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| Pyramido |
So, following my review of the Hell Comes Homes spilt some time ago now, well probably only a few months ago. I got in touch with Swedish doomsters Pyramido, or rather I spoke with Gad from Totalrust about the possibility of interviewing the band.
Having been a fan of the band since the release of their debut full length, Sand, I was keen to speak to the band about their past, what is happening at the present and their plans for the future too. I must say I really do think that they are one of the hardest working bands around and have released some amazing music since their inception. Anyway enough of my bullshit, here is what happened when I spoke with Ronnie and Dan from Pyramido. Enjoy and see you next time for more 20 Questions.
Q) Hey, How are you? I appreciate
you taking the time to talk to talk to us, here at The Sludgelord.
A)
R: Besides a fever and a cold I am good. Thanks for having us.
Dan: Hi, it´s a pleasure talking to
you sir. I´m fine but very hungry.
Q)
Where are you at the moment and what are you doing, in terms of the band? You
preparing to tour or have got new material coming out?
A) R: I am sitting in my sofa, here
in Malmö. We have just one more show to do this year. We are opening up for
Graveyard on November 15. This year we have released two split 7”s and one
split 12”. The 12” was released early September that’s the latest release from
us. Now we are working on new full-length album “Saga” to be released sometime
next year. So not a lot of tours or shows before that one is out.
Q)
Interestingly enough, I stumbled across your band by accident, following a
search on eBay for sludge/doom bands and came across you guys. (I bought the
album, Sand!) I was fascinated by the
name Pyramido and also that you were signed to a metal label based in
Jerusalem.
For
those people who are unfamiliar with your music, can you tell me little bit
about the history of the band and some of the bands you've played with? Where
you’re from, when Pyramido first formed? Current band members?
A) R: The band started by Dan and
Viktor in 2006. In the beginning it was only some sort of stress-relief for
them. They went to a rehearsal room in the weekends, drank some beers and tried
to write some tunes. Nothing serious. Then all of a sudden, some years later
they had a couple of finished tunes and they asked me and Wendel if they wanted
to join them, and we did. Shortly Dan Arne joined us on bass and Wendel move
from bass to guitar. After that it turned a bit more serious and felt it was
more than just blowing of steam in the rehearsal room. The current line-up, the
true Pyramido, looks like this:
Ronnie –
Vocals.
Dan – Guitar.
Wendel – Guitar.
Dan Arne – Bass
. Viktor - Drums
Some of the other bands we play or
played in are: Vandöd, Apologia, Inverted, Haunted Trails, Man in Shackles,
Burst, Deranged, Murinus, Crowpath and a bunch more.
Q)
Is Pyramido a full time project, or do have other bands?
A) R: I would say yes, all members
except me has other bands but Pyramido is the most active band out of all of
them.
Q)
Probably a stupid question, but are you or would you like to be full time
musicians? Presumably you work jobs too, right?
A) R: Sure it would be nice to make
one's living doing the thing you love. But I enjoy my “daytime” job as well and
I guess some of the other guys do to.
Dan: This is a tricky one. I´ve had
my share of bullshit jobs and if I still was stuck at one of those maybe my
answer would be yes. But at the end of an education I´m kinda looking forward
to a future day job. Then I think working with the band full-time could be a
killer of creativity. Now we do this just cause it´s so much fun, imagine if I
had to write sludge riffs as a day job, with the pressure of getting money to
put food on the table. Yeah, it´s a tricky one...
Q) Are you big fans of rock/metal,
if so what are you listening too at the moment?
A) R: I would say that we are big
fans of music. This last week I listened to these albums:
Graveyard – Lights Out
Bo Hanson - El-Ahrairah
Goat – World Music
Familjen – Allt På Rött
Witchcraft – Legend
Bombs of Hades – Serpents redemption
Propagandhi - Failed States
Spiders – Flashpoint
Tonbruket – Dig it to the end
Nasum – Inhale/Exhale
Chain of Strength – The One Thing
That Still Holds True
Jan Johansson – Jazz på Svenska
Dan: Big music fans yeah. Always
listen to a lot of rap though. I´ve been listening a lot to albums by Dave Dub,
The Quakers, Danny Brown, Killer Mike, Tyranny, Swordwielder and Milk Music
this last month. And I always listen to the Bad Brains, at least once a week!
