Interview med Soilwork

Photo by Stephansdotter Photography Photo by Stephansdotter Photography

Op til udgivelsen af Soilworks nye ep, A Whisp of the Atlantic, tog vi en snak med sangskriver og guitarist David Andersson. Læs med her, hvor han blandt andet fortæller om konceptet bag pladen, hvordan vand kan inspirere, og hvornår vi kan forvente en ny fuldlængde fra Soilwork.

Jeres nye ep, A Whisp of the Atlantic, udkommer den 4. december, og det oplagte spørgsmål er vel, hvorfor I har valgt en ep fremfor en fuldlængde. Hvad ligger til grund for den beslutning?
Det var egentlig bare noget, der skete. Vi tog ikke en beslutning om, at nu ville vi lave en ep – men det er nok min skyld! Da vi udgav vores seneste plade, Verkligheten, i starten af 2019, var det en rigtig god oplevelse: Vi har det virkelig sjovt sammen i bandet, og det var også i den periode, at vi fik Bastian, vores nye trommeslager, med. Alle er åbne for forslag og musikalske eksperimenter, og det gav mig en masse idéer. Jeg kunne ikke vente tre år mere på at udgive ny musik, så jeg gik bare i gang. Og det endte jo faktisk næsten med at blive en fuldlængdeudgivelse; ep’en varer 37 minutter – det er 10 minutter mere end Slayers Reign in Blood!

Det første nummer, jeg skrev, var ”Feverish”. Efterfølgende kom ”Desperado” og ”Death Diviner”. Jeg synes selv, de tre sange var ret fede, så jeg sendte dem til resten af bandet, og de syntes heldigvis også om dem. Vi indspillede så de tre numre, og planen var egentlig, at de skulle udgives som singler – og altså ikke være på nogen plade. Jeg havde en klar vision for de sange – vi kalder dem The Feverish Trinity – og jeg fandt også på et koncept for musikvideoerne, så de hænger sammen. Men du ved, så ramte coronavirus verden, og vi blev enige om, at vi lige så godt kunne indspille nogle flere sange.

Et nummer, der virkelig skiller sig ud på A Whisp of the Atlantic, er titelnummeret: Det er episk, næsten 17 minutter langt, meget atmosfærisk, og vokalen er dybere end sædvanlig. På mange måder lyder det slet ikke som Soilwork. Hvad var idéen med sang?
Jeg har længe drømt om at skrive en virkelig lang og progressiv sang i Soilwork. Jeg synes tit, at vi bliver undervurderet som band; folk forbinder os altid med catchy melodød – og det er også en stor del af, hvad vi er. Men det er ikke alt. Vi har alle meget forskellige inspirationskilder, og vi kan spille stort set al slags musik. Med ”A Whisp of the Atlantic” følte jeg, at tiden var inde til at vise, hvad Soilwork rent faktisk kan. Da vi delte idéen med vores label, var de helt med på den og foreslog, at vi skulle lave en fysisk udgivelse. På det tidspunkt havde jeg også skrevet ”The Nothingness and the Devil”, så det passede på en eller anden måde meget fint.

Du nævner selv, at der er et klart koncept på ep’en. Kan du sige lidt om sammenhængen mellem de enkelte numre?
Ja, der er et gennemgående tema på hele pladen og også en form for storyline. Det samme gælder musikvideoerne. Rent musikalsk var idéen med ”Feverish” at blande 70’ernes horror rock som Alice Cooper og Kiss med nutidens dødsmetal. Man kan også se det i musikvideoen, som er ret retro. Vi prøvede at give den en 70’ervibe.

”Feverish” var starten på det hele, og den handler i høj grad om lyst og begær – du ved, når man vil have noget så meget, at man ikke længere kan kontrollere sine følelser. ”Desperado” følger op på den idé og viser, hvad det næste trin er: Efter man har begæret noget, man ikke kan få, bliver man desperat og gør en masse dumt. I ”Death Diviner” har følelserne lagt sig, og man indser, at alt har en ende. Den sang handler om at se tilbage på livet og de ting, man har gjort – også dem, man har fortrudt – og at finde en ny start.

