What is 偏執症者?
– Thats Japanese for Paranoid. You see, alot of punk bands from Japan are highly influenced by the Swedish punk scene. Some uses Swedish words band names, lyrics in Swedish etc. Since we are highly influenced by Japanese bands we thought we would do the same, though in Japanese. The circle is closed. Haha.
Do you have Masshysteris Paranoid 7”? Did you like the band? I just got the new Hurula LP, but I think it’s not even close as good as Masshysteri, even though the first song is really good.
– I do have that 7″. I’m a huge fan of Masshysteri and I totally agree about Roberts solo project (Hurula). I mean, alot of the songs have great melodies but not close to the nerve and feeling that Masshysteri had. The production is too slick for my taste, still I can’t deny that I really like a couple of songs on that lp. But if you ask me, he could’ve picked out the four best songs and released strong 7″ instead. I don’t begrudge him his success, he’s been a hardworking guy for so many years. Some claim that he’s a sellout signing to a major label blah blah. Who care? My daughter adore Hurula so I’ve been listen to his album on the car stereo the entire summer. Arrrgh!!! For those who had not previously heard Hurula I would rather recommend them to start with his new maxi 12″ (Betongbarn) instead.
For how long you have played with Paranoid and where have you played this far? At least in Copenhagen, where I saw you, and a tour in UK.
– We’ve been active since 2012, or we started as a studio project summer of 2012. Line up back then was Emil (drums), Åke (guitars), Nils (Vocals) and me on bass and back-up vocals. Johan slayed all solos on the demo. We started as a classic primitive Swedish käng band but we changed direction quite right after we had recorded the demo into more what we sound like today. It was only me and Emil rehearsing drum and bass for over half a year. Åke lives in Malmö (like 16h drive one way) so it was not an option to have him as a permanent member. We sent him a couple of rehearsal recordings, but he thought we had become too soft and lame. Not enought noise. Haha. We asked Henke to join the band on guitar early 2013. A month later, Nils died tragically in an avalanche. The inspiration and the band kind of died too and we had a break for several month. Just going to the practice room was painful. So many memories that came to life. He had never wished for us to end the band because of him so we did our best to continue where we ended but as a trio. We didn’t wanna replace Nils with some brand new vocalist so we agreed that Henke would sing. We had a few shows + lp recording booked spring/summer 2013. We canceled it all and instead we did our first show in Stockholm in December 2013. Current line-up have played since fall 2013, but the seed was sown in summer 2012. So far we played Luleå, Umeå, K-Town (Denmark), anarachy in UK tour, Trondheim and Steinkjer (Norway). I might have forgotten some. We have a few more upcoming shows booked, but we try to take one step at the time. Suomi saatana tour 2015!!!
Where came an idea to play this kind of stuff? Does the drummer and the guitarist have other musical projects. (I hate to say ‘musical’, when Im talkin about punk and hardcore, haha!)
– Disclose + the Japanese hardcore punk scene from the 80’s up to the present date. Simple as that. Emil (drums) currently has no other active band. Henke is a busy hard rock/metal guy. He’s not from the punk scene initially, but have a great passion for music in general, mainly thrash, metal, hard rock and punk. He’s main band is called Hypertension, check em out if you’re into furious thrash and speed metal.
You have a long and noisy history with punk/hardcore music? When and where you discovered the world of punk and hardcore (or other subcultures)?
– Yeah I guess so… It all started in 1992 via a friends older brother who was a punk. He and his friends used to copy and lend me mixtapes with all kind of punk bands. I was 12 years old and the hardest I had listened to was Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P and early Metallica. That was until I heard the first Disfear 7″. I thought the vocalist was obsessed by satan and I could not understand how the music could sound so fucking raw. I was hooked for life. Started my first band two years later, the rest is history.
Do you have any other musical projects going on at the moment expect Paranoid and are you interested doing music that’s not based on noise?
– I always have several projects and bands running, not necessarily noise. I actually even had a couple of Hip-Hop and electro projects in the past. But by the end of the day what gives me the most satisfaction is without any doubt d-beat mangel hell.