Q)
When you started Pyramido, What were your hopes for the band?
A) R: Dan and Viktor started the
band to play slow and to get away from the outside world and boredom if got it
right. I wasn't in the band from the beginning. When I, Wendel and Dan Arne
joined, the focus became something different. To play live all over the world
and record some good albums. My hope is to play on every continent.
Dan: Ronnie nailed it basically. My
main ambition when we felt Pyramido got a little bit more serious was to tour
and see stuff. I´ve always been kind of a dreamer I guess so I must´ve had a
shitload of plans that I can´t remember anymore, haha.
Q)
If someone was unfamiliar with your band, how would you describe your sound?
Has it evolved?
A) R: A slow, filthy sounding,
boogiefied hardcore band. We all have
metal and hardcore roots but I guess we don’t feel at home in the metal world
as we do in hardcore world. Yes we evolve the whole time; we would be bored if
we just stood still and regurgitated the same old riff.
Dan: Like a mixture between Dia
Psalma and the b-side of the My War-album by Black Flag.
Q) Why the name, Pyramido? Where did the name come from? Anything to do
with the scale and fascination with Pyramids in Egypt?
A) R: Pyramids are really
interesting and has a cool history and a whole lot of mystique to them. The O
in the end is there because of bands like Sarcofago and Vulcano. We thought it
sounded cool together.
Q) What is the scene like in your home town of
Malmo, or Sweden for that matter
A) R: In Malmö there is a really
good hardcore punk scene with a lot of good bands like: Hårda Tider, Infernöh,
Bäddat för Trubbel, Primitive Rites, Jealous Cowards, Korsfäst and Terrible
Feelings. The are also some other really cool bands like Suma, Ved, Wendels
other band Vandöd. When talking about the whole of Sweden you should check out
these bands:
Goat: Psychrock with African
influence
Walk Through Fire: Sludge and misery
Bombs of Hades: Death metal
Tonbruket: Jazzkraut
Anatomi – 71: Crust Hardcore
Tormented: Death metal
I could go on for along time here
and now I haven’t listed all the big bands like Graveyard, Kongh, Switchblade,
Entombed and so on....
Dan: I actually live in Göteborg,
which is about 300 kilometers north of Malmö. When I moved here about five
years ago it had a really booming scene, still good but can´t really compare to
back then (or maybe I´m just getting old). Ronnie named some good bands. Some
other good bands from Göteborg is Swordwielder (Axegrinder/Amebix-worship), Den
Stora Vilan (mix of early seventies Neil Young with the folky sounds of swedish
prog), Vålnad (psychy black metal), Uran GBG (synthetic kraut kinda music) and
Hills (krautrock/psych without ever getting retro-clichéd)
Q)
What made you start the band? Did you all know each other before you formed?
A) R: To play slow and fight boredom
and the outside world, as mentioned above. We knew of each other, had seen each
other at shows and so on.
Dan: I knew Viktor and Dan Arne very
well. Had talked to Ronnie at shows and knew him as a nice fella. Wendel I had
met only a handful of times previously to him getting in the band. One time
when he came over to Viktor, totally sober, I totally drunk and we headbanged
our way through the first fifteen songs or so of the Speak English or die-album
by SOD. Good times!
Q) Sweden is known for its great
heritage of producing metal bands, however not specifically Sludge/Doom type
bands (please correct me if I am wrong).
What's it like being in an underground band in your home town or even in
Sweden? Is it a struggle and is their camaraderie within the scene?
A) R: I am guessing you are right.
Not a lot of bands in the history. Candlemass should definitely be on the doom
metal list. But some good Sludge/doom
bands nowadays are Switchblade, Kongh, Ocean Chief, Suma, Saturnalia Temple and
Walk Through Fire.