På ”The Nothingness and the Devil” drejer det sig om at komme videre: Vil man det, må man give slip på sine gamle forståelser, virkeligheder og myter. Man må redde sig selv, ikke sætte sin lid til guder eller andre væsner, men selv tage ansvar. Den tanke føres videre til ”A Whisp of the Atlantic”, der fortæller om, hvordan det er at træde ind i en ny verden, hvor man ikke ved, hvad man skal stille op. Alt er nyt, og man skal prøve at finde vej. Sangen handler meget om at finde en mening.

Ja, undskyld, det var et meget langt svar! Men du ved, ep’en er en slags rejse, hvor man starter ét sted og ender et helt andet.

Det gør skam ikke noget. Vil det sige, at det ikke bare er de tre numre i The Feverish Trinity, der hører sammen, men faktisk alle fem?
Ja, lige præcis. Det startede med de tre sange, men så endte de to andre også med at passe ind.

Soilwork har flere gange været inspireret af vand – fx nu, hvor det indgår i titlen A Whisp of the Atlantic og er portrætteret på coveret, men også tidligere, bl.a. på The Living Infinite, der, så vidt jeg ved, er en metafor for havet. Hvad er det, der gør vand så interessant for Soilwork?
Udover at det er lidt sjovt, fordi Björn (Strid, red.) og jeg også spiller i The Night Flight Orchestra, hvor vi tager udgangspunkt i elementet luft, har vand bare så mange betydninger. Det kan symbolisere en livmoder; der, hvor mennesket kommer fra; der, hvor alt kommer fra faktisk – hvis man da tror på evolution, hvilket jeg gør. Det kan også symbolisere det store og uvisse. Det prøver vi at vise på coveret. Derudover er der noget helt basalt menneskeligt over vand: Er man tørstig, er der ikke noget bedre end et glas vand, og nogle gange kan man sågar have lyst til at lade sig opsluge komplet af havet. Er man i vand, ændres verden – man overvinder tyngdekraften, svæver nærmest.

Vand er også det, der adskiller lande og kontinenter fra hinanden. En sætning som ”across the oceans” eller ”crossing oceans” går igen i mange af mine sangtekster, ha ha, og det er måske meget sigende. Du ved, jeg er vokset op i en lille by i Sverige, og lige pludselig sidder jeg i et fly på vej over Atlanterhavet.

Jeg fornemmer, at Soilworks tekster berører nogle ret dybe emner – sommetider ligefrem filosofiske. Læser du selv filosofi, poesi eller litteratur generelt?
Ja, absolut. Jeg har altid været vild med at læse, og jeg klarer mellem fire og fem bøger om ugen. Jeg læser også en del magasiner. Ja, jeg er nok en bognørd. Jeg er overhovedet ikke cool! Jeg elsker poesi, men også fantasy og urban fantasy. Biografier er jeg også fan af. De kan både handle om musikere og forfattere. I bund og grund er jeg bare vild med ord. Det er fascinerende, hvordan få ord kan have en enorm betydning. Egentlig er det det samme med musik: Man kan sætte nogle enkelte toner sammen, og pludselig har man en rørende melodi. De fleste af de numre, jeg har skrevet, er faktisk kærlighedssange forklædt som noget andet! Jeg elsker også bare metaforer; de siger utrolig meget om, hvordan vi som mennesker er.

Privat er jeg læge, gastroenterolog, men ville gerne have været psykiater, for jeg har altid været meget optaget af psykologi. Nu bruger jeg så den interesse i musikken i stedet, hvor jeg gennem sprog kan tematisere menneskets psyke.

Har du en favoritforfatter – eller er det for svært at vælge en nu og her?
Åh, det er vildt svært! En forfatter, der i hvert fald har gjort stort indtryk på mig, særligt da jeg var ung, er Hermann Hesse – ham, der skrev Steppeulven, Siddhartha og Glasperlespillet. Jeg har ikke læst hans bøger i mange år, men han betyder helt klart noget for mig. Jeg læser også meget fantasy, urban fantasy og science fiction. Det er vilde genrer, fordi der ingen regler er. Når man læser en almindelig roman, ved man, at nogle ting ikke vil ske – fordi de ikke kan ske. I science fiction eller fantasy er det helt anderledes: Alt kan ske. Pludselig kommer der en dræberrobot med sommerfuglevinger!