You also record music at Empire Studio? Is it a home/garage/rehearsal room studio or a real studio with floating floor and mixing board with 32 channels? What kind of equipment you use?
– You could say that’s a “real studio”, no fancy stuff like floating floor and stuff, but still, you can make a proper recording that sounds like any other professional studio jobs. I recorded 99% of all my bands/projects at Empire. Been fooling around alot in that studio and there are looooooots of songs that never seen daylight. Without exaggeration, I’ve probably recorded over 1000 songs in recent years. I’m quite primitive in the way I work, like with everything else. I use this very old PC (there is also a Mac, but its to complicated for me), Cubase SX (one of the first versions) + a couple of mics and a few preamps. Thats all you need.
After I had researched for Paranoid, I found out that I might have seen you play live with Totalt Jävla Mörker in Jyväskylä 2006? If Im right you had just joined the band then? Correct me if I’m wrong. Is that band still active and are you in it?
– I’ve been playing with Totalt Jävla Mörker for almost 10 years now. I did my first show as an official member at Augustibuller Festivalen 2006. But before I joined the band, I did a German tour as a stand-in singer and I also did a couple of back-up vocal sessions on their recordings. TJM are still alive and active, and as far as I know, I’m still in the band. We never quit, just decided to work undisturbed. We have a few shows booked for next year and there is also a new 4-track vinyl EP coming out in march.
You had a terrible accident business wise. Flood destroyed your distro? Can you see anything good in the whole thing? I think it’s too early to say anything that will be permanent, but what’s going to happen with your D-Takt now? At least you got some help from generous punx around the world.
– The only good thing is that the punk scene showed its true colors. Action speaks louder than words and the support and help over the world have been enormous. I find no words to really describe my gratitude. I feel honored and proud to be a part of such a strong and friendly community. In a broader perspective when it comes to what I lost/was ruined, it is only material things and cheap stuff of nostalgic value. Think of the people in poor parts of the world who are losing their homes, even family members in real flooding who don’t have a fraction of the support I got. I try my best to catch up and get the label back on its feet, but its hard to find time and energy. I have a few releases lined up and planned (keep yourself updated at my blog), I will take one day at a time and just make the best of the situation. One thing is for sure, the label would have never survived if it wasent for all the support, and now I’m talking not only about financially, but from all the encouraging email or gifts that was sent to my po box. I read and heard so many stories since the flood about how much my label, releases and work has meant to the people. It may sound like a cliché but it’s actually really hard to describe my gratitude in words.
You also have a Distorion Faith-fanzine, that have put out 6 numbers this far. What is that zine? Six numbers in two years is a lot! PML is over six years old and we have our 7th issue coming up soon. Have you had any other zines or non-lyrical writing projects before Distortion Faith? What kind of issues you like to handle and is there any issues you would like to write about, but you don’t know how to? As a young anarchist I was interested about writing from enviromental activism, animal liberation and military resisting, but I guess I was too lazy to find out or learn stuff myself, so now I, maybe lamely, just concentrate on music and don’t pretend that I have something to say that’s worth saying.
– Classic b/w A5-sized fanzine that I do together with my old friend Krogh/Blindead. He also handle most of the work around it. Björn/SMRT was also involved in the first issues but had to give it up due lack of time. We also have guest writers who contribute with texts and content every now and then. Main focus is punk and hardcore music. I would love to make me own more private and political fanzine, but it, time is what prevents me. I like zines with a more personal touch, like this Swedish fanzine called Kissan Päivät. Another one that took me by storm was this split-zine Born Half-God/Blood Mornings. Patricia (B.H.G) wrote in a very open minded, passionate and attractive manner. It was naked, honest and uncensored. Just like a punk fanzine should be. Back in the days I did some halfhearted attempts at making a fanizne. From 2005 to 2008 me and an old friend made this zine called “Skitliv!”, totally Sika Äpärä rip-off style. We plain and simple wanted to provoke the narrow minded part of the punk scene. Some take themselves so damn seriously and most lack humor and self distance. Skitliv! started and ended as a big joke. We made ten issues, which was the idea all along, before we told everyone our true identities and buried that fun but time consuming project.