It suits us fine to be a underground
band. In Malmö all in the Hardcore punk scene help each other out and of course
Sweden is a small country so everyone is helping out in every way they can.
Dan: Actually Jönköping had/have(?)
one of the wierdest and greatest sludge bands of all times called Siebensünden.
Totally underrated band. Their first album "En kula till tröst" is so
good. They had kind of an Upsidedown Cross sort of thing going but with swedish
lyrics. Check them out!
I wouldn´t call it a struggle, it´s
the kind of things we are used to, a cramped bus, sleeping on floors, not
always making ends meet etc, but we get a lot of love in other ways: meeting
people that are dedicated and actually bother getting records in these digital
days, getting served delicious food and drinks on tour, getting to see new
places. Sure a nightliner would be nice, but we manage.
Q)
What would you say are your direct influences musically and artistically? Did
those influences contribute directly or indirectly to the type of music you
write?
A) R:Hmm, this is a difficult
question to answer. It´s nothing we talked about really. In most cases Dan Arne
or Dan makes riffs and we put them together in our rehearsal space. Sorry,
can't drop any names here 'cause I don’t know... And I would say that
everything you listen to influences you in one way or another
Artistically, don’t know if mean
artistically in the musical way or as in art. For art, we have always had a
bunch of ideas we wanna do for a covers or merch and our in house artist Anna
Widengård (http://annaabaquilone.blogspot.se/), who does almost everything for us,
makes it come to life. Very convenient.
Dan: Never thought about it really,
but yeah I think a band like Bongzilla will always be in the back of my mind
when I write riffs, that slow, muddy and bluesy kind of thing. Then I really
like doing these melancholic bits and pieces to make it less meat and potatoes
so to speak (more interesting).
Q) What are your views of blogs such as The
Sludgelord reviewing your records, as opposed to mainstream music magazines?
Has your music reached the mainstream mags, at home or around the world?
A) R: I like to read about music so
I use every form I can lay my eyes on. As long as it is well written. We have
been reviewed in a big newspaper with an edition of over 100 000 copies a day
and been interview and reviewed by the biggest Metal magazines in Scandinavia.
And we have been interviewed by Terrorizer, as well as small fanzines/blogs. I
don’t have preference just as long as it is not racist/sexist/homophobic
magazines/fanzines/blogs.
Dan: What he said
Q) I recently reviewed your recent split 7”
spilt with Union of Sleep. It is an amazing
disc, how does this material compare to your previous records and is
representative of the direction of future material?
A) R: The song “Cleansed” is the
slowest song we have ever written so in that way it stands out but it also has
a classic song structure with verses and choruses and melodies like all the new
songs we write. The new stuff will have a lot of melodies and a hardcore edge
but it will be raw, distorted and slow.
Q)
How did the spilt with Union of Sleep come about? I truly think Joel at Hell Comes Home has
done something fresh and innovative in terms offering this package to the fans,
what are your thoughts? What are your
favourite tracks on the compilation?
A) R: Joel just emailed us and
wanted us on his project and we said yes. He sent us a list with bands that was
in on the project, asked us which band we wanted share the record with and we
wrote down I think like 3-4 names and Union of Swas on that list. We have
met them on tour and emailed with them about shows and so on. And their song is
a great song so it all worked out for the best. To be honest I only heard our
and Union of Sleeps songs so I don’t know, but Suma and Tellusian is on the
project and they are good bands!
Q)
Does it surprise you when people buy your music and merch?
A) R:Yes sometimes, but it feels
good that people enjoy our music enough to be willing to spend their hard
earned money on it. On the other hand we have good looking merch, so who
wouldn't wear it, haha!
Dan: Sometimes it surprises us when
people all of a sudden buy A LOT. Like when we played with Nasum/Black
Breath/Skitsystem some weeks ago and we sold a shitload of merch and still it
was all these other great bands on the bill. They must´ve saved up I thought,
haha.