Jeg er også ret vild med Clive Barker. De fleste kender ham nok for Hellraiser-filmene, men hans bøger er fantastiske. De er så fantasifulde og ubegrænsede. Jeg ville ønske, at verden også var sådan… Du ved: ”Hov, der er en stor fe med slangetunge”! For mig handler det meget om eskapisme og dagdrømmeri. Det har det gjort, siden jeg var barn.

Apropos barndom, Stabbing the Drama var et af de allerførste metalalbum, jeg lyttede til som ung teenager. Jeg kan huske, at jeg blev blæst fuldstændig bagover; jeg anede ikke, at den slags musik fandtes. På den måde var Soilwork – sammen med et par andre bands – min introduktion til metalgenren. Har du en lignende historie: et band eller en plade, der var en åbenbaring for dig?
Ja, bestemt. Den første hardrockplade, jeg købte, var Deep Purple in Rock. Det var en stor oplevelse. Jeg blev faktisk lidt skræmt, da jeg hørte ”Speed King”. Den starter jo med et vanvittigt kaos, og så kommer det der rolige orgel bagefter. Det var virkelig intenst. Man kan vist sige, at min verden blev lidt… rocked! Men der er så mange bands at vælge imellem. Mine yndlingsgrupper er stadig de gamle, du ved… Black Sabbath. Jeg kan huske, at jeg købte Sabbath Bloody Sabbath på kassettebånd, da jeg var barn. Den udgivelse er stadig min favorit af alle. Den har ikke ét svagt sekund.

2020 har været et ret vildt år: Først var der kæmpe skovbrande i Australien, så kom coronavirus, snart efter Black Lives Matter-urolighederne, og nu har det amerikanske valg udviklet sig til lidt af en farce. Bliver du og Soilwork inspireret af sådanne begivenheder?
Hmm, nej, ikke direkte. Jeg hader politisk musik. Det er for kedeligt til mig. Alligevel kan vi selvfølgelig ikke lade være med at blive påvirket af, hvad der sker i verden, og A Whisp of the Atlantic er også på en måde en tematisering af de ting. Den italesætter på sin vis samfundets degenerering og fordummelse. Det kunne fx være de højreekstremistiske bevægelser, der popper op rundtomkring og vil tilbage til stenalderen, eller folk, der nægter at tro på videnskab og stoler blindt på medierne. Det er trist og jo et virkelig regressivt verdenssyn. Den slags kan godt inspirere eller i hvert fald påvirke mig. Jeg vil gerne have, at folk tænker selv og ikke bare følger strømmen eller sidder fast i gamle overbevisninger. Det er jo også det, ”The Nothingness and the Devil” handler om.

I har naturligvis ikke mulighed for at rejse verden rundt lige nu og spille de nye numre fra A Whisp of the Atlantic – så hvad er planen for den nære fremtid?
Vi satser på at gå i studiet og indspille nyt materiale her i januar. Så hvis alt går vel, kommer der et nyt album fra os i løbet af anden halvdel af næste år. Jeg har også lige været i studiet med The Night Flight Orchestra, og vi udgiver en plade i starten af 2021. Vi klør bare på.

Så der er med andre ord masser at se frem til for jeres fans! Mange tak for din tid – og tillykke med udgivelsen af A Whisp of the Atlantic.
Det er mig, der takker. Hav det godt.

We had a chat with Soilwork songwriter and guitarist David Andersson for the release of their new ep, A Whisp of the Atlantic. Read along to see what he had to say about the concept behind the ep, how it’s possible for water to inspire someone and to find out when we can expect a new full-length album from Soilwork.

