring great bands and talented musicians. But there are regions in the world where any of our support bands would never make it out of rehearsal in Sweden. We´ve seen empty rock clubs with awful bands in the world. I would´t think anyone living there would say the state of rock is healthy. I however, would!
9. Do you have any plans for new music?
We don´t plan much, but music comes flowing and we do have an embryo for an album growing right now. We've seen finances in the industry drain into the pit of vomit where it is now, so we will see if we get enough funding to release it to the masses, but you will probably have it shoved down your throat before you know it!
10. How easy is it to keep the motivation going on a daily basis for FATAL SMILE?
We get at lot of feedback from our fans, old and new, and that love is very motivating. Also we love being together, making music, so without thinking we march on.
11. Can you tell me about the imaginary that you use as far as your appearance and clothing appeal goes, like why did you want to use this type of look to present yourselves?
On the Freakshow Tour we have a show based on the first video we did for the latest album "21st Century Freaks". The song is about the feeling you can get on tour, when people stand in line to take pictures with you and pay to see you explode in craziness. After a while you start to feel like a modern times freak. For the video we wanted a freaky circus vibe and this is the look that emerged. We´ve just taken that video to the stage and on the road.
12. Why is your band like a circus and based upon that type of concept.
Pack a bunch of idiots in a bus and on the road and that´s exactly what you have. The whole crew goes wild. And then we stop in a new town every damn day to put on a show consisting of freaks, fire and mayhem. That's a fucking mind-blowing circus to me!
13. How does your band differ from all the other bands out there right now, what sets you apart?
I don't know, you tell me. I guess we tour more than most because we are more of a gang than a band, and anyone who´s been with us can tell you that we take it to the limit every damn day, on stage and off. We are wilder, rougher and in my opinion better than the rest! That´s it!
14. What are the plans that you guys have for the rest of this year?
Same as usual; mayhem! Touring and partying. We try to use our off road time in the studio since we´d like to release a new album soon enough, but as we own our own record label we don´t get enough pressure from above to accept the hangover it takes to sober up and record. But for fucks sake, you have my word and my balls, we will release before this year is over!
15. Anything else you want to add for your fans?
Thank you all for being the best fucking fans in the world! We salute you and love you all!We have just released the last single and video of "21st Century Freaks", the first ballad in Fatal Smile history. It´s a song for our hero and tour mate Ronnie James Dio, saluting him and his music and a call out to the world to help complete his fight against the deadliest enemy mankind has yet to meet; cancer. He died in this struggle and some may say he lost the fight, but god dammit it´s not lost until it´s over and it´s not over until the troops surrender. We are the troops and we will never surrender! Be a trooper by donating what you can to Ronnie James Dios Stand Up And Shout Cancer Foundation. He founded it to fight cancer and I´d love to see Dio win the fight! We all have to step in and win it, for mankind and for our hero; Ronnie!
Please donate here: http://diocancerfund.org/
You can check out the video for our tribute to Ronnie here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vY5D43WQJw
Take care and I hope to see you all on the road!!!
Cheers / Blade & FS
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