Q)
2 albums, 4 Splits and 1 demo since the bands inception, what are some of your
highlights so far? What are your aspirations for the future?
A) R: Actually it is 5 Splits now.
This year has been really nice with 2 tours, one with Gadget and Lock Up and
one Euro tour in April and the great festival Heavy Days in Doomtown with bands
like Noothgrush, Coffins, Kongh... plus a bunch of shows with a lot of nice
bands, like
Victims
Black Breath x2
Eyehategod
Nasum
Skitsystem
Saviours
Danava x2
Tormented
Dan: Aspirations for the future: To
not make anymore splits!! Haha, no seriously I´m really looking forward to the
recording of our third album, Saga. It´s gonna be awesome. Then we hope to get
over and tour the coasts of the US of A.
Q)
You’re signed to the awesome Jerusalem based label Total Rust, were you fans of
the label before you were signed and how did that come about? Did you consider a DIY approach of releasing
your music yourselves?
A) R: Nope, we had never heard of
the label before they contacted us. It was really just one email from Gad of
Totalrust asking us what our plans with the band were, we replied that we were
doing a EP and releasing it ourselves and then he mailed back: Do a full-length
album and I will release it. We said OK. End of story. And as I said we were thinking of
releasing our own stuff and we will probably do something in the future, but as
long as labels offer to release our stuff we are happy to do it. That way we
can concentrate on our music instead.
Q)
Do you have any interesting stories from your tours, favourite places you’ve
toured and bands you’ve toured with?
A) Dan: It must´ve been the summer
of 2010 when we toured Europe during a hot summer and ended up sleeping outside
almost every night. I remember lying on the roof of a squat in Vienna with my
friends beside me watching the stars. Falling asleep in Koper, Slovenia, waking
up and watching lizard climbing the wineranks above our heads. I also remember
Viktor telling me about him waking up in a caravan on a crustfestival in
Austria with a broken back hearing two crusties fucking hours on end outside of
his window and not being able to move, haha. I almost always have a hard time
getting used to touring, with little sleep, much drinking and so on, but when I
think back to it I always think of it like the best times of my life.
Q)
Did you have any set goals in terms of how you approach writing your music?
Does everyone contribute song ideas?
A) R: Everyone accept me contributes
with music, I take care of the lyrics. We always finish the songs in our rehearsal
space and all of us are involved in the arrangement of the songs.
Q:The goal? A: to make good
songs.
Q)
How do you feel about the digital era of music and people downloading music for
free? Would you or have you ever considered releasing your music for free or
‘pay what you like’ to raise the profile of the band?
A) R: I like that you can bring ten
thousands of songs with you when you walk out of the house. I download stuff
for free but also buy a lot of vinyl records all the time. I would prefer that everyone
could afford to buy records in physical or digital format and that they thought
it would be worth to do so.
I think that all our music is
available for free somewhere in on the internet so it feels useless for us to
put it up. Just use that nifty web page Google.com. Seek and you shall find!
Dan: Sure I prefer if people buy the
albums of us, but the most important thing is that people get into it. I don´t
mind at all when stuff gets "illegally" downloaded.
Q)
What are your plans for the rest of the year and any chance you're coming over
to the UK?
A) R: The plan is to write more
songs for “Saga”, our next full-length album and play one more show here in
Malmö with Graveyard on the 15th of November. We have been to the UK, played 4
shows there last year in June. London, Birmingham, Leeds and Leicester. We
would love to go back!
Q)
Thanks for answering my questions, but one final question, do you have anything
you like to say to your fans?
A) R: Thanks, Aaron
Dan: Hello fans!
A massive thank you goes out to Gad from Totalrust for setting this interview up and also it goes without saying, a big Sludgelord thanks to Ronnie and Dan for agreeing to answer my bullshit questions. haha. This band is most definitely worth checking out, so go do that how. Also as usual, show your support to the band by checking out this links below. You can buy their merch here