Your new ep, A Whisp of the Atlantic, will be released December fourth 2020. The most obvious question might be why you have chosen to release an ep instead of a full-length album. What is the reason behind this?
It was really just something that happened by itself. We didn’t make a decision about making an ep - but it might be my fault! When we released our latest album, Verkligheten, in the beginning of 2019, it was a great experience: we are really enjoying ourselves in the band and in this period we also had Bastian, our new drummer, joining us. Everyone is open to suggestions and musical experiments which gave me a lot of ideas. I couldn’t wait three more years with releasing new music, so I just got started. And well, it actually ended up almost being a full-length release: the ep contains 37 minutes of music - that’s ten more minutes than Slayers Reign In Blood!

The first song I wrote was “Feverish”. Following came “Desperado” and “Death Diviner”. I, myself, thought those three songs to be pretty cool, so I sent them to the rest of the band and luckily they liked them too. We recorded the three songs and the plan then was that they were to be released as singles - stand alones without an album. I had a clear vision for the songs - we call them The Feverish Trinity - I also came up with a concept for the music videos for it all to add up. But, you know, then the Corona virus came, and we agreed that we might as well record some more songs.

One of the songs from A Whisp of the Atlantic that really stands out is the title song: it’s epic, almost 17 minutes long, very atmospheric and the vocals are deeper than usual. In many ways it almost sounds like it’s not Soilwork. What was the idea behind this song?
For a long time, I’ve dreamt about writing a very long, progressive song in Soilwork. I’ve often thought that we are being underestimated as a band: people always think of us with catchy melo death - which is also a great part of what we are. But it’s not everything. We’ve all got very different sources of inspiration and we can play almost all sorts of music. With A Whisp of the Atlantic, I felt that it was our time to show what Soilwork is capable of. When we shared the idea with our label they were completely with us and suggested that we made a physical release. At this time I had also written “The Nothingness and the Devil” hence it came at the right time and place.

You mention yourself that there’s a clear concept behind the ep. Can you tell us a little about the connection between the individual songs?
Yes, there’s a theme throughout the ep and also a sort of storyline. The same goes for the music videos. Musically the idea behind “Feverish” was mixing seventies horror rock like Alice Cooper and Kiss with the death metal of today. In the music video you can see it, as they’re quite retro. We tried to give it a seventies vibe.

”Feverish” was the beginning of it all, and isv greatly about lust and desire - you know, when you want something so deeply that you can’t control your feelings. ”Desperado” follows this idea and shows what the next step is: after you’ve desired something, you can’t have, you become desperate and does all things stupid. In “Death Diviner” the feelings have settled and you realise that everything has an end to it. This song is about looking back at life and all the things you’ve done - also the ones you’ve regret - and finding a new start. 

“The Nothingness and the Devil” is about moving on: if you want to move on you have to let go of your old comprehensions, realities and myths. You have to save yourself and not trust in Gods or other creatures but take responsibilities on your own. This thought is carried on in “A Whisp of the Atlantic”, which recites how it is to enter a new world where you don’t know what to do. Everything is new and you have to try to make your own way. The song is very much about finding a meaning with everything.

Sorry for the long response! But you know, the ep was a kind of journey where you start somewhere and end up somewhere in a completely different place.

That’s okay. So, this means that not only the three songs are connected, but all five?
Yes, exactly. It began with the three songs and then the other two ended up fitting in.

For multiple times Soilwork has been inspired by water - e.g. in the current titles A Whisp of the Atlantic and is portrayed on the cover of the ep, but also earlier on The Living Infinite which, as far as I know, is a metaphor for the ocean. What makes water so interesting for Soilwork? 
Besides it being a little funny because Björn (Strid ed.) and I also play in The Night Flight Orchestra which is based on the element of air, water has so many different meanings. It can symbolise a womb; where humankind comes from; actually, where everything comes from - if you believe in evolution, which I do. It can also symbolise the great and unknown. Which is what we are trying to show on the cover art. Besides this there is also something completely basically human about water: if you’re thirsty there’s nothing better than a glass of water, even sometimes you wish to be fully engulfed by the sea. When you are in the water, the world changes - you defeat gravity, almost as if you are levitating.