Do you have any mentors in writing or can you recommend any punky writers whos writings you enjoy?
– Not really, the closest I come to a mentor would be Per (Giftgasattack etc). He has always been a good sounding board in many different aspects. He has given me many good tips and ideas when it comes to creating noise and raw punk music. It is not only to connect as many dist pedals as possible, if only it were that simple. We complement each other in a good way when we made songs together and he taught me a lot. There are also another guy, that I dont know if he want to be mentioned, an old friend from high school that I’ve played with in various bands in the earlier days. You could say that he’s a bit of a musical genius. He master most of the instruments and know alot about the instruments/amplifiers, recorder insertion techniques and other “unnecessary” know-how. I often ask him about things related to music, or when I’m gonna buy a new guitar, and he helped me alot when it comes to recordings. Both as a sound engineer but also as producer in a way. What I like the most with these two and what they both have in common is that they are always sincere and honest with me, even if the truth hurts. People and bands who inspire me are to many to mention. But I am attracted to people with strong opinions who go their own way regardless. Which does not become influenced by external factors. Like Kawakami (Disclose), Eddie Meduza (Swedish rock legend), Fenriz (Darkthrone) or Peter Wahlbeck (Comedian, writer and actor)…to name a few.
Is it hard for you to mix day jobs and lifestyle thats based on doing things? Do you have a day job? I could say that most of the times I suffer when Im going to work. I should have started doing this interview months ago, but I have been sooo stressed out because of earlier job and this new job I started a month ago. I get paid pretty well, but I also have to fail a lot of stuff because I just don’t have enough hours and energy in a week.
– Emil works as a piercing and tattoo artist which he enjoys. Henke is some sort of personal assistant. I have the privilege to work with music on daily basis. I get paid to providing rehearsal rooms and to help local bands (all kinds of music) with everything from recording a demo to help them organize a gig/tour. I even have had “school of rock” lessons with teenagers. I’m the worst teacher since I dont know chords and when they wanna learn how to play a song by The Sounds or ABBA I show them songs by Ramones and Sex Pistols instead. It’s not always appreciated. Haha. Even thought it was quite a while ago. I work 75% instead of full-time. Money isn’t everything and of late I value time with my family more than to have a few thousand extra each month on my bank account. I rather die poor surrounded by my family then rich and alone behind a work desk or computer screen. But I hear you, a job is a necessary evil. But it also sucks the life out of you so when it’s finally weekend and you have your days off you have to rest for the upcoming workweek. I’m restless by nature and I don’t feel good to not having anything to do. I dropped out of school at the age of 18 so that I could work instead, which I of course regret today.
Do you have any other projects or intrests that dont have anything that’s considered as punk? Like knitting for example?
– I love being outdoors, you could say that hiking is one of my hobbies. I used to hike with my parents as a kid, but I hated it, back then it was the city noise and concrete jungle that appealed to me most of all. The nature and solitude attracts more as I get older. But on my own initiative and conditions. Every year I try take a longer trip and spent some weeks in a tent or hut on some desolately mountain. It gives me a sense of peace and freedom that nothing else can give. My grandmother was born and raised on the mountains. She was a Sami so I have it in my blood. Besides that I really like to cook (on an amateur level) and doing puzzles.
Thanks a lot for your time! I wish you a good luck with your difficulties and I hope we see each others at the PML # 7 release party!
– Thank you for your interest and patience with us. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks for us and as we speak we’re in the studio nailing tracks for our upcoming LP, “Satyagraha”. Hopefully will it be released during the first half of 2015 on D-takt & Råpunk (Europe) and Konton Crasher (US). Good luck with the zine, only graspable stuff is for real. Anti Digital Revolution!
Q: Ville Riikonen, Pikakelauksellamaailmanloppuun
A: Jocke D-takt