Water is also what separates countries and continents. A sentence like “across the oceans” or “crossing oceans” is repeated in many of my lyrics, ha ha, which is perhaps very telling. You know, I grew up in a small town in Sweden, and suddenly I’m placed in an airplane crossing the Atlantic.

I sense that the lyrics of Soilwork touches upon some very deep subjects - often close to philosophical. Do you read philosophy, poetry or literature in general?
Yes, absolutely! I’ve always loved reading and I go through four to five books a week. I also read a lot of magazines. I’m probably a book nerd. I’m not cool at all! I love poetry but also fantasy and urban fantasy. I’m also a fan of biographies. They can be about both musicians and writers. Basically I just love words. It’s so fascinating how a few words can contain so much meaning. Really, it’s the same with music: you put some simple tones together and all of the sudden you have a touching melody. Most of the songs which I’ve written are actually love songs in disguise as something else! I also just love metaphors; they tell alot about who we are as humans.

Privately, I’m a doctor, gastroenterologist, but I would have liked to be a psychiatrist - I have always been very preoccupied with psychology. Now, I use that interest when creating music instead, in which I through language can thematize the human psyche.

Do you have a favourite author - or is it too hard to pick one right now?
Ah, that’s very difficult! An author who certainly made an impression on me, especially when I was young, is Hermann Hesse - the author who wrote Steppenwolf, Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game. I haven’t read his books for many years, but he definitely means something to me. I also read a lot of fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction. Those genres are crazy, because there are no rules. When you read an ordinary novel, you know that somethings won’t ever happen - because they can’t happen. In science fiction or fantasy everything is flipped upside down: everything can happen! Out of nowhere comes a killing machine with butterfly wings!

I’m also into Clive Barker. Most know him from the Hellraiser movies, but his books are amazing. They are full of imagination and indefinite. I wish the world was like that too… You know: “Wow, there’s a fairy with a snake tongue”! For me it’s all about escapism and daydreaming. I’ve done that since I was a child.

Speaking of childhood, Stabbing the Drama was one of the first metal albums I listened to when I was a young teenager. I remember being blown away; I didn’t know music like that existed. In a way, Soilwork - among a few other bands - became my introduction to the metal genre. Do you have a similar story: a band or an album that became your revelation?
Yes, certainly! The very first hard rock album I bought was Deep Purple in Rock. It was a great experience. Actually, I was a bit scared when I heard “Speed King”. It starts out with a mad chaos, then comes that calm organ afterwards. It was really intense. I guess you could say that my world got a little… rocked! But there’s so many bands to pick from. My favourite groups are still the old, you know… Black Sabbath. I remember buying Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on cassette tapes when I was a child. That release is still my favourite. It does not contain one weak second.

2020 has been a crazy year: first there were huge forest fires in Australia, then came the coronavirus, soon after the Black Lives Matters riots, and now the American election has developed into a bit of a farce. Are you and Soilwork inspired by events like these?
Hmm, no, not directly. I hate political music. It’s too boring for me. Still, of course, we can not help but be influenced by what is happening in the world, and A Whisp of the Atlantic is also in a way a thematization of those things. In some way, the ep articulates the degeneration and stupidity of society. An example could be the right-wing extremist movements that are popping up all around wanting to go back to the Stone Age, or people who refuse to believe in science and blindly trust the media. It's sad and a really regressive worldview. Things like that might inspire me or at least affect me. I want people to think for themselves and not just follow the current or get stuck in old beliefs. That is also what "The Nothingness and the Devil" is about.

Obviously, you can’t travel the world, touring with the new songs from A Whisp of the Atlantic, as the conditions are right now, but what’s the plan for the near future?
We aim for recording new material in the studio in January. So, if all goes as planned we will have a new album ready within the second half of next year. I've also just been to the studio with The Night Flight Orchestra, and we’ll be releasing a new album in the beginning of 2021. We just keep going!

In other words, there’s a lot for your fans to look forward to! Thank you so much for your time - and congratulations with the release of A Whipes of the Atlantic.
You’re welcome. Take care.